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Chapter 46: Fighting for His Life

With a beastly roar, Ashura was sent flying, crashed through several trees, used his sword as a crutch to avoid collapsing, and his limp left arm dangled at his side because the bone was broken and useless in battle.

The Earthquake Berserk Bear likewise had its chest hide sliced open by that slash, blood dyeing the fur on its front, yet the wound was far from fatal.

The hidden force that produced three muffled thunderclaps on its right paw only slightly checked the strike, leaving it with nothing more than a tingle.

It was furious, for none of the Humans it had ever fought had hurt it this badly, and it vowed to tear this Human apart and bite off his head.

Yet the badly wounded Ashura charged at it with his sword once more, knowing his odds were dwindling and that he could only stake his life…

The 11th, 12th, and 13th slashes came in rapid succession!

The Earthquake Berserk Bear’s innate skill, Gravity Mire, had weakened noticeably with time, and although Ashura was grievously wounded he only fought harder.

The surge of adrenaline frantically stimulated his nerves, keeping his mind razor-sharp.

It was the first time he had been this close to death, and his mind held no other thought than the knowledge that if his offensive faltered even once he would die.

When the 16th cut of Tower Ascension swept out, the slanted strike landed on the Earthquake Berserk Bear’s right shoulder.

The sword clearly bit into bone, making it a fatal wound, and the bear’s roar rang with both pain and rage!

But Ashura was now a man soaked in blood; after unleashing 16 cuts of Tower Ascension his vital energy was nearly spent, and several gashes on his body made him grimace with every move.

Ashura thought, “Am I really going to die in this damned place?”

His raised right hand started to lower the sword, then froze abruptly!

He still had too many dreams unfulfilled, family waiting for him to return in glory, and he had yet to kiss a girl, so how could he die to this beast?

Ashura and the Earthquake Berserk Bear roared simultaneously and charged straight at each other!

Ashura leaped high, mustered the last of his vitality, and delivered the 17th cut of Tower Ascension, driving the dagger toward the bear’s right eye.

The Earthquake Berserk Bear in turn swiped its uninjured left claw at Ashura’s mid-air abdomen!

Two wet crunches resounded simultaneously; a dagger was lodged up to its hilt in the bear’s left eye, and the agonized beast flailed its paws, trying to pull it out.

Ashura, meanwhile, half-knelt clutching his stomach as blood poured out, the bear’s claws having torn through the soft armor Magina had given him.

Without that armor, the swipe would have split Ashura in two.

Even with the armor, the 5-tier Beast’s full-force blow carved a palm-length gash across Ashura’s abdomen!

Ashura had deliberately traded injury for injury, calculating that the 17th cut would grievously wound the Earthquake Berserk Bear even at the cost of his own flesh!

Watching the bear writhe in crazed pain, Ashura ignored his wounds, lunged forward, and with his remaining right hand hammered a Thunderclap Fist onto the dagger hilt stuck in its left eye.

Three muffled thunderclaps echoed, the bear’s roar cut off abruptly, and its huge body collapsed, bleeding profusely on the ground.

Ashura knelt and sat, staring at the now-dead 5-tier Beast, and after a long moment burst into loud laughter, venting the relief of surviving.

No one would ever believe that a rookie Martial Master Stage-3 student like him had single-handedly slain a 5-tier Beast, an Earthquake Berserk Bear.

Yet his laughter soon turned to screams, for as the adrenaline ebbed an ocean of pain flooded his body and nearly made him faint.

But he knew he could not pass out here, where even a tier-2 Beast could easily claim his life.

Ashura bit the tip of his tongue to stay conscious.

He bent over, stuffed the loops of intestine back inside, felt his life draining through the massive abdominal wound, and hastily swallowed several hemostatic and healing pills.

Then, using his only functioning right hand, he dug the dagger around in the bear’s skull until he unearthed a walnut-sized yellow beast core; he wanted to laugh, but the pain reduced him to cold sweat and stars before his eyes.

Ashura glanced at the corpse: every part of a tier-5 Beast was valuable from hide to bone, yet he knew he lacked the time to process it.

Gritting his teeth, he chopped off the bear’s four paws and stowed them in his storage space, even tossing out a tier-4 Beast carcass to make room.

After finishing, he clutched his belly and staggered toward Triumph Town, waves of dizziness from blood loss and exhaustion battering his mind.

Like a walking corpse driven only by will, Ashura managed to march for roughly two hours before collapsing in a roadside thicket near Triumph Town and passing out completely.

Dusk had already settled, and shortly after Ashura lost consciousness a small caravan of a dozen mercenaries escorting several wagons rolled slowly from the distance.

They were a minor mercenary group transporting specialty goods from Beast Forest, led by a middle-aged knight named John.

Because their overall strength was modest, they took on low-risk transport jobs along the forest’s edge.

On the wagon behind the knight sat a bright girl in red, about 16 or 17, with rosy lips, white teeth, exceptionally fair skin, and a black braided ponytail swinging behind her.

She guided the wagon forward, standing out vividly among the rough-and-tumble men.

The knight at the front checked the sky and called back to his men, “We’ll stop here today; set camp for the night and keep a sharp watch!”

At his order the group cheered, halted the wagons, pitched camp, and lit the cookfires.

The girl in red ran up to the knight and said sweetly, “Godfather, I’ll gather some firewood in the woods for cooking!”

Sir John patted her head indulgently and told her to be careful and come back quickly.

She answered brightly and ran toward the trees.

The girl was the orphaned daughter of the mercenary vice-captain Rambo, who had given his life saving Captain John when she was born, and John had since adopted her as his own.

The mercenaries likewise remembered their late vice-captain’s favor and cared for the girl attentively.

Because she had lost her father at birth and her mother soon died of grief, the girl had been orphaned early.

Captain John had named her Daifei when he took her in.

Since childhood she had loved wearing red, which accentuated her fair beauty, and several young men in the troop admired her, even brawling with each other out of jealousy.

Little Daifei reached the forest edge, looked around to be sure no one was near, then stepped behind a tree, loosened her belt, lowered her trousers, and squatted to relieve herself.

Among a band of rough mercenaries, finding privacy for the latrine was indeed a daily hassle.

Just as Daifei was finishing, she suddenly felt something touch her backside.

She looked down and, in the dim light, saw a blood-smeared human hand beneath her pale buttocks.

A sharp scream from the girl pierced the quiet forest…

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