Echidna scowled, "What the hell happened to you that you changed so much, and how did you even leave alive out of the Swamp Hatchery?"
But Kale merely chuckled at the response, saying, "Well, I can't really tell you that now, can I?"
Echidna's expression strained slightly. She could not really force Kale in this matter, considering his importance to both the Prince and the Princess.
Kale asked tentatively, "By the way, hasn't it been more than a week? Why didn't you leave this place?"
The woman sighed, "I would have left, but the princess ordered me to wait for a few more days, and then the Beast Hordes attacked."
"One more thing, does that mean the Beast Tides have also hit the borders by now?" queried Kale in a sombre tone.
She revealed after some deep contemplation, "Actually, a few of the border areas were already hit by overwhelming Beast Tides even before we left from the Empire."
The moment the female Grandmaster revealed this information, Kale's expression changed abruptly; he could now deduce where his master had gone. He would be lying if he said that he wasn't worried about his master.
Just as he was about to speak again, asking about his master, a terrifying feeling gripped his heart; the fast, leopard-like Beast he was sitting atop suddenly stopped in its tracks; he and Echidna almost fell off due to the sudden change in pace.
But it was not just one Beast that had stopped; rather, even the entire Horde of Black Thorn Spiders, as well as the Horde of Vine Beasts, which were savagely fighting one another, stopped entirely.
Every Human Awakened, every tamed beast, every wild animal.
Even the trees had stopped rustling.
DHUMMMM!!!!
DHUMMMM!!!
DHRUUUUMMM!!!
Kale's pupils dilated to the extreme; it felt like a mountain of weight was pressing down on him; his heart shuddered, remembering the last time he had felt like this... was when he faced the Red Dragon.
With immense strain, he turned his head to the far right, and there he saw it.
A four-legged, titanic creature was walking in this direction at a leisurely pace; its size was greater than even a mountain, and its body seemed forged of wood rather than metal; it was an entity shaped like a tiger.
Its eyes filled with arrogance, and an overbearing presence emanated from it, far stronger than both the Red Dragon and the Jellyfish that Kale met inside the Swamp Hatchery.
But the worst part was that the creature was gazing directly at him; its gaze was gravely piercing, so much so that Kale felt his very being was being scrutinised thoroughly.
Until that piercing intent locked onto his shadows, the abstract space of a Tamer where the Tamed Beasts lay, and within it was his Nemesis Hydra.
Neo instantly appeared atop his shoulders, its three heads staring defiantly back at the gargantuan Wood Tiger.
The Titanic Beast let out a low growl, as if threatening Neo, "Ggrrrr-aaaaorrh"
But the Nemesis Hydra's reaction was far more violent, as it growled back loudly.
In response, the Titanic Wooden Tiger made a large jump and covered an immense distance, its might causing numerous cracks to spread across the ground.
As a result, the distance between Kale and the gargantuan Tiger now remained less than 100 meters.
The Cursed Tamer felt death brushing against his skin, a deathly chill creeping up his spine, and this time there would be no second chance; the system wouldn't save him.
Through gritted teeth, he looked all around as almost every single entity within a kilometre of radius remained terror-stricken.
It was bizarre and horrifying, as if time itself were frozen in its tracks.
Only the Nemesis Hydra seemed unafraid and unaffected.
Kale himself could barely move his head to look around, which took immense willpower in itself.
He cursed his own shitty luck; he truly couldn't understand.
What was the reason this mighty Ancient-rank creature was targeting his Hydra?
Was it because of the Curse?
Did the effects of the Curse perhaps spread to Neo? Thus every creature would automatically want to kill it,
Or was it because of Neo's hybrid state,
Or its superior status as a species, as it was even higher than the Dragons??
Just what was it? Why the fuck couldn't he just catch a break?
Maybe the true effects of the Dragon's Curse were perhaps something else entirely; perhaps it was, in fact, endless misfortune.
Kale was coming face to face with death almost now and then as if it was just another Tuesday.
In that moment, when it felt like there was truly no way to escape this predicament, a tired sigh reverberated from the very top of the gargantuan tree in the centre of the Greenroot Guild Base.
