Jareth dashed at the bear straight on, without concealing the noises of his shows. With [Grieving Echo] activated, a green aura flared around his body.
The resting bear instantly stood up the moment he entered its range of vision.
Jareth sprinted toward it as crimson flame shone on his blade. His breath steadied while he simulated his attacks.
A guttural roar ripped from the white bear's throat as it bared jagged fangs, its eyes burning with naked bloodlust.
From its neck, thick white ice swiftly traced the contour of its body. In a few seconds, it had transformed from a furry creature into a beast cased in crystal-like ice armor that exposed only its head.
'An armor?' Jareth narrowed his eyes without slowing his steps.
The bear roared and dashed at him in response with a sharp speed faster than his own.
Just as they were a few meters apart, Jareth thrust his other hand forward, activating [Infernal Torrent].
Fire erupted and swirled into a gleaming crimson spear that shot forward in a blurry streak.
The white bear dove forward and smashed a paw at the incoming spear.
An earsplitting explosion and a blinding crimson flash rocked the area.
But Jareth slowed down and swiftly created three more long spears, shooting them at the bear at the same time.
The white bear pivoted, presenting its side.
The three spears smashed into it with a louder explosion, sending the bear tumbling across the floor.
'My chance!'
Jareth lunged at the tumbling beast, its ice armor now marred with thin cracks and a black spot.
But he noticed the cracks shrinking quickly.
'Self-repair?'
He arched his brow but his sword didn't stop, hacking down at its back as he reached it.
A sharp clang echoed, leaving a deep, burnt gash on its back.
The bear snarled and whipped a claw at him as it sprang to its feet.
Jareth swerved aside and tossed a fire orb at the side of the mid-standing beast. It exploded, sending the beast wobbling.
Swerving around, Jareth slashed three times at its hind side in quick succession, leaving charred gashes and sending it tumbling to the floor again.
His eyes narrowed as the ice armor swiftly repaired itself, covering the burnt flesh and blood beneath the gashes.
The white bear growled as it pushed itself off the floor, but Jareth launched more fire orbs.
It sent the bear crashing back. Meanwhile, Jareth pounced on its head and thrust his sword toward its eye. The bear abruptly pulled its head back and clamped down on the sword between its fangs.
When Jareth tried to pull his sword free, it felt as though he were trying to uproot a deep rooted tree.
Noticing the bear was about to stand up, he made a quick decision.
He activated [Quintessence Claws] and [Infernal Torrent]. Black mist swirled around his free left forearm and hand, accompanied by crimson flames weaving into it.
Jareth plunged a sharp finger into one of the bear's eyes before it could react. His finger sank deep with a sizzling noise.
The bear bawled, releasing his sword as it scrambled away. But Jareth lunged forward and thrust his sword into the scorched eye socket.
The bear whimpered and tried to pull away.
But Jareth stretched and hooked it by the throat with his burning, clawed hands, driving the sword in deeper.
The beast struggled to wriggle its neck free, one remaining eye reddened. It pulled with powerful force, almost escaping, but Jareth clutched tighter and pressed his legs against the floor as he also pulled back its neck. His muscles tightened.
When three-fourths of the blade had sunk in, Jareth twisted it and sent the flame on his sword haywire inside the bear.
The bear roared and swiped its claw at him.
Jareth swerved to the other side, the claw scratching his chest. However, Jareth didn't stop, feeding more fire into the haywire fire inside the beast.
The bear's resistance swiftly slowed, followed by a fading roar. Finally, it stopped moving.
[Elite Snow Bear killed.]
Jareth halted his action and wrenched his sword from the bear, leaving it to collapse on the floor.
Patting his dirty tracksuit, a little smirk glossed his lips while staring at the body. He then dispelled his spells.
Narrowing his eyes, he felt his mana.
'I used 20% to kill a… this should be a Level 2 from its body strength. A Rank 2, Level 2 beast. But I'm not done. Three more to go before they all return from their chase.'
The loud explosions echoing from every direction were proof of how wild and ferocious everybody was going, as if it were a competition.
He squatted and stored the body in his badge.
Sprinting through different alleys, he reached the second target—it resembled the mist panther from what he saw with his binocular.
But he slowed down when he saw a wide blanket of fog in the center of the wrecked paved path, swirling with echoes from inside.
'Already engaged? Next! No time to waste.' he decided, and retreated back into the alley, running toward his third target.
He soon reached it—a tawny, spot-blotched beast that resembled a hyena from his memory, its muzzle wrinkled into a snarl. It was already in battle mode, surveying its surroundings, maybe because of the loud explosions. Its gaze locked onto him the instant he saw it.
It began cackling like a derange being before sprinting at Jareth.
'Faster than me, but is it spell?'
Jareth rushed out of the alley and activated his spells. A green aura flared around his body, and crimson flame slithered down his blade.
Both of them sprinted at full speed.
Stretching his free palm, crimson flames jetted out, swirling to form a crimson spear. He launched the spear forward at the closing beast.
The beast darted aside while cackling; the spear shot past it and slammed into the building behind with a loud explosion.
'Damn! Not a brawny fool.'
The beast had already resumed its charge, its cackling echoing in his ears. Jareth didn't slow down, his eyes gleaming with a cold, wild gleam as his brain calculated.
Two more flames formed and shot forward, but the beast danced left and right, narrowly avoiding them.
The explosion thundered from behind as the spear struck the wall.
Just as Jareth entered its attack range, it dove forward with even greater speed and twisted its head, its horizontal, gaping maw opening wide to chomp at his neck.
Jareth tilted and twisted his body. The beast shot past him, but it abruptly swung its claws in a quick backward slash at his head.