The Villain's Story

Lightning.

He heard the thunder that resounded after lightning struck, but there was no lightning. No flash of light, nothing besides the abrupt and ear shattering noise.

Alan touched his chest, and his body spasmed as he fell towards the ground, unable to command his muscles to move his wings to fly. His body refused to listen as he was paralysed and fell to the ground.

He could see small, red drops of blood escape from the wound on his chest. His hands were covered in his own blood as he felt his ribs had been slashed apart by whatever had attacked him. But it only felt like that, his bones were strong enough to resist the attack.

"F*ck!"

He cursed, it was a wonder how he could move his tongue to do so. And after the vile word escaped his mouth, thunderstruck once more.

Alan was struck again, and sparks of lightning escaped his body as he fell towards the ground at an increased speed.

[Dragon Eyes has been activated.]

He activated his skill to identify the attacker, and saw a bird, a bird as large as a car and possessing feathers as black as the night, with red scarlet eyes that were like rubies. Its wingspan was easily the length of a human or two, and its speed was just marvellous. Dragon eyes, at their current level, were having a hard time keeping up with this foe. Alan was limiting the skill to reduce the recoil.

Alan regretted that he stayed for so long in this godforsaken desert, even after night had fallen.

"Ugh!"

He crashed into the endless sea of sand below. His figure was like a missile which blew up, scattering grains of sand everywhere. Some got into his mouth and his clothes, and it was irritating.

"Cough!"

He coughed, sand left his mouth. But quite a bit of it was stuck inside, with the help of his saliva.

"You are f*cking dead!"

Brandishing his spear, he took a swing at the sky, his mana left the spear in the form of a crescent moon. But it missed its target.

[Name: Ebony Raven.]

[Rank: A.]

[Description: A raven which hunts for prey in the night, making use of its camouflage. It has rubies for eyes and has perfect vision in the dark.]

"Of course, I had to meet one..."

Alan cursed, as he enhanced his eyes to see better in the dark. He didn't activate [Dragon Eyes] right now, waiting for the opportune moment.

He stood still, his phoenix bloodline had healed his wounds long ago, and if it weren't for it, Perhaps he would still be paralysed.

He could faintly see the raven circle around him at breathtaking speeds, he saw the bird emit some mana from the tips of its wings. It was fast, but Alan could sense the mana's movement clearly. It moved in a zigzag... Like a lightning bolt.

Multiple lightning bolts, all at the tips of its feathers, appeared and Alan heard the distinct sound of thunder again.

He hurriedly stomped his feet on the ground, unleashing a mana wave that drove the raven back.

The raven attacked in that manner, using its mana to form lightning bolts at its feathers to propel its speed. How that skill worked exactly was still a mystery to Alan, but he was satisfied that he knew what indicators he needed to follow to avoid it.

The only question that remained was, did it have other skills? Of course, an A-rank monster wouldn't be limited to only one skill. If that was the case, the skill would have to be immensely powerful, and Alan would be dead already.

"Haa..."

The raven stopped moving and Alan took a deep breath, looking at the beast in front of him, floating without the use of its wings, a few feet from the ground. It gazed at him with its red eyes and now that it was close, Alan could finally see it in its full glory.

The beak of the vile thing was serrated, intended to rip apart the flesh of its prey, and its feathers shone with a metallic sheen under the moonlight. The claws of this thing were...strange to say the least. They were not like the claws of a normal bird of prey, but were knives. Knives which interlocked with one another in a strange manner. Perhaps they were melded together to form claws. And there was another unique feature about this bird as well. Although they were quite hard to see with it's black feathers in the night, there were small spikes protruding from it's body.

The spikes were few, but erupted from places where important organs would be under the skin.

"Kirk."

It produced a low sound, Alan watched it carefully, spear pointed at the thing in case it rushed at him suddenly. He wasn't too fond of using large skills. That could attract other monsters here. And he didn't want that.

It seems the bird thought the same, as it made no sound and began to circle Alan. Alan followed it's movement and made sure his spear was always pointing at the bird.

The stand-off continued, as they ran circles around one another, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. All that mattered now was who would lose patience first, and charge ahead first.

'Not going to make the first move huh...'

Alan concluded, one look at the eyes of the beast was telling him it wasn't afraid to prolong this. Alan couldn't have that. He didn't know when other monsters would come for them, hiding in the darkness of the night. This bird could easily fly back towards the sky.

Alan could do it as well, but the bird was much more proficient in Aerial combat than him. The thought of it paralysing him and cutting his throat with its claws was scary.

'Alright... If you ain't doing this. I am.'

As they say, He who strikes first, wins.