Chapter 227 - Trapped In The Middle
Chapter 227 Trapped in the middle
Author: M_W Cancer
Grammar checker: M_W Nomral
Under the moonlight of the moon, shadows travel fast around the woods, inconspicuous and silent with their footsteps as if they're afraid of something inside this forest.
"Spotted a stamped of Vinetop Moss up in front of us..." Charlotte quickly warned.
At this moment, Leo and the others were already in the Dark Green zone of the Hundred Hills, slowly but surely approaching the Red zone which Leo had said was the Mischievous Lion organization's Headquarters.
"Let's stop and hide up the top of the trees and be sure not to make any sounds, the Vinetop Moss's ears are so sharp and the vines at there back are their powerful weapons aside from their deadly horns, so once a sound is detected dozens of vines would immediately come whipping straight to you!" Leo explained before quickly jumping up the trees.
Vinetop Moss is a No Star Magical Beast to 2 Star Magical Beast, but they're not something to be underestimated about despite their low cultivation because the vines formed in their backs act like a whip that can attack all over the place with a range of 10 meters or more, depending on their level. They're always in groups, also known for being so sensitive to any noises, and overly aggressive, so it's always recommended by hunters who are not confident in facing this Vinetop Moss to go up the trees for safety.
Princess Elaine, Charlotte, Ahmed, Brad, Jasmine, Jeffrey, Matt, Venice, and those other members of the 5 Divisions quickly followed after without bothering to ask any questions.
Arriving at the top of the tree, Leo then quickly observes the situation in front of them.
Cloud of dust was seemingly approaching them, trees were shaking as the dust approaches, and looking closely inside this dust, he immediately saw dozens of Vinetop Moss running as fast as possible while dozens of Lions with some parts of their bodies covered in stones were chasing behind them.
Those chasing Lions were called Mountain Lions, a No Star Magical Beast to 3 Star Magical Beast living around the territory of Hundred Hills. They have a body that has similar stone armor like those of Stone Monkey's, and their hair around their head is completely made out of flexible yet hard stone-like spikes. They're attacking pattern would either be using their sharp claws, their tails with a boulder-like end, and their deadly mouth. If ever a hunter meets with these Mountain Lions, if not confident in killing them, then it is highly recommended to run for their lives as soon as possible because these Mountain Lions will absolutely chase them whether it's the top of the trees, down the caves, or even in their most favorite spot, on the land. Going into the water is also not their weakness because although they don't like to swim after the person, they would still follow them until they finally decided to get out of the water. The Mountain Lions are also not afraid if ever the person they're chasing would choose not to get out of the water, since they'll eventually die in cold, be attacked by some other aquatic Magical Beast, or drown to death, which in all cases would mean death, and with the person's body being washed ashore, the Mountain Lions would still have their meal.
"Remain alert, we still haven't found the other group of Magical Beast that should also be coming after those Vinetop Moss." Leo sent out another warning.
With his years of experience in the Hundred Hills, there were almost no cases where a group of Magical Beast that uses the road in the middle of two hills was only being chased after by only one group of Magical Beast, it would always be two or more packs of different Magical Beast.
"Look up!" Jeffrey suddenly pointed up the top of them.
"Iron Claw Ravens!" Leo said in surprise.
Iron Claw Ravens are airborne Magical Beast that is No Star Magical Beast to 1 Star Magical Beast. They aren't of any ordinary Raves because their body is 1 to 3 meters big, including their wingspan they would be 5 to 6 meters big. They like to hunt prey by flying down and sweeping them off the ground using their iron claws. Afterwards, they would begin their feast by simply playing with their preys up in the air by letting their prey go, begin peaking their prey's body, then catch their prey once again, fly up, and repeat the same step over and over until there are only bones remaining in their prey.
Now that they have an Iron Claw Raven up on top of them, they basically don't have any good hiding spots anymore. After all, Vinetop Moss and Mountain Lion can attack both the land and the middle of the trees, while the Iron Claw Raven can attack the top of the trees or anywhere as long as they're above ground.
