Chapter 9: Terror

"Aegirian, are you provoking me?"

Garde's muffled voice echoed.

In an instant, Gladiia tightened her grip on the spear in her hand.

Her intuition told her that the creature before her was now very dangerous.

"He said he's the toughest one in the entire tribe."

Recalling Laurentina's words, Gladiia had to admit that it made sense.

With a single thrust, she could kill even large Seaborns.

But with Garde, her spear had only made a shallow cut?

'It looks like I'll have to go all out.'

Whether it was for Laurentina or the dignity of the Aegirians, Gladiia couldn't afford to back down here. She didn't want Laurentina to mock her later.

"Here I come."

Her movement was much quicker than her voice, and by the time Garde heard her words, Gladiia had reappeared in front of Garde.

Gladiia's spear was designed with the intention to chop and slash apart her enemies flesh, but that didn't mean she didn't understand the principles of pressure and force distribution.

Usually, heavily armored Seaborns were left to the third team.

But by concentrating her strength in one point, her power could also pierce through an enemy's body!

However, just as she approached Garde, she saw his mouth open as if he had said something.

It was only when she got close that she heard what Garde had said.

"Aegirian, are all your peers as arrogant as you?"

Schhhr—

A piercing friction sound filled the air.

The spear, made of a special alloy and wielded with the exceptional physical fitness of an Abyssal Hunter, was capable of tearing through metal and stone.

What left Gladiia incredulous was that her spear had been blocked!

The five fingers of Garde's left hand bent together, and five sharp claws gathered.

Garde had a habit of trimming his nails regularly, but because his nails were too hard, it took him half a day to polish them after each trimming.

Unfortunately, Garde hadn't trimmed his nails in the past few days.

The sharp spear pierced towards Garde, and at the critical moment, Garde locked the piercing with his own claws.

An ear-piercing friction sound erupted between the long spear and the claws.

The air stood still for a moment.

Gladiia's seemingly indifferent face showed a hint of astonishment due to this incredible sight.

What kind of claws could match the hardness of the most advanced alloy-crafted weapon from Aegir?

Fortunately, Garde's claws weren't really that hard.

The spear twisted, and Gladiia's hand grasped the front end of the spear as a support. She hovered in mid-air, ready to land.

Crack!!

Garde's claws were finally severed.

But it was this brief pause, less than a second, that put Gladiia in danger.

Click!

In the dense forest, Garde lifted a fallen giant tree next to him.

He hadn't used his beloved axe; Garde swung the massive tree trunk toward Gladiia's chest.

'CULL THE MEEK!'

He silently used Renekton Skill.

The trees that had grown in the rainforest for hundreds or thousands of years suddenly covered a radius of dozens of meters from Garde, as if they had instantly come to life.

Rustle

The branches collided with other trees, creating a cacophony of crashing sounds. The towering trees, several tens of meters high, even left afterimages in Garde's hands.

The trunk, as wide as a person, slammed into Gladiia.

Boom!

The speed at which it came was as fast as the speed at which it flew back.

Especially when the giant tree hit Gladiia's body, it sent her flying backward just as quickly.

Garde couldn't help but worry, 'Did I squash her flat?'

But he couldn't really blame himself. If Gladiia hadn't attacked him first, he wouldn't have struck so heavily.

The flames of anger in his eyes gradually subsided, a result of years of self-discipline.

Switching back to his former self, he would have been furious by now.

"First with Laurentina, and now you, do all Aegirians greet strangers with an attack?" Garde thought of his first encounter with Laurentina and how both Laurentina and the Aegirian before him had attacked him. 

However, the way Laurentina looked at him, it was as if she were looking at a pet and, at the same time, as if she were looking at food.

The gaze of the person before him, on the other hand, was filled with genuine killing intent.

Garde looked into the distance, to the place where he had knocked down several large trees using Gladiia body as the projectile. 

Trees in the rainforest could grow up to sixty meters tall, and if it were an ordinary person, they would probably have turned into mush by now.

But Gladiia might not even be considered lightly injured.

The suddenly swinging trees hit Gladiia's chest, causing her to be somewhat suffocated.

She was sent flying for nearly a hundred meters before she managed to remove the force from Garde.

