Chapter 604: Race to Kill the Heavenly Thunder Leopard

The Heavenly Thunder Leopard charged straight at Princess Phoenix while unleashing its signature skill, Heavenly Thunder Explosion. The lightning horn on its head released a massive bolt that crackled through the air and struck directly toward Princess Phoenix and the Immortal Phoenix.

The Divine Beast Phoenix let out a clear cry and countered with a blast of crimson flame the moment the leopard attacked. Although it had only recently reached maturity, it was already strong enough to stand against a creature that had ruled Ten-Thunder Valley for a thousand years.

Princess Phoenix, however, couldn’t unleash her full offensive power yet. She raised her Phoenix Feather Shield and pushed forward through the leopard’s barrage of lightning. That was the burden of being a melee Knight. You had to be the one standing in front.

Fortunately, Princess Phoenix’s legendary defense lived up to its reputation. The supposedly devastating Heavenly Thunder Explosion struck her armor and dealt less than 30,000 damage. With her natural health regeneration and Princess Celeste healing her from behind with water-element spells, the damage disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared.

The moment Princess Phoenix closed the distance, she struck. "Phoenix Flame Slash!" Her blade erupted with fiery energy as she swung again and again, each blow tearing away at least 70,000 to 80,000 HP from the Heavenly Thunder Leopard.

As a Phoenix Knight, Princess Phoenix was also an Agility-type Knight. Her high Agility gave her a high critical-hit rate, and golden critical numbers continued to appear above the leopard as its HP steadily dropped.

Damn. She was strong. Marcus had seriously underestimated Princess Phoenix. With her current strength, she didn’t need three resurrections at all. She was already capable of fighting a Divine Beast that had evolved from a Mythic Beast, and that wasn’t even counting the damage from her pet.

The Immortal Phoenix stayed beside her, constantly unleashing powerful flames that seemed to hit even harder than Princess Phoenix’s attacks. Marcus was starting to lose his mind. Why was she this strong? He was impressed, but at the same time, he couldn’t help feeling annoyed.

At this rate, Princess Phoenix would tear through the Heavenly Thunder Leopard before he even had a chance to make a move.

How was he supposed to get involved? If things continued like this, forget personally killing the leopard in front of the two princesses. He might not even get a single attack in. ’Ugh...’ This was seriously frustrating.

"Hyah!" Marcus had just finished setting up a teleportation array at the valley entrance using Wanderlust. There was no time to hesitate. He spurred Blackie forward and charged toward the battle, having already switched to the Mythic Artifact Twin-Winged Ice Owl Bow and loaded it with Blazing Explosive Arrows.

He wasn’t going to miss his chance. Blackie’s hooves pounded across the ground as they covered more than 200 meters. Once he was within 50 meters of the Heavenly Thunder Leopard, Marcus was finally in range to fire his Mythic-grade arrows.

Then Princess Celeste struck the leopard with a water spell, slowing it for a brief moment, and Princess Phoenix immediately seized the opening. "Phoenix True Flame!" The Immortal Phoenix released a burst of fire toward Princess Phoenix, engulfing her entire body in flames. In a single second, she completed her flame charge and unleashed the technique.

"Phoenix’s Fury Chain Combo!" With a sharp battle cry, Princess Phoenix and the Immortal Phoenix moved together with perfect coordination. Their chain attack erupted in a relentless series of strikes, each blow landing before the leopard could recover from the previous one.

Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash! The Heavenly Thunder Leopard’s HP bar dropped rapidly. It couldn’t move, counterattack, or escape. Just like the previous day, it was trapped in the chain attack and forced to endure more than 30 consecutive blows.

Boom! The final strike, Phoenix Dance Slash, slammed the leopard into the ground and took more than 150,000 HP from it. After adding the damage Princess Phoenix and the Immortal Phoenix had dealt before the chain attack, the Heavenly Thunder Leopard was left with only a little over 110,000 HP.

Princess Phoenix immediately closed in to finish it. "Go, sis!" Princess Celeste cheered from behind, then glanced at Marcus, who was charging toward them. Her smug expression seemed to say, ’See? We don’t need you after all.’

But the Heavenly Thunder Leopard was still a Divine Beast.

"Lightning Storm!" Just as Princess Phoenix moved in after completing her chain attack, the leopard suddenly scrambled to its feet and spun around. A vortex of crackling electricity formed around its body. Princess Phoenix charged straight into it.

The Lightning Storm caught her and threw her backward, dealing more than 30,000 damage three times in succession. This was clearly one of the Heavenly Thunder Leopard’s trump cards. Worse, Princess Phoenix didn’t move after being thrown out of the storm. She was paralyzed.

"Lightning Teleport!" The Heavenly Thunder Leopard immediately seized the opportunity. Lightning surged around its body, and then it vanished. ’Damn.’ It was running.

With only a little over 110,000 HP remaining, the Heavenly Thunder Leopard had realized the situation was turning against it. After using Lightning Storm to knock Princess Phoenix away, it immediately activated its most reliable escape skill. ’Coward.’

"Celeste! Block it! The lightning attribute paralyzed me. Hold it back!" Princess Phoenix shouted urgently. So Lightning Storm didn’t just have a knockback effect. It also caused a powerful paralysis that lasted for three seconds.

