Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 1160 - 272: Encounter Battle

Chapter 1160: Chapter 272: Encounter Battle

"Creak," Pannis leaned against the tree, facing the girls, and slowly drew his bowstring, with three sharp feathered arrows placed on it, their metal tips painted black, reflecting no sunlight either by day or night. This bow was very peculiar; the girls had never seen a weapon like it before, and when Pannis first pulled it out from his pocket, they didn’t even recognize it as a bow. Initially, what appeared before the girls was a curved wooden stick slightly longer than Pannis’s palm, with curved ends wide enough to be gripped by hand, where soft, tightly wound cloth prevented slippage. As the girls watched, curious and puzzled, Pannis grasped one end wrapped in cloth, took a deep breath, and with a faint surge of Aggression, dim energy glowed from both ends of the stick. Light beams extended from both sides, stretching along fixed lines, and along with the body of the stick, transformed into semi-energized bow limbs. In the final formation of this strange bow, a thin energy line formed the bowstring, connecting both ends and completing the bow.

Faced with such a unique weapon, if it wasn’t for the timing, the girls, especially the ever-curious Lina, even felt an urge to touch it. However, for safety’s sake, she suppressed her inner desire, biting her lip as she watched Pannis’s actions. As for Dillie, ever since he saw Pannis take out the bow, he had been laying on the ground, constantly emitting a weird muffled laughter, muttering incomprehensible words, "Shura Field, Shura Field, borrowing the bow of old to increase the survival rate of the new; Shura Field is waiting for you, heh heh heh, cleaver, cleaver."

Although they couldn’t understand exactly what he was saying, based on their days of acquaintance, it was clear that the Magical Beast Lord was not likely to say anything with good intent, so they simply ignored his muffled laughter, pretending they heard nothing.

In fact, this was the third time in just over an hour that Pannis had taken out this bow, and it was also the third battle they had encountered on their journey. Not far behind the large trees where they were hiding, four magical beasts taller than a man wandered aimlessly. These beasts, a bear, a wolf, a lion, and a giant ape, were common species within the Core Jungle. Like the previous two battles, the number of enemies was about the same, only varying in type. These magical beasts, though slightly slower than normal creatures, were still agile like any living beast, patrolling their territory.

The magical beasts were not specifically searching for the expedition team as they had originally feared; it seemed they were simply living here. Aside from the first encounter which forced them into outright combat, the previous and this current encounter were actually ambushes initiated by the expedition team.

Just like now, as Pannis rested his fingers on the energy-formed bowstring, the ethereal bowstring appearing almost tangible as he slowly drew it back. The three feathered arrows were set in place, his eyes half-closed against the tree, his gaze shifting through his half-open eyelids toward Catherine hidden behind another tree. The knight girl held her breath, slightly peeking around the tree with a hand mirror, observing the beasts. Her other hand signaled to Pannis, three, two, one, retracting her last finger, she gave a thumbs-up and quickly pulled back her hand mirror, picking up the Falcon Shield at her feet. Pannis nodded forcefully, then spun out from behind the tree and sent the feathered arrows flying toward the beasts.

While all three magical beasts were Demigod magical beasts, their reactivity was still limited; before they could realize what was happening, they were struck head-on. The energized bowstring made no sound of vibration, but the arrows had disappeared from it. The arrows’ speed was so fast that even the girls, with their Legendary Rank capabilities, couldn’t see their flight trajectory. They only saw the arrows disappear from the bowstring, and the next moment, they had deeply pierced into the enemies’ bodies. The tail of the arrows and the ends even smoked faintly, evidently from friction heating them during their high-speed flight. Since the speed was too great for Fire Element to gather, there was only smoke and no actual flame. Once they struck their targets, blood sprayed onto the arrows’ tails, hissing and sending up a mist.

