Chapter 90: Lasers!

It was only when the tiger took another step closer to Yanael that Zach realized something.

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Yanael had cut off its leg during their last encounter. But it had four now.

Zach narrowed his eyes and tried to get a better look at the leg that was supposed to be missing. It was difficult to see in the darkness, but it looked discolored and like there was a divide between the stump and the reattached leg.

The Underworld had put the tiger back together and strengthened it with underworld energy, but it hadn't been perfect.

The tiger had already been a perfect apex predator before. It didn't need the Underworld's strength. It refused it. It had tried to reject it.

Otherwise, there was no way they would let such a majestic being fight Zach and his companions. It had too much potential to be wasted in such a paltry battle.

But Zach didn't mind the opportunity to finish what had started all those months ago. The previous ending had left a bitter taste in his mouth, after all.

The Underworld would only have wasted the tiger if the tiger died.

Zach was going to make sure that would happen. He pulled Dukiel and Julius up by their collars and made sure they weren't caught up in the same fear that had brought the hunting party to its knees last time.

Fortunately, Zach had received training in the form of coming face-to-face with Jigak. He wasn't unfazed, and his heart was beating like a stampede of wild horses out of fear. But he could still think. He could still act. Now, he needed the other two to do the same.

Since the tiger had been corrupted by the Underworld, even Julius' Mannequin would be useful. It had to be useful. They needed all hands on deck for this one.

Zach threw up a small barrier in front of Yanael as the tiger swatted her with a quick paw that moved like a shadow, even under her halo's light.

Zach's barrier wasn't powerful enough to handle the blow. But it could soften it. Before it broke, Zach replaced the barrier with another on top of Yanael's shield.

Yanael raised her shield arm and took the tiger's blow head-on with nothing more than a grunt. In return, she stabbed its toe with a quick thrust.

The tiger didn't yelp or even react to Yanael's strike. It was like it didn't have any feeling in its reattached limb. Or, it had grown numb to pain.

Based on the cold look in its eyes, Zach was going to bet on the latter.

It wouldn't flee or avoid attacks this time around.

Zach could feel it.

It would be a messy fight to the death with extra violence on top.

The tiger pressed down on Yanael for a moment before lifting its paw and then slamming down both of them on Yanael like a cat pouncing on a mouse. Yanael dodged backward, and Zach used a barrier to block the shockwave that could have otherwise destabilized her footing.

Continuing with the cat-and-mouse game, the tiger smacked forward with one paw. Yanael sidestepped it and slashed upward, drawing a line in the tiger's leg. This time it was the leg that hadn't been severed and reattached, but it still bled grey instead of red. And once again, the tiger didn't seem to care about its injury.

When it saw that it was bleeding, however, it growled. Its ears twitched, and Zach felt like he saw a wave move through its ocean of fur. A chill crept down his spine.

'It was playing with her.'

The cat-and-mouse game hadn't been just a game for the oversized feline. It hadn't taken Yanael seriously.

"Dukiel, lay down some fire. We need to hit it before it gets serious."

"W-what?" Dukiel's eyes shifted like a startled doe in confusion. He was still affected by the murderous intent the tiger had unleashed when it crept up on them.

"Lasers, fucker! Lasers!"

Zach dared to be loud and shouted at Dukiel while shaking him. Yanael was fighting with her life on the line.

Zach wasn't going to let her risk her life due to Dukiel's and Julius' inexperience.

"R-right…"

Dukiel was still somewhat out of it, but his gaze found the tiger after a few moments before shifting to the Sentinel. He used his skill and commanded the Sentinel.

Four arms popped out of the Sentinel. No, the arms were already out. It had two swords and two shields to defend Dukiel against the tiger. The arms retreated before coming out again, this time with four orbs.

If it came to the Sentinel needing to defend them, it was already over. But the Sentinel had acted according to its instincts, which were to protect its master. It was Sentinel, not a hunter.

But the tiger was a monster. It had to be hunted.

For that, they needed a hunter's mindset. A human's mindset.

Yanael had heard Zach's shout and knew what to expect, so she got on the offensive. She swung her blade instead of blocking the tiger's next paw. She met its sole. But it was like cutting leather with a butter knife.

Yanael grunted and finished drawing a line across the underside of the tiger's paw. In exchange, she caught its other paw with her side.

Zach let a barrier break to take as much of the blow as possible for her, but she still got sent flying several steps.

But the tiger stood on its hind legs with both front paws in an awkward position. It was the perfect target for the lasers that burst out of the Sentinel's four orbs.

Having learned from the time Zach made a lens to power through the earth, the Sentinel pointed the lasers at the same place to concentrate its power.

The lasers pierced through the air, meeting up right in front of the tiger, at a speed Zach wouldn't have been able to react to.

However, the tiger had far better reflexes than Zach. With a slight push from the powerful muscles on its hind legs, the tiger soared away faster than the lasers. It leaped through the air to the other side of the group, landing on a tree. S~eaʀᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

'Shit.'