Chapter 22: Butler
"And what's that knife out for?" Arnold scoffed, drawing his sword. "Do you really think a newly awakened Beast Master can challenge me?"
"Why don't you try me?" Leo replied calmly, his eyes sharp.
He could instinctively feel it—Shyra was prepared.
Without hesitation, he distributed all four of his unallocated stats into agility for perfect response.
Agility: 6.8 -> 10.8
Now, his agility was officially in the ranks of a 2-star.
Which meant that he was faster than any agility-type peak 1-star Beast, giving him an advantage that was yet to be known to his oblivious enemy.
Swoss—!
The wolf suddenly snapped its head, its nose twitching as it sniffed the air around. It caught a faint disturbance in the air—a blur of shadow streaking toward its master at impossible speed.
Awooo!
With a howl, the beast lunged to intercept.
Shyra appeared in a flash, intending to slash Arnold's neck, but the wolf cut her off from the side mid-path, blocking her. She vanished back into the shadows, her violet eyes glittering in the dark.
Arnold's attention momentarily flickered due to Shyra's sudden appearance, forcing him to move his eyes from Leo.
But that was all Leo needed.
Giving even a split-second opening to a trained soldier was never good.
With his enhanced reflexes, Leo closed the distance between him and Arnold within a second.
His dagger glinted in the candlelight as he drove a powerful stab straight at Arnold's face.
Arnold's eyes widened as he saw the blade's sharp edge closing in on him at incredible speed, so fast that he could even see the reflection of his eyes on its polished surface.
Impossible!
Never in his life had he thought that a newly awakened Beast Master could be this fast.
He twisted his head back with everything he had, but it wasn't enough.
The dagger's trajectory made it impossible to dodge.
The dagger tore into his cheek, then carved itself upward across his face, slashing high enough that his right eye burst out.
But Leo didn't stop at just that.
Using the momentum, he drove his elbow straight into Arnold's chin.
Thuk!
The strike sent a few of Arnold's teeth flying and also forced him to bite down on his own tongue brutally, filling his mouth with blood as the piece of tongue fell on the floor.
"Leo!!" Lily screamed with a panicked voice.
He was on his way to give a liver punch to finally knock the man out, but the wolf was already there.
Closing in with bloodshot eyes, its sharp fangs bared, ready to tear him apart.
Leo spotted the sword in Arnold's limp grip that was on the verge of falling unconscious. He snatched the sword cleanly and retreated toward Lily while Arnold staggered a few steps, struggling to regain his senses and steady himself.
"Are you fine!?" Lily choked out, panic tearing through her voice.
Leo pressed the sword into Lily's hand.
"Here, take this and defend yourself if someone comes close to you, alright?"
Without waiting, he shifted into a stance and activated his Stealth skill. He couldn't afford to give them even a single moment to recover!
"Huh? Yeah—fine!" Lily nodded shakily, clutching the sword as Leo's figure disappeared, melting into the shadows the same way as Shyra had.
"Arghh…"
"BASTARD!!! I will kill you!" Arnold roared. But with his one eye gone, jaw cracked and tongue chopped, his senses were in disarray, and he was having difficulty sensing his surroundings; his mind was still a mess from the uppercut.
Wasn't his soul only a common rank? How is he able to exert so much strength!!
"You! What's your soul rank?" Arnold shouted into the empty air, only to see Lily standing alone, gripping his sword.
"Huh? Wher—!"
He shaped his head to the side, catching only a glimpse of the same small shadowy figure that vanished again in an instant.
"Shit!!"
Arnold ducked low, barely dodging a lethal strike aimed at his neck. With his long experience, he wouldn't fall for the same trick twice.
"You like to play games, huh? Wind Hound! Use your skill."
The wolf stopped searching for Shyra. Around it, a crescent-shaped magical constructor wind began to form—one, two, three, four; a total of 4 constructs. But they weren't aimed at Leo or Shyra.
This beast was just as despicable as his master!
"Lily! Use the table to defend yourself!" Leo shouted.
Shyra reappeared and slammed into the wolf's face, throwing off its balance.
[Stealth] - 100% Low -> [Stealth] - 2% Intermediate.
– Able to completely erase presence in darkness and partially in well-lit areas. Still detectable by scent and certain abilities.
By then, Lily had ducked behind the tables just as the wind slashes were unleashed.
But the beast was once again disturbed, struck by Shyra's paw strike as it raked across the wolf's eyes. The beast's attacks veered off course, striking into the walls instead.
The impact made the walls crumble, cracks splintering across them until they reached up toward the ceiling and kept spreading outward.
The structure began to fail.
"No!" Leo shouted, dashing toward Lily.
Even Arnold sensed the danger and began retreating.
"Go out of the building, Wind Hound!"
Lily watched the house begin to collapse, memories of their happier days flashing before her eyes—
But Leo's voice quickly snapped her out of her daze.
"Lily! I am carrying you out. Shyra, hop on my shoulder."
With that, he scooped Lily into his arms, lifting her in a princess carry while Shyra leaped onto his shoulder.
"Leo! Take the metal box under my bed too—it's important!"
"Alright!"
Leo nodded and rushed into the room. Lily grabbed, and in the next moment…
Leo dashed at his top speed.
Not through the front door, knowing well that Arnold might be waiting for an ambush.
He sprinted at full speed until they reached a safe distance, just in time to watch the house slowly cave in on itself.
Lily stood there silently, gripping the box tighter as she tried to control her emotions.
"Shyra, stay with Lily. I have some unfinished business to take care of."
A sharp glint flashed in Leo's eyes as he looked toward a distant point.
"No, Leo! Don't go… he won't come back after what you did to him!"
Lily pleaded with him to stay, worried that Leo might get in danger if he were to fight them alone.
Leo reassured her softly, saying that he would be fine before disappearing, not even waiting for her reply.
Shyra stepped closer, rubbing her face gently against Lily's shin, trying to comfort her.
Lily looked down at the cute creature, which was trying its best to soothe her, and then at the sword in her hand—the one Leo had snatched from Arnold.
Its polished and sturdy blade gleamed, unmistakably marking it as a green-quality weapon.
She tightened her grip on its handle.
A cold breeze brushed past her as she lifted her gaze toward the direction Leo had gone.