Emperor's Reckoning

The loud growl made the two sides startled and turned wary of their surroundings. Hellboars were famed for their intelligence and brute strength. They could play either in a group or individually. There was no telling what the hellboar would do since they didn't follow a specific pattern.

(Shit!) thought Zet.

He was not looking really optimistic now even though Ivy was lurking and hiding behind nearby trees. 

She did not choose to run but instead recuperated nearby, in hope of giving Zet support as the latter fought the seven men in doing so. However, the loud growl made her anxious. Her heart raced as her eyes refused to blink. She was already heaving up and down with her cold sweat drenching her temples. 

"This is not good..." muttered Ivy. (That loud growl didn't seem to come from a three-horned Hellboars!).

She made a harsh gulp as she tried to figure out how to escape the situation. Initially, she would have recuperated and could assist Zet but with the wild variable coming into play, she was forced to change her plans.

"This is dangerous..." she could feel her heart beating fast. (If a four-horned harbor made an appearance, then only the slow ones will die first).

*Growl!

All nine of them had their eyes wide open whilst their body froze.

"T-Two...?!" one of them felt their legs like noodles before dropping to the ground on their butt.

"Oi oi, you're kidding...."

"We gonna die if we fight, but we are going to lose if we use the Jade Stone."

The seven of them were in distress and dilemma. They could escape right now and lose or stay and continue the round.

(Two?!) thought Ivy as her heart raced faster. There was nothing in this world that could have prepared her for two four-horned hellboars. (Nobody will survive if those are two four-horned hellboars! But I can't give up now!).

'Zet, can you hear me?'

Zet opened his eyes wide before he replied to the mana transmission. 'Yes, older sister are you alright?"

'That's not important, listen closely, I'm right behind the tree that is behind you. I was planning to support you from the shadows but it seems like there are two four-horned hellboars lurking around'

'Four-horned hellboars?! Are you sure older sister?"

'Let's just hope that it is four, if it's five then we are sure to be dead without using the Returning Jade Stone.'

'There is something going on inside the forest that changed their behavior, the older ones usually lurked deeper but the three-horned hellboars are seen even in this area.'

'Yeah, something is definitely off, I hope big brother is fine though.'

'We need to start worrying about ourselves first!'

Zet was startled with his hair straightened out. He had never seen her getting mad. (Why is she so sensitive? Is this what big brother said by women having mood swings?) thought Zet before apologizing. 'S-Sorry.'

'Good, now that you understand, I think it's fine to not fight the seven of them for the time being. The place is getting dangerous we must stay away from as soon as possible.'

'But, aren't you going to kill them? They humiliate your honor with their tones and gaze!'

'That is not important right now, I can avenge them later or maybe the hellboar will do it for me. Survive and winning this round is the only thing that matters.'

Zet was stumped shut. He couldn't think of a reason for her being so decisive and competitive in the tournament. She was eyeing the top ten spots for a while but nobody knew the exact reason.

*Creak!

The sound of roots snapping was heard before one of those towering giant trees tumbled down.

*Boom!

The huge tree crashed on the ground and splitting the two sides apart. 

*Snort!

A huge heavy snort could be heard coming with a few heavy stomps trailing the way. The large hooves had a scar of battle but they were firmed and deadly. The sharpness of the nails there was being sharpened by the experience that the beast had lived. 

The four horns on its forehead proved their spot in the hierarchy of the food chain. The large horns were twice the size of the three-horned hellboars and were of higher quality as well.

One could only call the experts to exterminate such beast, but now, not only they were juniors in the eye of the experienced, there were two of them coming.

"S..." one of the seven men couldn't even say the word in his mind. The towering beast was nothing like the three-horned ones, though they could struggle against the former and won, against the latter, even with seven of them together they knew that their chances were near zero. They were only as tall as their knees, one stomp from that thing wouldn't save their life either.

"Aah!" one of the seven men screamed before turning around and running away.

"Y-You stupid!" said one of the remaining six.

One of the two hellboars immediately growled in response before rushing forward. It immediately accelerated before sending the other six men to walking cries. 

Their bones immediately shattered from the impact before they were sent flying. Blood immediately spurted out of their mouths before they fell to the ground.

The one running away had his heart racing as he heard the trees behind him tumbling down one by one. 

"Shit shit shit shit!!" He muttered before he retrieved his Returning Jade Stone and crushed it. He was gasping for breath but he turned out a smile as the jade light started to encapsulate his figure.

"Haha, hahaha!"

*Thud!

"Eh?" he suddenly tripped over before his face hit the ground flat. His face bounced as the crawling fear started to rocket its shivering way across his spine.

*Boom!

*Splurt!

The giant hellboar stomped on its prey right against the vertebrae. The grueling snap was unheard of due to the powerful impact and the jade light diminishingly faded away to thin air.

An Ascending God's cultivators died just like that, with a stomp from the four-horned hellboar. The power that was so massively superior to its lesser brethren.

The four-horned beast immediately gnawed the prey that it had successfully hunted before swallowing it all. The four-horned beast let out a snort before the pair of dark eyes looked at the injured six.

"N-No.. no!!"

All six of them made crushed their Returning Jade Stones immediately but the second hellboar was furious. 

Zet instantly furrowed his eyebrows.

The giant beast leaped before slamming its muscle belly down. Their wailing scream could be heard but two jade lights managed to shoot to the sky.

The giant beast snorted once more but it looked displeased as two of its prey escaped out.

*Rustle!

The two hellboars turned around only to see that their last pray had escaped as well.

The two of them immediately snorted furiously against the ground before they charged forward in the direction in which Zet had gone.

"They're coming!"

"I know!"

Zet was running away with all his legs could give whilst carrying Ivy in his arms. He could hear the rumble those trees behind them made as his heart raced with the increasing number of which they had fallen.

"This is so unlucky!" shouted Zet as his red hair fluttered along the forest.

"Sorry," muttered Ivy. She was being a burden with her condition but she had no choice.

"Why don't you use the Returning Jade Stone?!"

"I can't! I must win!"

"Kh!" Zet couldn't complain about those determining gaze of hers. He gritted his teeth as he roared.

"How long are we going to run?! They are relentless!"

Ivy gritted her teeth as she bit her thumb. She was the person that should think of a plan. The hellboar won't give up that easily, especially the four-horned ones.

"Do you have the energy to run around the forest?" asked Ivy.

"W-What? Older sister please!"

"Tch! Make a turn Zet, don't run in a straight line!"

Zet immediately felt shivers crawling up his spine before he leaped to the right.

*Boom!

The air was breaking behind him as he opened his eyes. He was almost kissed by the god of death himself.

One boar missed the other one immediately made a turn to catch up against the sword genius.

"Shit shit shit!" muttered Zet as he ran. "Do you have any—"

*Rattle! Rattle!

His eyes opened before his fear turned into a grin. There was only one meaning why his sword was rattling. 

He furrowed his eyebrows and made a sharp turn as if his life depended on it.

*Boom!

He missed another lunge by a hair.

"He is near!" said Zet even before Ivy asked.

"You mean..."

"Yes! Our key to escaping this mess!" said Zet as he increased his speed to a new height.

Ivy raised both of her eyebrows. The absurd man that would take on heaven themselves, there was no other.

"Lyon..." 

"There! I see him!" said Zet before he saw a familiar figure walking leisurely in the forest with his hands behind his back.