Doomsday Pillars

This Delta Force soldier was Nathanael, the one who fought Alex that was a wind spirit enhancer. Since he had left Bali, he had been following James along with his other Delta Force colleagues. They took on the Doomsday Pillar's challenge and were successful in finishing it. His arrival this time was a breath of fresh air, especially for James.

[Nathanael Hawkeye]

[Male - 28 years]

[Earth realm level 6 - initial stage]

[Spirit energy - Wind - intermediate stage]

[Spirit Talent - level A]

"It appears you have successfully mastered the early stage of wind spirit energy," said James.

"Yes. It was not easy," Nathanael said, walking with confidence.

"Be careful, these two beasts move very fast and they also have a very high regeneration ability. I suggest cutting off the head without delay. It should be enough to kill it."

"Yes, I can see that. They've dodged my wind strike ambush."

The two lions stood back to back as they observed the humans, who had surrounded them, every move. The man who had just arrived, the stone golem, James, and hundreds of other troops that had encircled them.

Nathanael was the greatest fighter of the Mohican tribe. He grew up following ancient Indian traditions in the Navajo wilderness. This wasn't the first time he had fought a mountain lion. Although the lions in front of him were three times bigger, stronger, and faster than the normal mountain lions he had slain during his hunts, Nathanael wasn't worried even one bit because you could say he had mutated in a way.

"So, what's the plan for these beasts? One misstep and you might die," asked James.

As of the moment, only the stone golem and James with his Tier 2 vest were completely safe from these mountain lions' attacks. The veteran fighters present, including Nathanael, only wore Tier 1 armor, so they wouldn't be able to withstand more than one attack from this high level mutated beast.

Nathanael and members of James' team noticed the woman standing next to James was the secretary of state who was now the President of America.

"For now, I'll carefully test the speed of this beast," Nathanael said. He looked to Red and Zee and added, "You guys stay on guard for now. Lest there be another victim."

"Understood."

He then stepped forward toward the two giant roaring lions.

ROOAARRR ROOARRRR

These mutated beasts could feel the threat from this human, so when Nathaniel was less than 10 meters away, one of the lions tried to be a step ahead and lunged.

ROAARRR!

Nathanael dashed to the side, dodging the lion's pounce.

SSHHHTTTT

The sharp claws almost hit his shoulders, but it was within his expectations. He had hunted lions as well as other beasts in the wilderness. He was adept at dealing with beasts due to the knowledge he had built up over the years. 

Nathanael readied his ax by raising it but he noticed the slight shift of wind due to the lioness pouncing when he had turned to face the first lion. 

"Tsk." Nathanael canceled his attack and jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the lioness' sharp claws. These mutated animals were slightly faster than him, luckily he had good techniques.

"They are faster than me, James," Nathanael said.

"How fast? Can you beat them?"

Last month after James and his team had succeeded in completing the first challenge, all soldiers of the delta and navy seal got upgraded from mortal realm to earth realm. Since then, they had been able to measure the abilities between them. Before that, one of the most popular ways they had measured each other's strength was race running, they still did sometimes but Nathanael had always been unbeatable.

A mid-stage mortal realm fighter had the same speed as an Olympic runner, averaging about 25 miles per hour or about 12 meters per second. Meanwhile, those who had reached the peak of the mortal realm could reach a speed of 60 miles per hour or about 30 meters per second.

This 60 miles per hour speed exceeded the normal mountain lion speed of 50 miles per hour. So those people that had reached the peak stage mortal realm would have outrun ordinary mountain lions, but of course, everything had become mutated ever since the plague struck, including the mountain lions.

After James' delta and the navy team had upgraded to the earth realm, they had broken through a new limit of 80 miles per hour or about 40 meters per second. Meanwhile, Nathanael, who was a wind spirit enhancer, his natural talent with the wind would always win him bets and could breakthrough speeds of 95-100 miles per hour at earth realm level 1. 

