Chapter 717: The Shadow Panther

Moments after Mirage moved closer to Moon, the Shadow Panther struck from the dark, lunging out of the gloom at blinding speed, materializing only in the instant before its claws were about to land.

The Southern Commander was ready, pivoting at the last moment to catch the strike before it could hit. The blade master crossed his swords, trapping the panther’s claws mid-swing, sparks flying where steel met claws. The panther recoiled instantly, melting back into the darkness before the commander could counter, vanishing again.

It’s faster than the Beast Soul, and it won’t commit unless it thinks it can kill and escape.

The panther struck again, and this time it was more clever.

It came at the Beast Soul from one angle, drawing the commander’s blades to intercept, and then, at the last possible instant, it twisted mid-air, its trajectory changing in a way that should have been impossible, slipping past the beast soul’s guard entirely. The commander’s blades caught empty air.

And the panther’s real target became clear.

The Golden Turtle atop Mirage’s back.

The newborn Supreme creature the panther had been eyeing since the moment it arrived. It had never truly wanted Moon or his people. It wanted the Golden Turtle, the single most valuable prize in the entire pavilion, and it had used the Beast Soul’s guard as a feint to reach it.

At the last moment, Moon managed to throw himself into the panther’s path, his arm sweeping up to intercept the claws aimed at the turtle.

His blade met the strike, and the impact slammed through him, a horrible, bone-deep vibration shuddering up his arm from the force of the blow. He gritted his teeth and held on, deflecting the panther away from the turtle, but the shock of that single block left his arm ringing, half-numb.

If it lands another hit like that, my arm breaks. I can’t keep raw-blocking this panther’s attacks...

The panther vanished again, retreating into the shadows, unhurt.

Moon fell back a step, shaking out his throbbing arm, his mind racing.

The panther was too fast to catch and too clever to trap in a straight fight, and every exchange risked his arm or his turtle.

Placing his turtle inside his beast taming space was an option, but it risked the chance of the Shadow Panther’s retreat, which would be an immense loss. With its concealment ability, and power, it would be near impossible to find it again unless it decided to show itself.

Moon needed to out-think it whilst also keeping his turtle safe.

Think... How can I trap it here?

Moon quickly cycled through the information he knew about the beast, formulating a plan.

One. It’s an ambush hunter. It only attacks when it’s certain of the strike, and it only reveals itself in the instant before it lands a blow. It won’t come out for a bad opportunity.

Two. It wants the Golden Turtle. It will ignore me and the others, it slipped past the Beast Soul, it’s fixated on the supreme-rank newborn. That’s its goal, and a fixated hunter is a predictable one.

Three. It relies on concealment. It hides in darkness and strikes from angles difficult angles that are naturally tough to defend against. Which means it’s confident nobody can see it coming.

Within moments, and in the heat of the battle, with the shadow panther lurking in the darkness around, Moon formulated the bait plan that would put it down to rest.

Moon moved, positioning Mirage and the Golden Turtle near a shadowed corner, seemingly to protect them, but in truth leaving a single clean, tempting approach lane for an ambush predator, the perfect opening the panther would find irresistible.

He pulled the Beast Soul back, feigning a defensive regroup, opening the guard the panther had been circling for, making the kill look easy.

Then he waited.

The panther did not attack, lurking in the shadow for more than a minute before it finally took the bait, no longer able to resist the temptation that Moon had placed for it.

The dark panther lunged out of the darkness with its fangs spread for the kill along the exact lane Moon had left open, its body blurring toward the turtle, certain of the kill.

"Now!"

Frost Pillars erupted from the floor along the panther’s approach lane, walls of ice slamming up to cut off its escape routes the instant it committed. The Beast Soul, never truly out of position, whirled back in from the flank the panther had thought was clear, both blades sweeping down.

And Moon himself struck from the front, his lightning-charged sword driving into the beast’s exposed side as its momentum carried it into the trap.

The panther, caught mid-lunge with nowhere to twist away, and no shadow to melt into, its escape sealed by ice on three sides, took all the attacks at once.

The Beast Soul’s blades cleaved deep across its back, followed by Moon’s lightning that momentarily froze its muscles before it managed to regain control.

Realizing it had fell for a trap, it rotated mid lung using the beast soul’s blade as a platform to bounce away from them and create distance.

The Shadow Panther let out a shriek of pain, seriously wounded for the first time since it had appeared, dark blood spilling across the pavilion floor as it stared at Moon and his Beast Soul in hatred.

Moon stood in-front of it, his eyes gleaming, a cold grin on his face.

"Caught you."

"Finish it!" Moon ordered.

The Beast Soul closed the distance instantly, denying the wounded panther any chance to slip back into the shadows.

The Freezing Cold from Moon’s ice had taken hold, and the Frost Pillars kept firing, icicles hammering the beast from every direction. The panther’s tough hide shrugged off most of the physical damage, the spears never penetrating deep enough, but that wasn’t its main advantage.

The ice element’s true value was its effect, and the Freezing Cold effect kept dragging at the panther’s blinding speed, robbing it of the one advantage that had made it so dangerous.

~Clash!~