Clovis didn't hesitate to take the front, getting the beasts' attention.
"Wait! We have to regroup first!" Ragna tried to stop him, thinking this was too reckless. If Clovis went too far from them, the rear would be in danger.
However, Jay simply ignored his words and chased after Clovis. He lowered his blade as if he didn't plan to swing his sword even once before reaching the deer.
Clovis was soon surrounded by five beasts. The Tier 3 Megaloceros sneered at Clovis, thinking that this would slow him down. And after that, the other beasts would catch up and overwhelm them.
Even Ragna thought the same thing.
In addition, some beasts looped around and headed to Kanaria and Melody.
Clovis took in a light breath, slowing down his vision.
'There are five beasts coming… Two of them are closer than the others. Then…' Clovis stepped to the right.
Seeing this movement, the two beasts on the right sped up and leaped into the air, trying to pounce on him and pin him to the ground.
Clovis waved his right sword right toward the beast's head. The latter tried to stop it with its claw, but Clovis's blade suddenly shifted its direction and cut down the beast's foot instead.
"!!!" The beast was surprised, but the second sword had come from the opposite direction, cutting its head from below.
The second beast thought it could take advantage of the momentum, but Clovis actually threw himself at the beast, messing with his momentum.
The beast hit Clovis's body, but surprisingly, it didn't seem to do anything. In addition, Clovis spun his body and elbowed its head, knocking it down.
He used the momentum to slice the falling beast's neck, killing the second beast. After that, he glanced at the remaining three beasts that had arrived during the two seconds Clovis used to take down the two beasts.
Clovis tossed the short sword to the closest beast. The latter reacted by grabbing the sword with its teeth, but it didn't prepare for the gun Clovis pulled out after that.
The beast died from two shots to the head. In addition, Clovis aimed his gun at the other two beasts, which forced them to leap to the side to avoid it.
Unfortunately, it was only a feint. After all, Clovis closed in when they were distracted and cut down another beast.
After that, he moved toward the last beast, or more like the Tier 3 beast that stood behind it.
The beast tried to use its life to protect the Tier 3 beast, but it was futile. Clovis cut it into pieces in less than a second.
It turned out the Tier 3 deer actually used that positioning to cover Clovis's eyes. When he cut down the last beast, Clovis found the deer standing right in front of him.
The Tier 3 deer waved down its head, smashing Clovis with its giant antlers.
But before those antlers could hit him, Jay used his beast soul and sped up, closing the remaining gap in a single step. He struck the antlers from below, stopping them.
The clash produced a clicking sound as though two metals clashed with each other. It showed that if Jay wanted to destroy the antler, it wouldn't be as easy as he originally thought.
"!!!" The beast was shocked that someone could actually stop him. He tried to push Jay back, but he didn't budge.
Seeing such a situation, the deer hurriedly ordered the other beasts to distract Jay.
But that was when Clovis turned around and started cutting them down.
"…" The deer wasn't the only one who was shocked by this strength. Ragna couldn't believe what he witnessed as well.
Clovis managed to kill several beasts in just a few seconds. In addition, Jay's raw power actually matched that of a Tier 3 beast.
Both of them were actually more terrifying than his previous captain. He even noticed that Clovis looked fine even though he got hit by one of the beasts on the way.
'Is this really the power of Tier 1 humans?' Ragna thought. It was no wonder they were so confident in joining the Rising Star Competition. If they joined the first competition, they would definitely win. For them, this was just a challenge they had to overcome.
And the reason they could leave Melody and Kanaria here was because they had confirmed his ability.
Hence, Ragna couldn't betray their trust.
Kanaria understood it fully as she said, "Don't get distracted. The beasts are coming at us. This is how we usually operate. The two fight to their heart content while we cover them."
"Understood." Ragna's expression turned grim. He had messed up multiple times. It was frustrating, but he couldn't do anything because of his weakness. However, just for this trip, he wanted to produce a result.
Even if it meant he had to go to the hospital, he planned to act as the best guardian and get acknowledged by Clovis and Jay.
Jay and the deer clashed multiple times, but no one managed to gain an advantage. The deer was fully aware that Jay was wary of its antler. As long as it put its antler in front, Jay wouldn't be able to reach the main body.
As long as it persisted for a bit more, the beasts would definitely create an opportunity.
Meanwhile, Clovis had been moving from one position to another, killing all the beasts that came near Jay. Even Kanaria gave some assistance.
However, he began to get overwhelmed by their numbers. Melody said previously that there were more than two hundred beasts in the area.
Even though he had killed dozens of them, it didn't change the fact that there were still a lot of them gathering in this spot.
"Tsk." Clovis clicked his tongue, seeing one beast move past him. "Jay. On your left!"
Jay glanced to the left, which also grabbed the deer's attention. He hurriedly killed the beast in one hit, but that slight gap allowed the deer to charge at him.
The deer's eyes turned bloodshot as it rammed Jay, crushing the tree in its path.