James was the highest level amongst his team, reaching level 10 earth realm but was still unable to beat Nathanael's speed. Now that Nathanael had reached level 6 earth realm, his speed was over 100 miles per hour. At that speed, imagine taking part in a 100-meter race and finishing it under 3 seconds. That would be a real bolt, it would be fantastic.

"They are much faster, possibly more than 120 miles per hour," Nathanael said, dusting himself off.

"Then, how?" James asked, raising his brows.

Now that Nathanael had more accurate battle information for himself, he finally started taking things more seriously. His eyes abandoned the carefree feeling he had in the beginning and all that was left was an intense focus. Nathanael tightened his grip on the small ax and it slightly lit up.

The mountain lions felt the impending danger and tried to finish Nathanael first by pouncing at him with all the speed and strength they could muster.

This was the perfect opportunity for Nathanael and he slashed the air with all his might at the lions in mid-air. A second later, the air in front of him converged and issued a boom, creating a wave of air advancing toward the lion.

Ziiiiinnnggg

The two mutated lions couldn't dodge while in mid-air and the sharp air hit them. 

SPLLLAATTTT

The lion in front bled and was knocked back, colliding with its mate behind. In one blow, one of the lion's forelegs was cut until its middle part. The lion's foreleg was dangling; it no longer functioned

Elizabeth and the rest were shocked. They weren't not expecting that this lone man could repel and even injure the two giant mutated lions.

Nathaniel raised his little ax again, ready to strike once more.

[Typhoon Ax - Tier 3]

[One-handed ax - 5.2 kilograms]

[Special power - Wind Slash]

[Limited for wind spirit enhancer]

This small ax, which had an ancient inscription inherited from the Mohican tribe, was a tier-three artifact, no wonder its power was so great. And since Nathanael had upgraded to the earth realm and managed to achieve gaining the energy of intermediate wind spirit energy, he could feel the ax starting to show its real power.

With the two lions lying on the ground, James took this opportunity and shouted, "Now! Attack!!!"

The stone golem followed by Zee and Red rushed to finish off the injured mountain lion. Meanwhile, Nathanael attacked the lion at the back.

"HIATTTT!!"

Since the first lion lost its forearm and injured foreleg, it was no longer a threat against the stone golem.

The lion at the back was able to get up while Nathanael made his way and its instincts could confirm it was in danger. It turned around to run away. 

"Careful everyone!"

The lion charged amidst the circle of troops. It didn't care about the dozens of soldiers and kept on moving, making the soldiers blown away like a can that was hit with a ball.

Nathanael trusted in his colleagues and the golem would be able to kill the injured lion. He solely focused on the running lion.

James shouted, "Stop, you can't catch up!"

However, as soon as those words left James' mouth. He was surprised to see that Nathaniel still had another secret.

The air around Nathanael gathered and circled around his whole body like a whirlwind of gale. His speed then suddenly increased, catching up to the escaping lion. 

[Wind walk - middle stage wind spirit knowledge]

"Weew, that's really cool," James commented.

This was one of the spirit skills that wind spirit enhancers could obtain after mastering intermediate energy spirits. It was a skill that could increase the movement speed of a person only for a limited time.

Zee and Red grabbed the tier 2 spear and sword artifact from the floor and joined to fight the injured lion along with the golem. It didn't take even five minutes for the high-level monster to finally find its demise.

"Done, we won," James told Elizabeth, with a smile. 

A moment later, Nathanael, a fighter wearing an American soldier uniform just like them, leisurely walked over carrying the whole body of the dead mountain lion. Then the whole area roared with a frenzy of cheers.

Elizabeth's mind, however, was on a different page. She was more concerned about the dozens of soldiers who either had died or seriously injured. Among them was Captain Marcus, being attended by a nearby medic. She said, "We have to get back to base 51, they need doctors now!" 

Zee heard this and immediately said, "Madam President, Let's instead take them to the Doomsday Pillar."

"Zee, did you guys manage to do it?" James asked.

Zee nodded and replied, "Yes, we've cleared ten floors."

It only had been a few weeks since James had left the team, but they had already managed to clear ten floors of the Doomsday Pillars. James couldn't wait to get back to the pillar to see the changes.