The three arrows achieved different effects; one entered through a giant ape’s right eye, the Aggression-filled arrow easily penetrating the soft brain tissue and striking the skull inside. The tremendous energy carried by the arrow then exploded within the ape’s skull, blasting away half of its head. The headless giant ape staggered a few steps on its legs then collapsed, its limbs twitching faintly, unable to rise again. The second arrow entered through the side of a wolf-like magical beast’s neck, passing through and exiting the other side, leaving a gaping hole as big as an arm even though the arrow’s body was only as thick as a little finger. Despite the lethal wound, the wolf-like magical beast rose agiley, its blood-red eyes glaring at Pannis’s position, its head raising to howl, but only a hissing sound emerged due to the hole in its throat, though it did not affect its mobility. The third arrow targeted a bear, entering into the bear magical beast’s abdomen due to its position, mashing up the wound and the organs inside but not passing through, leaving a massive wound on one side that visibly pained anyone who saw it through the round hole, with intestines and torn pieces occasionally spilling out.

The magical beasts let out a plaintive roar. Except for the unharmed lion-like magical beast, the other two were enshrouded in a thick death aura, their eyes red as blood. Together, they charged fiercely towards Pannis, who was leisurely standing by a tree, slowly drawing his bowstring again. However, just as the three beasts began their assault, a larger scorpion-tailed lion pounced from the side, rolling away with the bear-like magical beast in its clasp, entangling each other in a fierce struggle that made the ground tremble.

The remaining two beasts had only charged halfway when they saw Pannis flash a smirk and playfully wink at them. The next moment, the arrow disappeared from the bowstring again, and the already injured wolf-like beast flew backward as if struck by a giant hammer. It could be seen that Pannis’s arrow had pierced upward diagonally from its gaping mouth, exiting at the junction of its head and neck, propelling it several meters backward to be firmly pinned against a thick tree trunk. The massive wolf, with its skull completely shattered, dangled midair, struggled instinctively for a moment, and then hung limp, losing all mobility. After hanging for a few seconds, the arrow shaft broke under gravity, and the giant wolf’s corpse slumped to the ground motionlessly.

The solitary lion, although lacking the death aura and not undergoing undead transformation, seemed utterly fearless about its companion’s demise. Even as its companion was flung from its side, it didn’t even spare a glance and leaped at the defenseless Pannis. Its long, sharp claws gleamed menacingly, fully capable, one could imagine, of easily tearing one to pieces.

However, just as it was about to reach him, its view was suddenly obstructed by a massive Falcon Shield. The claws scratched against the metallic surface of the shield, creating a grating sound that was almost unbearable to hear, leaving ten deep scratches on the hard surface. If Catherine had not infused Aggression into the shield to reinforce it while blocking, those scratches might have completely penetrated the thick metal, causing significant damage to the defender behind it. Nevertheless, the shield ultimately blocked the enemy’s assault. The force of the enemy’s pounce caused the knight girl to grit her teeth in agony and despair, staggering back half a step with one leg while twisting her waist to deflect the shield sideways, roaring with all her might to slam the enemy onto the ground at her left.

At the same time, several metallic mechanical claws suddenly burst from the ground, firmly binding the enemy’s limbs, who was dazed from the impact. The beast lay flat on the ground as a Pillar of Fire erupted from beneath, enveloping the giant lion’s head and igniting its mane. At the lion’s belly, a sharp rock spear thrust forcefully upward from the ground, striking the enemy’s abdomen repeatedly.

Seemingly enduring excruciating pain, the lion, its head aflame, forcefully broke free from the mechanical claws. Its hind legs trembled as it let out pitiful howls, evoking sympathy from those who heard it. But just as it opened its mouth to howl, a powerful beam of light shot from its wide-open mouth straight into its abdomen. It was not just light; the beam was laden with intense energy and scorching heat, almost cooking its throat as it extended to the belly, causing bursts of roasted scent from its mouth. After several hits, particularly the damaging beam of light, red light finally surfaced in the lion’s eyes, its body starting to emit the Energy of Death, signaling the beginning of its undead transformation. Once the transformation was successful, it would no longer feel pain, and its strength and speed would significantly increase.

Regrettably, right in the midst of its transformation, a massive claw descended from the sky and heavily smashed onto its head, driving it deep into the ground. As the top Demigod Predator, the scorpion-tailed lion Dillie’s strength was beyond its match. After several strikes, it completely mashed the lion’s head into a bloody pulp. With its head gone, the lion seemed to halt its undead transformation, becoming a quiet corpse.