Doomsday Pillars

These lions weren't only fast, capable of fighting on the same strength with stone golem but also had the ability to regenerate very quickly.

[Mutated Mountain Lion]

[level 50 mutated beast]

[Tier two - high level]

Level 50 mutated beasts were considered as high level, tier 2 beasts. So far, apart from Garuda, which was a tier 3 animal, the strongest mutated beast Alex had ever fought was the mutated snake on the island of Bali. That mutated snake had a level of 40, making it a Tier 2 mutated beast but intermediate level category. This time, however, the beast James facing was ten levels stronger than the snake.

The stone golem was fighting one of the mountain lions, while the mutated lioness transfixed its gaze at Elizabeth. It seemed to have enough intelligence to know who had the idea for the suffering it had experienced. Its body was emitting a barely visible smoke, indicating it was healing, as it crouched. 

Richard and his colleagues were once again in the offensive but this lioness dodged their attacks with ease.. Seeing that their offense was futile, Richard returned to guard Elizabeth against any unsuspecting attacks. He stood in front of her ready to respond to the beast's counterattack even though everyone knew that he wouldn't have the strength to protect Elizabeth from this beast. That mutated beast was too strong even for someone like him.

James walked over to them and said, "Richard, you'll only waste your life. I'll take care of it."

Richard was silent, he didn't know how to respond to the man asking him to abandon his duties of protecting the president. He furrowed his brows at this Asian man.

Elizabeth was also surprised, Richard had been reliable so far as well as James, but James' reliability had been how resourceful he was, not fighting. It was a different story though if James still had another stone golem hidden.

James didn't have time to waste and pushed Richard 3 meters away with one hand, almost knocking him down. Some nearby people pointed guns at James, fearing he might somehow attack the president.

"!!!"

Richard's face looked shocked and dark as he stared at James. He lifted a hand and ordered the others to step down.

"It looks like I have to join the fight. Don't worry Elizabeth I'll take care of you,"

James's actions and words made Elizabeth and everyone around her become awkward.

"James, do you have another stone golem?" she asked.

"No," James said, shaking his head.

"Then?"

James touched the bracelet in his wrist and a piece of information was shown. 

[James Randall]

[Male - 38 years]

[Earth realm level 10 - intermediate stage]

[Spirit energy - Water- early stage]

[Spirit Talent - level C]

James had been spending the past month looking for artifacts instead of cultivating. It didn't matter though since he didn't like practicing. He wasn't a front liner, his real strength lied on his resourcefulness so he had accumulated a lot of spirit stones. From the spirit stones he had collected, he had already consumed dozens of white stones and yellow stones after breaking through that was why he was at level 10. He was probably the highest leveled earth realm fighter in the US.

"Hopefully, the spirit stone I spent is useful."

ROOOAARRRRR!!!

The wounds on the lioness' body were almost healed. It finally lunged Elizabeth.

"Ooo damn!" shouted James in his heart before facing the lioness head-on.

"James!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

BBAAAAMMMMM!!!

A violent collision occurred and the two bounced back at the same time. Elizabeth ran over to James, filled with worry since James's size was only a third of the lioness' size. What was shocking, however, was that James was able to match this mutated beast's strength. 

"Are you okay? How did you do that?" Elizabeth asked.

"Arghhh, it really hurts!" James said, trying to stand up.

Then Elizabeth noticed the blood dripping on the sand underneath James.

"You're bleeding!"

James smiled even though he looked in pain. "I'm fine... Don't worry, this isn't my blood."

He then showed a small bloodied dagger he was holding.

[Dagger - Tier 2]

[Weight: 1.2 kilograms]

He actually had another Tier 2 weapon at his disposal. Because of that weapon, he had managed to injure the animal. He had been thinking of how to deal with this lioness and he had come to the conclusion that by jumping forward, the lion would have a hard time using its claws and fangs to either attack or defend, hence he would have a chance to stab the giant lioness' body.

There was one more reason why he had taken that risk. His safety insurance.

[Iron vest - Tier 2]

[Medium armor]

[Weight: 5.8 kilograms]

"Check protective energy," James said.

