37: The threat of the Shadow Panther

Inside the Great Hall of Red River Fortress.

Renn rushed back, where Ross, Eric, and several others were waiting for him in the hall.

"What happened?"

Before he could even sit down, Renn questioned Ross directly.

Ross got straight to the point: "Over the past two days, the Cavalry Squad discovered many magical beasts emerging from the Black Forest and entering the area near the territory's borders during their patrols."

"At first, the beasts we encountered weren't very strong, only Black Iron Rank. Today, while Eric and I were patrolling, we ran into two and killed them both."

"But this morning, we found this near the territory during our patrol!"

As Ross spoke, he handed Renn a clump of animal fur.

"This is?"

Renn took the fur in his hand, rubbed it, and gave it a sniff.

"A Shadow Leopard?"

The Shadow Leopard was a magical beast unique to the Black Mountain Range. It was quite famous throughout the North, though for its notoriety.

Because Shadow Leopards enjoyed hunting intelligent beings, humans were also on their menu. Instances of Shadow Leopards attacking human villages occurred frequently.

"Yes, My Lord, it's a Shadow Leopard."

Eric said, "We found this at the ruins of a Gnoll outpost. That outpost had likely just moved there a couple of days ago. It was attacked by an unknown creature, and the dozens of Gnolls in the settlement were all slaughtered. Big Brother Ross and I found this tuft of fur in the ruins."

"Big Brother Ross said it's Shadow Leopard fur." As he spoke, Eric looked at Ross beside him.

Listening to Eric's account, a flood of memories regarding Shadow Leopards surged into Renn's mind. These were memories of the original Renn leading an elite squad of the Border Defense Army to hunt Shadow Leopards on the edge of the Black Forest.

Back then, not long after Renn had joined the Border Defense Army, his first mission was to hunt a Shadow Leopard that had attacked an Iron Wall Fortress patrol. Ross had been part of the squad Renn led at the time.

Renn and Ross exchanged a glance; both were all too familiar with Shadow Leopards.

"Judging by this fur, it's undoubtedly a Shadow Leopard. A Shadow Leopard that has begun hunting alone must be at least Bronze Rank."

Renn set down the Shadow Leopard fur.

"For you to be this nervous, Ross, it seems this Shadow Leopard must be stronger than Bronze Rank."

"Yes!" Ross nodded solemnly.

"Based on the combat traces at the Gnoll settlement, the Gnoll leader had Bronze Rank strength, but the Gnolls of the entire settlement barely organized any effective resistance against the Shadow Leopard's attack."

"The Gnolls were unilaterally crushed. This level of power is no longer something a Bronze Rank Shadow Leopard can achieve. I estimate that Shadow Leopard has reached maturity and possesses Silver Rank strength."

Shadow Leopards were high-level magical beasts. They possessed Bronze Rank strength in their youth, and upon reaching maturity, they had Silver Rank strength. A few Shadow Leopards might even undergo bloodline evolution and break through to Gold Rank.

"A Silver Rank Shadow Leopard is even stronger than the one we hunted back then. This is quite a problem."

The Shadow Leopard Renn had led his team to hunt was at the peak of Bronze Rank, just a step away from Silver Rank. Even so, it had caused considerable trouble for the fledgling Renn, and he had spent a great deal of effort to resolve it.

"A mature Shadow Leopard's mastery of its shadow talent has reached perfection. It can phase into the gloom at any moment, making it extremely difficult to catch."

Among the people in the hall, only Eric had never encountered a Shadow Leopard. He didn't quite understand why Renn and Ross were so wary of it.

"My Lord, is a single Silver Rank magical beast really that terrifying?"

"With you leading us and all the brothers working together, surely a Silver Rank beast can't turn the world upside down."

Eric felt that no matter how powerful a Silver Rank beast was, it couldn't be more formidable than the army of Fel Orcs. If they could defeat the Fel Orcs, they could surely kill a Silver Rank beast.

"You don't understand, Eric. The most troublesome thing about a Shadow Leopard isn't its frontal combat capability, but its racial talent."

Wayne, who had been listening with a furrowed brow, explained to Eric:

"A Shadow Leopard inherently possesses extreme speed. Few creatures of the same rank can rival it in quickness."

"Furthermore, its racial talent, Shadow Phase, elevates its speed advantage to another level. Shadow Phase allows the Shadow Leopard to hide within shadows and travel between different shadows."

"Therefore, the Shadow Leopard moves swiftly and unpredictably. Never mind catching it, even finding it normally is difficult. Many people have their throats slit by its claws before they even see it."

Wayne was thirty-six years old this year. He had spent over a decade at Iron Wall Fortress and had seen many people and events; he was no stranger to Shadow Leopards.

"When I first arrived at Iron Wall Fortress over ten years ago, I heard that a Silver Rank Shadow Leopard had hunted down an elite squad led by several Silver Knights."

"At that time, the Shadow Leopard relied on its speed advantage and Shadow Phase talent to ambush and kill three Silver Knights, causing the entire squad to collapse. By the time reinforcements from the fortress arrived, very few of the unit remained, and the surviving soldiers were driven to complete mental breakdowns by its torment."

"That thing doesn't just enjoy hunting intelligent beings; it also loves to toy with its prey."

"Ultimately, a Gold Knight from the fortress had to step in to kill that Silver Rank Shadow Leopard."

Wayne's story made Eric realize just how troublesome this opponent was.

"Wayne is right. A Shadow Leopard's frontal combat power isn't particularly outstanding, but its speed is incredibly fast. With the addition of its racial talent, it can not only hide itself but also make its movements even more bizarre and unpredictable."

"Even I don't have absolute certainty when facing a Silver Rank Shadow Leopard."

"And what I fear most is that the thing won't confront us directly, but will instead hide in the dark to attack the subjects in the territory."

"If it stays crouched in the shadows, even I won't be able to lock onto it. If that happens, the situation in the territory might spiral out of control."

Renn also frowned. He hadn't expected that just after resolving the threat of the Fel Orcs and before he could have a few days of peace, he would encounter such a thorny problem.

"Weren't there very few magical beasts on the edge of the Black Forest before? Why did so many suddenly pop up, and even a Silver Rank Shadow Leopard appeared?"

Renn's head throbbed as he thought.

"My Lord, we shouldn't think the worst. That Shadow Leopard hasn't appeared near the town yet. Perhaps once it hunts enough prey in the wilderness, it will return to the Black Forest."

Alger's outlook was more optimistic.

"No, that's impossible."

Renn shook his head and said:

"That thing's favorite pastime is hunting and toying with humans. Compared to other prey, it prefers people most. The only place in the entire Red River Valley where people are gathered now is Red River Town. Since it's already approached the territory, it won't let this place go."

"Have the soldiers get ready; don't leave anything to chance."

"From now on, all soldiers are on combat alert. Be ready for battle at any moment. The Cavalry Squad will temporarily stop patrolling far out and instead patrol near Red River Town."

"I'll think of a way for the rest!"

Soldiers to block the general, water to cover the earth—though a Shadow Leopard was troublesome, Renn wasn't afraid.

"Yes, My Lord!"

Ross and the others returned to the barracks with heavy hearts to begin organizing the men for alert duty.

Renn then arranged for Yiven to notify Fornal to have all the workers gathering materials outside the town return.

It was impossible for Renn to halt all activities in the territory and retreat into the town. Doing nothing would be slow suicide. For now, he could only find ways to minimize losses.

While Renn was scratching his head thinking of a strategy, a maid came running over in a hurry.

"My Lord, My Lord!"

"Master Capdo is awake. Please go and see him."

Renn snapped his head up.

"Master Kapdo is awake?"