Blood continued to gush from the beast's wounds. Some of it was sprayed onto Dalis. Dalis, who had concluded his seven flogs from hell, remained in place. He had not moved since dropping down from orbit. Parts of Dalis's arms were covered with bruises. This was naturally because Dalis was an amateur with a chained weapon. Though he may be quite talented, it could only cover up to a degree for his lack of experience. Nonetheless, they were surprisingly in a much better condition than one may expect.

At this very moment, his back was wide open for the remaining beasts to launch an attack. 

Yet, they had not done so. Even if they may not be intelligent, they were sufficiently sentient to understand that their prey in front of them was not prey at all . . . no, it was a predator . . . a predator on the level of a demon.

(This is the first occasion I have slain a living being . . . since that incident. Although it was not a human, I can not seem to empathise for its loss. I may be beast hunting, but this beast attempted to kill me. I had not even provoked it. Would I understand if I were to one day murder a fellow human, to take a human life? Sister Edna . . . ) 

While Dalis contemplated about such thoughts, Sienna came running to his side, shortly followed by Jessica.

"Dalis!"

Sienna was the first to arrive. She went to his side and saw the bloody scene. The fountain of blood was not responsible for the sanguinary scene. Rather, it was Dalis who was drenched with blood. He appeared to be a guilty man who had just finished committing the murder. Though Dalis's face was not worn with guilt. Instead, his face was quite nonchalant for the most part. Sienna felt a little afraid of Dalis. She had killed many beasts before, but it was never as gruesome as this. Nevertheless, Dalis to her was a peer she had known for three years. Such things didn't need to be deeply thought about. 

This somewhat eerie, awkward atmosphere was shattered by a pitched shout . . . 

"GUYS HELP!!"

Dalis was awoken from his contemplation and Sienna looked towards the direction of the shout. They saw Jessica's leg entrapped by one of the scattered liquid ooze threads. However, that wasn't the main issue at hand. The scruffy brown boar, who had completed its hammering, had now turned its attention to Jessica. 

(Calpufer herbs . . . no it is too late for that! I have to act now!)

Dalis gripped his tri-section staff tight and bolted towards Jessica. 

However, before even covering a few meters, the Antgruy had appeared in his way.

"Move!" 

Obviously, the beast was not willing to let Dalis aid his comrade. It posed its long pointed nose towards him and let loose a powerful, sticky, red tongue. Dalis ducked and slid below the tongue, dodging the tongue. However, the tongue could stretch much longer than he expected. Thus, it continued its assault. 

(Not good!)

Dalis had lost his momentum from ducking down and wouldn't be able to evade the incoming blow. 

"Oh no you don't!"

Sienna came in the nick of time, delivering a downward slash on to the beast's tongue. Despite being slashed in the tongue, the beast's movement failed to cease. But it could no longer continue its pursuit for Dalis. 

"Thank you Sienna."

"Don't worry about me, get to Jessica!"

Dalis picked up the pace and resumed his run. 

(Just a few more meters!)

He could see the boar closing in every second. 

(I'm not going to make it!)

Dalis had to think fast, or Jessica was minced meat. Unfortunately, before he could ponder a plan to set in motion, he was interrupted once again. This time it was the Ratavex. The Ratavex was much more troublesome than the Antgruy. He was unable to shrug it off easily due to its redeeming speed ability.

"Damn it!" 

The beast and Dalis were racing together . . . no that wasn't right. 

Dalis was evading the nimble attacks of the beast and continued onwards for the home run. The beast let out a barrage of pounces in an attempt to knock him down. Dalis was in a tight spot as he couldn't afford to slow down. Hence, he had been forced to take a few headbutts, which had almost resulted in him being toppled down. At one point, he was even chewed upon as he sprinted. 

Despite all the obstacles that impede him, Dalis was resilient and relentless. 

His conviction did not waver; he was determined to save Jessica. 

Like a newborn dragon he soared into the sky and let out a roar.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Dalis's knuckles were white as he gripped the lower section of the tri-section staff with both hands. He unleashed a thunderous thrust down to the mundane world. A surge of unknown power coursed through his body. However, Dalis had not noticed this.

The tri-section staff as of this moment was unlike the supercharged Tri-Section Shuriken. The staff had not once rotated at all and remained stationary in its descent. Nevertheless, it was like a meteorite, crashing down to the very earth. 

Jessica watched the scenes unfold before her very eyes. It seemed as if time had slowed down. She continued to glance towards Dalis and the charging bull. Despite the beast's relentlessness, it was pale in comparison to Dalis's unstoppable pursuit. Her eyes trembled. Tears had unknowingly trickled down her face. 

She was mesmerised. 

Was this the Dalis she knew?

Since when did Dalis take such reckless actions? 

Why would he go so far?

