The yellow leopard and the white-furred ape launched relentless attacks against Rulu, Kallen, and C.C. The leopard moved with blinding speed and extraordinary agility, making it nearly impossible for Rulu and Kallen to get close enough to deal any damage. On top of that, the white-furred ape kept its distance, continuously summoning ice spikes to harass them from afar. The situation grew increasingly dire for Rulu and Kallen — on several occasions, Rulu and C.C. barely managed to avoid being knocked down by the leopard.
"These two are really hard to deal with. Rulu, do you have any idea how to handle them?" Kallen said anxiously. Only she and Rulu had any real combat ability right now; C.C. was completely unable to help, and Six-Tail seemed utterly terrified, curled up at C.C.'s feet the entire time.
"There's no other choice — I'll have to use that technique." Rulu muttered to himself. He fixed his gaze on the white-furred ape's eyes in the distance and called out loudly, "Stop. Cease your attack."
The white-furred ape showed no reaction whatsoever to Rulu's words and continued summoning ice spears to assault him and Kallen just as before. Thinking the distance might be too great for his Spiritual-power to reach the white ape, Rulu turned his gaze to the leopard, which was closer, and said, "Stop right there. Don't move."
The leopard kept darting around Rulu and Kallen, searching for an opening to strike, completely unresponsive to Rulu's commands.
"What's going on? Why isn't my Spiritual-power working?" Rulu wondered inwardly. He had planned to use his Spiritual-power to take control of one of the beasts, then concentrate their combined strength to finish off the other — but to his dismay, his Spiritual-power had absolutely no effect on either creature.
At that moment, C.C. spoke up from nearby: "It's useless. None of the living beings here are susceptible to Spiritual-power. You cannot control them with it."
"How can this be?!" Rulu was stunned, completely at a loss.
Suddenly the leopard leapt high into the air, vaulting over Kallen and lunging straight toward Rulu at terrifying speed. Rulu quickly dodged out of the way — but then the leopard twisted mid-air and redirected itself toward C.C. C.C. had no time to evade. The leopard slammed her to the ground, clamped its jaws around her neck, and sprinted off into the distance with her in its grip.
Rulu and Kallen saw C.C. being carried away and gave chase immediately. But they had barely covered any ground when a biting gale swept through the area, pushing them in the opposite direction from the leopard. The storm slowed Rulu and Kallen considerably, making it impossible to close the gap. The leopard ran farther and farther, and within moments it would vanish from their sight entirely.
At that very instant, a white blur shot forward at tremendous speed, pursuing the leopard. It darted ahead and cut off the leopard's path. The leopard halted and looked at the white figure blocking its way — it was a white fox with six tails.
"Let go of Lady C.C.…" The Six-Tail white fox bared its teeth at the leopard, its words coming out in an indistinct murmur. Feeling threatened, the leopard immediately released its bite on C.C.'s neck and lunged viciously at the Six-Tail white fox.
Six-Tail quickly dodged, trying to put distance between itself and the leopard — but the leopard was far faster. It caught up with ease, swiped a paw at Six-Tail's head, and sent the fox tumbling to the ground.
The leopard opened its jaws and clamped down on Six-Tail's throat. Six-Tail lay on its back, kicking all four legs frantically in a desperate struggle — but the leopard was larger and stronger, and no matter how Six-Tail thrashed, the leopard refused to loosen its grip, leaving Six-Tail no way to escape.
Then, in an instant, Six-Tail's six tails shot outward and rapidly elongated. Like six serpents, they coiled around the leopard's head, wrapping tightly around its neck. Strangled by Six-Tail's tails, the leopard was forced to release its bite and let go.
Six-Tail rose to its feet. It continued to constrict the leopard's neck with its now-lengthened and thickened tails, and used them to seize control of the leopard's body, driving the creature's head down into the ground with tremendous force. The impact produced a deep, heavy thud.
Six-Tail slammed the leopard's head into the ground again and again without relent, its tails squeezing the leopard's neck in a relentless chokehold. Under the combined assault of crushing blows and strangulation, the leopard's neck snapped. Its head drooped lifelessly, and its limbs went still.
By then, Rulu and Kallen had caught up. When they realized Six-Tail had killed the leopard, both were utterly stunned. Kallen said, "I never would have guessed that timid little fox was this powerful. A leopard that neither Rulu nor I could handle, and it finished it off just like that."
Rulu helped C.C. up from the ground and used his Magic Psionic power to treat her wounds. Her injuries were not severe, and before long she was able to move freely again. After killing the leopard, Six-Tail shrank its tails back to their normal size and length. It came to C.C.'s side and circled around her anxiously, saying over and over as it paced, "Lady C.C., are you alright…"
"Six-Tail, good girl. Six-Tail was amazing." C.C. gave Six-Tail a gentle pat on the head to calm it, then raised her gaze to the sky. W.W. was still locked in battle with the Flame Bird above — the fight was fierce and neither side had gained the upper hand, and throughout the clash the Flame Bird kept letting out strange, piercing cries.
"It doesn't look like W.W. will be finishing off that Flame Bird anytime soon. In that case, let's take down the white-furred ape first." Rulu glanced up at W.W. and the Flame Bird, then shifted his gaze toward the white-furred ape in the distance — and noticed that a towering new figure had appeared beside it. Rulu studied the figure carefully and saw that it was a beast with the head of a bull and the body of a man, nearly two meters tall, with extraordinarily developed muscles.
"Another monster? When did it get here? We didn't run into this many creatures before." Kallen stared at the newly arrived beast with a look of alarm.
Rulu said thoughtfully, "I think it's the big bird's cries that are drawing these creatures here. If we don't deal with that bird, more and more monsters are going to keep showing up."
Kallen said, "But that bird has been airborne the whole time — it won't come down. We can't fly, so how are we supposed to deal with it?"
Rulu said, "Then we have no choice but to leave this area first. If we stay here any longer, even more monsters will come, and our situation will only get more dangerous."