Regain the Dignity
Every war beast has a weakness. The biggest difference between war beasts lies in the fact that while the weaknesses of powerful beasts are hard to discern, those of weaker beasts are easily spotted by anyone.
Enhanced class war beasts appear to have no weaknesses; they don't have the attack limitations of elemental class beasts, nor do they leave their masters unprotected during an attack like combat class beasts.
As for the special class, most are life-based, considered the lowest of the low and hardly comparable. Enhanced class beasts seem superior on the surface, as they merge with their master, boosting their strength.
However, on the Dragon Rising Continent, it's well known that enhanced class beasts have a fatal weakness. Once this weakness is struck, both the beast and its master can be severely injured.
Battling a warrior with an enhanced class beast only requires one thing: finding and striking hard at that weak point.
This is exactly what Eddie is doing now!
Eddie initially didn't know much about enhanced class beasts, but during his visit to the Sky Tower, the knowledgeable City Lord of Falling Flowers had eagerly imparted some war beast knowledge to this seemingly clueless little thief. Among these teachings was the mention of the weakness of the Iron Claw Bear.
Once enhanced by the Iron Claw Bear, the master's skin becomes as tough as leather, bones as hard as iron, fingertips turn to claws, and their body becomes impervious to blades and immensely strong.
However, it also has a very obvious weak point: a crescent-shaped white mark on the chest. A strike there would inflict damage several times more severe on both the master and the beast!
"BOOM!" The elder's bear-transformed giant claw swung at nothing but air.
It slammed heavily onto the ground.
Instantly, the stone-paved road cracked and shattered, with debris flying and a deep hole and spiderweb-like fissures appearing on the previously smooth surface.
"Die, you!" The figure Eddie had hit was merely an afterimage. Already in a frenzy, Eddie's movements had far surpassed the speed that the elder's eyes could see.
Spiraling through the air, Eddie used the momentum to drive a broken spearhead deep into the chest of the bear-transformed elder, striking his weak point.
As the elder howled in pain, Eddie's fists arrived – left hooks, right hooks, uppercuts, straight punches, a barrage of blows, along with left and right elbow strikes.
Finally, Eddie, like a leaping cheetah, grabbed the elder's head and rained down a series of savage knee strikes directly into his slowly de-transforming face, shattering his teeth and sending them flying.
Blood spurted from the elder's features in a horrifying display. Realizing his weakness had been exploited and his beast nearly dead, the elder panicked and turned to flee without a care, stumbling towards the carriage where the lady was.
The two red-robed executioners watched, dumbfounded, feeling helpless against their superior.
To the brink of death, not begging for mercy or fleeing was one thing, but to attack the mother being fiercely protected? Was he seeking a death wish?
Even in madness and hatred, one shouldn't act so irrationally. Such actions would only provoke Eddie further.
In their eyes, if the elder hadn't pressed so hard, Eddie wouldn't have exploded in rage, and wouldn't have been so determined to kill him.
It was clear that Eddie had been secretly refining his combat skills, preparing to shed his image as a useless third young master.
Unfortunately, he encountered this situation, leaving him no choice but to erupt.
This was pushing a tiger to the mountain!
"ROARRR!" The elder, desperate to live, wildly swung his claws and sprinted forward.
"You stubborn fool, I'll tear you to pieces!" Eddie, seeing the elder knowingly heading for certain death yet still aiming to take the lady with him, was so enraged he could burn half the sky.
He chased after him like lightning, his fingers digging deep into the elder's back.
He aimed to rip out his heart in a lethal strike, but the elder, in a mad dash for survival, narrowly escaped the blow and reached the carriage.
Eddie's face twisted with fury, resembling a demon. He slid rapidly, trapping the elder's right leg between his own, and executed a reverse dragonfly throw, lifting the elder's entire body into the air. With a twist, he sent the elder flying in a high arc. Before the elder even hit the ground, the enraged Eddie had already drawn his Moon Blade and pounced.
"I'll show you cruelty, madness, and desperation to drag others down with you!" Eddie's Moon Blade hacked mercilessly, spraying blood and flesh.
As the elder landed, Eddie severed his limbs and slashed his nearly de-transformed body numerous times, leaving him like a butchered pig, his body parts scattered.
As Eddie, covered in blood, raised his Moon Blade high to decapitate the elder, a distant shout echoed: "Stop! Stop now while you still can!"
An elderly man with white hair and a ruddy complexion, riding a giant deer, came rushing over. His voice reached them before he did.
Eddie roared, sending the Yew family guards watching from afar scattering in terror:
"Thanks. But what I, the so-called failure, need to do now is not to wait for death, but to use strength to tell the family not to mistake our patience and tolerance for weakness! "
"Our fourth branch won't endure it any longer. I'm taking Mother Grace, Sophia, and Frost back to Yew Mansion! "
"Whether the Yew family welcomes us or not, we're returning to reclaim our dignity. I've said it before, anyone who stands in our way is an enemy; obstruct us and face death. Let's see who dares to stop me from bringing Mother Grace home!"
...
the old man riding the deer pleaded earnestly:
"How can you return to Yew Mansion like this, Eddie? Don't you realize there are people in the clan who are hoping for you to act this way?"
Eddie: "Even if it's through a sea of fire or a mountain of knives, I must go! Mother Grace is kind and enduring, but I, as her son, cannot stand by and watch her being bullied! Without her, there would be no me; now with me, she shall have her place!"
He slung the blood-stained ropes over his shoulder and started pulling the carriage, step by step, uphill.
Dignity cannot be granted by others. It must be seized back with one's own hands, with one's own strength.
Under the old man's complex gaze and the trembling watch of the red-robed executioners, the blood-soaked Eddie pulled the carriage, step by step, past the Yew family estate and towards Yue Mansion.
Wherever he passed, Yew family guards and clan members scattered in fear.
Eddie looked up at the majestic Yue Mansion perched halfway up the mountain, then at the sky, feeling a surge of fiery blood in his heart: "Cup Guy, are you watching? I wish you could see this. Here, I'll reclaim the dignity you lost!"