Chapter 40: A Battle in an Instant

"There!" Li Si pointed toward the location of the Moon Spirit Leopard, alerting his teammates.

Following Li Si's cue, Arsen and the others spotted the beast, and Elena immediately charged toward the target. As the member with the highest agility in the squad, she shouldered the responsibility of pinning the Moon Spirit Leopard down. Since it was daytime, the beast's stealth abilities were significantly weakened, and Elena was confident she could hold it back without her own speed being compromised.

She only needed to stall it for a minute; then, her teammates would catch up, and together they would slay this dangerous magical beast.

The Moon Spirit Leopard, hidden in the shadows, realized it had been exposed the moment it saw the group charging toward it. Without a moment's hesitation, it turned and fled. The rugged rocks around it proved no obstacle to its movements; with a light tap against the stone, it leaped off the small hill and bolted toward the foothills. The sense of threat radiating from these individuals far surpassed that of those who had previously hunted it, and its instincts warned it never to let them get a hold of it.

Seeing the leopard act so decisively, with no intention of engaging even for a second, Arsen and his companions cursed under their breath and quickly accelerated in pursuit. However, they clearly could not keep up with the magical beast, leaving only Elena, the hunter, and Yare, a Gold-rank warrior, capable of barely staying within range.

"Haste!"

Following Li Si's incantation, a magical aura enveloped Elena and Yare. As they moved, their speed increased significantly.

"Nice one!" Elena gave Li Si a thumbs up and surged forward toward the leopard. Once she was within attack range, she tucked her short sword into her storage ring and drew her longbow, which shimmered with a pale green radiance.

"Thorn Net!"

Accompanied by a flash of green light, an arrow pierced the air toward the fleeing beast. The Moon Spirit Leopard seemed to sense the attack behind it; it leaped nimbly into the air, dodging the shot. But Elena's arrow was not so simple. As it struck the ground beneath the leopard, green light rippled, and a cluster of barbed, dark-green thorns erupted from the earth, forming a massive net that threatened to envelop the creature entirely.

With nowhere to push off from in mid-air, the leopard was forced to the ground, trapped by the web of thorns. While the barbed vines couldn't pierce the beast's tough hide and were soon shredded by its razor-sharp claws, this brief delay was enough for the group to close the distance.

Elena arrived first. She swung her longbow and fired three arrows in quick succession.

"Marked Shot!"
"Concussive Shot!"
"Binding Shot!"

Elena's triple-shot wasn't aimed at dealing massive damage, but rather at controlling the beast while waiting for her teammates' support. The leopard, having just broken free from the thorn net, could not dodge these three arrows. They struck it squarely in the hindquarters, and a pained roar escaped its throat, though its speed was noticeably slowed.

Realizing it could not escape the encirclement, the Moon Spirit Leopard turned around. Its bright yellow eyes seemed to cloud with a bloody hue as it abandoned its flight and charged directly at Elena. The speed it had lost seemed to return as it entered a berserk state, and a black blur rushed toward the elf.

"Look out!" Yare, who was only a step behind, shouted.

Elena remained calm. She executed her signature hunter survival skill, [Leap]. Pale cyan wind elemental energy swirled around the elf, launching her high into the air. As she evaded the leopard's charge, she drew her bow and fired.

"Explosive Shot!"

The leopard swerved to the right to dodge the arrow and continued its charge. It understood that unless it eliminated Elena, it would never escape this hunt. Her tracking and control abilities were simply too potent!

However, the leopard's plan was thwarted. In the blink of an eye, Yare arrived on the scene, unsheathed her black longsword, and slashed at the incoming beast.

*Boom!*

The leopard was sent flying back faster than it had arrived, crashing into the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust. Even though it was a high-tier Silver-rank magical beast, only a hair's breadth away from Gold, that gap was an insurmountable chasm. It had no means to resist a Gold-rank warrior. Moreover, Yare was a standout among Gold-rank warriors, and she swatted the beast aside with near-absolute dominance.

Yare didn't waste words; she raised her sword and charged at the leopard. The roles had reversed!

She reached the beast and unleashed a simple, diagonal slash. The Moon Spirit Leopard, however, caught the scent of death in that simple strike. Not daring to take it head-on, it used its superior speed to dodge to the side.

Yare frowned slightly. Although the leopard was only Silver-rank, its speed still slightly outmatched her own as a Gold-rank warrior; it was truly annoying. If the leopard knew what she was thinking, it would surely have wept. *I am a high-level magical beast specialized in agility; I'm only slightly faster than you, whose primary attribute is strength—what more do you want?*

But Yare, a future legendary warrior, naturally had a countermeasure.

"Charge!"

A pale white light shimmered on Yare, and her petite frame propelled forward at incredible speed. Before the leopard could react, Yare was already upon it, raising her blade as flickering blue electricity crackled along the edge.

"Thunder Strike!"

The leopard barely had time to react before it took the heavy blow. Even its toughest fur couldn't withstand the sharpness of Yare's strike; a massive wound tore from its upper limb all the way to its abdomen, and dark red blood surged out as if it were worthless. The critically wounded beast tried to struggle, but the sparks of lightning flickering over its body paralyzed it completely, rendering it unable to move.

Yare, having subdued the beast in two moves, gave a satisfied hum. She sheathed her sword and skipped over to Elena, checking to see if her elven sister had been injured during the pursuit.

By now, Li Si, Arsen, and Lombos had finally arrived, watching with a sense of helplessness as the leopard lay on the ground, nearing its end.

"I feel like there wasn't much for the three of us to do?"

"Speak for yourselves, I certainly made my move," Li Si said, casting a glance at Arsen, his eyes openly mocking his teammate's lack of effort.

"What are you looking at!" Arsen thumped Li Si on the shoulder and walked toward Elena and Yare.