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“Shut up, Gar...” Puula whispered, glancing at the lynx just ahead of her.

Gar was smug but said nothing as he followed behind Vloz and brandished an unsatisfied expression toward the jaguar at his side.

Vloz noticed Gar’s attitude and demeanor, keeping an eye on him but not focusing on the matter. He was concerned with moving ahead and tracking down their targets, the purpose of their immediate expedition.

It was about mid-day when Vloz finally slowed and came to a halt. Without a word, Vloz sniffed and scoured the immediate surroundings.

“They–”

Holding his tail up in front of Gar’s face, Vloz shook his head in silence. Glancing at each party member, the leopard then offered a slow but steady nod. The beasts quickly understood what they had found but now Liz also understood they were close.

.....

Vloz’s strategy was to try and circle around the estimated path of the perennials. Thanks to the information of the foxes, they could now confirm that Vloz’s group was faster than their targets, which was both a good and a bad sign. It was good because it meant they would be able to catch them. But it also meant that the perennials they were tracking specialized in something other than stealth or direct speed, which could mean the battle would be even more difficult than Vloz previously assumed.

But that wouldn’t shake Vloz’s determination. They had come for a purpose and now was the time to act.

They gradually picked up speed as Vloz led them through the trees. It wasn’t at top speed but that was no longer necessary. Stealth was key now that they knew they were close. And Vloz wasn’t going to waste their chance at an ambush.

Despite the speed they took, Vloz made sure to keep the utmost secrecy. He took an entire hour to creep on their prey and approach them without giving anything away. Those behind him followed in Vloz’s footsteps, apart from Liz who hovered over the ground with the support of the wind.

Very soon, the entire party could sense the speeding perennials rushing toward Iron Town. To their surprise, they weren’t hiding their presence at all, practically parading through the undergrowth with their essence out in the open.

It was a peculiar sight but Vloz and the party had no time to waste. The leopard was already beginning to analyze his targets as he led his team just behind the charging perennials.

They all seemed to be human and none of them were using essence types known for speed. The woman at the lead was nearly in flames as she led the way. The two men directly behind her showed fire affinity as well, leaving the last two perennials at the rear with a thin layer of water surrounding them.

Vloz’s mind was already beginning to strategize, deciding who should be pitted against who. There was no doubt that he would be facing the woman at the lead, who was at least a high-perennial, if not a peak perennial. And the others were mid-perennials and low-perennials. That gave them an advantage over the two early-perennials and two low-perennials teamed up with Vloz.

SNAP!

All five perennials suddenly stopped their charge and halted their heads towards their rear. Each of them increased their essence output and eyed the party barely visible in the distance.

“Are you predator or prey?!” the jaguar shouted, slapping Gar across the face with his tail.

“Sarpo, Liz, the low-perennials are yours,” Vloz ordered, not wasting time with Gar as he rushed toward the flaming woman leading the invaders.

Not needing orders, Puula understood her role and darted toward one of the mid-perennials without question.

“But I can defeat–”

“GAR!” Vloz finally shouted. But Vloz’s focus was elsewhere. Dark essence coated his claws as he lunged at the fiery woman, who doused herself in flames with a countering punch. The energies collided and dispersed but Vloz jumped back amid the clash with an unfazed gaze on his foe.

One low-perennial was immediately pressured. Sarpo’s speed and lightning essence proved to be an immediate counter to the water-wielding perennial.

At the same time, Liz rushed the remaining low-perennial with her wind and dark essences. However, a streak of lightning flashed by her and tackled the low-perennial away from Liz.

“GAR!” Puula shouted, glaring back at the lynx.

“This is the best move!” argued the lynx chief. “I’ll end it quickly!”

Before Liz could react properly, she was targeted by the remaining mid-perennial. A stream of fire blew toward her, which she evaded but couldn’t counter. And now, the matches were set, leaving the team member with the least battle experience facing someone two realms higher than her. And her essence type was at a natural disadvantage to top it off.

The man laughed as he kept a close eye on Liz and confidently took her on. She was hard to catch but his grin said more than enough about his confidence in winning.

“GAR!” Vloz roared but was again confronted by the woman and unable to do anything more than shout orders. “Switch–”

“I’ll kill him and tag team the big guy!” Gar roared in response, barraging the ice surrounding his weaker foe.

“Then go for the kill!” Sarpo roared, unabashedly charging into his opponent’s icy defenses. “Longe range attacks are useless, you fool!”

But Gar continued to rain lightning onto his foe instead of breaking through the icy barriers with brute force.

Puula looked back at Liz, noting the growing stress behind Liz’s worried face. But she was also facing an uphill fight as she didn’t have the defensive strength to tank attacks from fiery attacks above her realm. Though her speed allowed her to threaten the mid-perennial, at best Puula felt they were an even match, and at worst... it would be a long battle.

“GAR!”

“What sort of leader can’t control their men?!” snickered the flaming woman, who followed the leopard’s every step without giving him room to breathe. “Why bother?”