Five groups of adventurers were each fighting against an undead Jaguar of their own.
All of them were established groups. The Knights came from the Order of the Heavenly Knights, known for their mastery over all the known weapons.
The HammerStone company was renowned for their weapons, armors, and equipment. Not only that, but they were considered to be a sub-company of the Hephaestus group, a conglomerate on the same level as the Vanderbilt business.
The Infernal Adventurers and the Bears Group were all part of guilds famous for their exploits all around Queens Region.
In short, nobody was surprised that they could contend with a 6-star undead monster like the Jaguars.
However, nobody expected the physical dominance that these Dragonborns were showing right now. The fact that they could go toe-to-toe with the Jaguars showed that this unknown 'Reborn company' was powerful in their own right.
And it wasn't just a normal Jaguar. It was an Apex Jaguar, the leader of the pack.
Their unique powers and skills were keeping this beast subdued, parrying its terrifyingly sharp claws and keeping up with its lightning fast lunges.
Sure, one could argue that these Jaguars were not real 6-star difficulty monsters due to them being undead, therefore they were not at the peak of their physical power, but their magical ability was not in the least bit degraded at all.
This meant that although its physical power was realistically only in the 4-star realm, its magical power was still in the 6-star realm. Even Sir Jon won't survive being hit by a 6-star necrotic spell head on.
The fact that these unknown demi-humans from the Reborn company clashed with the apex undead Jaguar meant that they were the undisputed strongest group amongst the entire adventuring campaign.
"Ugh! This cat is pretty strong…" Zion said as he ducked under the apex Jaguar's claws.
He tried to punch its head again, but the monster turned into mist and disappeared. His punch ended up creating a shockwave in the air, but hitting nothing else.
"Focus. We're slowly cutting away its Life mana."
Sheina shot another arrow towards the Jaguar, this time hitting its hind leg. But, the monster barely flinched and retaliated by slamming its paws towards her.
Jaku's sword blurred as he drew it from his scabbard, parrying the Jaguar's claws.
"I agree. This is too slow," he said.
"Um…I'm trying my best!"
Umisu swung her spear and slammed its end on the ground, using the momentum to jump-kick the Jaguar's ribs.
"Bro Mike! Can we use our new artifacts?"
Michael had been watching the Dragonborns fight the apex Jaguar.
ChatJK3, do you think they can beat the Jaguar like this?
[It is possible with their current strength. However, the longer the fight goes on, the higher the chance that the Jaguar can regain the advantage. It is advised for the Dragonborns to use their Mithril Artifacts.]
[Progress to analyzation: 59%]
Michael looked at Sheina and gave her a subtle nod.
Zion saw this and excitedly reached for his own shadow. Sheina, Jaku, and Umisu followed suit as they took advantage of the Orc Shadows' abilities to retrieve their newly created Mithril Artifacts from the Nation of Reborn.
A pair of black gauntlets with glowing violet cracks ascended from the shadows in front of Zion.
The youngest Dragonborn didn't wait any longer and put on his new Mithril Artifacts. The Unity mana in his body coursed with excitement, increasing his strength even further than before.
And as the rest of the Dragonborns wielded their Mithril Artifacts, there was a subtle change in the air.
It was faint, but palpable.
The apex Jaguar's eyes narrowed as it looked at the Dragonborns. It wasn't just fear in those eyes; it was recognition.
Back when it was alive, it witnessed the power of Mithril Artifacts in its entirety. And the fact that weapons like these appeared in front of its eyes again made its undead heart quiver in fear.
The other Jaguars felt the change as well. Their tails lowered, wary of the Mithril Artifacts wielded by the Dragonborns.
And in some way, every other adventurer knew that the Dragonborns had achieved a power even greater than before.
They didn't recognize these Mithril Artifacts, but they felt its power. Zion's gauntlets distorted space itself, as his natural talents began to manifest itself even stronger through the magnification effect of the Mithril. Jaku's sword crackled with lightning. Umisu's spear made the winds move. Sheina's bow emanated an ever-seeing light that illuminated even the darkest of shadows.
"What are those weapons?!"
"Is that even a metal? Why is it glowing?!"
Sir Jon and the Knights eyed the Mithril Artifacts with surprise. They recognized it, but they could hardly believe it. They had only felt this kind of power when they visited the headquarters of the Order and saw the Heavenly Knights for themselves.
They knew that those weapons held Mithril relics. They were sure of it.
No one was more sure of that than Butch. After all, he also held a fractured version of a Mithril relic in his gauntlets. It was what gave him the power to launch punches with the eruption of volcanoes. It was a precious gift given to him by the Hephesteaus group.
He thought he was the most fortunate man in the world for receiving it. Yet, when he saw the Mithril Artifacts worn by the Dragonborns, he knew that theirs were much stronger than his own.
Of course, all of them thought that those weapons held pieces of Mithril relics. They didn't know that everything was made out of Mithril Artifacts.
And with the power of the Mithril Artifacts, Zion and his siblings began unleashing the power of their skills to the Apex Jaguar.
Zion punched the air, breaking the very space itself, letting the power of his fist reach the monster's face even though they were tens of meters away from each other.
The Jaguar felt its jaws break from the punch.
And before it could even recover, Jaku jumped up and released the sword from his scabbard.
Before anyone could even see anything, he put the sword back in its scabbard as if he had not yet done anything.
And as he landed on the ground, hundreds of large gashes and cuts appeared around the Jaguar's body.
"GRAAOO!" it screamed.
It used its tail to reposition itself in the air, with its legs scratching the ground, its jaws hung loosely in its head.
Just then, Sheina released her arrow. The Apex Jaguar jumped out of the way, using all of its speed and strength to evade.
It was no longer underestimating these Dragonborns.
But…it still did.
The arrow struck its neck cleanly. The arrow seemed to have predicted where the Jaguar was going to go and struck it in its perfect spot.
And before it could even patch itself up, Umisu finally finally finished her preparations.
She had been swinging her spear this entire time, gathering momentum in her body. And each time she used her spear, wind energy began to pick up around its handle, empowering her strength even more.
And as the Jaguar felt incapacitated due to the arrow stuck in its neck, Umisu finally released the power in her spear.
With a single thrust, an invisible cone of destruction appeared and struck the Apex Jaguar straight in its body, propelling it to the stone brick walls.