The titanic Wood Tiger's gaze shifted to that spot, and it let out a low growl of displeasure. From the treetops, another sound echoed: the mighty screech of a bird. Two ginormous wings spread out, though it did not look titanic compared to the size of that tree.
But Kale could easily fathom how large the bird-like creature atop it must be.
Flapping its wings, a majestic eagle-like creature dove downward, going towards the Mountain-Sized Tiger, as if to attack it.
The pressure of the winged creature did not seem much less than the Tiger.
The Cursed Tamer squinted and saw the visage of a tiny human atop the gargantuan Eagle as it dove down.
But what happened next left Kale shocked to the core, slowly but surely: from the feet of the standing figure atop the Giant Eagle, the bird Beast's feathers began to crawl up, covering the human's entire figure, monstrously; the human and the Beast began to merge.
Kale's eyes hung open as he witnessed the merger of the two complete opposites of life forms. As the transformation was complete, what remained was a humanoid creature covered in long bird feathers from head to toe, with long claws on its hands and feet, and an eagle-like head with a sharp, long beak.
As well as two massive wings on the entity's back.
But more importantly. The pressure now oozing from the merged entity was greater than that of the Wood Tiger.
The Humanoid Eagle-like figure shot forward at such inconceivable speed that Kale failed to register it.
Wood Tiger swiped its claw at the incoming enemy, while the Humanoid Eagle clenched its fists and punched forward.
The shockwave rocked the surroundings and shook the skies; it sounded like the roaring of divine thunder.
Both Kale and Echidna were hurled away from their spots, rolling on the ground, while the Female Grandmaster had already recalled her two Beasts into her shadows.
She groaned in displeasure, finally free of the paralysing pressure imposed by the Wood Tiger, yet an indescribable horror washed over her as she looked upon the calamitous battle that defied all common sense.
Even Kale had a similar reaction; the sheer scale of the battle was like a mouse witnessing a fight between two Elephants.
Thankfully, the Humanoid Eagle had dragged the mountain-sized Wood Tiger a bit away; otherwise, the residual power emanating from the two clashing entities alone would have killed countless people and possibly destroyed part of the Greenroot Guild's base.
Echidna explained with a trembling voice, "That is the Guild Master of the Greenroot Guild, an Overlord-rank Tamer, an entity just one rank away from becoming a Sovereign."
"He is amongst one of three strongest Tamers of Humanity. Sir Rivaldo."
She continued after a short pause, "From what is publicly known, that Eagle over there is probably one of his weakest Beasts."
Kale's gaze was still transfixed upon the sundering battle that seemed to be destroying a literal mountain range in the distance, the place from which the Wooden Tiger had come.
It was indicative of how greatly the power of these two entities exceeded the might of the Red Dragon which Kale had killed in the past.
But there was something else that Kale was flabbergasted about, as he asked, "What's with that merger, or Transformation?
"What the hell is that? Is it a special ability or something? Why have I never read about something like this before?"
Echidna hesitated for a moment, but she eventually revealed, "It's classified information, so of course, you would not find it written in some random book or ever hear of it."
She then iterated, "Because it is an ability of the Overlord-rank Tamers to assimilate with their Beasts."
"Thus, wield all the powers of their Beasts for themselves."
Kale's eyes widened. 'So, that meant the Tamer pathway eventually led one to becoming a complete fusion with their Beasts.
'What a fascinating concept. How does it even occur, and do the Tamers at that stage become a different species entirely to unlock that capacity?'
Just as Kale was about to spiral down his nerdy train of thought even further, a change occurred in the mountain-shattering battle in the far distance.
The Wood Tiger was fleeing, and the Transformed Overlord-rank Tamer was flying back in this direction, but he was not heading towards the top of the Gargantuan tree; rather, he was diving down from the skies towards Kale.
Before Kale could comprehend what was happening, a violent gust of wind swept past him, lifting him up into the air, and he was abruptly grabbed by the powerhouse, who took him away towards the top of the tree.
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