“Grace Green, are we still going further in tonight?” The person in front, Alan Clark, turned back and asked. Only now did Brian Carter truly see this person clearly. Actually, if he didn’t look like someone who had overindulged in pleasure, he could be considered passable, but in his current state, he was hardly praiseworthy. It was as if his face was carved with “I’m a pervert, girls keep away.”

Princess was bowing her head in thought. Upon hearing him speak, she looked up and said, “Let’s walk a bit further, then we’ll set up camp and rest.”

Alan Clark thought for a moment. “Alright, let’s keep going.” With that, he walked further in, not noticing that he was straying from the group. The people behind him gradually widened the distance between them and him.

“As long as we walk a bit further, we’ll shake him off. If we encounter a magical beast, we’ll lure him into fighting it, and we’ll escape. By then, we’ll just say we got separated from him.” Princess whispered to the other three.

“Understood,” the three replied after hearing this.

Raymond Clark then asked worriedly, “Princess, are you sure he won’t make it out of the forest?”

“Mm, he’s a typical playboy. This is his first time out of the imperial city, he doesn’t know the way. His spatial pouch and spatial ring don’t have a map, and even if they did, he wouldn’t be able to read it.”

As they were speaking, a tiger’s roar sounded. The four exchanged smiles, knowing their chance had come. Princess said, “Let’s go help him deal with the magical beast.”

Claire Green asked doubtfully, “Help him deal with the magical beast?”

Princess sneered, “Yes, together! Only then can we be absolutely sure. In a moment, try not to exert yourselves—let him do most of the work.”

To show his bravery, Alan Clark swung his greatsword with both hands at the approaching magical beast. The beast was tiger-shaped, with pitch-black fur.

“Dark Tiger!!” Princess cheered inwardly. According to Princess, this Dark Tiger was a level 6 magical beast, extremely strong, agile, and capable of some dark magic. It could fight a high-level swordmaster. But Alan Clark was only a high-level swordsman.

Raymond Clark and Willard Green also charged forward. Princess was a fire mage, Claire Green a water mage. Naturally, the mages stood at a distance, chanting spells. Brian Carter thought to himself: being a mage is nice, you don’t have to be cannon fodder up front.

With five people, they should have had the upper hand, but they were only evenly matched. Clearly, aside from Alan Clark giving his all, the others were holding back, and the other two warriors even dodged attacks from time to time, regardless of whether the Dark Tiger’s attacks would hit Alan Clark.

Seeing this, Brian Carter realized their intention: they wanted to use the beast to get rid of Alan Clark. No wonder they came here at night. Even on Earth, forests at night are terrifying, let alone a place with so many monsters.

The Dark Tiger launched a Devour Ball. Alan Clark dodged to the side, but the Dark Tiger immediately swiped with its claws. Since Alan Clark was in midair and couldn’t change direction, and was at the point where his old strength was spent and new strength hadn’t arisen, without help, he could only be struck. Raymond Clark, standing nearby, wanted to slash with his greatsword, and just as Alan Clark thought he was saved, a voice came that sent him to hell.

“Leave him, let’s go now.” Princess said coldly, without a trace of emotion.

The Dark Tiger’s claws landed solidly on Alan Clark, who spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying. The Dark Tiger immediately pounced on him again—after all, Alan Clark had just attacked it the hardest, so it wanted to kill him first to vent its anger. Knowing the situation, Alan Clark could only grit his teeth and endure his injuries, steady himself, and raise his greatsword to strike at the Dark Tiger.

The other four were already retreating toward the edge of the forest. Before leaving, they threw back a sentence: “This is the consequence of all the bad things you’ve done over the years. No one will mourn your death—only rejoice.”

“You set me up, you want to kill me, I won’t let you get away with this…” Alan Clark shouted unwillingly, knowing in his heart that he was doomed.

The Dark Tiger struck him again. Now he was covered in blood. At this moment, he regretted ever trying to get his hands on Princess. The hunter has become the hunted. Alan Clark struggled on bitterly. It couldn’t be denied that his martial skills were solid—this was the only thing people respected about him.

Looks like I’m done for, he thought, watching the tiger’s claws grow larger before his eyes. Alan Clark could only wait for death.

At that moment, Alan Clark remembered a method from the Proud Dragon Technique he had learned—a way to forcibly boost his battle energy. The higher his mastery of the Proud Dragon Technique, the less the side effects, and the greater the power. With his second-level Proud Dragon Technique, he could at most temporarily raise himself to a mid-level swordmaster. Any higher, and it would cost him his life.

Screw it, if I’m going to die, I’ll take one down with me. No loss. Alan Clark forcibly boosted his battle energy to nearly the level of a junior sword saint, and unleashed the strongest—and last—strike of his life. The greatsword shone with light.

The Dark Tiger sensed danger and tried to retreat, but it was too late. The greatsword slashed across its throat and then its belly.

“Awoo…” With a mournful tiger’s cry, the Dark Tiger collapsed, blood gushing from its wounds and flooding the ground around it.

Alan Clark shouted, “You want to take me down? Not so fast! My greatsword isn’t just for show!”

“Bang”—Alan Clark also collapsed in a pool of blood. Brian Carter had been watching from the side the whole time. Although he didn’t know what crime Alan Clark had committed, he felt that at least in his final moments, Alan Clark was a real man.