A D-Rank Adventurer's Bizarre Reincarnation

Chapter 9 - Fight or Die

"Run faster!"

Kang Liu yelled towards the other disciples as he ran crazily away from the cave they just went in while holding what seems to be a Demon Beast core. He was, in fact, the leader of the disciples that saw Zheng Jin earlier in the forest.

The disciples, who had been confident of their abilities before they came in the forest, now had terrified expressions on their faces as they ran. Not only that, but the bald-headed disciple also appeared to not be with them anymore.

"Damn it!"

Kang Liu cursed as he remembered just what went wrong with what was supposed to be an easy mission.

...

It started when an elder named Zhang Fei had asked him to accompany a group of outer sect disciples to get a certain Demon Beast core, which the elder claimed was a test for their transition to the inner sect.

But when he asked what the Demon Beast was, he had initially refused to go. After all, he wasn't crazy enough to take on a Blood-clawed Infernal Bear, a demon beast at the Peak-Level of the Awakened Mortal Realm!

However, he eventually gave out when the elder said that the core would not be from a fully grown one, but from its young child. Moreover, the elder's informants told the elder that its parent was currently battling with another demon beast for territory, leaving the cub behind its lair. This, and the elder's bribe of numerous cultivation pills mad him budge and he eventually agreed to accompany the four outer sect disciples.

Little did he know, the outer sect's princess, Bai Shuanyang was included in these four disciples. This girl was actually more of a genius than himself! Who knows why she stayed for this long in the outer sect. Nevertheless, it was his chance to impress the princess to gain her favor, or even make her fall for him...

This desires, however, was quickly stamped out when they had arrived at the demon beast's cave. He had shown off his skills to the fullest during the trip, killing the numerous demon beasts that dared come near them. He even went and delivered the finishing blow to the Blood-clawed Infernal Bear's cub, which gave the other disciples a hard time to damage.

These feats garnered the praises of the other disciples, except of course, Bai Shuanyang who only had an empty expression on her face...as if she had to be in some other place than around here.

However, before he had the chance to appeal to Bai Shuanyang when they just got out of the cave, he was interrupted by an earth-shattering roar. This was followed by a loud scream from the bald-headed disciple whose upper body was now on the ground; his body bisected from one hit of the monster's claw.

Throughout the terror and confusion, he managed to eke out one word.

"Run!"

And thus, they were now running for their lives. Kang Liu had put too much faith on the elder's words, and now his life was on the balance. He expected that the parent bear would be back eventually, but he did not expect it would be that fast! And he could never have thought even once about fighting it. After all, he was just a Level 5 Awakened Mortal. Besides from running away, he could not do anything more.

...

And so...they ran and ran. Fortunately, the Blood-clawed Infernal Bear's speed was not that great, but the deafening roars that blared behind them spurred them on towards the city, not even stopping for a break. Kang Liu even saw other demon beasts running away from the deeper forest, afraid of the Blood-clawed Infernal Bear's wrath.

As they got farther and farther away from the deeper forest, he can't help but notice that Bai Shuanyang, who had been running quietly a distance away from them for all this time, was showing a strange expression on her face.

...

After a long time of running without stopping, the disciples finally made it out of the forest. They met at the forest's entrance, just beyond the Goldenridge City's gates. They were now able to breathe out a sigh of relief...but even that relief was short-lived.

Bai Shuanyang who was just running with them earlier...was nowhere to be found!

...

...

...

"Shit."

Zheng Jin suddenly stopped running. For these past few minutes, he had been running non-stop, trying to shake off whatever was pursuing him. But even though his body almost gave out on him from running as hard as he can, he still cannot do it.

"Damn, my wounds are acting up...If this goes on, it will catch up to me eventually!"

Zheng Jin thought as he looked at the state of his body. Although the wounds had stopped bleeding earlier, the incessant physical strain on his body from running made them even worse now. If he kept on running while in this state, he will eventually be caught.

This predicament leaves him no other choice.

"I must be going crazy..."

Zheng Jin made his decision and quickly took a defensive stance with his sword. He had run quite a distance towards the city, so the chance of other demon beasts interfering was low. He quickly planned his actions and took out a Devil's Coagulation Fruit, clutching it tightly in his hand.

"I know you're there. Come out already...I don't have the time to waste with you!"

Zheng Jin shouted as he stared at an area with tall grass. As if he knew that something had been hiding there all along.

Then, as if accepting Zheng Jin's bold invitation, an enormous wolf as dark as the midnight sky suddenly pounced out of the grass; fangs bared as its pure black eyes shone an eerie light.

Zheng Jin's heart pounded. This was a Dark-eyed Shadow Wolf! Known for its incredible speed, this demon beast had the strength of a level 3 Awakened Mortal. A ridiculously long way from his Level 5 Mortal Realm cultivation.

"I can't die here...not yet!"

Even though he is outmatched by the demon beast, he could not let his resolve waver. He would come out of this alive...no matter what it takes!

"Come!"

Zheng Jin then provoked the demon beast into action, his mind now only focused on one thing: to kill and survive.

With an intimidating growl, the wolf spurred into action as it dashed towards Zheng Jin...thrilled by the thought of feasting with the foolish human boy's corpse.

As the wolf ran towards him, Zheng Jin steeled himself and ran towards the wolf himself, his sword now placed horizontally on his left side, rather than in front.

As they got closer and closer, Zheng Jin waited for the perfect timing...

"Now!"

