STRIKER: Independent Beast Tamer

Wilderness Border (5th Zone)

On one side of the border, City Governor Martin, Head Harold, and two other City Governors were gathered together with the Beast Tamers behind them.

A few of them were left to patrol the long stretch of the border. Everyone was standing in mid air, looking toward the land beyond the border.

The tremor had come from that place earlier.

The Head of the Beast Taming Association and the Dean of the Central University furrowed their eyebrows.

They were unsure of what was going on, but they knew it was not the time to ask. They were looking at the same land as well.

Boom!

Right then, a deafening noise occurred.

Massive rocks and sand shot through the sky, followed by the emergence of a massive head.

The massive, menacing head was that of an Earth Lizard.

Seeing that, the faces of everyone present changed. The worst case scenario had happened. The size of the head alone told them that it was not a Tier-8 Beast.

A deadly Tier-9 Beast had appeared.

They watched the rest of the body slowly emerge.

The Tier-9 Earth Lizard’s whole body appeared above the surface. Everyone was stunned by the scene.

The size of the lizard beast was over 30 meters in length and 15 meters in shoulder height. The long tongue stretching out from its mouth could kill anyone.

Hard skin covered its body like armor. The beast was a muscular giant. Its four claws were large, capable of burrowing through any terrain.

Boom!

The next second, an oppressive pressure was released from the body of the beast. The shock force went rippling through the area.

The remaining tall shade trees and green canopies were swept away by the shock force.

Boom!

The tremendous shock force didn’t stop there. It pulsated outward toward the border, traveling fast.

So much so that the faces of the Governors and the others changed drastically. Everyone got ready to brace for the impact.

”It’s a Tier-9 Earth Lizard,” Harold said in a serious tone. The wait was over.

”The improved beast powder finally attracted this menace,” Harold thought to himself.

City Governor Martin wore a serious expression. He was ready to battle, but he didn’t show a shocked expression, as it was the expected outcome.

In one way, he was glad that a flying-type beast had not appeared. Otherwise, the city could have faced a direct threat.

”Everyone, don’t let that thing cross the border,” Martin said to the others.

”Proceed,” he ordered.

Boom!

The next second, everyone summoned their Lifeline Beasts one after another. Different types of Tier-8 Beasts appeared next to them.

The Head of the Beast Taming Association and the Dean of the Central University were not idle either. They brought their Lifeline Beasts out.

The Dean of the Central University rushed toward the Tier-9 Beast together with his Lifeline Beast.

Boom!

The Head of the Beast Taming Association stood there as massive, long vines emerged from the ground one after another.

These long vines had spikes all over their surface. Each of the deadly sharp spikes was over 7 inches long and could easily leave a hole in a human body.

These thorn vines surrounded him like a shield.

Swoosh!

It was his Lifeline Beast, the Tier-8 Thorn Vine Beast. Next, he charged toward the Tier-9 Earth Lizard, the thorn vines following closely behind.

...

Meanwhile,

Jeremy Night found shelter inside a natural cave opening. He had not come across a single beast so far.

He was sure that mid-tier beasts and higher-tier beasts had come in large numbers; the news anchors had reported the same as well.

Jeremy Night furrowed his brows. As far as he knew, there were only two possibilities. The first was that the beasts were killed by the Beast Tamers; the second was that the beasts were driven away somewhere.

He didn’t know which one was true. He shook his head, checked his condition, and began using the inner healing method to heal himself.

The only advantage of the method was the healing energy, but it was not useful in the long run. He had obtained the Lifeline Beast Breathing Method back in the 4th Zone City.

It had been some time since he last used it. Once the situation here was over, he decided he would practice that method more consistently.

Tremor!

The next second, a sudden shock force reverberated across the forest. Feeling it, Jeremy Night became alert. He didn’t know which beast had arrived this time.

He then used his eye power to gain distant vision and saw a small beast horde coming in his direction.

His expression changed. He had assumed that this could be one of the reasons, but he hadn’t expected the corrupted beasts to flee in this direction.

Among the incoming beasts, he spotted many Tier-6 Beasts. He even spotted a beast over 10 meters tall, though he knew that size varied depending on the species.

He knew that even small-sized beasts could be Tier-7 or Tier-8 Beasts. Next, his eye power picked up the presence of Tier-7 beasts trailing behind the fleeing Tier-6 beasts.

He didn’t investigate further and pulled back into the small cave opening. There was barely enough space for the beasts to enter, but he still had to be careful, as they might attack him.

Jeremy Night unsheathed his blade.

Slash!

He quickly coated the blade in starlight power. It was not the first time he was facing a beast horde; he had encountered a similar horde back in this very wilderness.

So, he knew what to do in this situation.

Thud!

The movement of the beast horde drew closer. Soon, a large number of Tier-5 and Tier-6 beasts rushed past the natural cave opening.

None of them noticed the human’s presence here; they were all terrified of the Tier-7 beasts behind them.

At the same time, Jeremy Night focused on concealing himself. He didn’t want to leak even a faint trace of aura.

The intelligence of Tier-7 beasts was far greater than that of mid-tier beasts, and they could sense the presence of a human much faster.

Boom!

Right then, the top of the natural cave was struck by something.