[Protective Energy: 72/100]

James clicked his tongue and commented, "It's just one collision but it already took 28 energy? Aaaa, this armor isn't reliable."

Even though he was complaining, he was actually grateful. This was one of the things he decided to keep from the artifacts he had found. The knife and the vest were the only he had equipped since safety was always a priority. After all, he only had one life. The vest as a life-saving artifact, and the dagger as a hidden weapon. 

The lioness issued an angry roar.

ROOAAAAARRRR ROOAARR

It stared at James with its sharp fangs bared. It didn't expect that this puny prey would be able to push it back, so it stood back analyzing its opponent.

The lioness walked left and right around James and Elizabeth. It was attempting to intimidate them but James became more confident instead. 

"Watch out, James. It's going to strike again," said Elizabeth, shrinking behind James' back.

"Calm down, it's assessing its chances of hunting us. Don't curl up, stand beside me and puff your chest. Don't show that we're afraid," James said. He then breathed in and shouted, "COME HERE YOU DAMNED ANIMAL!"

The mutated beast jumped back and bared its fangs once more. It seemed to have retreated a bit and solely fixed its gaze against James.

"How do you know this?" Elizabeth asked.

".Hmm... You know... National Geographic Channel..."

"..."

Elizabeth cleared her throat and said, "so, do you think we can win this fight?"

"Not sure, most likely not. This beast is too fast. I can see its movements, but I know I won't be able to keep up with its speed. I'm hoping it'll get pissed off and attack head-on so can I counter it, but if it starts moving in a circle it will be very troublesome."

"What can we do to help?"

"I don't know yet. But what's important now is to buy time."

"Buy time for what?" Elizabeth asked, confused. But then from a distance, she heard a vehicle honking. 

Hoooonnnkk hoooonnnkk! Vroooommmmm vrooommm!

A humvee was driving through the desert from the direction of the pillar.

"Just in time," James said.

ROOAAARRR ROOARRR

The lioness roared once more and it slowed its movements, still intently focused at James. It also heard the incoming vehicle as well and looked at its direction. Slowly, the lioness started backing up, giving up the intention of attacking James and Elizabeth. It then looked toward its mate that was fighting against the golem.

James noticed the lioness looking at its mate and shouted, "Careful!"

The lioness jumped toward the direction of the other lion, but it didn't attack the golem instead it pounced at the two secret service members who were using artifact weapons and Captain Markus. 

The three people failed to react in time. Captain Marcus, who was wielding the ax, was gravely injured as his back had three large claw slashes while one of the secret service guards had his head bit off, and the other one was crushed on the ground. The secret service man on the ground was still alive but the lioness followed up and also mauled his head afterwards. 

Once the three people were no longer able to fight, the lioness jumped at the stone golem. With the stone golem besieged by two lions, it didn't take long for the stone golem to be on the losing side. 

BAMMM! BAAAMM!

The lioness used its weight to hold the stone golem on the ground while the lion used its jaw to pull the stone golem's limbs. The lion pulled and pulled and the stone golem was beginning to show signs of cracking. But before the lion managed to remove the golem's leg, a gust of wind struck at the direction of the lion.

SLAASSSHHH!

The two high-level mutated beasts felt the impending danger and jumped away.

An American Indian man, with long black hair and a red headband, was standing in the area where the gust of wind had come from. He was holding a traditional small indian ax.

"Nathanael! You're a lifesaver," James said.

Apart from Nathanael, two more people got out of the vehicle. James smiled at the sight of them as they were Red and Zee, two of his personal bodyguards, who were former members of the Delta Force.

Elizabeth, however, couldn't hide her disappointment because there were only three people that had arrived as reinforcements. There were already more than 100 of them here, but they weren't able to do much.

James noticed Elizabeth's reaction and decided to clear her mind. "We'll be fine. In fact, Nathanael alone is enough."

James stood more relaxed now since he knew how reliable they were. He was also eager to see how much Nathanael had improved after one month of training on the Doomsday Pillars. Nathanael's opponent this time were two fast mountain lions, it was a suitable match for him.