Chapter 448: The Lord Performs?
’Ah, crap...’ Lillian shouted in her mind, as she hung her arms around the back of the Jungle Lord’s neck, as they passed in between the trees with shocking speed.
Just earlier, Lillian had ordered the Jungle Lord to speed up and move towards the direction of the cliff.
However, with the speed they were moving at, Lillian couldn’t help but wonder if this was a good idea or not.
’Well... We are making some swift progress...’
Lillian’s face wrinkled as the winds smashed against her face and ran through her hair.
Currently, her entire body was fluttering behind the Jungle Lord.
Soon enough, after crossing over several kilometres in the span of a few minutes, they eventually reached the end of the jungle.
Lillian, dizzy from the travel, eventually regained herself and rubbed the back of her head as she dropped herself to the ground.
After stumbling for a split moment, Lillian walked past the Jungle Lord and took a look around their surroundings.
Rocky terrain, high stone walls, uplifted gravel, corpses of monsters that were covered in criss-crossing cuts that could only be dealt with by a human...
The Captain had definitely been through here.
Lillian then settled her gaze on the monsters that were feasting on the deceased corpses, their appearance holding a large resemblance to vultures.
The only difference was that they had dark and glassy pupils, sharp sails growing out from their backs like a spinosaurus, and the tips and spines of their feathers were made out of a metallic and organic material, the exact same as the sail on their back.
Lillian, seeing them feasting on the corpse, noted them to be Ironsail Vultures—a sort of monster that relies on dead corpses to survive, but also not afraid to use their sharp sails to hunt.
They were also primarily found near cliffs or deserts.
Glancing away from the group of 5 vultures, Lillian settled her gaze on the dark cave behind them...
She needed to get in there.
Lillian looked down at the lantern in her left hand and frowned.
Was she going to need to fight while holding onto a lantern?
’Eh... I can just use magic. That’s always a good solution.’
As Lillian was raising her hand to snap her fingers, she realised that the vultures had suddenly ceased their feasting and froze in place—as though they were struck with a paralysing sense of fear.
Lillian tilted her head, confused.
She knew for a fact that she didn’t let off any aura that could inflict such an effect... So, the only answer could be...
"Ah...! I don’t HAVE to fight them!"
Looking back, she found the Jungle Lord staring down at her, his hands clutched tightly around the handle of his weapons.
The Wendigo watched as Lillian smirked at him and nodded.
He then took a graceful bow before disappearing with a blur.
Fwoosh!
Lillian, feeling the winds of its speed crash against her face, immediately twisted its head back around as she heard the horrific screech of a bird followed by a—
THUD!
—Loud, muffled thud.
The Jungle Lord immediately appeared before the nearest Vulture and stabbed his stone spear through the bird’s entire body, pinning it into the stone ground.
[Jungle Lord has slain a Savage Gnarl, Ironsail Vulture]
After the death of its companion, the second nearest Vulture immediately flapped its wings to escape.
It had already felt the crushing weight of the Jungle Lord’s Predatory Aura; there was no way it could win!
Flap! Flap! SWISH!
But before it could even get a few metres into the air, the Jungle Lord had already appeared before it and swung his battle axe.
The double-headed stone battle axe cleaved through the flesh and bones of the Ironsail Vulture and caused the ground beneath it to dent and crater slightly.
[Jungle Lord has slain a Savage Gnarl, Ironsail Vulture]
The third and fourth Vultures, having watched the first and second vultures be killed in such a short amount of time, had already ascended half a dozen metres higher than the second Vulture did.
But that was until—
THUD!
—They saw a two-headed stone battle axe flying towards them.
The Jungle Lord, having just done a rapid spin, threw his battle axe and sliced through the third Vulture, killing it instantly and causing his axe to become stuck in the stone wall.
[Jungle Lord has slain a Savage Gnarl, Ironsail Vulture]
Startled by the death of the third Vulture, the fourth Vulture immediately froze in the air for a split second.
And because of that split second...
It had given the Jungle Lord enough time to charge and leap towards it into the air.
