As Oliver looked back, he finally understood the reason behind the terrifying roar. They were the last wails of the giant bulldog beast before it died.

The beast’s body remained standing for a brief moment, as if refusing to accept reality, before slowly splitting apart. Blue flames covered the corpse, and the flames continued burning even after it had collapsed onto the ground.

Oliver’s eyes widened at the sight as he stared at the leopard that had done this.

Earlier, it had only been using regular red flames, but now the flames pouring out of its mouth were an eerie blue.

These flames looked both strangely beautiful and terrifying at the same time. Even from distance, Oliver could feel the terrifying heat radiating from them.

’Holy shit... what are those flames?’

The fire leopard slowly stepped over the bulldog’s corpse, as if it had done nothing special. Its body was covered in some wounds, and several ants still clung to its legs and yet none of that seemed to matter to it anymore.

All that mattered, right now was that it was free and its target was right in front of it.

For a brief moment, Oliver completely forgot that he was supposed to be running, as he simply stared at those blue flames dancing around the leopard’s mouth, wondering what kind of beast this thing really was.

But then, Korre suddenly grabbed his hand, tugging him along, as she ran.

"THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO ZONE OUT YOU IDIOT!"

Due to the pull, he first stumbled at his own steps, but then he woke up from his own thoughts and immediately began running again.

Oliver felt cold sweat run down his back as he finally understood what was happening.

’Nope.’

’Nope nope nope.’

’I am NOT fighting that thing.’

The leopard first lowered its body and then bared its fangs, looking at Oliver as though the entire world had disappeared except for him and the fruit in his hand. Then suddenly, it jumped, rushing towards him with an astonishing pace.

Oliver’s face immediately turned pale.

The beast moved so fast that he couldn’t even properly see it.

’I am dead.’

And yet, before the leopard could reach him, a gigantic black figure slammed into it from the side and the leopard was sent flying several meters away.

It was the one-eyed serpent.

Its giant body had wrapped around the leopard. But before it could use the position to its advantage, the leopard bit into its shoulder and blue flames were released once more. The flames exploded around the two beasts as the serpent hissed in pain.

It seemed to hurt the snake a lot, but it refused to let go.

Almost at the same moment, the ground beneath them exploded and the crimson ant queen emerged once more.

Its gigantic pincers immediately swung toward the leopard as it helped the snake beast.

For a brief moment, Oliver stared blankly while running, confused as to what was going on.

Just a moment ago, the serpent and the ant queen had been trying to kill each other.

And now...They were both attacking the leopard, almost as though they had silently reached an agreement that it was too damn dangerous.

The leopard meanwhile also wasn’t one to give up. It roared out loud, as it opened its mouth and blue flames erupted everywhere.

Due to the explosive impact of the flames, the serpent was forced backward while the ant queen who was a bit farther didn’t get blown away but its crimson armor began melting.

Both the beasts had been significantly injured and yet neither retreated.

The three giant beasts instantly began battling once more, with their attacks shaking the entire forest.

As Oliver kept running, he couldn’t help but glance back at the battle behind him.

The leopard was simply terrifying.

Its blue flames seemed capable of burning everything in their path. Even the ant queen and the one-eyed snake’s collective might didn’t seem enough to defeat it.

Then a frightening thought suddenly appeared in Oliver’s mind.

’Even with a boat... can we really run away?’

As far as Oliver and Korre could tell the beast had gills, and if there assumption was correct and the beast really was an amphibious, then escaping into the river might not mean escaping at all.

Beside him, Korre who had noticed his expression asked while running.

"What are you thinking about now?"

Oliver glanced back once more and then gave the answer in a stiff tone.

"The boat."

"What about it?"

"The leopard has gills. I don’t think we can escape using it." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Korre blinked as her face hardened too. The cheeky features that were usually on her face were nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, yeah."

For a moment, neither of them spoke but then Korre shook her head.

"At least, let’s first survive till the boat."

Oliver nodded as he looked back once again.

The Ant Queen seemed to be getting completely overwhelmed by the leopard.

Its once majestic crimson armor was cracked in several places as blue flames surrounded it completely.

The fire leopard was simply too monstrous, every swing of its claws forced the queen backward and every burst of those strange blue flames melted more of its armor.

The one-eyed serpent wasn’t doing much better either. It kept attacking whenever it got the chance, but Oliver could tell now that the snake wasn’t really trying to defeat the leopard anymore. It was simply trying to survive.

This wasn’t going to work, not like this.

Oliver gritted his teeth and looked at Korre, then at Goldie, who was nervously perched on her shoulder.

’Fuck it.’

Finally, he made up his mind.

With a sigh, he threw the golden pear toward Korre.

The girl instinctively summoned vines and caught it. She stared at the pear for a moment before looking back at Oliver, her brows furrowing.

"The fuck?"

"It won’t work like this."

Oliver didn’t stop running, but most of his focus was now on the battle, as he slowed down his speed.

"What are you planning?"

"You will see."

"I hate that answer."

Truthfully, he wasn’t entirely sure himself about what he was about to do.

All he knew was that if the leopard remained alive, escaping by boat meant nothing and so he decided to give the snake and the Ant Queen one last chance.

The battle continued behind them as they ran.

The Ant Queen was almost finished now. Blue flames spread across its body and one of its gigantic pincers had already broken off. The serpent kept using the queen as a shield, occasionally lunging out to bite the leopard whenever an opening appeared.

It was quite cowardly and yet very effective.

Oliver kept running and waiting.

Waiting for the perfect opportunity which appeared after some wait.

Korre had already moved a little ahead just as Oliver had asked her to. For the briefest moment, one of the leopard’s legs became exposed, seeing which Oliver’s eyes lit up.

"Now!"

Without hesitation, he summoned Viperlash and the whip shot forward.

His plan was simple. He was going to wrap the whip around the leopard’s leg and try to trip it, giving the serpent an opening.

It was supposed to be simple but unfortunately...he was Oliver.

And Oliver possessed perhaps the most annoying attribute imaginable.

Eyes Full of Lies.

The moment Viperlash flew forward, it suddenly twisted and the whip curved not towards the leopard, but towards the ant queen.

The almost dead Ant Queen looked up and after seeing the whip, its face turned into a horrified expression.

"No no no no!"

Oliver immediately tried to pull the whip back, but it was too late.

And then almost immediately afterwards, as if to add salt to an injury, flames suddenly erupted from his hand and a giant arrow of fire was formed.

The arrow slid across the surface of Viperlash like a snake slithering over a branch and then the it pierced directly through the Ant Queen’s chest.

For a moment, the queen froze as its crimson eyes slowly looked down at the massive hole in its chest and then at Oliver.

Oliver awkwardly looked at it as he thought,

’My bad?’

Thud.

The Ant Queen had collapsed and at almost the same time another loud sound emerged as Viperlash shattered into countless fragments.

Oliver’s face instantly turned pale.

"No..."

Then the System’s cool voice echoed inside his mind.

[Inheritance Destroyed.]

[Aether Beast : Crimson Ant Queen slain.]

[Grade : Pristine | Rank : Ravager]

Oliver stared blankly as another notification appeared.

[Inheritance Acquired: Utility]