Tragedy

Celia's eyes widened with fear. Both Shade and Arora had been knocked off the cliff. She wished to hurry and contact them through her friend's list but she still had a massive problem on her hands.

The massive polar bear released a powerful roar that shook the entire cliffside. Even the falling raindrops were scattered due to the sheer power of its roar. The situation was far from good.

"Tristan, run if you can't fight!!" Warned Celia.

"You have to run too! You can't fight that thing alone!"

Celia knew Tristan was right. There was no way that she could fight such a powerful monster on her own.

Just then, two health bars appeared over the bear's head alongside its name, 'The White Claw'. The monster before them was unfortunately a Stage Two field boss.

"Another one?!" Cursed Tristan.

"What do you mean by another?!"

"Long story! Just run!"

Quickly, both Tristan and Celia began running in the opposite direction. However, the field boss wasn't about to let them escape. It immediately gave chase to them on all fours with each step rattling the surrounding area.

Tristan and Celia dodged many trees and large rocks as they ran. However, the bear simply uprooted everything in its path like a giant bulldozer. It was quickly gaining on them. They were sure to be caught in another few seconds if nothing was done.

"Tristan, I'm going to buy us some time! Get as far away as possible from this thing and give Shade a call! We need their help!"

"Damn it! How do we even know that they're alive?!"

"Shade wouldn't die that easily, trust me. I know his type. He's like a cockroach that's hard to kill!"

Tristan gritted his teeth. He hated his lack of combat ability but it was mainly out of his hands. Having the CA of the Locator only enhanced his perception of direction. It did not boost his physical strength or stamina in fights.

Reluctantly, he did as Celia instructed. Their best bet was to call Shade for help.

"Okay, be careful! Don't you dare die on me!"

"It's fine! We can all have lunch together when this is over!" Laughed Celia.

"Bruh... Why the hell are you setting a death flag for yourself?!!"

"I'm not!! Sigh... Just go!"

Just then, the field boss appeared before Celia with another powerful roar. It then waved its massive claws towards her, aiming to clip her in two.

However, Celia wasn't inexperienced. She hurriedly withdrew her sword before deflecting the field boss's attack. She then ran towards it before countering with a swing of her blade to its stomach.

Unfortunately, Celia then realized that her sword had barely damaged the field boss. Its health bar hardly even moved. She needed to hit it in a few vital spots if she hoped to do any damage.

Sadly, the field boss then came back around with another powerful swing from the back of its paw. This time it hit its mark as Celia was sent hurling into the side of a nearby tree.

Celia screamed in pain as pain rocketed through her body. She then glimpsed at her health bar which was now within the yellow zone. A single hit was enough to sap half of her health. If she were to take another, she would surely die.

This was when Celia noticed something terrifying. The field boss had gone on all fours with steam emitting from its mouth. She did not know what the field boss was about to do but she had a very bad feeling that it was nothing good.

As Celia scurried to her feet, the field boss released a powerful beam of light from its mouth. Celia gasped in fear as she desperately tried to get out of the way. Regrettably, she would not be able to dodge in time.

The beam then exploded like that of a miniature bomb, shaking the ground like an earthquake and turning trees into dust. Where Celia once stood was now a burning crater that extended at least a hundred feet long.

"Celia, are you okay?!!" Shouted Tristan who was now atop of her.

"W-what..? I'm not dead..?"

"Of course not! I had to jump in at the last second to knock you out of the way! It was super close..."

"I told you to run you, idiot!"

"I knew you couldn't fight that thing by yourself! There's no way that I could leave you!"

Celia sighed light-heartedly, "Right, I'm just too beautiful to be left behind, aren't I? I know!"

Following this, the two quickly got back to their feet upon hearing the field boss growl from behind. This was when Celia noticed that steam was emitting from its mouth once again. It seemed as if it was about to repeat its special attack.

"Damn it! Tristan, run! It's about to use its special attack again!"

"What kind of monster has a beam cannon for a special move?!"

Due to the panic that now shrouded them, Celia and Tristan ran in separate directions. Unfortunately, little did they know that this was what the field boss had wanted.

To both their astonishment, the field boss canceled its special attack and instead ran towards Tristan. Since Tristan had gotten in the way of killing Celia, it had deemed that it needed to get rid of him first.

"Tristan!!!" Shouted Celia.

Celia's words pierced Tristan's ears like an echo. What could he do to escape? How much time did he have to do it? The answers were actually quite simple. Nothing.

With a wave of its massive claw, Tristan was sawed in two separate halves as blood scattered before the distraught eyes of Celia. By the next second, his body hit the ground with a powerful thump with the word 'DEAD' hovering above his lifeless body.