The Ironsail Vulture, watching as the hand of the Jungle Lord hovered and approached its face, felt him wrap his fingers around the entirety of its head.
After clutching the head of the Ironsail Vulture, the Jungle Lord immediately slammed it against the stone wall behind the bird, crushing its skull and—
THUD!
—Ultimately killing it.
[Jungle Lord has slain a Savage Gnarl, Ironsail Vulture]
As the debris and dust of the stone wall washed over the back and shoulders of the Jungle Lord, he instantly twisted his head.
His glowing hollow eyes then settled on the last enraged Vulture, who hovered in the air far above it.
This Vulture looked different compared to the rest.
Its body was slightly bigger, the sail on its back was more curved and sharper, and its wings were much broader compared to the rest in its group.
This one seemed to be the leader of what was once its group.
And... Because of that, it fell into an enraged state as it ignored its beastly instincts to escape.
The Vulture flapped its wings rapidly and caused the feathers on its wings to detach and shoot towards the Wendigo as a barrage.
The Jungle Lord, watching the falling projectiles, stabbed his fingers into the wall—hooking onto it—before reaching out for his battle axe and using it as a shield.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Countless feathers descended upon the Jungle Lord and caused the area on the wall to crumble slightly, creating a cloud of both dust and debris to appear around the Wendigo.
The Vulture eventually ceased its projectiles and continued to flap its wings, hovering in the air before immediately flipping around into a roll.
SKRR!
With its metal sail, it managed to barely dodge and redirect the flying battle-axe, which it skimmed over.
After narrowly avoiding instant death, it unfurled itself and immediately recovered its balance.
It then looked towards the cloud of dust on the wall, where the Jungle Lord was, and watched as something shot out from it.
Danger signs flashed through its mind.
The Vulture immediately flapped its wings rapidly before tucking and rolling into a rapid spin as it charged towards the incoming threat, intending to slice through them with its metal sail.
Once leaping out of the dust cloud, the Jungle Lord charged towards the Vulture in the sky, who had become a menacing saw blade.
Right before the moment of impact, the Jungle Lord twisted his entire body to the side and opened his jaws.
And then...
SNAP!
He snapped down on the metal sail of the Ironsail Vulture, causing it to shatter like it was mere glass and causing the bird to bleed out as the blood vessel within became exposed.
The Vulture was immediately paralysed with pain.
And the Jungle Lord deduced it immediately.
He raised his hands and grabbed onto the broad wings of the Vulture before giving a brutal tug, tearing off the arms of the Vulture, who let out a pain-filled cry.
The two then plummeted from the sky and fell to the ground with a—
THUD. x2
—heavy thud, which created a dust cloud that covered both of them.
The Vulture, overcome with pain, was now without options.
It no longer had its wings or metal sail... It can’t even get back up to its feet!
Then, it watched as something emerged from the lingering dust in the air beside it.
The Jungle Lord, having made his way over to the Vulture without even a speck of damage, stared down at the bird with glowing white eyes that slowly transitioned to a dark and... Ominous green.
He then swiped his arm in a large arc and—
Swoosh!
—caused the dust cloud around them to blow outwards, dispersing it.
And not even a second later, he raised his right foot over the Vulture’s head and stomped down with a single hint of hesitation or mercy—crushing the bird’s skull instantly with a wet squelch.
[Jungle Lord has slain a Savage Maw, Ironsail Vulture]
He then slowly raised his hand into the air and caught his falling battle axe, which was dropped off by a vine hanging high over in the sky, having just caught it for the Jungle Lord.
Lillian, who had just watched the Jungle Lord seamlessly decimate the entire group of Ironsail Vultures, was extremely impressed and entertained!
She watched as the Jungle Lord raised his head towards the moon in the night sky and basked in the crimson blood dripping over his body.
He would then give out a victorious roar that caused the very jungle behind Lillian to shudder in excitement—an act that caused the corners of Lillian’s lips to curl up rapidly.
Lillian slowly raised her hands and began clapping.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
... Clapping for the Jungle Lord’s way of ending his brilliant performance.