Dagger Showdown

While Ferisa and the group of three began scheming Zephyr's death, different battles were ongoing all around.

Though Zephyr didn't know, the pressure he emanated had caught the attention of many beasts.

The weaker beasts cowered, running away as fast as they could from the vicinity, while those of the same level or even stronger took it as provocation.

Some beasts opened their eyes briefly before closing it, as it was not worth the effort for them.

Players in the surrounding areas also sensed it.

The idle beasts had now begun to move, and this move alone would cause a lot of deaths.

In another place entirely, the battle between Kang-soo Jin and the unnamed assailant had long past the climax, quickly reaching an end.

Clang!Shik!Boom!

Now, it had deteriorated into a one-sided beat down, with Kang-soo Jin being on the receiving end.

"Ahh!" Kang-soo Jin screamed out as he felt his rib cage fracture at the kick of his assailant.

Nevertheless, as one of the titanic four from Earth, he mounted his sword, supporting his feet as he stood back up.

His black hair riddled with dirt, his right eye swollen with a shade of purple, his face unseen as it was covered in blood gushing from various small cuts, hit left arm fractured and his armour dented in various places. The sword being the only thing relatively intact.

Yet, his eyes showcasing the nature of a beast, staring at his approaching assailant who moved towards him neither fast nor slow with an unyielding gaze. Before…

BAM!

The assailant kicked his stomach, causing him to fly backwards before smashing into a tree headfirst.

Pah!

Kang-soo Jin puked out a lot of blood as he adjusted his broken body, trying to get back up again. But the shadow looming over his body begged to differ.

The assailant puts his leg on Kang Soo Jin's body before speaking.

"Stay down" his voice sounded as empathetic as can be, with no emotions whatsoever.

Kang-soo Jin bent his neck as he gazed upwards, where he met the terrifying gaze of the assailant looking down on him.

The assailant looked at him with the eyes of a predator looking at prey.

The assailant's eyes, green with ears similar to cat's, his skin, furry and black, his hair, also black, his clothes, a tight fitting black that extended from the tip of his toes to half of his face as it covered the mouth and nose.

The cloth covering his right arm had been severed, and his hand damaged to an extent, with blood dripping ever so slowly.

His clothing also housed four scabbards attached for four daggers, one at the side of each thigh and two at the back.

One of his daggers had shattered in the earlier battle causing him to hold only one as of now.

The assailant and Kang-soo Jin stared at each other for a few seconds before the assailant began to talk.

"The courage and honour you have displayed in battle was commendable...but, it was not enough. At the end of it all, the weak fall and the strong rise"

"I hope you don't hold grudges against me for this" the assailant said as he raised his dagger and...plunged into the chest of Kang-soo Jin before pulling it out right after.

"Ah!" Kang-Soo Jin cried out as he puked out a large amount of blood. His skin became deathly pale, but he was still staring at his assailant with an unwilling expression.

Gathering whatever strength he had left, he used his arm to raise his body, trying to get back up.

Seeing this, the assailant looked with face, as if saying…Seriously?. At this point he was genuinely taken aback at the tenacity of Kang-soo Jin.

Most of his targets would've been raining curses, which in turn made blood spill out more, thereby dying faster. Or they would be completely silent as they welcomed death, not bothering to struggle.

'What a waste, how many back at home can injure my body, but that's exactly why I can't let him live' the assailant thought, as he gazed at Kang-soo Jin who struggled to stand ever so slowly.

"You fought well...now, let's end this" he said as he slashed forward with the intention to behead him cleanly.

Time seemed to slow down at this moment as the assailant's dagger closed in on Kang-soo Jin's head when all of a sudden, a blur appeared and like a bulldozer, began to break every tree in its path.

Yep, you guessed it, Zephyr has arrived.

But looking at him closely, his playful expression was nowhere to be seen. His face, rigid as he ran like his life depended on it.

As he Bulldozed his way through the trees, his eyes caught the sight of a being from an unknown planet, a dagger in his hand lunged forward to behead a certain someone.

But he didn't know anything about the situation, so he decided to leave those two to their business.

After all, the one with the dagger might be the good guy, you never know in this day and age.

At least, that was what he was going to do before Xenon's voice rang out.

[Dude, the guy about to lose his head is from Earth, you idiot]

"That guy? You sure?" he immediately asked as he set his sights on the man in battered crimson armour whose condition was nowhere near okay.

He quickly moved in their direction and brought out a serrated blade while his killing intent surged out, emanating a whole new type of pressure.

One should know that all this happened in less than 30 seconds.

The assailant whose hand was about to behead Kang-soo Jin suddenly became apprehensive as his heightened sense picked up killing intent and it was getting closer.

He immediately withdrew the hand that was about to behead Kang-soo Jin.

He closed his eyes, and perked his ears to maximum capacity, preparing for the incoming enemy. And what do you know…

A dagger approached at that exact moment with it's aim being his neck.

But when we're things ever so easy? The assailant bent backwards almost 90 degrees, causing the serrated dagger to cut air before the assailant kicked it out of the hand of whoever it was.

The assailant moved back four stops, immediately discarding the dagger he was holding, as it was damaged from the fight with Kang-soo Jin, and took out the two holsted on his back.

Seeing this, Zephyr's caution went up a level as he brought out the second serrated dagger from his inventory with but a thought, and gripped it with his left hand.

Zephyr stared at the equally cautious assailant before he charged towards him and began a new streak of attacks.

One should know that Zephyr gained [Knowledge on daggers] not too long ago, which analyzed all the things it was made of, although it was pretty useless on its own.

But that was before Xenon stepped in to assist him. It told him the best way to grip a dagger, best ways to swing it, how to disarm someone who also holds a dagger and many more.

How was such a thing possible?

Xenon is part of the Earth's Core, which happens to be the system creator for all hunters on earth. Of course it would have information on dagger techniques.

Zephyr calms his breathing before speedily advancing towards Kang-soo Jin's assailant.

The assailant took a stance with both daggers in hand and his eyes closed like a statue.

And then...

Bam!

The force from the collision of these two daggers caused a mini-sound wave in the surroundings.

A show of dagger skills had begun.

But that was just the beginning.

Clang!Clang!Clang!

Both sides clashed repeatedly just seconds into battle.

Zephyr's strikes were decisively aimed at the vitals, while the assailant moved in an odd fashion, leaning his body in different ways like a snack.

And, although Zephyr had dagger knowledge, having the knowledge and perfectly applying it are completely different things.

Infact, it was because he had such a thing, coupled with his ridiculous speed, that allowed him to match Kang-soo Jin's assailant.

Truth be told, Zephyr's current speed wasn't something the assailant could follow up with.

But using his cat-like ears, he followed the discrepancies in the wind flow to predict the incoming trajectory of the dagger and adjusted accordingly.

As the battle raged on, entering 50 seconds, a raging bellow was heard. And it was approaching fast.

ROOOAR!

At the same time…

"F***!" Zephyr couldn't help but curse his luck.

The reason for Zephyr's rigid expression while running had arrived.