Naked Sword Art

Chapter 194 - Stalling

"It seems you got a lot stronger since we last met. Come, let’s see how long you can last against my sword."

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The cannibal abnormal beast didn’t move, but neither did Xiao Fang. After a few seconds, Xiao Fang began to notice something strange.

’Its wound isn’t it healing,’ he thought.

It wasn’t that the cannibal beast wasn’t naturally healing itself, it was just that it was healing way too slowly. At its current strength, it should’ve been able to at least stop the bleeding, but it couldn’t even do that.

Xiao Fang looked down at his new sword then began to suspect that it had something to do with it.

’This sword...’

Suddenly, a loud roar was heard coming from the direction of the massacre. It wasn’t the first time Xiao Fang heard a roar like that, so he immediately assumed it was another abnormal beast.

’Not good.’

Even if it was several kilometers away, it wouldn’t be long till it found him.

Just as the thought of leaving crossed his mind, the wounded cannibal beast began to flee.

’Why is it running away from the other abnormal beast?’ Xiao Fang wondered.

He tried to think about it, but it didn’t make any sense. Eventually, Xiao Hei walked up to him and asked,

"Aren’t you going to chase it?"

Xiao Fang shook his head.

"No. I can’t fight two abnormal beasts at the same time."

"Fight against two?" Xiao Hei replied with a confused look on her face.

...

Cannibal beasts typically live in hiding because they are always being attacked by other tiered beasts. Since the roar came from its last feeding site, it was likely that the 2nd abnormal beast found evidence of what the cannibal beast did and was now trying to hunt it down.

...

"The roar wasn’t for you, it’s for the cannibal beast," Xiao Hei explained.

Xiao Fang finally understood why the abnormal beast was fleeing towards the mountains. It couldn’t go back into the forest because it was too wounded to fight. The best chance it had was to hide in the caves till it fully recovered.

"Thanks, Xiao Hei. It seems I’ll finally be able to finish what I started after all."

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Xiao Fang followed the trail of blood left behind by the cannibal abnormal beast till it reached the cave. He stopped because he was getting a dangerous feeling from it, but that only convinced him that he was on the right path.

"Xiao Hei, if you would rather stay here, I won’t force you," Xiao Fang said.

Although the cave scared her, she would much rather be close to Xiao Fang than be out here alone with an unconscious Supreme Elder. Her [ Stealth ] was only good for a few minutes, after that she’d have to wait a while before she could use it again.

Xiao Hei shook her head and held onto his sleeve.

"Alright, stay close."

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The deeper they went, the darker and wetter it got. Several minutes later, Xiao Fang could hear some movement up ahead. It was the cannibal abnormal beast.

{"Xiao Hei, wait here."} He said via spirit transmission.

Xiao Hei could see well in the dark, so she carried the Supreme Elder to the wall then hid behind the rocks. Once she was hidden, Xiao Fang went into [ Stealth ] then continued going deeper into the cave.

The cannibal abnormal beast was oblivious to Xiao Fang’s approach, but it still kept its back to the wall just in case.

Eventually, Xiao Fang walked into a large open space. When he was close enough to see the cannibal beast with his own eyes, he noticed that the cut he left on its chest had stopped bleeding, but the wound was still there.

’It’s still too weak to fight, I can end this quickly.’

However, before Xiao Fang could attack, he heard the 2nd abnormal beast entering the cave.

Xiao Fang frowned as he turned his head. The abnormal beast was still several hundred meters away, but at the speed it was going it wouldn’t take long for it to reach where they were.

’This one is fast. It’s even faster than me,’ Xiao Fang thought.

He didn’t want to be sandwiched between the two abnormal beasts so he returned back to Xiao Hei.

{"Fang, is it over already?"}

{"Not yet."}

Suddenly, the speedy abnormal beast rushed past Xiao Fang and Xiao Hei who were in hiding. Although it was moving fast Xiao Fang was able to get a good look at it before it passed him.

It was 2 meters tall, had dark navy eyes, thick goat-like legs, a naked tanned upper body, and long grey hair.

Usually, the smaller beasts meant they were weaker, but just like the cannibal beast, the quick abnormal beast wasn’t much taller than 2 meters in height, and it stood up straight like an average human would.

{"Is it another cannibal?"} Xiao Hei asked.

Xiao Fang shook his head, because its eyes weren’t red.

{"Let’s get closer."}

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Xiao Fang didn’t run very fast because he didn’t want to be heard, so by the time they reached the open space, the two abnormal beasts were already fighting.

To Xiao Fang’s surprise, the cannibal abnormal beast wasn’t the only one capable of using illusory techniques, the other abnormal beast was also capable of using them as well. As it ran it created after-images of itself, making it extremely difficult to hit.

’It’s stalling,’ Xiao Fang thought.

A single full forced kick from the quick abnormal beast would easily incapacitate the weakened cannibal abnormal beast, but it was holding back. Even though its defenses were relatively low, it didn’t seem too worried about taking hits from the exhausted cannibal abnormal beast. It almost seemed staged, but for who?

’Why won’t it finish it off?’ Xiao Fang thought.

{"Fang."} Xiao Hei suddenly said as she lightly tugged on his sleeve.

The ground was lightly trembling. Xiao Fang was too focused on the fight to notice it, but once he did, he quickly found out what was causing it.

{"More are coming. Let’s move."} Xiao Fang said.