It took several hours before we actually closed in on the Jaguar in person.

Once I informed Abelino of the Jaguar’s location, we moved slowly through the rainforest towards the it, both Abelino and I sweating in the humidity under Invisibility Cloaks, until Samantha gave me the heads up. Then, two Abelino clones ran in opposite directions, tracing a large circle around the tree where the Jaguar was resting.

At regular intervals as they traced the circumference of a circle with the Jaguar at the center, the clones split to form more clones. Previously, the dense trees and underbrush had slowed us down, but now, it provided cover for us as we circled around the Jaguar.

Once the encirclement was complete, we gradually, and slowly, closed in on the Jaguar.

The process took a while, and Abelino was clearly impatient about the wasted time. What I didn’t mention was that by taking our time, I was letting the cooldown for the Cursed Lightning wear off.

By the time we started truly closing in on the Jaguar, with the Jaguar surrounded still a sizeable distance away, Cursed Lightning had finally reset from its cooldown.

Abelino and I both suppressed our auras to the minimum, which meant we were attacked at various intervals by the creatures in the rainforest. Snakes, giant insects, carnivorous birds, and gorillas attacked us at various occasions, but we killed them quietly and efficiently, continuing our slow march towards the middle of the rainforest.

But the further we progressed, the more the nearby creatures pushed back against our presence, uniting to resist us.

When we reached a flock of mutant parrots, it was obvious it was time to change our strategy. The parrots released shrill, ear-piercing cries that likely reached every end of the rainforest.

“Let’s go,” I said, nodding to Abelino.

Before, we had been taking it slow, hoping to gradually approach the Jaguar in secret.

Once our cover was blown, we blazed a trail through the rainforest, directly towards the Jaguar tree.

“Flare the other auras,” I said.

“Done.”

The Jaguar had fought Abelino before. It had killed a few clones, but it had also been wounded by Abelino as well.

It was actually scared of Abelino. Which meant by flaring certain auras, we could guide the Jaguar where we wanted it to go—towards me.

We were close enough, that I was able to sense the Jaguar with Mana Sensing.

“Now,” I said, repeating Samantha’s command.

The biggest challenge fighting the Jaguar was its speed. The Jaguar could probably kill me with a single swipe of its paws, and it was lethally fast. Samantha estimated that its Agility could be around 150.

At that Agility, even if I snuck up on it on my own and tried to use Cursed Lightning, it could likely dodge enough so that my Cursed Lightning would miss its core. (This had prompted a separate conversation with Samantha, where Samantha said that no, of course Cursed Lightning is not actual lightning, and no, it does not travel at the speed of light).

So the biggest concern with fighting this Jaguar was that it would run away. Samantha said it was likely the Jaguar had a focus in Strength and Agility, allowing it to run at fast paces for very long periods of times.

Thinking back, this proclivity to retreat was also something that I had had to deal with against the other Zone Lords as well. I wouldn’t have expected Zone Lords to be so cowardly, if I hadn’t experienced it first hand myself. The Shade tried to run away, but we had the spell to trap the Shade in place.

The Gravity Lord tried to run as well, resulting in that strange subterranean chase hundreds of yards in the air.

Even the Sandman tried to run, though its attempt was remarkably futile.

So when facing a Jaguar that had shown it was eager to retreat in the past—a creature that was extremely capable of outrunning either of us over long distances—it only made sense to be prepared.

Unfortunately, neither Abelino or I had restrictive abilities. Abelino, like most swordsmen his level, had a Martial Projection Affinity, which meant he was able to project and extend his sword’s blade.

So instead, we had to resort to items.

Back when Abelino and I had been trying to recover the mind-controlled Abelino clone, we had encountered Time Dilation Wards.

As it turned out, there was a Sorcerer working for the Armed Forces who was also a Rune Master, who was capable of making E-rank Time Dilation Rune Patterns. I had actually fought the sorcerer in Fayette City.

