I stood closer to the apex predator with my yin infused shovel held in a defensive stance while Miyaura stood to my side, his dual blades firmly in his grasp. We had already activated many of our relics, granting a minor boost to many of our stats.
The dark forest held its breath as heat curled through the underbrush, the flaming lion charging ferociously.
Quickly, I leaped to the right, dodging the charge, then blocked the fierce swipe of the lion's claw with my shove with all three of my hands.
And just in that first attack, I could feel my shovel holding on for dear life. It couldn't handle many more direct hits, I'll need to parry instead in the future.
No! Not like this! It's too young, I've only killed one person with it!
Channeling my mana into the weapon, it launched a windblade that barely left a scratch, which I expected because that wasn't the point.
Quickly sidestepping from the next swipe, Miyaura charged in. He deftly swung his yang infused blade down on the yin marked claw, triggering resonance.
The damage was far greater, however it still didn't amount to much.
Only maybe a centimeter of the blade sunk into the skin, briefly setting the apex predator in a state of shock at the insects that managed to hurt it.
That moment allowed Miyaura and I to land two more hits with our weapons before we backed off.
They left incredibly shallow wounds, but again, damage wasn't the purpose.
The strikes applied stronger yin and yang marks for future attacks to trigger resonance, and it spread energy for Miyaura's physique to come into play soon.
When the state of surprise faded, fury surged through the lion, insulted that mere pests had drawn its blood. It entered into a frenzy, hurling itself at us with wild pounces and blazing claws.
Contrary to what you may think, this worked in our favor.
In the beast's rage, its attacks became painfully predictable, letting us easily dodge or parry them, driving the monster deeper in its anger.
With many parrys, Miyaura's perception heightened from his physique. He could now instantly react to any attacks and predict future movements, making him capable of delivering counterattacks remaining safe.
Though, even with all the attacks inflicted, the damage was still pitiful. At the pace we were going, it would take days to cause the lion to bleed out.
Of course, that wasn't our plan.
During our harassment of the beast, our cooperation improved and we took notes on its movements and habits, thinking of ways we could snatch the advantage in this struggle.
Our main win condition had already been formulated long ago—strike at weak points to inhibit movement, then blind the beast.
It was simple and probably one of the only plans that could work, considering we were incapable of damaging most of the monster's peak stage Awakened body.
But, how were we going to make the plan work? It was simple, not easy. Many people believe they are one and the same, however they're not.
"When it leaps… Can we slide under and try to slit the achilles tendon?" I posed the idea, adeptly dodging and parrying the onslaught.
"I don't—" Was all Miyaura could get out before the lion abruptly changed directions, leaping at him.
Instead of helping, I took the opportunity to observe the leap closely. I noticed the lion usually jumps about a meter off the ground and advances five forward.
My idea of slitting the achilles tendon was possible, but required either immense luck or skill. Although Miyaura was very skilled, I doubt he could perfectly aim his sword to slit the achilles tendon at an extremely awkward angle while sliding.
Back to the drawing board, I began thinking of everything we had at our disposal.
What to do… What to do…
Most of our relics had been activated, charms on cooldown…
Wait… That can work!
"I HAVE A PLAN!! ARE YOU EXPERIENCED IN SWORD THROWING??" I asked calmly.
He had a confused expression, but couldn't pose any questions due to the relentless onslaught of attacks from the beast. "Very little."
"Give me your sword then."
I closed in on the battle again, taking some of the pressure from Miyaura. He used that moment to toss his yang infused sword in my direction, my Abyssal Hand picking it up.
"When it leaps, you need to slide under and mark the tendon with the opp—" While my sentence was interrupted before I could finish, he still got the meaning. And despite the fact he knew he would get severely burned, he still followed through with my instructions without hesitation.
Soon, the lion leapt at him again as he was approaching from the side. With a very unmajestic slide, he touched the lion's hind leg (appropriately), marking it with yin.
Now, it was all or nothing. Miyaura's left hand was pretty much out of commission. If my plan didn't work, we'll have to book it.
The beast seemed to be confused at his actions, taking a brief pause to feel if anything happened to its hind leg.
Nothing happened... yet.
Just then, a blade whistled beautifully through the air, cutting through the lion's achilles tendon.
Yes!! I've never tried throwing swords before, but with my experience in spear throwing, I had a feeling I'd succeed.
The Behemoth of Flames staggered, immense shock shot through its eyes as it stared in my direction, letting out a low growl.
Without hesitation, I made my way towards the injured beast with Miyaura.
We soon entered another bout of ferocious clashing with the predator, but now we were… still not winning...
In fact, we were losing...?
Its mobility was heavily hindered, yes, however with Miyaura's left hand out of commission, we lost a lot of our attack potency and the lion's peak stage body never got weaker.
And with its grievous injury, it began thrashing around more violently and unpredictably instead of its usual foreseeable attacks. This caused us to suffer some wounds for the first time in the battle, not counting Miyaura's purposeful sacrifice.
Then, the tides of battle shifted.
At the smell of our blood, the Behemoth of Flames seemed to have regained some self-esteem after finally landing some hits on its prey, somewhat returning to its previous aggression.
Entering into a trance, its nature as a hunter showed itself. Its assaults came fast and ruthless, each step measured, each swipe meant to end us.
After a particularly savage attack, I fell, stumbling to the ground.
Instinctually, the beast desired to pounce, tear me apart, and finish me. However, its maimed leg denied it that crave.
In the heartbeat it paused, something moved.
A pitch black, abyssal hand burst into existence from its phantom form and dove straight into one of its eyes before it could react in its confusion.
The apex predator recoiled with a broken roar, in pain and confusion, unable to comprehend what just happened.
Because it was dead.
A sharp sword plunged right through its other eye, reaching the midbrain, instantly killing it.