577 Chapter 194

Two martial artists stood side by side looking around nervously.

The Ancient sea of trees was considered to be the absolute boundary of the Heavenly star nation – an unexplored endless forest filled to the brim with dangerous monsters.

Even though it was assumed to stretch for a ridiculous distance, no one ever managed to reach anything that could be considered a boundary – be it a mountain or a seashore – even after months of traveling.

Although that could be written off as the forest creating a natural labyrinth – it was big, whoever went there would simply lose their way after a few days of exploration.

Still, mapping out the sea of trees was not the purpose of the two cleanly shaved martial artists with brown and dark brown eyes.

"I hope the heir will be done soon, this place gives me the creeps."

The one with brown eyes muttered nervously, glancing towards the path that their comrades taking on a massive monster created.

"Then concentrate on upholding the law of Aries and pray that this thing will not decide to replenish its energy by snacking on us."

The martial artist with dark brown eyes responded angrily, just as tense as his companion.

"I wouldn't dream about stopping it..."

Nove l B(in).C OM

"Shh...! Dd you hear that?!"

The first one scoffed, rolling his eyes after being reminded of something he already knew all too well when the other martial artist raised his hand and shushed him with a tense expression as he turned his head to listen in to the sounds of the forest.

"What? No, I don't hear a thing, you must be even mor-HUGHRUGH...!"

*WHAM*

"!!!"

The brown-eyed martial artist looked around and after not noticing anything more suspicious than the two of them, he snickered and mocked his comrade – just to get taken down a spread arm of a black-haired man who came out of nowhere.

"...ghyyyy...!"

*thump*

Getting hooked by Zoemi's elbow, the brown-eyed marital artist let out a hushed hiss while blowing out foam from the corners of his mouth even before he fell off and slumped on the ground amongst the moss and last year's leaves.

"Wh-WHO ARE YOU?! LAW OF ARIES! LAW OF CAPRICORN! LAW OF TAURUS!"

The dark-brown-eyed man jumped away in shock before activating three laws, taking a defensive stance, ready to intercept anything that the unknown opponent would throw at him.

"I should be asking that."

*WHOOOSH* *WHAM*

"GHH... hyyy..."

*thump*

Zoemi shrugged his shoulders and the next moment he was already by the martial artist – even on full alert, the dark brown-eyed man could not dodge the attack and received the full brunt of the punch straight to the face.

A punch that knocked him out and embedded the back of his head into the tree trunk, pinning him to it – a nice effect that didn't last long as only a few seconds later the unconscious man fell down and sprawled on the forest ground not far away from his similarly knocked-out friend.

"You are lucky. If I kill you, I could be accused of being a part of one of the dark sects. And I do not need that kind of reputation following me."

The black-haired man scoffed at the bodies, before going back to complete silence as he listened for more opponents.

"It doesn't sound as if the main fight will end soon... better take care of all the people keeping guard."

Zoemi furrowed his brows, squinting his eyes towards the direction of the loudest ruckus and not going straight towards it.

"Hmph."

Zoemi scoffed in annoyance and pounced towards another pair that was paying more attention to the big fight further in and missed the takedown of the martial artists in front of them.

----

"Call for Zoey, quick! We must withdraw! We are under attack! H-huh?!"

*SLAM*

A serious-looking dark-haired martial artist with a pencil mustache roared and turned around to face the black-haired man that wiped down their entire force, just to stand up face in the face with the man in question and got knocked out with an elbow to the temple.

"...hiuuu..."

*thump*

The pencil-mustached man let out a funny whistling-like sound and met the ground like a freshly cut tree.

"..."

Despite dealing with everyone not partaking in the loudest skirmish in the area, Zoemi could not shake off an odd feeling – especially after hearing a name that was rather similar to his own.

Has he already taken down that Zoey, or was it someone waiting in the background, some sort of a triumph card that those dark sect people brought with them just in case...?

Of course, it was very plausible that the said Zoey was simply the person duking it out with the monster – and speaking of...

"GHHRRRRRRRRRAAGHH!"

*SLASH* x25

A seven-limbed bear-like monster with its brown fur shining gold in the rays of the sun sipping through the openings in the thick forest after the destruction of several ancient trees stood up roaring in anger and unleashed a flurry of attack with its five clawed arms.

