Above The Sky
Chapter 394 - 394 365

394: 365 394: 365 As evening approached, the sun slowly sank into the rolling Bison Mountain Range to the west, half of the orange-red fireball submerged in darkness, and the other half igniting the sky, making the surrounding clouds appear as golden red flames.

From the Agate Stone Plains to the Leyan Territory, there were vast stretches of forests with tree crowns clustered together, basking in the sun’s afterglow and coating the distant mountain range in a dim golden veil.

In the distance, villages sent up cooking smoke, with grey columns spiraling up into the high winds.

The forest was silent.

Except for the chilling sound of chewing.

Crunch…

Crunch…

A giant tiger, roughly as tall as a person and five to six meters long, buried its head in the carcass of a camel beast; beside it lay an overturned, broken wagon, and the mutilated body of the driver was hanging from the shattered carriage, with stark white spinal bones protruding from the severed waist.

Its fur was deep black with golden-brown stripes all over, and its sleek coat, reflecting under the sunset that filtered through the branches, shimmered with a cold, steel gleam.

Beneath its thick fur was layer upon layer of flesh and blood, with exceptionally developed muscle groups bulging on its thick forelimbs, making it clear that a strike from this beast’s paw could easily crush bones to dust.

Just like the Giant Horned Camel Beast, with its spine brutally collapsed, its body unnaturally twisted.

But what caught the eye the most was its sharp and fearsome claws, which at first glance inspired dread.

Its slightly curved claws carelessly pressed against the frame of the nearby wagon, splitting the sturdy wood apart as easily as butter.

The Sharp Claw Tiger.

The undisputed apex of the Southern Ridge Continent’s ecological hierarchy.

In its presence, even the Swamp Crocodragon would retreat far away, and when the giant elephants of the South Ridge were not yet extinct, only the adult males dared to challenge the authority of this King of the Jungle alone.

If it weren’t for the fact that a Sharp Claw Tiger’s hunting range could exceed one hundred square kilometers, and most lived deep within the dense forests of the Bison Mountain Range, even the most unfortunate hunter would rarely encounter one, and its threat index to Humans would be even higher.

Yet now, it had unusually appeared in the plains outside the mountains.

Crunch…

The giant tiger suddenly stopped chewing and slowly turned its head, swallowing the delicious viscera in its mouth.

Its body rose, as its indifferent golden eyes locked onto the figure that had suddenly appeared and presented a great danger to it.

That was a humanoid figure wrapped in silver armor plates.

Compared to the bulky and sturdy Terra Full-body Heavy Armor, which would turn someone into a humanoid tank, the Alchemist’s Armor focused more on agility at the joints, so at first glance, it looked more like a robe made of layers of metal plates, with only a solid carapace at the chest.

The figure’s face was wrapped in a helmet resembling a gas mask structure, with black observation ports flickering with cold blue light.

As if stung by that gaze, the giant tiger let out a threatening roar, its mighty bellow scattering the surrounding leaves and creating a cacophony in the forest.

If it had been in a normal state, it would have chosen to flee.

The intelligence of Magical Beasts far surpassed ordinary people’s imagination of wild animals, and the longer a beast lived, the closer its wisdom approached that of Humans—especially the carnivores at the top of the food chain, who could instinctively judge the strength of friend and foe—especially an invincible opponent.

The title of King of Beasts was merely a designation given by Humans.

For Magical Beasts, survival was a matter infinitely more important than dignity.

But now, driven by pain and rage to the brink of madness, the giant tiger chose to strike proactively as the figure continued to approach without stopping.

In that instant, it was like dark lightning, accompanied by a howling wind.

The Sharp Claw Tiger raised its right forelimb and surged forward, with three claws capable of slicing through armor.

The claws ripped through the air, aiming straight for the figure’s head.

But the figure simply raised a hand.

Clang!

Sparks flew, as the figure’s left hand armor surfaced flowed with a light golden lattice pattern.

The wind pressure brought by the tiger’s swipe scattered all the surrounding leaves and dust, and the force that could shatter a wagon with one hit poured into its claws but didn’t penetrate the armor or even the ethereal layer of Primordial Essence above it, only causing ripples to shimmer on its surface.

