Chef in the Apocalypse

Chapter 142: Encounter

Jayce and Lianna made their way through the thick forest, remaining vigilant. However surprisingly enough they had yet to meet any monsters in the vicinity. While this might seem like good news, Jayce was currently wearing a frown.

Strong monsters were very territorial. Despite having some form of intelligence, they did not cooperate and converse with other monsters, seeing them only as a threat, or their prey. Of course the Beast Tide was an exception, a rather weird exception at that.

Which was why it was typical for weaker monsters to avoid the territory of far stronger ones. Either there were no monsters in this part of the forest, or they could currently be intruders in a boss monster’s territory.

Jayce had enough experience to know that something was amiss, his eyes scouted ahead, looking for any signs of danger within the vicinity. Upon a thick tree in the distance he could see large gashes carved out, a few meters off the ground.

He narrowed his eyes, making use of his Analyze skill to try and glean some more information. Yet what he saw made his frown deepen.

“Stop.” he whispered to Lianna, grabbing her arm firmly.

Hearing the tone of voice, Lianna instantly became serious. She had traveled with Jayce enough to know when he sensed danger and what to do accordingly. Without making a sound, she summoned her staff and was prepared to move into action.

The constant sounds of insects and birdlife within the forest suddenly stopped, casting an eerie silence over their heads. The silence persisted for a few moments before Jayce quickly grabbed Lianna by the waist and jumped with all his might.

A small cry of surprise rang out before an almighty boom shook the forest, sending shivers up Lianna’s spine. She looked back to see what looked like a giant Panther standing where they had been just a moment ago.

It was 3 meters tall and spanned over 8 meters in length with a glossy black coat and viper-like tail. It had wings which were currently tucked into its body and a dragon-like head, which was covered in dark scales.

’W-What the hell is that thing?’

As if reading her mind, Jayce uttered the words “Draconic Panther” under his breath. His face looking grave. Anything which had dragon blood coursing through its veins was guaranteed to be strong.

Jayce had only come across a monster with dragon blood two times before. The first time was a Draconic Eagle which had decimated their traveling party from the skies, and the second time was the Draconic monster that had ended his life.

As soon as he landed back on the ground, he quickly turned to assess the situation. If the name on top of its head was red, he was prepared to run till the ends of the Earth, dragging Lianna along with him. Once one reached their 3rd tier class, they were able to identify the strength of monsters just by the color of their name.

Even if Jayce had not reached his 3rd tier, he would be able to glean more than enough information due to his Analyze skill. However, he likely didn’t have enough time to read all of the relevant information before the Draconic Panther pounced once again.

His eyes traveled above the monster’s head, avoiding its bloodthirsty eyes.

[Draconic Panther]

Jayce let out an audible sigh of relief seeing the light orange color of the name. There was still a stigma branded into his brain that no one could ever defeat a red-named boss.

The Draconic Panther let out a roar, sounding more like its Dragon counterpart rather than a panther. Jayce moved Lianna behind him and clutched his Bloodfang Dagger in his right hand, “Buff me please.” he asked, never removing his eyes from the beast in front of him.

Not wasting a second, Lianna began to chant her spells, putting her blessing of protection and attack buffs on Jayce. While he was thankful that the monster only had a light orange name, he didn’t think that this would be an easy battle, especially since he was not meant to be on the front line.

Thus, he decided to go hard from the start, hoping to catch the monster off guard.

“Domain.”

A group of dark flames erupted around Jayce like hell’s inferno. The raging fires spread outward, bathing the forest in an ominous glow. The Draconic Panther recoiled at the sight of the flames, yet they were too fast, engulfing it in an instant.

However the pain and agony that it expected did not follow. There was no feeling of pain, nor scalding heat, causing it to tilt its head in confusion. Yet in the next moment it felt as if its strength had been reduced, almost as if its vitality was being sapped.

This caused the Draconic Panther to bellow in fury, directing its attention to the source of the flames. Its coiling muscles contracted, sending its sleek body bounding directly towards Jayce, its bloodthirsty eyes staring him down like a vicious predator.

Jayce bent his knees, preparing for the impact of the pissed off monster. Time seemed to slow down as the monster approached, inching closer one frame at a time. When it was about 10 meters away, Jayce disappeared from its vision, even quicker than its eyes could react.

It had already reached its top speed, stopping its momentum would leave it open to an attack. Therefore it decided to switch targets to the frail woman who was standing beside the male earlier. Seeing the look of shock and fright on her face was enough to send it into a frenzy.

Just as the monster took its final leap towards Lianna, it felt that something was wrong. Whether by instinct or otherwise, it decided to unfurl its wings and change its trajectory upwards, pulling out of its earlier attack.

The moment after it began to rise it felt a sharp pain in its underbelly, causing it to scream out in agony. Jayce, who had used his Master of Stealth ability, appeared from beneath the Draconic Panther and thrust his dagger upwards, gutting it.

However, due to the last moment actions of the monster, his dagger had not gone deep enough. Thankfully, the 6 times critical damage bonus had made up for that fact, splitting open the underside of the monster and creating a mortal wound.

The Draconic Panther continued to fly, its exposed entrails dripping blood on the ground of its flight path. Jayce instinctively knew that it was only a matter of time before the monster died, however if they lost it then he would miss out on the drops.

“Let’s follow it and finish it off.” Jayce said, grabbing Lianna by the hand and following the trail of blood left behind.

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