"Khh...! That is quite annoying...!"

The youngster looking a bit younger than Zoemi facing the beast gritted their teeth and lowered their arms slightly.

The martial artist outfit they wore was already torn into pieces, but only thin red marks on the otherwise pale skin signified the damage dealt by the golden-brown monster bear with too many limbs even considering its own species.

The youngster had shoulder-length black hair that they put into a high ponytail with a white band, and their eyes were steel-gray, oozing with determination.

Their face was pretty, but in a casual way that didn't make others lose their breath at a single glance.

*WHAM* x4

"GHH!"

The youth blocked the oncoming strikes of four bear paws with their head, both arms, and right leg – rising their knee and receiving the hit to their shin – hissing out through their teeth, getting visibly distressed.

If the youth's opponent was just a normal six-limbed bear, that defense would be sufficient because even if the beast tried to bite, it would have to take back at least one massive arm away to make some way for its sizable head – but that was not the case for this particular specimen.

After all, the golden brown bear had an additional arm on its right side...

*SLAM*

"GHU-UGH...!"

*thump*

The swipe of the fifth paw hit the unguarded right side of the black-haired martial artist and sent them flying and crashing into the branches of the ancient trees, just to fall pitifully on the root-covered ground beneath.

"...oowww... Law of A-Aries..."

The youth let out a pained cry as they struggled to get up – the last hit got them good, the martial artist had to even reactivate their defensive star power which meant that their concentration was broken.

"A... real man doesn't cry...!"

The youth, on all fours with their limbs trembling like a leaf on the wind, gritted their teeth and uttered trying to catch a breath while holding back tears of pain.

*GRRRRRRRRAOR!"

The monster bear certainly didn't care about the inner turmoil of the human that picked up a fight with it and simply used the chance to delier another blow at the martial artist's exposed underbelly.

*WHAM*

"GHAAAAAAH!"

*SMASH*

The claws did break through the skin but didn't manage to rip through the muscles of the back-haired youth's abdomen, instead slamming them at the base of the massive tree.

"...ghuuuegh...! D-damn it...!"

The transferred power of the hit forced whatever food the youth ate out of their stomach, which made the martial artist curse before looking up at the approaching beast.

"GRRRRRR..."

At first, the monster approached slowly, with a surprising amount of cautiousness, as if it expected the martial artist to spring back into action right away but got confused by the lack of movement.

"...ROAAAAARGH!"

The beast didn't ponder the possibility of trickery or ambush for too long, though - it roared, going down on all seven, and charged at the black-haired martial artist.

"La-law or A-Aries...!"

Seeing the gruesome fags dripping with saliva come to approach them at a terrifying speed, the martial artist cried out pitifully, already knowing that they would not survive the crushing power of the monster's jaws clenching on their body, but trying to protect themselves as best as they could anyway.

The martial artist crossed their arms in front of their face defensively and closed their eyes, not wanting to see the beast's mouth that would turn out to be their ultimate demise...

*CRUNCH* *crack*

"..."

The next moment the bear-like monster's jaws clamped down on the human flesh and a sound of breaking bones resounded, making the black-haired marital artist tremble from nausea as the goosebumps covered their entire body...

"...huh...?"

Only after a second the martial artist in question realized that the goosebumps covered their entire UNHARMED body, and let out a confused gasp.

"GRAAAAAAOOOOORGHHH...!"

*THUMP*

That realization was followed by the pained growl of the seven-limbed bear and soon after the earth trembled as it fell back in an attempt to retreat.

"I was considering letting you get torn apart, but I realized that even someone like you might have people wanting to avenge you."

"W-wait, what...?!"

A deep, pleasant for the ears voice scoffed at the exhausted marital artist, causing them to gasp in shock as they opened their eyes and lowered their arms...

"I mean that if I let this guardian monster kill you, someone from your circle, a friend, family member, or maybe teacher, might want to slay the beast that ended you. And we can't have that."

The stunned black-haired marital artist received the answer quite easily – although it was not exactly the answer they were asking for...

"Hmph."

*thump*

Facing them, the black-haired man in simple villager clothes, scoffed and grabbed something stuck to his shoulder and threw it at the lap of the trembling martial artist.

"....huh....?"

The object turned out to be... a broken off fang of the seven-limbed bear...!