Chapter 134

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Chapter 134: Cornered Beast

"The black panther is outside!" yelled Jesse.

Upon hearing this, the shirtless man immediately climbed to the window and looked outside. Jesse also peered out the window.

In the pouring rain, a figure appeared halfway out a window above, struggling with a larger black shadow!

They roared madly, but their voices were drowned out by the storm, the sound of waves, and the rain. Inside the ship, their noise mixed with the creaking of the ship, only faintly audible when one leaned out of the window!

"It’s the one with the ponytail!" shouted the shirtless man.

"You guys stay here! I’ll go up to meet him!" Greed didn’t wait for the others to agree, he dashed up the stairs. The woman cursed under her breath and followed Greed upstairs, while the shirtless man moved to different windows near the ponytailed man, extending a harpoon to try to strike the panther from below.

Jesse watched from this side, aiming at the blurry black shadow, about to recite the Curse of Weakness when suddenly the ponytailed man was punched into the cabin by the black panther.

"Darn it!"

He quietly cursed and quickly ran into the cabin, rushing up the stairs. As he climbed, he silently chanted a spell to strengthen his memory, taking three steps at a time to reach the upper level, where he heard Greed roaring.

"You yellow-eyed beast! Ah!"

A wild roar from a beast came from the next room, causing Jesse to tremble from the depths of his heart.

Entering the cabin, he saw Greed fiercely smashing the black panther’s shoulder with a sharp end of his shield, which had great power. With Greed’s strength, a blow to the face could shatter the skull immediately.

But the black panther just whimpered, then bent its body and forcefully slammed into the cabin wall. Greed quickly jumped off its back and fell to the ground, avoiding being flattened if he had not jumped.

"Look over here!" A woman held a stick and aimed it at the black panther. The black panther turned to look at her, then leaped out with a roar. The woman tried to thrust the stick forward but was pushed aside by a claw. Another claw slapped her waist continuously. The woman screamed in pain and fell to the ground, gritting her teeth as she held the stick against the black panther’s bite. The black panther gnawed haphazardly on the stick, almost breaking it, but suddenly noticed Jesse who had just rushed in.

Jesse focused on the strange yellow eyes of the panther. Although it was called a panther, it looked as big as a sturdy Siberian tiger. Not only was its body muscular, but also noticeably agile, moving back and forth like a cunning cat. It must have cost a fortune to feed and train him.

Just as Jesse was about to recite the Curse of Weakness, the black panther let go of the woman, moved its body slightly, and swiftly knocked a jar off a nearby box with its claw.

The jar flew straight towards Jesse’s head. He grabbed his shoulder and pulled to the side just in time to dodge the jar. A shirtless man rushed over to help him evade the thrown object; otherwise, his head would have been smashed open.

The black panther clearly has experience dealing with mages, as it prioritizes attacking when it sees someone casting a spell.

The black panther targeted Jesse as he was about to pounce, but Greed suddenly jumped on its back with a tall shield, ready to deliver a heavy blow to its spine. However, the black panther shook its body, causing Greed to fall to the ground. The black panther turned to bite his neck, but Greed used the shield to defend himself. The black panther then shook Greed off by biting the edge of the shield, throwing the nearly two-hundred-pound dwarf warrior towards them!

Jesse agilely dodged to the side, while the shirtless man reacted slowly and was heavily smashed into the wall by the dwarf, sliding down with a thud.

As Jesse got up from the slippery floor and looked back, he noticed multiple claw marks on Greed’s shield, with the edges already cracked. The fall was indeed harsh, and Greed groaned in pain while holding his waist on the ground.

The shirtless man held his head, murmuring softly as he also seemed to have been hit hard.

Facing each fate from a distance meant having to confront opponents alone after all teammates had died, when originally the whole team should have faced them together. This was true in the game, and surprisingly also in reality.

However, in reality, there was no respawning to wipe out the entire team and start over, no hunters feigning death, or knights interfering—only fighting until the end.

The dark figure lowered its head, coughing violently, then shook its head before looking up, its two terrifying eyes locking onto Jesse.

Let’s have a duel then. A flash of lightning illuminated the entire cabin, revealing the creature’s fur all over its body. Its muscles seemed like intertwined steel bars, its sharp teeth resembling those of an ancient saber-toothed tiger—long and sharp. Layers of scars covered its body, making its black fur not as pure.

When he got up, he dashed like a launched cannonball!

Jesse, fearless, shouted an incantation, brandishing a long stick as he aimed at the approaching black panther.

"Ariniji Duzhazara, Kana!"

The black panther roared but did not slow down, crashing directly into him!

The Curse of Weakness didn’t work?

Jesse quickly dodged to the side with all his might, but the black panther grazed his arm with its shoulder, causing him to spin and collide with the nearby bulkhead, feeling dizzy.

The black panther, still in fighting shape, Jesse struggled to prop himself up, but when he looked back at the panther, it was stunned against the bulkhead, probably even more disoriented than he was.

Though the fierce beast didn’t pass out, it couldn’t immediately get up. It struggled on all fours on the floor for a while, leaving a large area of claw marks without standing up.

The Curse of Weakness must have worked, but because this fella charged so fast, even if it suddenly lost strength, the impact of momentum wouldn’t lessen much.

Just when Jesse thought the other person couldn’t climb up due to lack of strength, the black panther suddenly growled low, swiftly extended its paw towards him and swiped fiercely. Jesse quickly backed away, but still got scratched a bit and sat on the floor.

The black panther struggled to get up and wanted to try grabbing again. Its claws were already out but got grabbed by something, it roared wildly, missed the swipe, and a gust of wind brushed past Jesse’s eyes.

The panther turned back, Greed had grabbed its tail, screaming to retreat, and the two ended up pulling at each other, causing a commotion.

The black panther was indeed affected by the Curse of Weakness, its legs weakened and it was dragged away forcefully by Greed!

As the black panther was about to attack Greed, Jesse shouted to the shirtless man, "Use the net, use the net!"

Pointing at the shirtless man beside the window who had fainted and turned into a blood person, the net was by his side. The shirtless man roared and quickly ran over to grab the net, then returned to throw the net towards Greed who was fighting with the black panther.

"Don’t f*cking involve me with it…"

Greed roared and dodged outside, the black panther tried to pounce again but was already caught in the net, growling low while struggling frantically.

Greed got up and, together with the shirtless man, tightened the net. Jesse also rushed over to help hold it, after a brief struggle, the black panther was securely bound.

The black panther let out a weak growl, which turned into a whimper due to its injuries that didn’t match its fierce appearance.

"This net can’t hold him forever." Greed breathed heavily, saying in pieces, "Think about it, he broke the lock of that cage! He may be weak now, but who knows later. I’ll go call for help! You stay here and watch! Jesse, are you okay?"

Jesse shook his head, while Greed nodded and ran up, only then remembering he had been scratched just now.

He quickly touched his waist, chest, and legs where he was scratched, finding no blood but unknown blood stains. He had no wound or pain.

Perhaps the black panther had been affected by the Curse of Weakness, so its scratching wasn’t very strong.

However, it was more likely due to the cloak he was wearing.

He pulled the cloak over to see outside, noticing two white scratch marks, realizing that the cloak had protected him!

Larson was right; the cloak was indeed very strong. A monster like Incendosaur wouldn’t have torn it easily, even with the panther’s claws.