The leopard’s Lightning Teleport was even more troublesome. A single teleport could carry it more than 150 meters, allowing it to pass straight by them and head toward the valley entrance. Even if Princess Phoenix hadn’t been paralyzed, catching it would have been difficult at that distance and speed.

Fortunately, Lightning Teleport had a cooldown. It couldn’t be used repeatedly. Otherwise, they would never catch this thing. ’Thank God.’ Marcus finally saw his chance.

"My turn!" He was just about to shout in excitement and make his move when someone acted before him. Whoosh! A graceful figure appeared directly in front of the fleeing Heavenly Thunder Leopard.

It wasn’t Princess Phoenix. She was still recovering from paralysis. It was Princess Celeste. Of course. Princess Phoenix had sent her younger sister to block the leopard’s escape, and it was a sensible decision. Princess Celeste raised her Five-Element Staff and began chanting.

"Earth Evasion: Thousand-Mile Instant!" Naturally, she couldn’t actually travel a thousand miles with the skill. Its effective range was only about 500 meters. Within that distance, however, she could move almost instantly.

A flash of light passed through the air. Princess Celeste appeared 50 meters ahead of the leopard and immediately began preparing her next spell.

"Earth, Wood, Water, Fire, Metal. Divine Skill Activation: Earth Dragon Eruption!" The leopard was still about 30 meters away, and Princess Celeste released Earth Dragon Eruption, hoping the resulting magic circle would trap it.

Yesterday, the Heavenly Thunder Leopard had escaped from a similar magic circle by using Lightning Teleport. But that skill was still on cooldown. Maybe this time she could stop it. But she had underestimated the difference between a Divine Beast and a Mythic Beast.

The Heavenly Thunder Leopard lowered its head and charged. "Heavenly Thunder Piercing Strike!" A massive burst of lightning exploded from its body and tore through the magic circle with ease. The leopard didn’t slow down. It continued charging directly toward Princess Celeste.

Before she could cast another spell, it was already within ten meters. Lightning gathered around its body. Then came the attack she had seen before.

"Ultimate: Heavenly Thunder Drill!" Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Four consecutive strikes slammed into Princess Celeste, dealing heavy damage and sending her flying backward.

"Heavenly Thunder Piercing Strike!" The leopard immediately followed up, determined to break through the valley entrance before Princess Phoenix could catch up. ’It’s getting away.’ As the massive beast charged toward her, Princess Celeste’s heart sank.

Her equipment could withstand the damage, but she couldn’t stop the leopard’s momentum. Even if she sacrificed herself, she wasn’t confident she could hold it back long enough for her sister to arrive.

She had already been prepared to die. As long as she could delay the leopard, Princess Phoenix would have enough time to catch up. Even if she died in the process, the Immortal Phoenix could resurrect her afterward.

But the leopard was simply too strong. She couldn’t hold it. That was the difference between a Divine Beast and an ordinary player. Princess Celeste could kill Mythic Beasts, and even two or three Mythic Beasts working together might be manageable, but they were still no match for a single Divine Beast.

The gap in strength was simply too large. The Heavenly Thunder Leopard was almost upon her. There was nothing she could do. After this next attack, it would break through her position and disappear through the valley entrance.

Princess Celeste looked back. Princess Phoenix had finally recovered from the paralysis, but she was still nearly 200 meters away. She wouldn’t make it. ’It’s over. The leopard is going to escape.’

Then a voice she had already memorized cut through the chaos. "Celeste, dual-ride!"

Ding!

[Princess Celeste, player Stonehaven has invited you to dual-ride. Do you accept?]

’Stone?’ What was he doing here? It was too dangerous. Why had he come? Concern flashed through her mind, but she accepted the invitation without hesitation.

A strong arm pulled her up, and she found herself against a broad, warm chest. It was Stonehaven. The Temple Guard Knight.

"The Ascendant’s Domain!" A roar shook the valley. A golden shockwave erupted from the knight holding Princess Celeste and spread outward in every direction.

When the shockwave struck the charging Heavenly Thunder Leopard... -320,000. A massive red number appeared above the Divine Beast’s head. It had lost more than 300,000 HP in a single attack.

And that wasn’t all. Princess Celeste watched the leopard hesitate. It stared at the man holding her, and for the first time, genuine fear appeared in its eyes. It seemed unable to understand what had just happened.

Then another attack struck. -480,000. Another crimson number appeared above its head. The Heavenly Thunder Leopard had started its escape with a little over 1.1 million HP remaining. In an instant, it had lost 800,000.

Less than 300,000 HP remained.

"Roar of Fear!" Another shout rang out. A terrifying wave of force surged toward the Heavenly Thunder Leopard, but this time, the result was different. MISS. The leopard resisted it.

"Boom!" The Heavenly Thunder Leopard crashed into them. Its Heavenly Thunder Piercing Strike struck both Stonehaven and Princess Celeste.

Princess Celeste took the hit head-on. Her equipment absorbed most of the damage, leaving her with more than 200,000 HP.

But Stonehaven... Whoosh. His HP dropped straight to zero. He was dead.