The Sabertoothed Tiger snorted. 『Stupid fools. How pathetic do you have to be for a human to pity you? You don’t even deserve to be called Legendary Beasts.』 He acknowledged the Phoenix, the Abyss Turtle, and the Void Dragon as fellow Legendary Beasts, but now that he’d learned they’d died so easily, he wasn’t too sure what to think of them anymore. Maybe they had forgotten their true natures after living in peace for such a long time.

『Whatever it is, it doesn’t change the fact that they were stupid.』 He especially disliked the human in the mask who was protected by the Phoenix. Legendary Beasts were enlightened entities, how could they rely on humans? Finally, the Sabertoothed Tiger decided to stop thinking about them. The more he did, the angrier he grew.

He had to prepare for the humans on their way here to hunt him down. 『I’ll have to use all my strength for the first time in a while.』 The Sabertoothed Tiger roared, calling on his subordinates, who took up their positions, ready to fight. A moment later, his brain seemed to tingle as a heavy energy approached. It was a human accompanied by hundreds of shadows, and he carried an iron box on his back.

『He’s coming.』 The Sabertoothed Tiger drew his lips back to reveal his fangs and left his cave. He would show these humans what he did to trespassers. The Saber God and the Sabertoothed Tiger were going to face each other.

In the meantime, the Spirit Familiar, Boo, watched everything from the sky.

***

Boom!

“It’s begun,” Edora shouted, looking at Yeon-woo. Even if they were quite far from the Sabertoothed Tiger’s territory, they could hear sounds as loud as thunder. The ground shook under their feet. Edora’s mouth felt dry. ‘Strong! Too strong!’

She could see everything clearly with the power of insight. Two tornadoes as sharp as knives twisted around the territory, destroying everything in its path. It was easy to tell who was responsible for them. The Martial King had the ability to destroy half of Kuram with one strike, but this was a different kind of strength that only those at the pinnacle could achieve.

The wind lashed at everyone like a whip, and the entire stage of the eleventh floor trembled. The Sabertoothed Tiger couldn’t even fight back successfully. How could anyone fight back against someone like the Saber God? It was impossible. If Edora and Yeon-woo wanted to take him on, it would have to be some time in the future after they’d climbed more floors. But even then, the gap between them and the Saber God would still be immense.

Edora was secretly grateful to the Sabertoothed Tiger for kicking them out. If he had let them stick around, they would have perished along with him. Perhaps as the princess of the One-horned tribe, things might have turned out OK for her, but there was no telling what would have happened to Yeon-woo. Yeon-woo didn’t shrink back at the immense power in the area, and he looked on calmly like a hunter about to catch his prey.

‘A hunter trying to catch a high ranker…’ The thought was ridiculous, but what else did that gaze mean?

Yeon-woo stroked Chirpy’s head with one hand and said to him, “Chirpy.”

“Tweet?” Chirpy nodded as Yeon-woo shared what he was seeing through their connection. It was a view that the Spirit Familiar Boo was sending Yeon-woo. Now that he’d trained more with the Black Bracelet, Yeon-woo could now easily share sensations with the Spirit Familiars, although this became more difficult as the distance between them increased. At this point, he could only share vision.

Still, it was more than enough to see what was happening between the Saber God and the Sabertoothed Tiger. The Saber God didn’t notice Boo since he was so high up in the sky, and he hid his presence as much as possible.

‘Even if he does get caught, the Saber God will be too concerned about the fight.’ Yeon-woo focused on Boo’s vision. ‘There’s records of fights with the Saber God in the diary, but I need to confirm how much stronger he’s become after all this time. I need to see his strengths and weaknesses for myself.’

The fight between the Saber God and the Sabertoothed tiger was a one-sided match. Although the Saber God remained calm throughout, his fighting methods were vicious. He first threw the iron box into the air, and swords fell out, spilling all over the ground. There were nine of them, all different sizes. These were swords that he’d collected from different floors that were artifacts of the old Lords and beings powerful enough to be called gods.

