Second World

Inside the Tiger God's realm, Leavemealone and the others were still fighting the hordes sent by Tiger God's other half. They were not sure how long they had been fighting, but it could probably be one day already.

Fortunately, though the number of the enemy that spawned increased, the level never went up above level 60. The rare elite grades also never reached a number where it was too overwhelming for them to deal with. Additionally, the Tiger God's Might cut down all their skills' cooldown by half, allowing them to unleash their skills more frequently.

They also magically didn't feel fatigued inside this realm despite fighting non-stop for such a long period. It was either the Tiger God's Might's hidden power or this realm's effect.

A few hours after they entered this realm, Domon began to feel comfortable with the battles. Hence, his usual habit resurfaced. He started giving pointers to everyone as they fought. Pointing out where they had performed wrongly and what they should do to improve.

Leavemealone and Mohmed were happy about this. These non-stop battles had evolved from a struggle to survive to a practice ground. The two honed their martial arts as they fought. Using real battles was always more advantageous compared to solo training or friendly spars.

It was Ihhi who was annoyed when Domon started to point out what she should or should not do. She felt that she was back to being a little child who kept being told what to do by her father. She felt underestimated. As if her expertise was lacking.

"Your swinging is too hectic. You have to know where you want to swing before you swing your weapons."

"Your wrists are too stiff. You apply too much strength. Loosen them a bit."

"Watch your step! Watch your step! Don't jump all over like a frog."

Ihhi almost snapped back, "You are the frog, you irritating noisy old codger!"

But before Ihhi opened her mouth, she saw Domon jump in front of her. "Watch this!" Domon shouted. He was now using dual longswords instead of his usual glaive.

When Ihhi was slightly confused as to what this codger was trying to do, she saw the two longswords in Domon's hands explode into uncountable slashes. The move beat the crowding tiger-men back. He then moved through the staggered enemies with fluidity as if he was water flowing through them, eroding their HPs as his two swords swung with perfect grace.

Ihhi, who had been fed up with Domon for a while, turned quiet after seeing Domon's sword art.

It's not like this was the first time she saw Domon in action. She had seen how he fought in the first few hours inside this realm. She indeed found Domon an expert combatant. She had also heard from his father and Wehi about Domon's prowess and mastery in mana manipulation. They were full of praise whenever they talked of the old man, but Ihhi never thought too much about it.

Now, Domon was fighting using dual swords. Witnessing a fighting style with which she was familiar, she could properly gauge the difference between her and the old man, and she felt humbled. Compared to how she used her dual kukris, her method was indeed very lacking. It was like comparing a child with an adult.

She couldn't help but get fixated on Domon's movements. She watched his every move intently. At the same time, she moved following what she saw, trying to copy Domon's style.

Domon applied mana manipulation in his every swing. Added with his Ki Weapon skill, his one-hit shaved off a high amount of HP despite being only a normal attack.

After the tiger-men fell, he returned to Ihhi and said, "What I used just now is called Formless Flowing Sword Style. Do you wish to learn?"

"Ye… Yes…," Ihhi stammered.

"All right, I will teach you in more detail once we are out. For now, try to learn the basics by following my instructions."

"Ye–Yes, sir…," Ihhi said.

Leavemealone and Mohmed also finished the tiger-men on their sides. After the last of the enemies fell, the four regrouped again to take a breather while using recovery potions to heal their lost HP.

They waited for the next wave to come. But after several minutes of waiting, nothing came.

"What happened? Have we completed the rite?" Ihhi asked.

"If we did, we should have been sent back out," Mohmed said.

"Heads-up!" Domon warned.

Leavemealone had already put up a ready pose. Both he and Domon had sensed a growing presence of a powerful being. Mohmed sensed it soon as well. Only Ihhi who hadn't learned mana sense was still oblivious to the three's serious expressions.

But then, even she knew something was upon them. A very heavy pressure pressed on her. She felt that it was mightily difficult even to lift a finger. She couldn't move!

She looked at the others and knew that it was not only her. Everyone else was affected by this pressure.

A gargantuan shadow then appeared in front of them. Everyone had trouble seeing the being's aspect. All they knew was that it was very large and walked on four legs. Then, two slits of fiery red orbs appeared in what they thought should be the being's head.

It was its eyes. The two crimson orbs stared at them. They bored into their souls and caused them immense mental pain.

"You, lowly beings. How dare you come here and stand in the way of my awakening!" A voice was heard inside their heads. The voice was not especially loud, but each word made their heads feel like exploding.

"They are my champions!" Another voice, equally powerful, echoed throughout the space. When this voice was heard, Leavemealone and the others felt like whatever was pressuring them had miraculously vanished. They felt clear-headed and could move again.

They turned and saw the Tiger God in its white flame manifestation again. At the same time the Tiger God appeared, it released a light that dispelled the darkness. Everyone could see the shadow being more clearly now. It was a titanic tiger made of dark shadows. The antithesis of the Tiger God itself, the Tiger Demon!

"You…! You have had your turn in the free world. Now, it is mine! Surrender and give me the reign…!" The Tiger Demon demanded.

"If I let that happen, you will only bring calamity to the cat folks who reside around our mountain. I can't let you do that," the Tiger God responded.

"Those weak things are just useless pathetic creatures. How can you let yourself be satisfied with such disappointment? Let me take charge and I will mold them into more powerful creatures! Ones that are more suited to worship us!"

"Do you mean your war-mongering tiger-men? Don't be ridiculous. You will just end up agitating our neighbors and causing ceaseless wars."

"So what?! Battling is our nature. It is through wars that they worship us!"

"That is not true. Peace and cooperation are what the world needs."

"Hah! I know what you are trying to do. You are just trying to waste my time. Don't think I don't feel you repairing the rune diagrams around this mountain to suppress me again. I won't let you succeed!"

"With my champions within this realm, you won't be able to go anywhere," the Tiger God uttered.

"Then I will crush them…!!" the Tiger Demon roared.

A powerful shockwave radiated out. The air seemed to be obliterated as this shockwave advanced, even space cracked after being passed through by this shockwave.

The four braced themselves as the shockwave came near, but a translucent wall appeared in front of them. The shockwave crashed into the wall. The wall trembled greatly but didn't break.

The Tiger God roared back. The dark sky above turned bright. This light dissolved the shadows surrounding the Tiger Demon, revealing its true form. It was a titanic panther with red eyes and two large horns. Standing on four legs, its height was around a ten-storey high building. Each of its furs was the size of a greatsword. It growled menacingly at what the Tiger God had done.

"You will pay for this!" It bellowed.

"Don't forget that I'm still the master of our mind at this stage!" Tiger God exclaimed back.

"Argghh…!" The Tiger Demon roared in pain. His body started to shrink.

At the same time, Leavemealone and the others received a notification that Tiger God's Might had received another boost. It added two new abilities, one that reduced all received damage by 50% and another was increasing their dark resistance by 100 points.

Leavemealone heard the Tiger God's voice in his head again, "This is all I can do. Try keeping him busy for as long as possible, until I can seal him back to the prison under this mountain."

The Tiger God vanished then, but the bright light from above remained. All of them could no longer feel the soothing feeling exuded by the Tiger God. They knew then that they were alone. Alone in a realm with a furious half-God.

The Tiger Demon's body had shrunk greatly, but it was still gigantic. They had not been able to use their Inspect on the Tiger Demon before. Now they could, but the info didn't give them any comfort.

*

Tiger Demon (Mythical, Deity), level: 70

HP: 1,800,000

Status: Weakened, suppressed