CHAPTER 38………………………………………….
I kept moving my legs without rest.
Fighting packs of beasts was one thing, but facing multiple humans—armed ones at that—was another matter entirely.
‘And those guys were strong.’
The killing intent overflowing from them, the sheer level of their strength, was comparable to—or even greater than—that of the green-skin warrior Muhamba I’d faced in the past.
Above all, the man wielding the greatsword bothered me the most.
That hulking man, called the captain, was clearly no ordinary opponent at a glance.
The dignity of powerful beings like Kubilai or Yan-Meat radiated from him without restraint.
‘So this world has monsters among humans too, not just animals?’
He must be something like a superhuman.
I didn’t know how long I’d been running, but soon my breath grew ragged and my mind turned blank.
Still, I couldn’t stop.
There was always the chance the humans were chasing me.
I deliberately ran in wide, looping paths, making sure they couldn’t track my hideout.
‘It doesn’t feel like they’re following me. Did I lose them?’
Climbing up a tree, I suppressed my presence as much as possible and scanned the surroundings.
There were no signs of pursuit, no ominous movements.
Just in case, I waited several more minutes before climbing down.
‘What is going to happen?’
According to Witch Eve, humans coming into this forest was never a good sign.
‘Humans…’
Was it because they looked so foreign?
Or because I’d become a beast myself?
Rather than feeling familiarity or joy at meeting humans for the first time, a sharp sense of wariness welled up inside me.
When I entered the hut, the raccoon Leaf was sleeping soundly, softly snoring.
Beside him were small fruits and grasses—probably left for my share.
I took down the glowing stone hanging from the ceiling—the luminescent crystal—and hid it in a corner.
Humans possessed intelligence and judgment far beyond that of beasts.
Even the smallest clue could reveal our location, so I resolved to be as cautious as possible.
—Wake up, Leaf. Wake up.
I gently shook Leaf to rouse him.
Rubbing his bloodshot eyes, he slowly sat up.
—What is it? What’s going on?
—Humans. Humans have come into the forest.
—Hmm? I thought you were—wait, hu-humans!? Mm!
—Shh.
I quickly covered Leaf’s mouth and raised a finger to my lips.
—Be quiet. They might still be nearby.
He nodded, seeming to understand.
I removed my hand from his mouth.
—Humans? Real humans? Are you sure you didn’t mistake them for the Starfolk?
—No. They were definitely humans. They were carrying swords like these.
I lifted a longsword that was carefully stored in a corner of Leaf’s tree house.
—Come to think of it, where did this come from?
—I picked it up in the bushes a few years ago.
A few years ago…
According to Witch Eve, humans had launched a large-scale invasion of the forest more than a decade ago.
It could have been loot left behind back then—or perhaps small groups of humans still occasionally entered the forest.
It was hard to say for sure, but it was possible that humans had been sneaking in even before.
‘There weren’t that many of them earlier.’
At the time, I’d been too shocked and confused to think clearly.
But looking back now, they’d been wearing boar skins, pretending to be animals.
Why would they need such suspicious disguises?
If I had to guess, they were probably a small group infiltrating the forest while hiding their identities.
Spies—or scouts—wouldn’t be the wrong word.
And the fact that people like that had slipped in was definitely not a good sign. It might even herald a major incident.
‘Though I could just be overthinking things.’
They might simply be poachers.
‘Still, better safe than sorry.’
I decided it would be best to observe the situation for a while.
—Leaf, you be careful too. If you see anything suspicious, don’t approach it.
—O-okay. Got it. Are you… worried about me?
Leaf moved his forepaws as if trying to hug me.
Startled by his sudden closeness, I pushed his face away with my paw.
—D-don’t cling to me, idiot!
—You’re so cold.
—Anyway, be careful for now. And if humans spot you, lead them far away—don’t bring them here. We can’t let them find this place.
Only after giving Leaf a stern warning did I finally feel a little more at ease.
Even so, that night I lay awake, unable to sleep as worries and thoughts flooded my mind.
—I stayed up all night.
Yawning widely, I stretched. My whole body felt sluggish, but it wasn’t unbearable.
Back when I was human, freshly twenty years old, there had been times I stayed up several nights straight on sheer youthful energy.
As I grew older, my stamina dropped sharply and all-nighters became unthinkable—but right now, it felt like I’d gone back to those energetic days.
‘Pulling one all-nighter isn’t so bad.’
I pressed my ear against the wooden wall and listened for movement outside.
‘Checking outside like this every day is a hassle. It’d be nice if we had something like CCTV.’
With that indulgent thought, I turned my head.
Leaf, who’d woken early yesterday morning, was still curled up asleep, softly snoring.
‘It’d be good to make some kind of lookout tool—or at least a narrow window.’
Of course, since I had no craftsmanship skills, I’d have Leaf make it.
I could provide ideas, and he’d build them—working together like that.
Thinking there was nothing unusual outside, I slowly slipped out of the tree house.
Chirping birds, dew moistening the ground, and morning sunlight filtering through the leaves—it was a peaceful morning, no different from any other.
‘So nothing happened?’