Many questions arose to her mind. However . . . 

Time waits for no man.

The tri-section staff came crashing down to earth. In spite of all its power, the tri-section staff could not aim a direct hit at the boar. The staff plunged down, striking the beast's lower abdomen and one of its four scruffy legs.

EEEEEEKK

Agonising in sheer pain, the beast's charge stumbled and then lost its footing. The beast crashed, sliding on the side of its back, crashing towards the direction of Jessica. Along the way, it had been caught by some of the Spliz's threads. However, even those threads were unable to halt the collision. Eventually, the beast crashed five meters away from Jessica, ending its track on the cold hard ground. 

Dalis stood where he had leapt from, legs trembling, trying to capture his breath. He definitely went all out from what had transpired in the past scene. 

The Ratavex realised that this was a golden opportunity as it dashed towards Dalis to finish him off.

However . . . 

SLASH

Sienna produced a gallant swing from the back of the beast. Cleanly cutting off the beast's head. It was a brilliant beheading. Dalis who had saw the swing simply said . . . 

"Good swing."

"Thanks, but what I just did can't compare to anything you have done since your arrival. Are you remotely conscious of any of the feats you just accomplished?"

"Ha . . . ha . . . let's go to Jessica."

"She's coming this way."

"Oh?"

Dalis saw Jessica rushing to his side. It appeared that she had managed to cut off those threads after the battle had ceased. She no longer had to worry about any aggressive boars from charging at her. Eventually, she arrived.

"Thank you," Jessica sincerely expressed her gratitude.

Although the voice was directed to both of them, her eyes were unquestionably rested on Dalis's figure. Looking at his blood-soaked clothes which were even more worn and soiled, she felt a load of guilt wash over her. Jessica was unable to conceive any words besides "thank you" to properly convey to Dalis.

The glade then became silent.

Sienna attempted to break the silence. 

"Hey. Are you guys good to move? We have to go collect our rewards. Otherwise all that hard work would be for nothing."

"Yeah your right. Let's go Dalis."

"Hm? Yeah."

"So . . . who's taking what?"

"I suppose it would be based on kills right Dalis?" Jessica emphasised, nudging Dalis. Jessica was aware that she had not actually killed any of the beasts. Indeed, she was partially responsible for their deaths, but compared to the other two . . . In any case, Jessica was content providing Sienna and Dalis with the mana. After all, it was the least she could offer for saving her life. 

Dalis felt a little uncomfortable with Jessica's drastic change in attitude towards him. However, he felt it was not that surprising. 

"No. We will split the proportion based on contribution. For example, the wolves you girls had slain belong solely to you two. The extraction of the Spliz's mana would be split between the three of us. Fair, correct?"

Jessica felt a little troubled, but she ultimately agreed. Sienna was pleased with Dalis's suggestion.

The three then headed towards the fallen Spliz. When they had arrived, Dalis had noticed that the beast no longer had any breath within it. 

"Dalis, please extract first."

"Go for it Dalis."

Dalis nodded his head and began extracting the mana into his tri-section staff. The staff began to glow and shimmer with vitality. A dense blue aura was emitted. He felt the accumulation of mana as the staff ravenously sucked the rich mana from the Spliz. 

After Dalis had gathered the agreed proportion, he let the other two girls go next. Sienna was up, and then Jessica followed.

With all the fallen beasts, it took quite a considerable period of time for the party to complete their extraction. Finally, only the wolves were left.

"Looks like these are the last ones left."

Jessica began extracting mana from one of the slain furry grey wolves. 

Dalis stood a distance away and patiently waited for them. The initial plan was simply to investigate. He didn't expect things to go so out of hand. If he were to leave at the given moment, it would be ill-mannered and leave a bitter aftertaste. 

Sienna approached the other wolf, the one she initially fought. However . . . 

Grrrrrr

The wolf resentfully growled. It seemed that this beast was alive in spite of its major neck wound. Fortunately, it was unable to move, posing no threat to Sienna.

"Still alive . . . don't worry I will end this soon."

Sienna slowly approached the beast, raised her sword high and prepared to slash down. 

AAWOOOOOOO

The wolf gave one last desperate howl before its impending demise. 

Just as she was about to send the beast to the next world, she noticed that the beast . . . was dead. The last cry of the beast was its final act of defiance

" . . . "

Although they were enemies, Sienna couldn't help but feel respect for this beast. She silently started extracting mana from the final foe.

A minute had passed. 

Dalis felt an uneasy feeling cross over him. Using his keen eyes, he surveyed the surroundings. There was nothing particularly out of the ordinary . . . .

(Was my intuition wrong?)

And then all of a sudden . . . 

AWOOOOOOO

AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 

A howl was heard from a distance not far away. 

The preceding howl was not just one howl . . . 

There were many howls.