Chapter 65: Showdown
Keeping in mind the strict rules of the arena, Terrence quickly hid behind the huge trunk of a dense tree. His Shadow Hound became his active scout while he remained safely tucked away to formulate a solid strategy.
’Lucas’s beast is huge, so it won’t be difficult to locate him immediately.’
Noting that he was only spotted initially because of his obvious entrance location, Terrence used this brief window to create a distraction and look for a way to make the duel vastly more interesting.
’Most of the family members must be watching from the stands right now. Good. They will think that they are watching my public humiliation. But they are going to be dead wrong.’
Clenching his fist tightly as he recalled all the miserable suffering he endured under the Lee Family’s estate, a bitter taste pangged his heart.
’So dramatic,’ he thought to himself, shaking the dark mood off.
The Shadow Hound located Lucas almost immediately, sharing a subtle telepathic signal back to its owner. Meanwhile, Lucas still hadn’t gotten a firm grasp on Terrence’s exact location despite riding a much larger beast.
It was only reasonable, since Lucas was currently mounted high atop his beast. While he held a higher vantage point, Terrence’s body was still significantly smaller than most of the surrounding jungle trees.
The chilling, wet wind continuously touched his exposed skin. Lucas’s eyes aggressively scanned the dense foliage area he knew Terrence had taken cover in.
As the wet ground continued to create annoying little splashing sounds underfoot, Lucas couldn’t fully focus to listen for Terrence’s physical breathing.
’The Predator’s Ear skill isn’t working properly... this is a totally disadvantageous biome for me.’ With every small gust of wind howling through the branches, it became a heavy task to stay properly focused.
’If that’s the case... how about targeting his beast instead?’
Changing his focus entirely, Lucas’s ears twitched as he located a subtle difference in sound emanating from a specific location nearby.
’Beasts have a completely different breathing pattern, and their internal mana signature even carries a distinct humming rhythm. With my passive skill, I can locate that dog in no time.’
Using active Skill Share was strictly illegal according to the official rules of the duel. But since passive skills being activated were practically undetectable by arena sensors, Lucas used this precise loophole to his tactical advantage.
It hadn’t even been a full minute since Terrence ran and hid, yet Lucas had already successfully locked onto his beast.
"Gotcha!"
Grinning maniacally with his eyes darting wide in pure excitement, Lucas released a loud, thirsty laugh as he ordered his tiger to strike Terrence’s beast’s location.
In no time at all, he located Terrence’s Shadow Hound perched on top of a short tree branch, silently observing their movements.
"What do you think you’re doing up there, dog?!"
The Golden-Striped Black Tiger opened its massive jaws wide as a dense ball of golden energy materialized inside, growing with every fraction of a second alongside a deadly buzz of raw power.
In an instant, it released a strong, erasing beam of golden light straight toward the Shadow Hound. A muffled, high-pitched sound echoed out, creating a strange equilibrium in its overall volume.
The Shadow Hound was hit dead-on by the golden laser beam, disintegrating into dark, floating particles in a single instant.
Lucas’s eyes remained widened maniacally as he released a short, ragged breath of satisfaction.
"Is it dead already?" Lucas called out into the air as he tried to scan for the Shadow Hound again, but there was only an eerie silence where the beast’s breathing and mana signature used to be.
He pondered the result, thoroughly confused. This wasn’t normal for a summon.
His eyes naturally narrowed as he tried to look deeper into the dense brush.
"Over there!"
A faint mana signature suddenly appeared on the opposite side of the clearing, and the Golden-Striped Black Tiger instantly beamed another burst of laser energy straight at it.
Thick wooden trunks cracked violently once more, thoroughly erased by the raw force of the attack. The heavy ruffles of surrounding leaves danced with the pressure wave that followed right after—it was a terrifying display of pure destructive power.
"Do not concentrate the energy like that anymore," Lucas commanded his tiger sharply. "This pest can somehow dodge our direct attacks."
With serious concentration taking over, his former maniacal expression completely faded as the Shadow Hound materialized once again.
"Right there!"
Even before Lucas could issue a verbal command, the tiger launched another attack, already knowing exactly what its tamer wanted to accomplish.
However, just like earlier, the moment the strike landed, the Shadow Hound simply dissolved into dark dust particles, disappearing into thin air once more.
The tension grew exponentially stronger as Lucas finally decided to unmount from his beast’s back.
By stepping down, his beast had heightened physical senses and could move far more freely through the tight trees.
"Hunt that damn beast down right now!"
The tiger gave a low nod, turning into a flash of golden light the split second it detected Terrence’s beast again. Lucas verified the movement from a short distance as the Shadow Hound was located once more, but even with the rapid attack of his tiger, the hound seemed to move significantly faster than the A-Rank beast.
’How on earth is that stupid dog doing that? It’s completely impossible. No standard beast is faster than mine!’
Lucas possessed a solid B-Rank affinity and was still widely considered one of the young, true geniuses of the main Lee Family. This was because, despite having an inferior affinity compared to his elite cousins, he had managed to bypass the affinity requirement and successfully form a formal contract with an A-Rank Golden-Striped Black Tiger.
Yet the longer the Shadow Hound played around with his top-tier beast, the longer Terrence’s actual location and ultimate defeat were delayed.
’How am I supposed to defeat that slippery beast...?’
"You should probably just surrender now."
As the calm voice cracked directly behind him, Lucas instinctively dropped into a sharp defensive stance, spinning around on his heel.
Seeing Terrence standing casually while leaning against a large tree trunk without a single care in the world, Lucas hissed angrily under his breath.
"What kind of strange beast do you actually have?" Lucas demanded, his eyes darting around. "Is it a Shadow Element type?!"
Terrence’s eyes widened slightly with genuine interest.
"Wow... you actually knew that?"
Secretly, Lucas cursed out loud in his mind. It was because his pure light-element beast couldn’t properly deal physical damage to a shadow mutated beast due to the fundamental nature of its physical race.
His suspicion was right.
Lucas stared at him with an intensely serious look, still refusing to drop his guard for even a second.
"Shadow mutated beasts have been long gone and are considered to be extremely rare across the entire continent," Lucas spat, his jaw tight. "How were you even able to tame one?!"
Terrence opened his mouth slightly, letting out a small, amused exhale.
"Really? I honestly didn’t even know that..."