The Saber God planted them in random locations, pulling each one out as needed while he fought the Sabertoothed Tiger. If the Sabertoothed Tiger’s stomach was vulnerable, the Saber God would pull out the nearest sword to strike it. He didn’t use his swords in a particular order, but with his casual method, he inflicted numerous injuries on the Sabertoothed Tiger, who couldn’t even move properly.

『You dare?』 The air grew cold at the Sabertoothed Tiger’s anger, but the Saber God didn’t care at all and continued to attack. His speed increased, as well as the force he used to throw his swords. It was as though the Sabertoothed Tiger were being pelted with bombs. His skin and flesh had been torn apart to reveal his bones. His right leg had been severed, and his balance was now off.

The Saber God smiled as though he were enjoying himself. He didn’t make a sound but he seemed to be laughing, like a demon who enjoyed destruction.

‘He’s almost toying with him. Was the Saber God always this strong?’ Yeon-woo frowned at the Saber God’s strength, which had increased greatly from Jeong-woo’s time.

As the attacks grew more violent, Yeon-woo tried to cut off his connection with Chirpy. This was how the fight with the Phoenix had likely happened, and he didn’t want to traumatize the little Phoenix. However, Chirpy shook his head, and Yeon-woo could feel his strong determination. “OK. But if it’s too much, let me know. You don’t have to force yourself.”

“Tweet!”

Yeon-woo stroked his head proudly and grew lost in his thoughts as he continued watching the fight. ‘I don’t think the Saber God has naturally grown stronger. It looks like he’s put on some kind of magical artifact. Or did he get his hands on something else? Maybe dark magic?’

Yeon-woo’s eyes flashed coldly at the clue that he might be able to use to defeat the Saber God in the future.

Boom! When the Saber God grabbed the final sword, the world exploded as though the apocalypse had arrived. Half of the Tiger’s head was blown off, his eyes still filled with shock even in death. Yeon-woo immediately called out to Boo to tell him to hide in case the Saber God noticed him. “Now.”

“Tweet!”

Yeon-woo shot up with Chirpy on his shoulders. Yeon-woo used all his strength to activate Shunpo and rush to the Sabertoothed Tiger’s territory. He told Edora to stay behind and watch the area. It looked like he was going on a suicide mission.

‘Just as I thought. He’s gone.’ By the time Yeon-woo arrived, the Saber God had already left, likely in order to avoid Red Dragon. ‘Now, it’s my chance.’ Yeon-woo landed near the Sabertoothed Tiger’s corpse, which was missing his Neidan and heart. The sight of his mutilated body was truly horrifying.

Yeon-woo clucked his tongue. The Sabertoothed Tiger had ignored his warnings but he still felt bad when he looked at the Legendary Beast.

『Did you come to mock me, human?』 White light gathered around the Sabertoothed Tiger’s body and took on a human form. A beautiful man with long hair glared at Yeon-woo. It was the vestige of the Sabertoothed Tiger.

“Why would I do that? You made your choice.”

『Then, what are you doing here? If you’re expecting me to give you something like the other fools, you’d better go back.』 The vestige glowered at him, his eyes filled with anger. 『I have nothing to give to a mere human. But it’s a good thing you’re here, so I can vent my anger on you.』

A white energy spun around the vestige, ready to attack Yeon-woo. However, Yeon-woo only replied with a smirk.

『What’s so funny?』 The Sabertoothed creased his forehead at the laughter he heard from below. Yeon-woo was straight up laughing at him.

“When did I say I would accept anything from you?”

『What?』

Yeon-woo didn’t even bother being respectful to someone as hostile as the Sabertoothed Tiger. “Why do I need to accept anything when I can just take it for myself.”

『What!』 The vestige roared in anger as Yeon-woo spread out the fingers of his left hand and put it on the corpse of the Sabertoothed Tiger. “Devour.”