Beloved Protection From A Nine Tailed Fox

Part 3: The other world

Not giving the dragon's corpse another glance he decided to continue on his way. While walking through the forest screams of unimaginable creatures would occasionally pierce the air. But with his search and light magic in place, there was little need to worry.

Shortly after, growling noises could be heard hidden among the fog.

Kieran ceased all movement as the growls were directed at him. He calmly looked past the fog towards the source of the growls but even with his vision he could not see the creature. 

*Grooooowl* 

This time there was a deep guttural growl coming from behind him. Swiftly turning around, Kieren faced the sound. His tails fanned out behind him ready for any sneak attacks. 

"Hurry up and come out. I already know where you are, there's no point in stalling your death." 

"ROAR!" 

An angry roar erupted in respond to Kieren's simple taunt. 

(This animal. Getting angry from a little threat like that just shows you how arrogant and small you really are. You didn't even wonder why I haven't tried to escape if I believed I couldn't kill you.) 

Although Kieren was confident he could kill his opponent, he didn't let down his guard in the slightest. In this world a small mistake could cost him his life. 

Shuffling could be heard at all sides as it circled around Kieren gradually getting closer and closer. The creature was toying with Kieren. Watching his reaction and delighting in the fear and anxiety he would inflict upon him by slowly stalking him. However contrary to the creature's intentions, Kieren's heart was calm as he closed his eyes to allow his sense and search magic to find his enemy. 

"There you are." 

Kieren opened his eyes and faced the sky. Upon looking up what appeared was a huge lion king with a human face hovering in the sky with black bat wings and a poisonous scorpion tail. 

"Just as I thought, it's a manticore. With a wingspan that large it would be easy to outfly a small Winchester dragon." 

The manticore made gave an ecstatic sneer. Most humanoid demons were much weaker compared to their beast counterparts. In addition, the prey before it was a fox type humanoid demon which is known for their mind tricks and fire magic rather than their combat abilities. As the manticore is also proficient in fire attacks, as long as it can avoid mind attacks it can easily oppress its new toy. 

The manitcore dived, as it outstretched its massive claws. 

"Simple attacks like that aren't going to work on me." 

Kieren smiled. However his eyes were cold as they glowed a bright purple due to his bloodlust. He jumped back and easily avoided the manticore's attack range. 

(There! Flame claw!) 

By cladding his own claws in flames, he was able to increase the power of his attack as he aimed for the weak webbing of the wing to limit his opponent's mobility. The creature screamed in pain but soon after the scorpion tail rained down on his position. But as it was expected, Kieren jumped towards the Manticore's face.