Chapter 110: Ain’t That Cheating...

Chapter 110: Chapter 110: Ain’t That Cheating...

Chapter 110: Ain’t That Cheating...

Its muscles moved beneath its coat as it crossed the remaining distance, and the sharp claws extending from its paws looked more than capable of tearing through flesh and armor.

Rather than being startled, Osborne’s lips curled up ever so slightly while he remained with his back toward the beast.

[Mud Wall]

The ground suddenly shook.

A large mud wall sprouted from the earth at incredible speed, rising directly in front of the approaching creature before reaching a height that was several times greater than Osborne’s own body.

The leopard’s golden eyes widened slightly.

Its original target had suddenly disappeared behind the rising wall, leaving it with almost no time to change the direction of its attack.

However, the creature’s body was remarkably agile.

It twisted in midair, adjusted its position, and landed on top of the newly formed wall with its four paws spread apart to maintain its balance.

Its claws dug into the mud.

For a brief moment, the demonic beast stood on top of the wall, staring down at Osborne with its golden eyes.

"[Fireball]!"

Osborne finally turned around.

By the time his face was directed toward the creature, several fireballs had already materialized in the air around it.

The blazing spheres hovered at different positions, surrounding the leopard from multiple directions and leaving it with very little room to escape without getting hit.

Osborne looked at the creature from beneath his helm.

’I can’t risk damaging my precious herbs now, can I?’ A cold smirk appeared beneath his helmet.

---

’Hope you like the pedestal.’

Everything had happened according to his calculations.

The moment he arrived in the clearing, he had already suspected that something was watching him.

Although he had failed to spot the creature because of its impressive camouflage, that didn’t mean he was completely unaware of its presence.

His enhanced sense of smell had detected something unusual.

The scent was faint, almost impossible to notice among the overwhelming smell of the Moonlight Grass, but Osborne had spent enough time following the herb through the forest to recognize that something else was mixed into it.

The creature had been hiding among the plants.

Its coat blended with the surroundings, and its movements were quiet enough that even his enhanced hearing had failed to pick up its approach, but its scent had betrayed it.

Osborne hadn’t known exactly where it was hiding, nor had he known what kind of demonic beast he would encounter.

However, once the creature finally attacked, he had been ready to react.

The large Mud Wall hadn’t been created to protect him.

It had been created to force the beast upward.

If he had attacked while the creature was standing among the Moonlight Grass, his Fireballs might have damaged the very herbs he had come here to collect.

That would have been a waste.

By raising the creature into the air, he could attack it without worrying as much about the plants below.

At least, that had been the plan.

Osborne raised his hand.

The fireballs immediately shot toward the leopard.

They moved through the air at high speed, surrounding the creature before closing in from several directions.

The leopard’s eyes narrowed.

Its body tensed.

For a brief moment, Osborne believed that his plan had worked perfectly.

Then something unexpected happened.

"...?!!"

Osborne’s pupils constricted.

The demonic beast’s figure suddenly turned into shadow before dispersing.

There was no leap, nor hurried movements that his eyes could follow.

One moment, the leopard had been standing on top of the Mud Wall, surrounded by several blazing fireballs, and the next, it had vanished completely.

The fireballs continued forward.

BOOM!

The first fireball struck the Mud Wall.

The others followed almost immediately, exploding against the structure and sending chunks of mud flying through the air.

The wall shook violently before a large section collapsed, leaving a cloud of dust and smoke hanging over the clearing.

Osborne stared at the destruction.

"Impossible!"

He hadn’t expected the creature to escape so easily.

His fireballs had surrounded it from several directions, and although the beast was clearly agile, it shouldn’t have been able to avoid every attack without moving through one of the gaps.

Yet it had vanished.

Osborne quickly whipped his head around the moment he detected its scent again.

His enhanced sense of smell had picked up the creature’s presence somewhere behind him.

He turned toward the Moonlight Grass field.

There, several meters away from the destroyed Mud Wall, the demonic leopard had reappeared among the silver plants.

Its white coat blended into the clearing once more, while its golden eyes remained fixed on Osborne.

The creature lowered its body slightly.

Its fangs were clenched in a beastly snarl.

Osborne stared at it.

’That’s its special ability?’

His expression became serious.

He had encountered demonic beasts with unusual abilities before, including the silver-striped wolves whose bodies could produce powerful electric attacks, but this creature was different.

The wolves had been dangerous because of their strength, numbers, and ability to attack with electricity.

However, their attacks could still be blocked or avoided through the right use of aura and magic.

This leopard was much more troublesome.

It had disappeared without leaving any obvious trace, allowing it to avoid attacks that should have been difficult to escape.

If that was the creature’s special ability, then fighting it would be far more complicated than fighting the wolves.

Especially here.

Osborne glanced at the Moonlight Grass beneath the leopard’s paws.

He couldn’t simply launch Fireballs in every direction until one of them hit.

There were too many plants growing across the clearing, and a careless attack could destroy a large portion of the herbs he had come to collect.

Even if he managed to defeat the leopard, damaging the entire field would defeat the purpose of finding it in the first place.

He also couldn’t assume that the creature would continue using the same trick.

Since he still didn’t know what its power was exactly, sure it seemed like it teleported over a short distance.

But that shadow effect was what worried him.