At this point, the tour group also sensed that something was happening. They hurried forward, following Lord Euphemia's carriage.

  "Oh, there's a tiger over there — a really huge tiger!" someone suddenly cried out, pointing toward a direction on the grassnd. The others quickly pulled out their binocurs and looked that way, spotting a beast shaped like a tiger far out across the pins.

  The strange beast's body was a dark grayish-bck, nearly two meters tall, and of an exceptionally massive build. On the great tiger's back grew a pair of dark gray wings resembling those of an eagle. At that moment, the giant tiger was locked in fierce combat with nearby soldiers.

  The soldiers around the beast charged at it with spears. The tiger let out a roar and lunged at the nearest soldier. The men thrust their spears into its body, but the beast's hide was extraordinarily tough — the spears bounced right off without dealing any significant damage.

  The tiger swung its forepaw and spped the nearest soldier square in the chest, sending him flying four or five meters, a vivid red cw mark left across his torso. Then it pounced on another soldier, pinning him to the ground and sinking its teeth into his arm, instantly soaking the man's limb in blood. The other soldiers rushed in together, thrusting their spears frantically all over the beast's body.

  Under the barrage of thrusts, wounds began to appear on the tiger's body — its hide was pierced, and blood began to flow. Suddenly the wings on its back spread wide. Red light fshed in the air as more than ten orange-red fming meteors appeared above the grassnd and came crashing down on the soldiers nearby. Many were struck by the fming meteors and caught fire. They had no choice but to break off their attack and flee in all directions, rolling on the ground in desperate attempts to smother the fmes.

  Taking advantage of the soldiers' frantic efforts to extinguish the fires, the tiger lunged at them again with a ferocious assault. Before long, several more soldiers had been bitten, while the wounds on the tiger's own body healed rapidly — within half a minute, every wound had closed completely.

  "That tiger is incredible — its body is impervious to bdes and spears, and even when it's wounded it heals almost instantly. Are all the creatures in the Sanctuary this powerful?" Kallen excimed, unable to hold back her astonishment after watching the battle through her binocurs for a while.

  Beside her, Rulu said, "That tiger should have a fourth-level Refining Body Psionic power rank, along with a third-level Magic Psionic power rank. On top of that, it has an extraordinarily massive frame — it really is difficult to deal with. I don't think those soldiers can handle it."

  Just as Rulu had said, the soldiers surrounded the beast and attacked for quite some time, yet not only failed to subdue it — they were repeatedly cwed, bitten, struck by fming meteors and burned, suffering severe losses. Seeing the situation, a look of deep concern crossed Lord Euphemia's face. "What should we do now?" she said. "If this keeps up, our soldiers are going to be in real danger."

  The Suzaku Guard Captain said, "Lord Euphemia, please don't worry too much. Formidable as this tiger is, it is not unbeatable. I'll take care of it for you."

  "Really? You're confident you can beat it?" Lord Euphemia's expression instantly shifted from worry to relief, and she looked at the Suzaku Guard Captain with eager eyes.

  "Of course," the Suzaku Guard Captain replied. He dismounted from his centaur and turned to the soldiers nearby. "A few of you, stay here and protect Lord Euphemia's safety. Don't let anyone approach Her Lordship. If you find anyone attempting to harm Lord Euphemia, cut them down without mercy."

  The soldiers acknowledged the order and immediately surrounded Lord Euphemia's carriage on all sides. The Suzaku Guard Captain then went to another carriage nearby, where four people sat — each cd in long robes and holding a silver staff.

  He addressed the four of them: "Battle mages, come with me. When that tiger uses its Magic Psionic power to attack me, provide me with cover and use your Magic Psionic powers to assist in the assault."

  The four agreed, climbed down from the carriage, and followed the Suzaku Guard Captain to the front of the group. Sword in hand, he strode straight toward the strange beast on the grassnd and shouted to the soldiers still engaged with it: "All of you, fall back — let me handle it!"

  The soldiers immediately withdrew in the direction away from the tiger. The Suzaku Guard Captain gripped his sword and sprinted toward the great tiger at tremendous speed.

  The tiger sensed him closing in and instantly unched itself at him, swiping a cw toward his body.

  The Suzaku Guard Captain leapt sideways, vaulting several meters away with remarkable agility to dodge the attack, then swung his sword down at the tiger.

  A sharp metallic ring rang out as the bde nded squarely on the tiger's neck — yet the beast's body was extraordinarily tough. Though it had been struck, only a faint scratch had been carved into the skin of its neck, and it had taken no serious damage.

  The tiger then unched a relentless series of attacks. The Suzaku Guard Captain kept his composure, moving swiftly across the grassnd, maintaining his distance from the beast, dodging its strikes, and countering with sshes of his sword.

  His movements were exceptionally agile — every time he managed to sidestep the tiger's attacks at just the right moment. Not only was the tiger unable to nd a hit on him, but it was repeatedly struck by his bde.

  However, the beast's body was so extraordinarily resilient that, despite the constant hits, it suffered no serious damage and recovered swiftly from any wound it did receive. Then suddenly, the Suzaku Guard Captain pushed off the ground and leapt into the air, three or four meters high.

  The great tiger likewise sprang high into the air, lunging at him. And at that moment, something uncanny occurred — the Suzaku Guard Captain flipped in midair and shifted about a meter sideways, dodging the tiger's attack and positioning himself directly beneath it.

  He thrust his sword upward toward the tiger's belly with full force. With a sharp tearing sound, the bde plunged deep into the tiger's abdomen. Gripping the hilt with both hands, the Suzaku Guard Captain wrenched it in a powerful sweep — blood sprayed through the air as a long gash was torn open across the tiger's stomach.

  The tiger let out a wail and dropped from the air, crashing heavily onto the ground. The strike seemed to have dealt devastating damage. The tiger y where it had fallen, continuing to snarl threateningly at the Suzaku Guard Captain — but it no longer dared to spring at him or press its attack.

  At the sight of this, the watching crowd in the distance broke into excmations. "That Suzaku Guard Captain is truly remarkable," someone said. "So many men couldn't handle that tiger, and he went and subdued it all by himself."

  "How did he do that just now? He changed direction in midair without any external support — that's unbelievable."

  "He must be an Ultra-capable — and a powerful one at that. There's no other way he could have faced that tiger alone."

  The crowd erupted in praise, astonished by the abilities the Suzaku Guard Captain had dispyed.