Fighting on land made Gladiia very uncomfortable.

She had never expected that a land dweller could push her to such an extent. 

In terms of strength, Garde wasn't much different from her. But the fact that a land dweller's strength matched that of an Abyssal Hunter like herself was already an incredible feat.

She had faced countless enemies with much greater strength than herself, but she had always been the one to survive.

That was because even the most powerful Seaborns were just a group of beings fighting on instinct.

But the crocodile person before her possessed intelligence.

"Land warrior Garde," Gladiia said, taking a deep breath to ease the pain in her chest.

"Despite being a land dweller, you are strong, being able to match my blow is a praise worthy feat, but just that isn't enough to stop me! You've caused a lot of dangerous change on Laurentina, which nearly caused her fatal harm, and for that, I must discipline you."

Gladiia lowered her body. As a proud Aegirian, she had always held a condescending attitude towards land dwellers. But now, she put Garde on an equal footing with her.

"Laurentina, what happened to her?" Garde's expression became serious as he heard Gladiia mention Laurentina.

The deep sea where the Aegirians lived was separated from the land by a vast distance. If something had really happened to Laurentina, how could he help her?

"If you want to know, defeat me!"

As the words fell, with a swooshing sound trailing behind her, from the collapsed bushes to the nearby river, a twisted figure shot into the water like lightning.

The next moment, a water dragon rose.

Sweeping up the river water, Gladiia's figure emerged again.

This time, Gladiia's speed was much faster than at the beginning.

Garde could only see a dark shadow flashing by, and he barely managed to put his arm in front of him, but his body was still sent flying like a cannonball.

'So fast!'

Gladiia's speed was already impressive, but now, with the cooling effect of the nearby river, she had almost reached her maximum speed.

At this moment, with the time he had spent talking to Gladiia, Garde finally saw her status panel.

#======#

Character: Gladiia

Code Name: Gladiia

Gender: Female

Combat Experience: Twelve years

Birthday: November 6th

Race: Aegir(?)

Height: 181cm

Upper Bust:

Lower Bust:

Waist:

Hips:

Oripathy Status: Non-infected

Physical Strength: Outstanding

Battlefield Mobility: —

Physiological Endurance: Outstanding

Tactical Planning: Excellent

Battle Skills: Outstanding

Originium Arts Adaptation: Deficient

Evaluation: One of the chief warfare designers of the Aegirian military group 'Abyssal Hunters,' with exceptional strength."

#======#

Outstanding in three attributes, with one of them even exceeding the limits of an ordinary person. In a direct comparison of status values, she might even be higher than him.

Gladiia's speed had already left Garde struggling to react.

In martial arts, speed was everything!

No matter how sturdy his body was, he couldn't withstand Gladiia's continuous attacks at this speed.

From the riverbank to where Garde was now, a long trench had been blasted open in just over ten seconds. Garde's entire body was covered in fine wounds.

Garde, who had initially suppressed his anger, was once again filled with rage.

The bright silver spear cut through the air, but this time, Gladiia couldn't leave any wounds on Garde.

A large mouth opened and bit down on Gladiia's spear.

"Let go!"

Gladiia wanted to use the same tactic again, but she had greatly underestimated the sharpness of Garde's teeth and his biting force.

Moreover, if she could see Garde's status panel, she would have noticed that Garde's physical strength value was constantly fluctuating.

Gladiia raised her head, only to be met with Garde's crimson eyes.

An indescribable fear welled up in Gladiia's heart. As a hunter, she felt as though she were looking at the apex predator of the food chain.

Crack! Crack!

A crack appeared on her spear, and Gladiia's expression changed dramatically. She wanted to escape, but how could Garde let her go?

"Tell me, woman, what does your flesh taste like?"

The bloodthirsty notes resonated in Gladiia's ears. She had released her spear and tried to retreat, but she was inexplicably bound by a force, unable to move forward or backward.

A large hand grabbed onto her, crushing her chest and deforming it. Garde spat out the spear from his mouth and his massive jaws clamped down on Gladiia's slender waist.

Squelch!

The sharp teeth pierced her body, and intense pain instantly flooded Gladiia's nerves.

Blood sprayed and soaked the earth.

Gladiia's mind went blank.