《The Odyssey of Dalis》Chapter 22: Pre-Soldier Exam (9) “The Spider’s Den”
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The three went into their battle stances and prepared their weapons. Dalis was seen to be holding something else in his other arm.
"What's that?"
"My life savings."
"In any case, you have something in mind right Dalis?"
Dalis nodded his head in response to Sienna.
"Alright."
"They're coming!"
A scruffy, brown, boar beast charged in front of them. It was quite agile as it maneuvered through the webs with ease. Its hooves could be heard, growing louder by the passing second.
Dalis remained still and simply pulled out his life savings. Surely this boar beast would not fall into the category of "muscle head".
Unfortunately for him, the beast fell into that very category. It continued its relentless assault. Dalis panicked inwardly. He then thrust the bundle of herbs towards his left side. He hoped to redirect the aggressive charge towards the left.
"What the hell are you doing?! Use your weapon!" Jessica criticised.
The two girls had already left his side and maintained a distance behind him.
The very next moment, the beast had changed its direction towards the left. It was aiming directly at the herbs in his hands.
"@#$%#$%*?"
Seeing this Dalis let out a conceited smirk. His posture became even more firm than before as he stood triumphantly. He knew that there was nothing to worry about. The boar had finally reached him. Two seconds before the moment of impact, he turned his stance 90° anti-clockwise. The beast had magnificently missed its target by the skin of his teeth!
Jessica's jaw dropped to the floor. Sienna couldn't help but ingrain the scene in front of her into her memory.
The beast was not done yet. It continued its endeavour, rotating its body and charging towards Dalis once again. Dalis, who had not moved since his last movement, prepared his cape . . . no, herbs as previously. He returned to his original stance though facing the beast and repeated his former actions.
Unexpectedly, it had worked for the second time. For the third round, Dalis had even dared to perform the verónica! This was where he let the bundle of herbs trail over the beast's head as it ran past him.
At this point, even Sienna was speechless of him. Could Dalis be a matador?
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However, this amusement act could not go for any longer as two beasts had stealthily approached the girls.
Arrrrrrrrr
A furry, grey wolf beast pounced on to Sienna. Sienna was aware of this sneaky beast; thus, she was able to slash the beast in retaliation. The beast took the shimmering blade to its neck and dropped to the ground. However, she had no time for comfort. She saw Jessica, who had barely reacted in time, struggling against a beast. Jessica had her sword clenched in the teeth of the vicious, wet fangs of the other grey wolf. They were having a tug of war.
"Damn it you stupid dog! Let go!"
Despite the red blood that dripped down its mouth, it continued its assault. It was not willing to back down even if it were to sustain a great injury.
"Jessica I'm coming!"
However, right as she was about to reach her side, another beast had appeared in front of her, blocking her way. This beast was a large raccoon with sharp culinary claws. In addition, its teeth were similar to a human in appearance. But, it only had two front teeth which ran straight down its mouth and were two middle fingers in length. Although the critter was not as threatening as it looked, it was known for its poisonous fangs. If she were to be bitten even once, it would mark disaster.
Sienna, grunted and made the first move. She gripped her sword tightly with both hands and gave an upward thrust from the middle. The beast dodged the attack and used its legs to spring forward. Sienna turned to the side, dodging the incoming attack and went for a full-on thrust forwards. The beast didn't expect her to be so daring; thus, it was unable to completely dodge in time. Sienna's sword pierced through the beast's upper abdomen.
Gwaaarrrrrr
The beast cried in pain. Sienna had no time to lose and quickly took advantage of the situation. While its movements were slowed, Sienna looped behind the beast before it could turn to face her and delivered a crescent slash. The beast toppled down onto its back and twitched in agony.
Sienna affirmed the beast's inability to battle and rushed towards Jessica's side. Thankfully, Jessica was not interrupted by any other beasts. She still remained relatively in the same position as before. However, one could see beads of sweat trickling down her face and hands. She was also being pushed back. Her situation was not positive.
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"Offffff heerrrr!"
Sienna dispatched a heavy downwards strike onto the beast's back. It was a critical blow. The beast wailed in great pain and was thrust to the hard floor. This one's wounds were fatal for certain. It was likely to die in the next couple of minutes.
"Haa . . . ha . . . ha . . . thanks Sienna."
"Sorry, I didn't expect another beast to follow afterwards."
Sienna line of sight went towards Dalis and Jessica's eyes followed. They saw Dalis face three beasts simultaneously. One of the beasts appeared to be a Red Bear. The other beast was a large three-eyed, orange anteater who stood like a humanoid. However, this beast was a carnivore and did not merely feed on ants. It was known as the Antgruy. The last beast that could be briefly seen was a Ratavex. Although it was smaller than the other two beasts and lacked strength, due to its limber-like anatomy its jumps were as powerful as a frog. It utilises speed to overwhelm its foes.
Dalis was pushed to the defence as the beasts attacked him. He did not try to attack or counterattack and focused all of his concentration in dodging. However, if one were to look at how he dodged, it was very nimble and deft in motion. Not once did he use any excessive motions at all, keeping himself consistent at all times. It was like a dance in the shadows. His figure was barely conspicuous in view.
It is important to note that the aggressive boar from before was no longer trying to grind Dalis into the dust. That beast was currently occupied with hammering another beast. Nearby those two beasts, there were strands of calepufer herbs. Except, they were no longer in their pristine condition and instead squashed. Judging by the footprint marks, it had seemed that the beast who was getting hammered had "accidentally" trampled on the herbs.
It was unknown whether Dalis had a part in this conspiracy.
(Why are they solely enraptured with me? Do they prefer humans or is it because of what's in my pocket?)
Dalis swiftly dodged the arriving Ratavex with his adept footwork. He was then leapt on by the Antgruy. Due to the speed of the Ratavex, his dodge was a hefty kick to the ground, rather than a jump. Thus, he had not landed safely.
(Crap!)
When the Antgruy was just inches before slamming him down, Dalis hurled his tri-section staff high above. He then used one of his palms to propel himself up from the ground, whilst his other arm made use of the beast's backside to further extend his thrust. Like an acrobatic, he performed a cartwheel in mid-air and just barely managed to seize the falling staff, gripping the staffs" lowest section. Dalis's trajectory was on course with the ravenous Red Bear.
"Hidden technique: Seven Orbit Floggings of Subjugation!"
Dalis initiated his vicious, seven whippings from hell, which would strike fear to all tamed animals in the world. Each strike would lacerate the enemy beast to damnation. If the Rhinearian Beetle was to be informed about his new technique, the beetle would not hesitate to fly straight towards the heavens and request Caleyar for his aid.
"Flog One!"
"Flog Two!"
"Flog Three!"
"Flog Four!"
"Flog Five!"
"Flog Six!"
"FLOG SEVEN!"
ROAAARRRRRRR
The red beast took seven mighty herculean blows to the upper half of its body. Blood profusely sprayed out of its seven deep wounds, leaving a fountain of blood. The bear laid on its back, not moving an inch. A devil-incarnate had left hell to exert dreadful punishment on the mortal beast.
It was the last dream this mortal beast would ever have.
No . . .
It was an eternal nightmare.
One that he would never be able to wake up from . . .
Despite being unable to clearly witness everything, Sienna and Jessica, who had seen what could be perceived, felt an icy chill run through their spines. They felt they had seen something that shouldn't have been seen in their entire lives.
(He called that subjugation right? SUBJUGATION?! How in Caleyar's world can that be described as SUBJUGATION?!)
(So . . . amazing . . . .)
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