The roar of the bear was so chilling that the sound alone birthed fear in everyone's hearts. They hurried to escape, but it was unnecessary, because a three-meter-tall Ironclaw Bear was blocking their path.
The Ironclaw Bear was a Level 3 beast with little intelligence. The bees were Level 1, while the queen bee was Level 2. All of them were Level 1 mages; only Rahul, Princess Rose, and Monty were Level 2. The difference in power was enormous.
Rahul examined the situation and asked Rose, "Do you have a powerful weapon?"
Rose immediately took out a sword and a stick.
He glanced at the weapons and took the stick from Rose. It looked like a rod, but in reality it was a bone. Only God knew which creature it had come from. One end of the rod was sharp like a spear, though it clearly was not a spear. Still, it could be used like one.
The rank of the weapon was unknown, but one thing was certain—it was unbreakable.
He did not take the Rank Three sword. Although the sword was powerful and had some magic enchantment, it was not unbreakable, and he needed a weapon capable of breaking the Ironclaw Bear's defense.
The Ironclaw Bear gazed at them like a hungry predator. It lifted its claw and attacked Rahul, because he was standing in front.
Rahul evaded the attack by leaping to his right and simultaneously launched a fireball toward the left side of the bear's mouth.
The bear missed its attack and its paw struck a stone, crushing it into pieces.
While the Ironclaw Bear turned its head to the right to evade the fireball and lost sight of Rahul, Rahul took advantage of the moment. He leaped forward quickly and attacked the bear's left foot.
The sound of a bone breaking echoed as the bear groaned in pain.
Now Rahul was standing at the bear's original position, and the bear had moved to Rahul's previous spot.
Just when everyone thought the furious bear would attack fiercely, something unexpected happened.
Boom! Boom!
Two loud sounds echoed. Everyone saw a fireball strike the bear's injured foot while, at the same moment, a pit opened beneath where the Ironclaw Bear was standing. Unable to maintain its balance, the bear fell into the pit.
When Rahul attacked earlier, he had secretly left a trap containing two spells. When the bear stepped on it, the trap activated.
The first fireball attacked the bear's leg, which had already been wounded by Rahul's strike. The second spell dug a pit beneath it.
Rahul did not give the bear any chance to recover. He cast another spell.
"Hundred Fire Needles."
Hundreds of fiery needles appeared in the sky and shot toward the bear's eyes.
This time Rose and the others also attacked with their spells.
The Ironclaw Bear, struggling to stand, was bombarded by attacks. Unable to evade them, it was struck in the eyes by the fire needles.
The eyes were its most vulnerable part, and the bear was instantly blinded.
Seeing the bear wounded, everyone relaxed slightly. But suddenly the bear leaped out of the pit despite its injuries. This was completely unexpected.
It began attacking again, but the attacks were inaccurate. Its wounded leg made its body unbalanced, allowing Rahul to dodge the attacks more easily than before.
While evading skillfully, Rahul pondered,
"Why hasn't the expert taken action yet? The king would never send his daughter without an expert protecting her in the shadows. Something isn't right."
He looked around and noticed Monty. Monty had not taken any major action so far. He was fully focused on the bear, occasionally moving his fingers.
At that moment Rahul understood something.
Why was the bear so focused on him despite its injuries? A beast with even slight intelligence would have fled when severely wounded. The bear must have been controlled by someone—perhaps Monty.
Suddenly Rahul shouted,
"Senior, when will you take action? How much longer are you going to hide?"
Everyone was confused after hearing his words.
Suddenly, a silhouette rushed forward and cast a spell.
"Lightning Snake!"
A gigantic lightning snake nearly ten meters long shot forward, hissing as lightning crackled around it. It bit the bear's neck.
Boom!
With a loud explosion, the bear was thrown ten meters backward, crashing into several trees along the way.
A man now stood in front of Rahul, watching the dying bear on the ground.
Suddenly Rahul moved.
With all his strength, he drove the iron rod into the man's back. The rod tore through his flesh and pierced straight through his heart.
The man's eyes widened in shock as his body stiffened, life fading instantly.
Everyone was truly shocked.
First a man appeared out of nowhere and helped them. They quickly realized he must have been Princess Rose's protector. But now Rahul had suddenly killed him.
Monty was furious as he watched everything fall apart. Nothing had gone according to his plan. He had paid a heavy price to bring a Level Three beast and hire an expert. Now the man was dead and the bear was on the brink of death. He could not accept such a loss.
Overcome with anger, he lost control of his emotions.
He unsheathed his sword and swung it toward Rahul's back, trying to kill him in one strike. Rahul did not even turn around, and Monty smirked, believing he would succeed.
Suddenly a small array circle activated on the back of Monty's hand, glowing with a dim blue light. But it was too late for him to notice.
Boom!
An explosion erupted. His hand exploded and he was thrown backward, writhing in pain.
Rahul smiled.
From the beginning he knew that the cunning monkey Monty had bad intentions. Earlier, when Monty grabbed his hand before princess could hold his hand after hearing the plan in the caravan, Rahul had secretly placed a tiny trap on him.
Now he had activated it when Monty tried to backstab him.
Everything had happened in mere minutes. No one had time to react to the rapidly unfolding events.
Princess Rose raised an eyebrow and looked at Rahul questioningly.
Rahul said calmly,
"First finish the bear. Then I will explain everything."
He raised the rod like a spear over his shoulder and threw it.
Ssh!
The rod pierced the bear's neck through the wound created by the lightning snake. The bear finally died.
Rahul then explained,
"The Ironclaw Bear and that expert were brought here by Monty to kill me."
He told Princess Rose everything.
Rose looked closely at the expert's face. He was clearly not the protector her father would have appointed.
When Rahul shouted for help earlier, the fool revealed himself. Thinking Rahul had discovered him, he rushed out pretending to be the princess's protector. He never imagined Rahul would stab him from behind.
It had been a gamble by Rahul—but it worked.
Now everything was clear.
Princess Rose turned toward Monty, who was writhing in pain while clutching his destroyed hand.
"Now would you explain your actions?"
Monty knew he had been exposed. Many people had seen him attempt to kill a comrade.
Instead of denying it, he began laughing.
"You think you have won? When you return to the palace, your father will be in prison for the crime of betrayal. Your entire family will be executed. I only wanted to kill you with my own hands."
Suddenly Rahul moved again.
He thrust the rod straight into Monty's heart.
Monty was shocked and unwilling to die. He had never expected Rahul to dare kill him.
Rahul said coldly,
"I know you would not explain anything. Keeping you alive is useless. You tried to kill me, so I have every reason to kill you."
He looked at Monty's face and spoke a single word.
"Fool."
Monty died just like that.