Elemental Cats

The right front paw was joined by the left one, and together they tore open the red portal, forcefully expanding it to allow the bear's passage.

The black claws sparkled deviously in the light that shone through from the not-yet recovered thunderclouds.

After the portal was large enough, the rest of the Demonic Spark Bear started passing through the portal. The black forelimbs covered in what looked like blood-red cracks.

Before the head showed itself, a pair of glowing red horns appeared, sparks of lightning flashing between them.

After the horns was the large grisly head that the horns were growing out of.

Surrounding the bright red eyes was a dense web of the bloody veins that stretched down onto its forelimbs and spread throughout the bear's entire body.

After the entirety of the bear's lumbering body passed through the portal, the spatial tunnel that had already been destabilized from the bear's travel through it and its subsequent tearing of the exit collapsed in on itself. A fleeting gust of wind leaving the clearing was the only trace left of the portal, and even that disappeared quickly into nature.

The Demonic Spark Bear snarled as it looked around the clearing, revealing a set of sharp, glistening teeth. It took in the sight of the caged beasts, both of the husks that were all that remained of the beasts that couldn't endure the entire ritual, as well as the weak but still very much alive beasts, either trapped in cages or about the leave the clearing after being freed by Toz.

The dead beasts didn't even hold its attention for a second as it focused on the living and breathing ones. Toz and his group were especially attractive as they shone with vibrant life in the bear's eyes.

After taking in its surroundings, the Demonic Spark Bear opened its jaws, unleashing a roar to the sky. It was a deep rumbling roar, fitting for the forest they were in.

The roar was also spectacular. Unlike the roars of lions trying to assert dominance by showing off their might and pride, the bear's roar was a pure declaration of strength and power. None of the lions' arrogance could be found. It was purely confidence in the bear's own abilities to squash its prey like a foal.

The roar had the air trembling in its wake, and the sky stirred. The thunderclouds that had been about to close up after the ritual stopped moving with a ripple, and the Lightning Clouds showed themselves again.

Although no lightning bolts descended upon the clearing again, the Demonic Spark Bear's body trembled, and the horns on its forehead shone with even brighter light as the lightning sparks on them intensified.

Toz had already drawn his sword when the bear looked at him again. The bear's gaze sent shivers down his spine.

He was pretty sure he had heard the robed figures say they wouldn't be able to summon a high level bear. That meant the Demonic Spark Bear in front of him should at most be at the sixth level. Then why was it so frighteningly powerful?

Toz had been confident that he was strong within the same division and that even sixth level opponents wouldn't be able to demolish him. But the Demonic Spark Bear had him reconsidering his preconceived notions of what strength really meant.

Nonetheless, even if Toz wanted to retreat strategically as soon as possible, he had to at least try and distract the bear while the other three tried to find and free the trapped cat.

Risking all of their lives for a cat they had never seemed before, but even if it wasn't because Toz unconditionally loved cats, willingly letting a cat die when he could at least try to save it would go against his inclination. Cause if Toz and the three cats he had bonded with didn't interfere, there was no doubt that the remaining beasts within the clearing would die to the summoned bear.

Depending on how grave his transgression, going against his inclination could either not give much trouble to Toz at all, or it could even cripple him and his magic.

And saving the cat might help strengthen his inclination even further, just like when he had bonded with Mindle or killed the Scorched Earth Rat King.

Toz had only gotten a moment to compose himself before the bear charged at him with incredible speed.

The bear's paws slapped against the ground producing rumbling sounds reminiscent of thunder. And at the front of the bear were the horns charged with red lightning, ready to turn Toz into a crisp.

Toz tried dodging to the side but was met with a large paw tearing through the air, stirring up a gale at the same time.

Although Toz braced against the blow with his sword, he was sent flying. He crashed into a tree at the edge of the clearing, almost snapping the imposing tree that was as wide as Toz was tall.

Toz's groan ensured the bear's continued attention on him, distracting it from the cats rummaging through the cages and beasts.

Seeing Toz get up, the Demonic Spark Bear charged the lightning on its horns even further as it bent down and lowered its head, directing the horns directly at the feeble-looking human.

It only took a few short moments for the bear to gather its mana at its forehead. But as it did so, the red veins all over its fur sparkled like lightning in pulses going toward the bear's forehead.

The bear's red eyes shone ominously because of the light from the bloody cracks around its eyes.

Toz knew that even if he had enough time to catch his breath that he lost after the impacts with the bear paw and the tree. Even if he had enough time to recover from the injuries that prevented his body from moving as he wished. Even if he had time to dodge, Toz wouldn't be able to dodge the beam of lightning the bear was directing toward him.

Since it would be useless to try and dodge, all he could do was defend against the bolt of red lightning that rivaled the power of the bolts from the Lightning Clouds that had been drawn down by the ritual.

The bolt didn't make a sound as it was fired. Instead, the world went quiet for the instant it took the red lightning to travel between Toz and the bear.