After eating their fill, the trio kept on advancing to the center of the forest. With Zall and Xavic in rank, Miles wasn’t worried at all. He tested Zall’s defense, and doesn’t matter how hard he punched, he wasn’t able to hurt Zall at all. The man had a skin made of metal. But that was to be expected.

Miles's physical power was above humans, but not as strong as a monster at the same tier, so when even a monster at the same tier as Zall couldn’t hurt him, how could Miles, while he wasn’t at the peak of the mid-tier yet.

Of course, that wasn’t all of Miles' powers. Unlike monsters, Miles had other means to fight, for example, weapons, tactics, and techniques. As of now, he only had one pinnacle-tier orb which was his duo elemental armor. And high-tier orbs could hardly hurt Zall.

Of course, Zall wasn’t able to take hits all day either. His defenses were close to unbreakable but it also consumed a lot of stamina, which made him fall asleep while he was fighting with the bear. So, if he were to passively take hits, his enemies could trap him after he lost his consciousness.

As they were walking, Miles heard a painful roar. Miles couldn’t recognize the owner of the roar, but the other voice was pretty distinct. “Shit! Lightning porcupines!” Miles cursed silently, as he ordered the other two to crouch on the ground. He crawled towards the voice and saw one of the deadliest creatures in the forest. And not a few either, there were close to twenty of them. But when he saw what they were fighting against, he somehow sighed in relief.

“Lightning Porcupines, twenty of them.” Miles silently said and Coin, who could hear his voice, projected his message to the ground so his friends could read it. When the duo read the message, their pupils shrank to the limit, and a shiver went through their bodies.

“What are we going to do?” A message projected on the ground from Xavic’s wristwatch, but his lips never moved. Miles thought his watch to be a psychic element.

“They are fighting against two Thunder Lions. So, let’s keep watching for the time being.” Miles projected his message and turned to watch the fight once again.

Lightning Porcupines were dangerous to even Zall. A single porcupine could fire thousands of needles in mere seconds. A single needle was packing a punch of the same tier arrow, and thousands of them could kill Zall from depletion of energy the way he lost stamina after taking damage. A high-tier Porcupine, in the heat of battle, would fire all of their needles and that would equate to a thousand high-tier attacks.

Although after that attack, their deadliness would drop dramatically, they would still be tough opponents. Not everyone could tell their stories after they encountered a lightning porcupine. After all, needles at their back would shoot in every direction, and if there wasn’t something blocking the attack, the person would die without any chance to escape.

Miles was actually surprised to see that the Lions were still alive and fighting. Because the porcupine at the lead had no needle on its back, and there were a few stabbed into the bodies of lions in several places.

“It is pinnacle-tier, and both Lions are also pinnacle-tier. Five of the porcupines are high-tier, and the rest are middle-tier.” Coin reported to Miles’s earpiece.

“How did Lions escape from its attacks?” Miles looked at the fight with his eyes wide open.

“The previous roar might be the Lions' famous attack. It should be able to reflect or stop needles.” Coin guessed.

“Yeah, it might be.” The leading porcupine fell back and five high-tier porcupines took his place. Lightning started to condense on their bodies and the tip of the needles sizzled with the flashing currents. “Shit!” Miles crouched back with record speed, and the Xavic-Zall duo followed without asking any questions.

Miles ran more than 10 meters and climbed a tree to see the fight better. Zall and Xavic stood at the base of the tree and waited for Miles to give the signal. When Miles climbed on the tree, five porcupines were ready to fire their shots and Lions were on defense.

Close to five thousand needles flew towards all directions, but to mostly lions. Two lions roared simultaneously once again, and even from tens of meters, Miles felt as if his brain was about to turn into mush. The flying needles lost their momentum and fell to the ground. But a few lucky ones slipped through the spider-web-like roar that blocked the attacks for Lions, and stabbed them in several places. One of the lions was unluckily stabbed in the eye and cried in pain. The other lion looked at its companion and roared angrily.

“Get ready,” Miles said silently. Things were getting heated, and Miles was planning to fish in muddy waters. Lions dashed at the porcupines when their danger reduced. The other 14 porcupines walked in front and were ready to fire, but they weren’t as dangerous. Lions leaped on them, and porcupines fired.

Most of the needles bounced back from lions’ hides and only a few stabbed in soft places, like ears and eyes. Lions were mad at the moment, they bit the monsters and tore them into pieces. They devoured the pieces in their mouths. Most of the heads of the porcupines were eaten alive. As Miles saw it, he winced in pain. “What a waste!”

The lions weren't doing well either. Higher tiered porcupines walked in front and started to attack with their claws. Surrounded from all sides, lions were getting more and more injured. The strongest porcupine in particular was like a nimble and deadly sword. It was vanishing and appearing all around lions and was cutting them wherever it could.

Battle at this point was about to finish. Lions killed all mid-tier porcupines, and most of their heads were eaten. There were only a few with upper bodies lying in the pool of blood. Two of five high-tier porcupines were also eaten, and the other three were attacking one of the badly injured lions. The strongest porcupine was fighting one on one with the other lion.

Miles jumped down from the tree branch and started to dash towards enemies. Xavic and Zall followed him without questioning. Miles was holding the wind sword and charged it from the top of his head as he jumped into the air. When he started to fall, he was on top of the Lion. Miles swung the sword with everything he had, and shouted, “Look here you giant cat!”

The lion looked up and at the same time, the azure slash originated from Miles’s sword cut on its face. Lion cried in pain, but Miles was on top of it. With great momentum, he stabbed the sword in Lion’s eyes and reached its brain.

Xavic arrived at this time and sent two lightning balls. One hit on the strongest porcupine and the other landed on the remaining lion. When the lion was stunned, high-tier porcupines killed it in a matter of seconds and were about to attack Miles. But Zall stood in front of Miles and defended against their regular attacks. Miles took the opportunity to kill them one by one since they were now akin to bullets without powder.

When it was him and the strongest porcupine, with the help of Zall and Xavic, it didn’t take long for him to kill it too. Miles looked at dead bodies and was about to jump with excitement, but reverberating roars that came from afar made his back go cold.