The sorcerer was now working for the Ravens—at some point in the aftermath of the battle, Adia had convinced him to join her—but he had been willing to make some Time Dilation Rune Patterns for us, in exchange for some tips about the Rune Master Profession.

At my signal, Abelino and I each threw out a dozen spheres the size of an apple in various directions.

Each Time Dilation Rune Pattern quickly activated, just as the Jaguar approached us.

With my Mana Sensing, I could see two dozen spheres of mana, each about 10 feet in diameter, in front of us.

The Jaguar, which had been trying to rush past us, was caught in the edge of the time dilation effect, and I saw its movements slow, but it was already on the way out of the effect.

This was my first chance to see the Jaguar properly. It was larger than a lion, with a yellowish coat that faded to white on its underbelly, and irregularly shaped black spots on its yellow fur. If it were significantly smaller, it would have looked like an exotic housecat. There was nothing to indicate that it was one of the most powerful creatures on the planet, except for the mana density that I could see packed in its muscles. Its aura was completely suppressed, making it seem like a very large cat.

The Abelino clone next to me rushed forward to the edge of the time dilation effect and swung his sword.

A wide beam of Martial Energy projected out of the Abelino clone’s sword, creating a swath of destruction across the rainforest as it approached the Jaguar.

The Jaguar tried frantically to dodge it, retreating backwards into the Time Dilation Zone, but that was all the opening I needed.

I launched Cursed Lightning, with fifty points added to my Luck, unable to hide my anticipatory grin as my attack flew towards the Jaguar.

The Jaguar wasn’t even facing me, and my attack was perfectly timed.

But just as my attack was inches away from the monster, the Jaguar vanished completely from inside the Time Dilation Ward, reappearing just a foot above me, with a paw slicing down at my head.

I was completely shocked, but I was accustomed enough to the situation that I knew better than to freeze in place. I was already diving to the side while the paw was slicing down towards me.

I caught a glimpse of claws reaching out from the creature’s padded paws, and I was momentarily stunned.

Its claws shouldn’t be that long. The claws easily stretched out six inches past the padded paws, giving me a brief flashback to Wolverine before I heard a sharp crack as the Personal Mana Shield broke and the creature’s six-inch claws sliced off my right arm at my shoulder as though they were slicing through butter.

The pain vanished the moment it appeared. It was Petra’s suggestion, really, to allow Samantha to regulate my pain in moments like these. I hadn’t been happy at the time, but I wasn’t going to complain now.

I ignored the cognitive dissonance from looking at my dismembered arm, and the ever-growing pool of blood seeping into the underbrush in the Rainforest, matched with the complete absence of pain.

The Jaguar didn’t know it, but its attacks had almost completely defanged me. I had lost my Vampiric Blade, but that wasn’t actually the worst of it.

My left arm was holding a compressed Fire-attributed Mana Crystal, and I had been ready to fire it as needed. But my whole body was a rune pattern, and by chopping off my right arm, it had disrupted the stability of the rune pattern.

I really didn’t want to test what would happen if I tried to use my body as a Mana Cannon, when I was missing a part of the runes that Samantha had painstakingly created.

I couldn’t use my Cursed Lightning, I couldn’t use my Mana Cannon, and I didn’t have my Vampiric Blade.

Just as the Jaguar’s second paw started swiping at me, I struck back with my only remaining lethal option. I added 70 mana into my Physical Defense for obvious reasons, poured the rest of my mana into Luck, and then permanently spent 20 Strength to activate a Soul Explosion.

I had thought using the Soul Explosion against the Sandman had been agonizing. But I was painfully mistaken. No pun intended.

It felt like my very being, the core of who I was, was put through a paper shredder. It felt like I was chopping off parts of myself, over and over again.

The pain was so great I didn’t know who I was, or where I was. I couldn’t see anything, feel anything outside my body, or hear anything except for my own pained cries.

Make it stop, I said to Samantha.

Samantha said, sadly.