Hearing Chen Yue's response, Hans sneered, "Oh? Sharp eyes, huh? Too bad there's no reward for guessing right. You're still going to die today!"
With that, Hans prepared to summon his beast. A pitch-black contract book, exuding waves of black mist and deathly aura, floated in front of him.
"Kekekeke!"
Hans let out a sinister laugh, ignoring the surprise on Chen Yue's face as he casually summoned his beast.
With black mist surging, a raccoon-like beast with a grotesque dark green face and glowing red eyes appeared on the field.
"Talent activated! Enlarge!"
As he spoke, the previously cat-sized beast suddenly doubled in size.
The raccoon-like creature, originally half a man's height, now grew to human size. With its terrifying face and menacing presence, it gave off an overwhelming aura of invincibility.
Since Hans's sinister transformation, the grave expression on Chen Yue's face hadn't faded. His instincts told him—this was going to be a tough battle.
Without hesitation, he activated his talent: True Eye, to check the opponent's beast information.
Name: Wood Raccoon (Corrupted)
Stage: Mature Phase 0%
Potential: Elite
Attributes: Wood, (Evil)
Skills: Charge, Claws, Bite, Black Death Aura
Description: A beast with limited potential; its claws are its only means of attack. However, after being corrupted by evil aura, it has managed to break through to the mature stage, but its potential is now exhausted and it can no longer progress.
Seeing this information, Chen Yue's frown deepened.
"What could it have encountered to end up like this…?"
"Regardless, I have to stall for time until Buster completes its evolution!"
Looking toward Garuda on his shoulder, Chen Yue contemplated.
Logically, with Garuda's legendary potential, it should be able to hold its own against the Wood Raccoon.
But clearly, both the beast and Hans were no longer in a normal state.
Seeing the "Corrupted" label and the "Black Death Aura" skill made Chen Yue even more confused.
"No matter what, stalling is the priority now."
Just as Chen Yue was about to speak, Hans cut in.
"I know what you're planning—trying to stall for time, right? Don't even think about it! Kekekeke!"
As he finished, the Wood Raccoon lunged toward Garuda and Chen Yue.
Chen Yue quickly commanded Garuda to use Wind Blade to buy some time.
Garuda responded instantly, forming wind blades in front of itself to block the beast's advance.
Luckily, the Wood Raccoon wasn't particularly fast, so there was still some distance between them.
The wind blades hit its body directly, and a pale mist rose from the collision.
When the smoke cleared, a deep, bone-revealing wound could be seen on the Wood Raccoon.
Strangely, it didn't seem to feel any pain.
It continued its charge as if unfazed by the attack.
Chen Yue was surprised but had no time to dwell on it. He commanded Garuda to fly high into the sky to evade, while he used his silver-tier Beastmaster physique to retreat rapidly.
Since syncing with Garuda, Chen Yue's physical abilities had improved dramatically.
And thanks to his recent intense training battles with Yun Xianhe, he had gained better control over his own body.
"Whew… good thing I went through that 'training' earlier, or I'd be screwed now."
Chen Yue muttered internally as he dodged the Wood Raccoon's relentless attacks.
Although the beast wasn't particularly fast, it was still a deadly threat to a silver-tier Beastmaster like Chen Yue.
But Garuda wasn't just sitting idle.
Every time the Wood Raccoon was about to catch up, Garuda would unleash wind blades to drive it back.
This forced the beast into a tight spot.
On one side, the elusive Chen Yue; on the other, the annoying Garuda.
The Wood Raccoon grew increasingly agitated, roaring in frustration.
Hans stood at a distance, observing the battle with a furious scowl.
"Impossible! My Wood Raccoon is already in its mature stage—why can't it beat this kid?!"
Clenching his fists, he growled through gritted teeth, "Trash! Useless trash!"
What Hans didn't realize was that as his emotions intensified, the black aura around him grew thicker.
This aura was feeding into the pitch-black contract book in front of him.
Chen Yue noticed this development from the corner of his eye but was too busy to react.
Suddenly, the Wood Raccoon's size increased again—it had grown to over two meters tall.
With its massive form, it began to close the distance with terrifying speed.
Chen Yue was now in a truly dangerous position.
"What do I do? At this rate, I won't last much longer… and Buster still needs more time to complete its evolution."
As he ran, Chen Yue searched desperately for a solution.
But no matter what, he couldn't find a way to escape quickly enough.
Garuda, hovering above, also grew anxious.
Its only option now was to keep harassing the Wood Raccoon, buying Chen Yue more time.
Attacking Hans wasn't feasible—the man was too far away, and the immediate threat to Chen Yue prevented Garuda from diverting its focus.
Seeing that Buster was about to finish evolving, Chen Yue grew even more desperate.
"Just a little more… Buster is almost there!"
But reality gave him no break.
"Kekekeke! You think stalling a bit longer will turn the tide? Dream on!"
Hans roared with laughter, the black aura around him surging. His face was now completely obscured by it, and it had engulfed his entire body.
The black aura seemed to grow wildly, fueled by his rage.
The Wood Raccoon let out another furious roar and leapt, its massive body barreling toward Chen Yue!
Seeing this, Chen Yue dodged again, kicking up a cloud of dust as he leapt.
But then, as he looked down at the dust, his eyes widened—a sudden idea struck him.
"Garuda, use Wind Blade—aim for the ground!"
Garuda, sharp as ever, instantly understood Chen Yue's intention.
From high above, it conjured multiple wind blades and swept them across the battlefield.
A dense smokescreen of dust and leaves rose through the forest.
"Hmph! Trying to use a smokescreen? Useless!" Hans roared.
Since the Wood Raccoon couldn't feel pain, he commanded it to charge blindly through the smoke.
But even so, the thick dust still obstructed its vision.
And with Garuda constantly interfering, they managed to stall the Wood Raccoon's onslaught.
"Damn it, enough already!" Hans cursed, his patience worn thin by Chen Yue's constant evasion.
"Activate Black Death Aura!"
As he shouted, tendrils of black energy spread from the Wood Raccoon's claws, slithering through the smoke, trying to latch onto their prey.
"Buzz!"
Suddenly, Chen Yue slipped—his ankle was grabbed by one of the black tendrils!
"Crap!"
Just in the nick of time, Garuda noticed and fired a precise wind blade, severing the black energy.
As Chen Yue regained his footing, a piercing cry echoed behind him—
"Meow…!"