CHAPTER 14……………………………….
“My—my house is destroyed!”
I let out a scream that was almost a wail as I stared at the shattered stone walls.
The moments I’d spent digging the ground, the hours agonizing over how to stack the stones for maximum stability—all of it flashed before my eyes like a slideshow.
The sense of accomplishment I’d felt from that labor vanished into nothing.
Anger boiled up from deep in my gut, and the fur all over my body stood on end.
I shouted in protest at the giant wolf.
“Hey! Isn’t this too much? You destroyed my house!”
“Hm?”
The wolf, which had turned its back on me, suddenly stopped and looked over its shoulder.
It tilted its head as if asking what the problem was. It didn’t seem bothered in the slightest by what it had done.
Even with me right in front of it, fur bristling with rage, the wolf remained completely at ease. The single eye on its forehead narrowed briefly, then it turned away again.
I leapt at its back.
I dug my claws into its fur and scrambled up onto it.
“White-furred one. What are you doing?”
As if shaking off a fly, the wolf twisted its body violently from side to side. I clung tightly to its back, enduring the rough movements.
My mind was filled with only one thought: revenge for my house.
If this ended with me being dismissed and looked down on, I had a sickening feeling I’d be forced to crawl on the ground forever.
So I charged at a wolf several times larger than myself without hesitation. I raked its back fur wildly with my claws, and it let out a pained roar.
“You flea-like pest! Get off!”
The wolf threw itself onto the ground and rubbed its back against the dirt like it was scratching an itch. While it lay there exposing its belly, I grabbed onto its long fur and moved underneath.
Compared to the rest of its body, the belly skin looked softer and weaker. More importantly, its most obvious weakness was completely exposed between its hind legs.
“So you’re a male too. Then even a giant wolf has the same weakness!”
I viciously scratched its manhood with my claws.
Its body sprang up like a compressed spring, twisting violently.
“Kraaaagh! How dare you!”
Its forepaw swung toward me, trying to tear me off.
Fueled by sheer malice, I ignored the paw and kept clawing its lower abdomen and groin.
Skin tore under my sharp claws, and blood gushed from the deep wounds.
It wasn’t a fatal injury, but it was serious enough.
“You little—!”
The wolf’s jaws clamped down on my body.
Unable to resist its overwhelming strength, I was ripped away from its groin.
Its teeth and crushing bite pierced into me mercilessly. Still, compared to being impaled by the snake’s fangs, it was bearable.
It seemed my thickened hide after evolution was doing its job.
Even as half my body was being chewed, I swung my forepaws at its gums and face.
When I scratched relentlessly at what I believed were its weak points, the wolf soon coughed violently and spat me onto the ground.
“Kough! You savage brute. Disgusting. I was going to spare you.”
The wolf panted heavily.
I was shocked at how effective my attack had been. My claws were sharper and stronger than I’d expected.
Standing on all fours, I let out a ferocious growl.
Whether it was rage or excitement clouding my judgment, I felt overwhelmingly confident—like I wouldn’t lose even to that massive beast.
“A small creature… to attack this fiercely. My mistake. So you really did kill the snake.”
The wolf stuck out its long tongue and licked the blood from its wounded mouth, glaring at me with bristling fur.
A pressure—something like killing intent—sent chills down my spine.
“White-furred one. I’ll eat you. Become my blood and flesh.”
The giant wolf crouched low.
It was the same stance wolves—and I—took right before lunging at prey, storing explosive speed.
I quickly estimated how powerful a charge from that massive body would be, and whether I could endure it.
“It’ll feel like being hit by a giant truck. But I have no choice.”
Even if I ran, I wouldn’t last half a day against that wolf pack.
Climbing a tree to avoid its subordinates wouldn’t help either—once that giant appeared, I’d be caught instantly.
“No matter what, it ends here.”
I lowered my body into a crouch as well.
In my mind, I pictured the moment of collision—driving my claws straight into its single eye.
The two of us stared each other down.
Rustle.
A cold wind swept through the forest, shaking the branches. Leaves clashed loudly beneath the moonlight.
When the wind died down and silence fell, the wolf leapt first.
As a wolf weighing several tons launched itself, the night sky vanished behind its bulk and a massive shadow engulfed me.
Pitch darkness.
I raised my forepaws high and jumped upward as well.
“Kubilai! You let your guard down!”
Just as our bodies were about to cross, a thunderous crash echoed.
Something burst out of the forest and slammed into the wolf.
I landed on the ground, stunned by the sudden turn of events.
Entwined with the giant wolf and grappling violently was a beast with four legs and a long tail. Its vertically slit green pupils gleamed sharply.
“A lizard?”
No—dinosaur was probably a better word.
Its long limbs bore hook-like claws.