The figure, in turn, seized the moment when the tiger’s force was spent, twisted an arm, and grasped the claw that was headed for its head.

Screech…

The skin-crawling sound of metal grinding echoed as the glove with a lattice glow tightly gripped the claw.

And then, broke it off at the base.

This pain was indescribable, akin to humans gradually crushing their own fingers to bits, or shoving a heated iron spike under their fingernails, or even more agonizing—the Sharp Claw Tiger let out an earth-shattering scream, its entire body trembling as if struck by lightning, rolling backwards at an angle and slamming heavily into a tree, snapping the sturdy trunk.

However, from within this agonized howling, the figure discerned a sense of relief shimmering through.

The green glint in his eyes flickered; he looked at the base of the broken sharp claw.

There, a layer of grayish-black mycelium had penetrated deep into the flesh and blood.

He understood.

Then he took a strange alchemical firearm from his waist.

With Origin Quality flowing in, the figure aimed it at the tiger, now trembling as it stood once more.

Its eyes were dull, even lifeless, as it once again roared at its enemy.

The grayish-black mycelium was spreading around the tiger’s eyes, invisible beneath the mottled dark brown fur.

Its paws sinking deep into the mud, crushing leaves and twigs, it exerted force in its limbs, bared its sharp teeth, and lunged forward fiercely.

Boom—

The pressurized high-energy water jet burst forth, piercing the tiger’s indifferent gaze, swirling around its brain, and halting the Monster’s attack in its momentum, causing it to fall back to the ground.

Even though the sturdy blood-brain barrier prevented the water stream from piercing the fragile brain immediately, the severe shock still damaged the relatively delicate brain tissue structure within, dissolving the giant tiger’s sense of self, turning its pounce into a slow, staggering saunter.

Yet, residual bodily instincts still drove the giant tiger to continue attacking its enemy…

But it was already meaningless.

The figure who had put away his water gun stepped forward, ignoring the giant tiger’s feeble attacks, and seized its neck with one hand.

Flexing his left arm, he exerted tremendous force, crushing the tiger’s thick spine and the surrounding cartilage entirely, with its fur and muscle tissue bursting like a water-saturated sponge, spurting several columns of blood.

The giant tiger’s majestic body, still struggling, instantly lost its strength; its limbs dangled, its breath of life dissipating.

It seemed almost like a release.

[Sharp Claw Tiger’s Blade Claw (Southern Ridge Species)]

[First Power Level·Mycelium Rot·Ordinary·Inedible]

[Habitat: Sharp Claw Tigers from the deep basin forests of the Bison Mountain Range, blade claws rotted at the base by mycelium rot, causing unbearable itchiness that can only be alleviated through forceful scratching against hard surfaces, resulting in increased ferocity]

[After sterilization, can be used as normal Sharp Claw Tiger blade claws to craft daggers or shortswords]

[Contained Primordial Essence: 92.5261 base units]

[…]

Besides that, its eyes had also been affected by the mycelium, clearly compromising the Sharp Claw Tiger’s once-prized vision, making it difficult to survive in the perilous depths of the mountain range, or compete with other Sharp Claw Tigers and Magical Beasts for territory, leaving it no choice but to hunt in the peripheral areas around the Agate Stone Plains.

Withdrawing his gaze, Ian shook his head slightly and sighed, “It seems I need to move up the hunting schedule for Fiery Flame Land.

No wonder in the Dream of the Worm Nest, Nanling Province wasn’t able to coordinate a counterattack with the Imperial Center against Sorin Duchy three years later…

It’s probably too preoccupied.”

Shaking his head, he grabbed the fur of the tiger, which was larger than a cow by a size, and dragged it towards the distant village.

Night had fallen, and the village chief and hunters of Gold Leaf Town anxiously awaited the Knight’s return.

They wore leather armors, and the local militia behind them held wooden spears and pitchforks.

Some better-equipped individuals even prepared small shields for themselves.

Although everyone knew that all this was meaningless against a real Magical Beast, just being slightly stronger than those nearby was enough to soothe their restless hearts.

When Ian returned to the wooden fence of the village unscathed, carrying the corpse of the Sharp Claw Tiger, everyone held their breath, stunned for a moment.

Then came the cheering and crying.