I decided to scout the area around the tree house.
Using Stealth Movement to quiet my steps, I could move through the bushes without being noticed.
‘What’s this?’
While searching near Leaf’s home, I found a clump of bushes I hadn’t seen before.
Leaves and branches were unnaturally piled together—clearly the work of a trap or trick.
‘Did they dig a pit?’
I remembered the time I’d fallen into a pit trap set by Leaf.
The leaves here carried the same sly scent.
I listened carefully for surrounding sounds.
Birds chirped, but there were no other significant signs.
‘Then let’s take a closer look.’
Swallowing nervously, I slowly emerged from the bushes.
Carefully stepping closer to the thick layer of leaves on the ground, I soon realized it was a crudely woven net made of branches and foliage.
More precisely, nails were driven into the ground, with a net stretched between them and leaves laid over it as camouflage.
The net was sturdy—it didn’t budge even when I pressed it with my paw.
Below it was a deep, gaping hole, easily over ten meters deep and wide.
It seemed designed so that if a heavy animal stepped on it, the net would collapse and trap the creature inside.
I turned my gaze away from the trap and continued exploring the forest.
Soon, I realized that similar traps were scattered throughout the southern forest near Leaf’s home.
I counted at least five.
‘How did they dig all these holes in just one day?’
Knowing how difficult excavation was, I clicked my tongue in disbelief.
And what kind of prey required traps this big?
‘Are they hunting elephants or something?’
As I stroked my chin in thought—
Thump.
A deep tremor shook the ground, and the forest birds all took flight at once.
‘What was that?’
I turned toward the source of the sudden noise.
Crack—crash! Thick trees snapped one after another.
Kraaaah! A massive scream tore through the forest.
It sounded like a gut-wrenching wail of agony, enough to make my knees go weak.
I looked back and forth between the trap before me and the direction of the sound.
It seemed likely that the commotion was connected to the trio who had set these traps.
“Block it so it can’t escape, Eric!”
“That’s not as easy as you make it look, Captain!”
“We’re out of tranquilizer arrows!”
Parting the bushes, I saw three humans struggling against a single beast.
I climbed high into a tree, crouched low, and watched.
“Stay still, you bastard!”
The man wielding dual daggers jumped onto the beast’s back.
He stabbed a dagger into the gaps between its scales, then repeatedly plunged the other into its back.
—Get off me! Get off, humans!
The gigantic dinosaur, the tracker Yan-Meat, roared in fury.
“Damn, that roar is incredible.”
The archer covered his ears and shrank back.
‘What in the world is going on?’
I darted my eyes around, trying to grasp the situation.
At a glance, it seemed the trio was trying to capture Yan-Meat.
Around them were large pits and fallen trees.
—Get off, you fly!
Yan-Meat slammed his body into trees and rocks, trying to throw the man off.
But the dual-weapon fighter had his daggers and hooks embedded firmly in the scales and wouldn’t fall.
Like a cowboy riding a raging bull, the struggle continued for a while.
—Huff… huff…
Having expended enormous energy thrashing his massive body, Yan-Meat sagged, panting heavily.
“He tired out faster than I expected.”
The man grinned and moved from the dinosaur’s back to its head.
With acrobatic agility, he climbed atop Yan-Meat’s skull, reversed his grip, and drove the dagger straight into its eye.
—KRAAAH!
Blinded by searing pain, Yan-Meat collapsed to the ground, thrashing.
“Well done, Eric! I’ll finish it!”
Seizing the opening, the greatsword wielder raised his weapon high with both hands.
Even from afar, I could see his arm muscles tighten.
“Hah!”
With a shout, he brought the blade down.
The massive slab of iron, easily weighing hundreds of kilos, fell like a meteor, burying itself deep in Yan-Meat’s torso.
“I was aiming to cut it in two. Those scales are incredibly tough. Truly the lord of the forest.”
—Kraaah… y-you bastards!
Mortally wounded, Yan-Meat lashed out with its tail.
But the more it moved, the wider the wound in its chest became, spilling more blood.
The humans quickly backed away.
“It’s screaming like crazy. What do you think it’s saying?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Eric. Since when do beasts talk?”
“Well, true.”
They laughed as they watched the wounded king of pursuit thrash about.
“Enough chatter. Mad dragons get more dangerous after being wounded. They fight until the very end.”
The greatsword wielder adjusted his grip with a metallic clank.
Unlike the other two, who remained relaxed, his presence was taut and razor-sharp.
—You bastards… I’ll kill you all.
Whether from blood loss or overheating rage, Yan-Meat’s body began to glow red.
“It’s going berserk. Stay sharp!”
—KRAAAAH!
The roar sent chills through my entire body, even from over ten meters away.
The pressure was overwhelming.
—If it’s come to this, I’ll use my trump card! Prepare yourselves, humans!
Yan-Meat unleashed another thunderous roar.
I thought this would be a good chance to gauge the true power of the forest’s lord—and of those humans.
But contrary to expectations, Yan-Meat suddenly turned and fled.
“What!? It’s—running away!?”
“It cut off its tail and escaped!”