If you took the raptor from Jurassic World and scaled it up several times, it would probably look like that.
Two horn-like protrusions above its eyes made it even more terrifying.
The wolf bared its fangs at the intruder that had tackled it.
“You! Yan—mit!”
“Kubilai! Leaving your eastern lands unattended to come all the way here? To think you let me ambush you without noticing—getting senile, are you?”
“Shut up, whelp!”
The giant wolf and dinosaur tangled together, tearing into each other.
The wolf bit into the dinosaur’s neck with its jaws and foreclaws. The dinosaur twisted its body violently and whipped its long tail.
A whoosh split the air like a whip. One hit from that would shatter bones instantly.
In fact, tree trunks struck by the tail snapped like twigs and rolled across the ground.
The wolf backed off, but this time the dinosaur charged forward.
Thick trees broke like reeds, and solid ground was gouged out like soft clay as they fought.
Boom! Crash!
Each collision sent shockwaves through the forest.
It was a brutal monster battle.
If I were watching it in a theater or on a screen, I’d probably find it thrilling—but witnessing it with my own eyes, my chest went cold from the sheer scale.
The dinosaur was terrifying, but the wolf held its own.
“Grrr!”
“Woof! Woof!”
The smaller wolves guarding the giant rushed at the dinosaur.
“Insignificant pests!”
The dinosaur casually swatted them aside like dust and shredded their bodies with its sharp teeth and claws as if they were paper.
“They kill wolves that easily? Is this for real…?”
I forced myself to calm down.
No matter how angry I was, charging monsters like that had been insane.
I’d warned myself again and again about reckless rage—and almost paid with my life.
“If I get involved in that fight, I won’t even have bones left to bury.”
The wolf pack and dinosaur were too busy bleeding and fighting each other to notice me.
“That’s my chance.”
My house was gone, but pride and anger were nothing compared to survival.
I could always build another house somewhere else.
Moving quietly, I grabbed the blue crystal and the hard egg from inside the house. Behind me, the savage roars of the dinosaur and wolf echoed relentlessly.
I ran without looking back.
“KRAAAAH!”
“KAAAGH!”
Even from far away, their roars followed me.
The insects and birds that were usually so noisy were dead silent. Not a single creature showed itself.
The wounds from the wolves throbbed painfully, my whole body burning.
I felt the price of arrogance and recklessness etched into my flesh.
“I need to be more careful. I thought I was pretty strong.”
I’d never imagined monsters like that giant wolf and dinosaur existed.
Who knew what other horrors lived in this forest?
I reflected on my arrogance after defeating the snake.
“Losing my temper so easily is a huge flaw. Am I starting to resemble a beast with a short fuse? Did I pick the wrong Grid Ratel?”
No—if I’d chosen the Demigras Raccoon, I would’ve been killed and eaten the moment the wolves attacked.
The Ratel’s thick hide had saved me many times. I didn’t regret it.
“Now that I don’t even have a house left, there’s nothing to get mad about.”
I let out a bitter laugh.
Even as I laughed, I swore never to forget this humiliation and pain.
“The wolf bastard.”
Judging from its conversation with the dinosaur, its name was surely Kubilai.
The one-eyed wolf, Kubilai.
I repeated the name over and over, so I’d never forget the day my home was destroyed.
Morning came, and colorful birds chirped from all around.
After spending the night awake in fear, I finally let out a sigh of relief.
“Whew… thanks for everything. I’m heading down now.”
“Zzz…”
The rainbow-colored spider raised a foreleg toward me as I climbed down the tree.
The glow of the blue crystal had kept it from approaching me, and it had stayed crouched in one corner of its web.
I’d planned to kill all the spiders, but since we’d survived the night together, I decided to spare this one.
“Zzz…”
I still couldn’t understand what it was saying.
“So it’s finally morning.”
Standing on the ground, I stretched lazily, feeling the earth beneath my feet.
My stomach growled loudly.
“Is it time for emergency rations?”
I looked at the hard egg in my hand.
Cracking it open and eating the contents would quench my thirst and replenish nutrients at the same time.
I tapped the egg lightly. As before, the shell felt extremely thick and solid.
I placed it on a rock and smashed it with a stone.
Crack!
The stone shattered instead.
“What… is this?”
I stared in shock at the powdered stone.
What kind of egg is this hard?
Next, I lifted the egg and slammed it directly onto the rock, planning to break the bottom and drink the contents like a coconut.
I gripped it tightly with both hands and struck it against the rock.
Hard objects clashed again and again, echoing through the forest.
No matter how many times I hit it, the egg refused to crack.
“…Is this really an egg?”
I tilted my head, staring at the smooth, oval object.
“Or is it just a rock?”