Before the wolf could grab him by its maw, Zhen Jin rolled under the huge beast, slashing at both of its hind legs

The wolf underestimated Zheng Jin. This human brat had actually dared to make a scratch on its legs! The demon beast, however, had a bit of intelligence. It knew that the cut wasn't that deep and its prey was too weak. Now that the human dared to come close to it, there was no escaping death.

In just a split second, the wolf quickly turned around, lashing out at Zheng Jin. It was now sure of its victory.

But then, just as wolf's fangs were about to sink onto Zheng Jin, he quickly activated his trump card [Puke Blood] spraying it all over the wolf's face, which startled it and irritated its eyes.

Zheng Jin did not waste any precious time and quickly stabbed through the wolf's right eye and in quick succession, threw the Devil's Coagulation Fruit in the in its wide open mouth, the wolf roaring madly as blood spurted out of the wound.

Without hesitation, Zheng Jin quickly retreated while the demon beast was flailing around. Although the wolf's hide was indeed too thick for his sword to penetrate, its eyes had no protection whatsoever, and taking advantage of this weakness gave him an opening to sneakily throw the extremely poisonous fruit into its mouth.

Graooorhhh!!!

An ear-splitting roar came from the wolf as it glared towards Zheng Jin, its remaining eye bloodshot from anger. It had never thought that the human could hurt it, much less blind its right eye!

The beast then tried to sprint towards Zheng Jin, intending to tear him to pieces. But for some reason, its left hind leg could not move properly!

"Perfect...I got its tendon on the left. It would've been better if I got both of it though..."

Zheng Jin thought as he moved his sword back in front of him, taking a defensive stance. Earlier, he had made a gamble that this wolf had the same physiology as the wolves back in his previous world.

This gamble eventually paid off as his somewhat shallow cut had luckily struck the beast's Achilles tendon, limiting its mobility. Not only that, but he also managed to blind its right eye.

Zheng Jin thanked his previous experiences as an adventurer, as he was used to dealing with monsters like these all the time.

The battle, however, was still not over. Although the wolf had lost its speed, one strike from it will still kill Zheng Jin. The only reason why he was still alive right now was because of his past experiences and luck. He could not afford to be careless.

Not only that but his wounds, especially the one on his back, was now in a worse condition than before. He needed to finish this quickly, he thought.

The wolf once again bared its fangs, striking first as it ran awkwardly towards Zheng Jin. Its anger fueled by the pain it felt from Zheng Jin's attacks.

The wolf got closer and closer, then finally opened its mouth, intending to once again bite Zheng Jin.

But just as Zheng Jin was about to evade by rolling out of the way, the wolf suddenly pulled back its maw, and instead swiped at Zheng Jin with its claws!

"s**t, it got me!"

This time, it was Zheng Jin that underestimated the demon beast's craftiness. The wolf's sudden change in its attack caught Zheng Jin completely off guard, as the direction in which he planned to evade to was now covered by the demon beast's large claws, slicing through the air as it got closer and closer to him.

The only thing that he could do was to quickly raise the sword and held it by both hands, hoping it could somehow block the demon beast's attack.

This hope, however, was crushed as he was sent flying by the beast; his sword now shattered into two pieces, leaving him with only a hilt and half of the blade attached to it.

"Damn it, I can't lose here..."

Zheng Jin thought as he stood up, clutching his left arm. The wolf's strength was indeed scary, with even just one hit that he blocked by his sword broke his left arm and snapped the sword in two.

Now, Zheng Jin had to think quickly. He is injured, tired, and he is lacking a proper weapon now.

The only thing he could do was to endure until the poison from the Devil's Coagulation Fruit had done its work on the wolf's body. He did not know how much longer it would take, but it is said that even though an awakened mortal demon beast had some resistance to the fruit's poison, they would still be affected by it eventually!

"Hurry up and drop dead already!"

Zheng Jin thought as the wolf ran towards him again. As it got closer, instead of just evading the wolf the simple way, he used a feint; pretending to go right. Then shortly after, the wolf fell for it and swiped its claws towards the direction of the feint, only managing to strike air this time.

Not missing the opportunity, Zheng Jin once again tried to stab the wolf's right hind leg this time, only to be kicked away by the wolf.

"The bastard actually learned..."

Although the kick had little weight behind it, as the wolf's other leg could not work properly, it still knocked the air out of Zheng Jin's lungs. He even felt that a couple of his ribs were broken.

Zheng Jin then stood up shakily as he stared at the wolf, wondering what to do next. The wolf, however, wasted no time and pounced towards him.

But suddenly, the wolf's body twitched uncontrollably as it went down on the ground, foaming at the mouth.

"Haah, finally..."

Zheng Jin then made his way towards the wolf. He was not foolish enough to think that the poison would keep the wold down for long, as the vitality of an Awakened mortal is nothing to scoff at. If left alone, the wolf would eventually recover.

Unfortunately for the wolf, Zheng Jin was now holding his broken sword above its head, ready to strike.

With one well-placed blow in the wolf's head, the demon beast had ceased all movement, now dead.

As soon as Zheng Jin sunk his sword on the demon beast's head, a feeling of relief washed over him.

He had won.

Against an enemy much stronger than him even!

"The bastard really got me good..."

But although he did indeed win, his injuries won't just go away because of it. That and his tiredness pushed Zheng Jin closer and closer into unconsciousness.

"Damn, I'm close to the city now... Just a bit...more"

Zheng Jin tried to walk, but his vision got darker and darker on each step. Until finally, he collapsed on the ground.

...

However, just before Zheng Jin had closed his eyes, a figure approaches him.

"Who..."

Zheng Jin only managed to speak a single word, before finally passing out.