Chapter 161: Bear King

Leonel controlled his speed. He was more than capable of leaving the trailing youths to his back far behind, but would doing this benefit him? If anything, it would put him in danger. Not only did he need to maintain their pace such that they were ahead of the beast tide, he needed to ensure they could also remain together. 

With him in the lead, he perfectly took into account the speed and stamina stats of everyone. By now, any youth worthy of being part of this group had a complete set of stats above 1.00. This was more than enough to cross the remaining 400 or so meters in just half a minute. 

They had already crossed half the distance before the legion of beasts couldn't sit idly any longer. Leonel didn't know why it was that they were still waiting, but what he was certain of was that they didn't want anyone entering before they did. 

The brownish gold bear stepped forward, roaring as though giving a warning. 

The beast tide behind the group of youths faltered for a moment, but it seemed that they had completely lost all reasoning. 

It was clear that this fact completely enraged the brownish gold bear. He raised up onto his hind legs, billowing into the skies before slamming his front paws down. 

The earth suddenly became turbulent. It seemed for a moment that nothing would happen, but then an earthen tide suddenly rose into the skies, causing Leonel's expression to change violently. 

'Earth control? This bear needs to die.'

The moment Leonel made the decision, he didn't hesitate. 

The only chance for him and the youths with him to survive was to enter the hive network, making use of the network of tunnels to both hide and find a path toward the source of the Force geyser. However, if there was an earth controlling beast that entered into a network of tunnels with them… They wouldn't even know how they died. 

If others heard Leonel's thoughts, they would think he was crazy. Though his line of thinking was correct, how could he possibly spare time for such a thing? Anyone else would focus on surviving this situation first, then worry about what came later, later. 

However, Leonel had been a star quarterback. Every move he made on the football field considered what might happen five, ten, even twenty plays later. Sometimes, it wasn't worth taking a victory if it guaranteed a loss later. Likewise, it was sometimes worth it to eat a loss for the sake of ultimately grasping victory. 

Looking at the compression shirt in his hand, Leonel's eyes flashed. 

"Do your best to dodge!" Leonel roared. 

There was a limit to his abilities. While he could put himself on the line to deal with this beast, he couldn't also help them all dodge this attack. But, he wasn't worried. These were all promising youths for a reason. 

Without hesitation, Leonel's speed suddenly doubled, then doubled again. He looked like a streak of light tearing across the graveled land, leaving a trail of dust in his wake. 

He leapt over the three meter wall of earth with absolute ease. 

By now, his distance from the bear king had already shrunk to 50 meters. At this point, he could even see the reflections in its large black eyes. He could sense its fury, its rage, its killing intent. But, his heart remained steady. 

40 meters. 30 meters. 20 meters. 

"ROOOOOAAARRRR!!"

Seemingly worried about the coming beast tide, the bear king didn't force his legion to charge toward Leonel. Plus, in its mind… how could he possibly not be able to deal with a single human by itself?

The size difference was striking. The bear stood at over five meters tall, yet Leonel was barely two. Even the former's palm seemed capable of swatting him into a meat patty, but Leonel dauntlessly approached. 

At that moment, the bear king seemed to sense Leonel's oppressive aura. Its rage had muddled its senses for a moment, but once Leonel came so close, it felt to him that hell had suddenly descended. 

The bear was shocked for a moment, only to find that Leonel had suddenly appeared in the air above it, pointing a… black shirt at it?

Confusion colored the bear's features. Why was this human pointing a piece of cloth at it? 

The bear king's intelligence was just starting to develop, but the scene before it was completely baffling. It couldn't combine the threatening aura it felt from the human with the scene before it. 

For the first time, a beast would pay a price for its rising intelligence. If it was still a normal bear, it wouldn't have hesitated to turn and run. It didn't have emotions like pride, it only had instincts of survival. 

But, by now, it had grown the fondness for kingship. It had become intoxicated with power.

It had already sent the spider forward before, causing it to suffer a major setback. If it didn't step up now, the other beast kings would be disatisfied. This was his role to take on. 

BANG!

The moment it opened its mouth to roar its fear away, a searing pain ripped through its tongue and throat. 

At first, it was the pain of having its flesh torn and pierced. But, in what felt like an instant, its vision grew blurry. It happened so quickly that the human that had been 'standing' in the air above it didn't even have time to land on the ground before its inner organs were completely corroded. 

Leonel sucked in a cold breath as the bear collapsed. He had known that the spider king's poison would be potent… but he most definitely didn't expect it to be so exaggerated. He couldn't help but feel a cold shiver run down his spine. If it wasn't for his chain necklace, he would be finished. 

After taking a look at the fourth nozzle he had completely ruined, Leonel sighed, landing on the ground heavily. 

With a dull bang, the bear king fell to the ground.