Any beast that would stay near this monster was probably too scared to move or too weak to detect the danger…

"Master… Are there any more monsters around?"

​​

Stella called it a monster since its features greatly differ from the common beasts she knows.

"Mhmm… There's none so far…"

The beast in front of her had actually managed to hide his presence making an almost successful surprise attack… This is already not a good sign.

If not for her master's quick instruction, she might've become the food of this creature…

"I've never heard of a beast like this… Is this perhaps the Guardian of the Forest?"

"I don't think so… It resembles a Corrupted Panther…" Reiji answered.

He recalled the book that Diether got from Mapan and this creature's body resembles that corrupted panther's description.

"However… This one has four eyes and two horns… The mid-grade Evil Beast that I know only has two eyes and no horns…"

"Corrupted Panther?" Stella tried to remember the information she got from the Hunters but this creature wasn't included!

'No, I didn't browse all the beasts that were seen in this forest… I only saw the records of all the common ones or the majority of beasts that have appeared here…'

"Then… Does it mean that this panther is a top-grade?!"

Stella asked nervously as she maintained her sword stance… Her support potions on her belt were only effective against low-grade Evil Beast… She would just waste them if she used them here.

Anyway, her master also kindly brought out another shinai so she used Zangetsu No Kamae or the Crescent Moon Stance…

She raised one of her swords to protect her head while the other was pointed at the beast…

Stella was unsure what this creature was thinking as it didn't make a follow-up after she successfully evaded its first strike.

She then noticed something that could possibly be the reason…

"Oh… Is it the sunlight?"

Rays of sunlight were already appearing and this might be the reason why the panther was hesitant… Evil Beasts were known to get weaker when they were under the sunlight…

As Stella started to back away, she noticed the panther opening its mouth. She thought that the beast would roar or something… However, something unexpected happened, the beast can actually use Arcane Magic!

Black energy formed in front of its mouth before throwing it towards her!

"Careful… He's coming!" Reiji reminded Stella as she was planning to dodge the black ball of unknown energy. If she continued dodging she'll have to face the panther in close range while her form was disrupted.

"Take Over!"

"Yes, Master!"

Stella didn't hesitate and let her master take care of it… Although it might be too early to get help, fighting against a large top-grade Evil Beast was too dangerous.

As soon as Reiji took over Stella's body… He decided to change her stance to clash against the ball of energy and the running beast.

He used the shinai in Stella's left hand to deflect the black energy while he ducked and aimed at the throat of the panther using the other sword…

Boom!

As soon as the shinai and the energy collided, a small explosion occurred! The shinai vanished as the cloning technique was destroyed by the Arcane Magic…

"Haa!"

Reiji didn't hesitate even after all of this as he thrusts the other shinai towards his opponent's throat…

Pah!

The panther responded quickly and avoided being hit with a critical blow…

Apparently, the beast has a shield similar to Shell Protection that any Spiritual Energy Practitioners would have!

"Tsk…"

Reiji only managed to stop its advance!

'I can't just wait here…'

He doesn't know what kind of other Arcane Magic this monster has, so he felt that it would be better to continue his assault and stop the beast from casting another magic! It was time to initiate an attack!

Stella watched her master fight the evil beast... However, her master was unable to gain an upper hand due to the solid defense made by the panther's Arcane Magic…

Her master can hit the beast from time to time but couldn't muster enough strength to destroy the panther's shield. It was a very vexing situation as even if they destroyed the shield, the beast's hide was also hard to penetrate…

At the very least, her master was preventing the beast to cast another one of those black energy.

"Hmph!"

Reiji also frowned at the situation but he didn't lose hope. After all, he still has a trump card to defeat this creature…

It's just that he was wary of someone who was observing the situation…

'That guy was really just watching, huh…'

Apparently, Orga was just watching them fight against each other…

'You're the branch head of the Hunter Association… You're supposed to help in this type of situation!'

Reiji thought for a moment. He even had to level up the Take Over to refresh the cooldown…

The skill was now level 8 with 60 seconds duration and 2 hours cooldown.

Finally, when his Take Over was about to end again, Orga decided to show himself!

"Do you need help?" Orga asked as he suddenly appeared from behind a tree.

Reiji nodded as he decided to disengage from the beast and jumped closer to Orga. This man is a genuine Three-Star Hunter!

Although he's already old he should be capable of handling this…

"Mhmm… Do you have a method to destroy the beast's arcane shield or something?"

"That's right…"

"Then, please remove it for me… I'll deal with this as long as you stop it from using Arcane Magic."

As soon as Reiji said this, the Take Over ended and Stella regained control of her body…

'M-Master?'

'You can do it… This old man will stop the beast from using Arcane Magic…'

'B-but…' Stella was still a bit hesitant but she doesn't want to disappoint her master…

'Alright, Master… I'll do my best…'

'Good…'

"Are you ready?" Orga asked as he grasps his cane tightly…

"Y-yes…"

Orga only nodded after hearing her and quickly moved towards the Evil Beast…

After the panther realized that he has two opponents, he decided to be wary and circled them like he was waiting for an opening…

As the four-eyed panther saw Orga moved, it decided to cast another Arcane Magic… It was the same black energy that was thrown a while ago…

"Haste Steps…"

The old man vanished in Stella's eyes and appeared on the beast's side… However, due to its four eyes, the beast managed to quickly react and turn to Orga…

Bam!

It was too late… Orga's cane glowed as he hit the beast's body with a powerful strike.

"Now!"

Stella didn't remain idle and as soon as she heard Orga's signal, she moved forward and targeted one of the beast's eyes hoping it would go through and similarly damage its brain with her sword thrust.

This exchange happened so fast that the beast who was hurt by Orga failed to realize that Stella had gone closer…

It was perhaps too angry at the old man who disrupted his Energy flow and destroyed his Shield!

The beast just suddenly felt pain in one of his eyes as he screamed in pain…

On the other hand, Orga was surprised by Stella's action…

"You destroyed its eyes… Urgh… Anyway, there are still three of them…"

The beast backed away due to pain but was hit by rays of sunlight.

The panther screamed again as the sunlight disrupted his attempt to gather energy and heal his wounds… Stella and Orga found this chance to end the beast's life…

Before Stella could use her sword to destroy the beast's eyes, the old man stepped forward and hit the beast's horn with his cane…

The beast convulsed after getting hit before losing his life… It happened so fast and even Reiji was surprised.

"This beast's weakness is Arcane Magic… His shield can only block physical attacks but Arcane Magic would easily pass through them…"

Orga said as he smiled wryly to Stella…

"Mhmm… Since both of us defeated this… You can take the beast core and I'll take the rest… Is that alright?"

"Eh? Ah… Sure, I don't mind… Thank you. Would you mind if I ask for your name?"

"No… I'm Orga… I'm a Hunter at Farahn Village on the northern side of this forest."

Orga said as he took out his knife to gather the valuable materials in the panther's body… He forcefully removed the two horns and their three eyes and put them in a container… He's really prepared for this kind of situation!

"Here, take it…" Orga gave the purple beast core to Stella after wiping it with a cloth.

"T-thank you… I'm Stella Fenette. I live in the village near here..."

"Jarnae?"

"That's right…"

"Mhmm… Are you really not a Hunter?" Orga asked the young girl…

"Eh? No, I'm not…"

"Is that so?"

The old man didn't ask more questions as he took out his Null Flower Potion.