Three hundred elite soldiers who knew Nen were instantly killed by five magical beasts in a single encounter.
Weak creatures.
This was the feeling of Ancient Claw and the other magical beasts after slaughtering the soldiers.
However, the life energy fluctuations Giles revealed now made them take notice.
Deal with the weak first, then the strong. This had always been Ancient Claw and his companions' modus operandi.
So, they first eliminated the soldiers, leaving behind what they considered the tallest among the short… Giles.
Only, they found Giles wasn't as weak as they imagined.
Ancient Claw's large nostrils snorted out two streams of white air. The Nen coiled around his knuckle bones burned like flames.
He looked at Giles, who was releasing powerful Nen, and said coldly, "Interesting. Don't interfere. Let me handle this myself."
The other magical beasts, well aware of Ancient Claw's temperament, had no objections. They turned their gaze towards the temporary camp of the International Permit Agencies.
This human was left for Ancient Claw to deal with, while they needed to eliminate the remaining humans.
Without the slightest hesitation, they immediately stepped over the ground littered with dismembered limbs and flesh, heading towards the temporary camp not far away.
"..."
Giles couldn't understand Ancient Claw's language. Seeing the four magical beasts heading towards the camp, his expression suddenly changed. He immediately released Nen, forming it into concentrated energy threads, like chains, binding the departing magical beasts.
However, the magical beasts' forward steps remained completely unaffected.
Meanwhile, Ancient Claw merely moved a few steps, blocking the energy threads Giles projected.
Ancient Claw's gorilla-like face flickered with cold killing intent. His abnormally thick and long knuckle bones made cracking sounds as he moved them.
Giles's attention was forced to shift because Ancient Claw had also locked his energy onto him.
'The existing troops at the camp can't stop these magical beasts. I can only pray the soldiers in the camp can hold out a little longer,' Giles thought to himself, holding his staff steadily before him. 'And I must deal with this magical beast before me as quickly as possible. The faster, the better.'
Ancient Claw looked at Giles and suddenly said, "Your weapon."
This time, the language he spoke was actually the common tongue of the Six Continents.
Hearing Ancient Claw speak the common tongue, Giles's eyes changed.
"Looks not bad. I'll keep it."
Ancient Claw's common tongue seemed somewhat unpolished… he paused after a few words.
Giles was inwardly shaken but didn't respond. Instead, he silently swung his arm, driving the air holes at the tail end of his staff to blast out dozens of energy blades, shooting towards Ancient Claw.
He had questions but no time to seek answers.
Defeating Ancient Claw as quickly as possible was the absolute task before him now.
Ancient Claw watched the cluster of energy blades shooting towards him, sneered, and raised his hand to swat forward.
His thick, blade-like knuckle bone struck the incoming energy blades like scissors stabbing into a balloon. With a bang, the dozens of energy blades were scattered by a single palm strike.
Giles gathered strength in his feet. The previous blast of energy blades was merely a probing attack. The result was as he expected… it posed no threat to the enemy whatsoever.
In other words, there was only one path to victory… close combat, which carried the greatest risk!
Boom!
The sand and stones beneath Giles's feet exploded. The holes at the tail end of his staff blasted out shockwaves, acting as thrusters, accelerating Giles's instantaneous explosive power.
His courage was astonishing. Even having witnessed the magical beasts' strength, he still chose a direct frontal assault.
That short distance of several tens of meters was just an instant.
Giles charged before Ancient Claw. The Nen within his body swiftly transmitted along his arm into the staff. Through transformation, it formed shockwaves that blasted out from the holes.
Swish!
Originally positioned behind Giles, the staff, propelled by the shockwaves transformed from Nen, swung towards Ancient Claw before him with lightning speed.
The staff's swing was so fast it created a series of popping sonic booms.
Facing Giles's courageous frontal staff strike, Ancient Claw neither dodged nor evaded. Or perhaps, at that moment, he simply couldn't dodge… he could only choose to take it head-on.
And he did exactly that. Raising both hands high, his tough, long knuckle bones crossed above his head, blocking the staff aimed at his skull.
Clang!
A loud metallic clash, as if iron instruments colliding, suddenly resounded on the spot.
The International Permit Agencies' team in the camp, as well as Law's group inside the Ancient Labyrinth City, all heard this loud sound.
Ancient Claw blocked with both arms, enduring the thunderous, stone-shattering staff strike. His robust body remained completely unmoved.
Only after the sound traveled far away did countless cracks finally appear on the ground where both stood, a delayed reaction.
"For a human, the force is barely passable."
Ancient Claw, adopting the demeanor of a victor, evaluated Giles's thunderous staff strike at close range.
Veins bulged on Giles's forehead. His eyes, fixed on Ancient Claw, flashed with sharp killing intent.
[Air Impact]
A large amount of Nen instantly poured into the staff. The holes at the tail end facing the sky suddenly erupted with Nen Flames, creating a reaction force that pushed the staff body to continuously press down on Ancient Claw's hands.
Powerful, unceasing force immediately caused Ancient Claw's feet to begin sinking.
The strength of both sides was deadlocked. Neither could break free in a short time.
"Useless. It's just a desperate struggle."
Ancient Claw, seemingly in a disadvantageous position, calmly watched the shockwaves surging from the staff's holes.
'Converting life energy into shockwave properties, huh...'
'Just with these two moves, if the others were here, they might capsize in a tiny ditch, finished off by a single staff strike.'
'Too bad you're facing me.'
Ancient Claw's cold expression was mixed with icy killing intent.
The previous two attacks had already let him gauge Giles's approximate strength.
The magical beast clan called the power within their bodies life energy, while humans of the Six Continents called it Nen or Aura.
Giles is a Transmuter, able to transform aura into shockwave properties. Ironically, Giles always admired the offensive style of Enhancers.
Therefore, although his moves and techniques contained characteristics of Emission and Transmutation, they served close combat.
Even so, his strength was powerful enough to rank among the top five in the human world.
But today, his opponent, Ancient Claw, was also a ruthless character whose combat power ranked among the top five within the magical beast clan. The comparison between individual combat power of magical beasts and humans was not on the same level.
This was evident from Ancient Claw and his four companions instantly killing three hundred soldiers in a single charge.
Watching the shockwaves transformed from Nen continuously press down the magical beast before him, Giles felt not a shred of joy in his heart, only a strong sense of crisis.
'He is... an Enhancer with incredibly high hardness. The gap between us... is huge!'
A look of gravity appeared deep in Giles's eyes. After the clash, he realized the strength of the magical beast before him was terrifying.
In this state, forget about quickly resolving the fight… being able to stall was already fortunate.
With this judgment, a despair Giles was unwilling to admit slowly sprouted in his heart.
Total annihilation.
Failure.
He couldn't help but think these thoughts.
Thus, he must not fall!
On the other side, the remaining four magical beasts, unimpeded, easily entered the temporary camp of the International Permit Agencies.
The remaining soldiers stationed inside were prepared and launched attacks against the intruding magical beasts.
However, the natural gap in strength could not be bridged by external firearms...
Meanwhile, inside the ancient labyrinth, Law looked in the direction outside the city.