The Cheetah That Gives In

Not far away from them, eight pitch-black figures lay scattered on the ground. They were the Lightning Cheetahs that Chen Guan had knocked out earlier.

Everything had returned to how it was before the ice wall rose.

"An illusion..." Yin Chen lost his voice. He had to prop himself up against a nearby stone pillar to keep from falling to his knees due to the massive mental whiplash.

His mental energy had formed the prototype of the ice wall, but Chen Guan used it as a catalyst to silently drag all the targets into a far grander illusion.

They thought they were the ones trapped in a jar, but in reality, from the very beginning, the pack of cheetahs were the ones locked in a mental cage.

On the other side.

A massive, dark purple rift tore open out of thin air, and the alpha of the Lightning Cheetahs leaped out from within.

It still maintained its furious, attacking posture, but its target—the ice wall that had trapped all its offspring and kin—had vanished.

It lunged at nothing, its massive body stumbling forward a few steps due to momentum.

Its intellect could not comprehend what had just happened. Why had its mental perception been deceived?

Now, it froze in place, not even daring to channel the demonic energy within its body.

Chen Guan's figure materialized behind it, a scythe in his grip.

The cold touch of metal pressed against the side of its neck, causing every hair on the Lightning Cheetah alpha's body to stand on end instantly.

It could sense that it was the blade of a scythe. With just a single thought from the human, its head would be separated from its body.

"I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Chen Guan's voice reached the ears of Yin Chen and Hong Yuan with crystal clarity.

This understated remark made a layer of cold sweat break out on Yin Chen's back.

From the moment the ice wall rose to trap them, everything had fallen right into Chen Guan's calculations.

He had used Yin Chen's ice wall, turning it into a giant snare—a trap prepared exclusively for this Tier 5 alpha hiding in the shadows.

This guy was terrifying. Not only was his strength overwhelming, but he could also devise different tactics on the fly based on the situation.

He used the other cheetahs as bait to provoke the alpha into taking the field itself, thereby luring the strongest target into the trap step by step and preventing it from simply turning tail and running.

In the stone forest, the subdued cheetah alpha let out a low whimper. The other unconscious cheetahs also began to wake up one after another under the oppressive aura.

They struggled to their feet. Seeing their alpha held at weapon-point by a human, they let out threatening snarls. Purple electricity coursed across their bodies, yet they dared not take a single step forward.

Chen Guan ignored the surrounding threats.

His gaze fell upon the cheetah alpha pinned by his scythe. Its dark purple eyes were filled with humiliation.

"I'll give you two choices," Chen Guan said.

"First, sell out your companions, then come with me. You get to live."

His words were simple and direct. He knew that this cheetah alpha had developed a degree of human-like intelligence and could understand him.

Chen Guan did not give the cheetah much time to think.

"Otherwise," his tone shifted, and a bone-chilling coldness radiated from him, "surrender your soul and go into my scythe."

As his voice faded, the massive black scythe in his hand began to change.

A diamond-shaped crystal embedded in the scythe, originally dull and lusterless, suddenly lit up with a brilliant glow.

In the next second, an invisible mental shockwave centered on the scythe swept out in all directions.

All the Lightning Cheetahs, including the alpha pinned by the blade, let out agonizing howls.

Their mental worlds were forcibly flooded with countless roars of pure despair.

In their perception, they saw countless demonic beasts and humans being slaughtered by this scythe, their souls forcibly extracted by that eerie crystal, wailing in endless torment.

Their soul fragments became fuel, making the blood-red light shine even more wickedly.

It was the lament of the souls who had perished beneath the blade.

This was no illusion. This was the very real mark of death borne by the scythe.

The Lightning Cheetah alpha's body trembled violently. Its proud speed and spatial talents were completely useless in the face of this fear that struck directly at the soul.

Death was not terrifying; what was terrifying was the torment of never being able to move on for all eternity.

Working for humans was merely humiliating, but at least it meant staying alive, with food and drink. If it performed well, it might even become a summoned beast for a Summoning-type Esper, regaining its dignity.

Several kilometers away on a high vantage point, Black Crow watched everything through his tactical visor.

He saw the shattering of the illusion, and he saw Chen Guan's swift and clean subjugation.

It was a remarkably brilliant illusion. Even from this far away, it had affected him; even he had been dazed for a split second.

But he hadn't expected this student to use such a direct method of coercion.

Could a Lightning Cheetah really submit just like that? From Black Crow's experience, it was pure fantasy.

He shook his head. A little naivety was fine; after all, he was still just a kid. If he really acted like someone who hadn't drunk all their Soup of Oblivion before reincarnating, that would be truly alarming.

He patiently continued to watch.

Back in the stone forest, the mental wailing gradually subsided, but that fear had already been branded into the depths of every cheetah's soul.

Chen Guan's scythe remained steadily pressed against the alpha's neck, not moving an inch. He was waiting for a choice.

In the cheetah alpha's originally proud eyes, the fierce glint was fading, replaced by fear.

It felt the cold touch of death against its neck and the weeping of thousands of souls echoing from the scythe.

It did not want to die, and it certainly did not want to become part of that weeping chorus after death.

Under everyone's gaze, this proud Tier 5 demonic beast, the former apex predator of the outer rim of Battlefield No. 3, trembled slightly.

Slowly, and with extreme humiliation, it lowered its proud head.

With its submission, silence returned to the stone forest.

Chen Guan withdrew his scythe, and the bone-chilling coldness that oppressed their souls dissipated along with it.

The glow of the diamond-shaped crystal embedded in the weapon faded, making it look ordinary once more.

The Lightning Cheetah alpha, freed from the blade, relaxed its massive body, but its proud head remained bowed, not daring to lift even a fraction of an inch.

The fear of narrowly escaping death was far more unforgettable than any physical pain.

Under the alpha's authority, the rest of the cheetahs also retracted their exposed electricity. They only let out uneasy low growls from their throats, warily watching the human before them.

"Keep them quiet," Chen Guan's voice was flat, betraying no emotion.

Hearing this, the cheetah alpha let out a short whimper toward its pack.

The eight cheetahs immediately stood down, lowering their bodies and becoming as docile as eight large house cats.

Hong Yuan and Yin Chen watched this scene, not knowing what to say.

Just a moment ago, they were a pack of predators capable of tearing them to shreds with ease, but now they were unbelievably obedient.

It was hard to imagine this was a pack of cheetahs; if they were cats, they would have scratched someone by now.

Chen Guan stopped looking at the Tier 5 demonic beast that had completely lost its will to resist. He turned and gave an order to Yin Chen and Hong Yuan.

"Use the capture balls to collect the rest of the cheetahs."