Their situation right now has turned so dire, and this was exactly what Leo meant about the dangers of Hundred Hills.
Fortunately, their situation right now wasn't as dangerous as what they have expected, mostly because they have Charlotte, and the other reason was because the Iron Claw Ravens up in the sky above them was only No Star Magical Beast, hence they only need to watch out, dodge, and attack, just repeat that three simple steps and they are good to go.
"Don't panic and remain in your spots, just be sure to pay the majority of your attention to the Iron Claw Raven and dodge whenever they attack, of course, you can also attack them if an opportunity comes, but I don't recommend you to do such a thing because it is extremely hard to catch them with their speed." Leo said before quickly turning to look at Jeffrey, Matt, Venice, and Number 1 to Number 10, "Protect Princess Elaine, Ahmed, Brad, and Jasmine, but be sure to leave some for Ahmed, Brad, and Jasmine's training as well, and just simply put the majority of your protection to Princess Elaine."
"Okay!"
Jeffrey, Matt, Venice, and Number 1 to Number 10 quickly looked for a good position for them to execute Leo���s order.
Quickly noticing Leo and the others' presence up on the trees, a group of Iron Claw Ravens quickly dive straight down with the intention of catching one of them.
*Whooosh!
The first target was Leo, but fortunately, he was already extremely familiar with the Iron Claw Ravens so dodging was a lot easier for him compared to the others, he even accurately threw a dagger straight to the Iron Claw Raven, successfully hitting one of the wings and hence causing it to fall down and step all over by the Vinetop Moss and its dead body being feast upon by the Mountain Lions.
Although there was actually no need for him to throw a dagger to kill an Iron Claw Raven, the only way to decrease their numbers was only to either kill them or to scare them away, which the best solution is to kill them.
*Whooosh! *Whooosh!
Two Iron Claw Ravens who were obviously stupid came straight towards Charlotte, who didn't even bother dodging and had instead caught both of the Iron Claw Raven's iron claw before smashing them with each other and throwing them powerfully straight towards the ground. She then quickly grabbed the Twin Glorious Daggers on her waist before charging straight to the mass gathering of Iron Claw Ravens that went to surround the rest of the group.
"Brad, block to your left!" Ahmed reminded after seeing in his peripheral view an Iron Claw Raven diving towards Brad's left side.
*Bang!
The Iron Claw Raven directly hit its head to Brad's shield, causing it to fall down on the stem.
Jasmine who has noticed this quickly decided not to waste this opportunity as she dash and swing her sword towards the stunned Iron Claw Ravens.
Unexpectedly, with Jasmine's seemingly weak body, the Iron Claw Raven only needed to raise one of its iron claw to catch the incoming sword.
"Crakkkk!" The Iron Claw Raven roared out in anger as it quickly used its beak to attack Jasmine.
*Clang!
Fortunately, Ahmed was fast enough to block in front of Jasmine with his sword.
"Now attack it!" Ahmed quickly ordered, which Jasmine didn't hesitate to follow as she once again swings her sword towards Iron Claw Raven.
Seeing this, the Iron Claw Raven wanted to use its iron claw to catch the sword once again, but to its shock, Brad bashed his shield straight towards it.
*Bang!
With Brad's shield bash, Jasmine was then given the best opportunity to swing accurately to the Iron Claw Raven's neck.
*Slash!
With that swing, the Iron Claw Raven's head separated from its body as its body then fell to the ground.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Jeffrey, Matt, Venice, and number 1 to number 10 were all busy fending off the other Iron Claw Raven, not letting it approach Princess Elaine or to disturb the training Ahmed, Brad, and Jasmine was currently undergoing.
Moments later, all of the Iron Claw Ravens were dead on the floor, bodies being feasted upon by the Mountain Lions.. And fortunately, because of the feast, the Mountain Lions didn't bother with Leo's group up above the trees, hence letting them escape away from the place.