Chapter 238

Harmless Animals (2)

I had gone beyond creatures from the Age of Mythology and ended up fighting a Mesozoic creature—a dinosaur—but it wasn’t a major problem.

It was easier if I thought of it as fighting a slightly oversized dog.

The fact that it was a "dinosaur" had startled me, but ultimately, it was just another wild animal.

It should be much easier to fight than the pack of Mad Dogs that had swarmed me.

Crunch!

I easily dodged the creature as it charged with its jaws wide open.

It bit into an innocent tree instead. Its jaws could open remarkably wide.

Crunch! Crack! Crrrunch!

But perhaps a dinosaur was still a dinosaur. Or perhaps this was simply what happened when an animal lived in the Forest of Four Seasons.

The thick tree trunk was completely crushed by its terrifying bite force.

It’s chewing through that as if it were tofu.

It seemed to have invested everything in its bite force to compensate for those ridiculously short forelegs.

In other words, that bite appeared to be the only weapon it possessed.

Still, I can’t be sure. It might have something else.

I didn’t act rashly, however. I had drawn blood far too many times after making hasty decisions.

This creature might possess several different strengths, so I decided to observe it first.

That didn’t mean I would only defend myself. I needed to attack it to see how it responded.

Chomp! Chomp!

After chewing through the entire tree trunk, the creature turned to look at me.

I wouldn’t lose to it in terms of sheer size, but if those teeth caught me, there wouldn’t be enough of my bones left to bury.

Hummm!

As a warning, I manifested aura around the Heavenly Demon’s Sword.

The creature raised one eye before slowly circling me.

Had it instinctively sensed that the power of my aura was dangerous?

I kept facing it as we circled each other.

I’d prefer it if it simply backed away.

The best outcome would be for it to retreat, but it would also be fine if the others arrived first.

Moreover, Ppareumbo was clinging to my back. Even if something unexpected happened, he should be able to respond.

"Grrr..."

The dinosaur lowered its body and glared at me fiercely.

People generally imagined dinosaurs as enormous, but smaller species had also existed.

Of course, I didn’t know whether this creature belonged to one of those species.

It would be a problem if it was a juvenile, but it would also be a problem if it belonged to a smaller species.

If it’s a juvenile, its mother will come looking for it. If it’s a smaller species...

Rustle—

At that moment, I heard the bushes behind me rustling.

Startled by the sound, I looked back.

Pop!

"Grrk?"

"Ah, damn it."

Another dinosaur poked its head out from the bushes.

Apparently, it wasn’t a juvenile. It belonged to a smaller species.

I could handle two of them.

The problem was—

Rustle, rustle—

"Grrr..."

"Grr..."

There weren’t two of them.

There were four in total.

Alarmed by their suddenly increased numbers, I cautiously backed away.

Even when I first fought the Mad Dogs, there had only been three. Now there were even more.

Fortunately, Ppareumbo was on my back, but I still couldn’t let my guard down.

As I continued retreating, I eventually found myself with my back against a large tree.

Only one thing remained to be done.

I barely managed to calm my pounding heart.

"Haaah..."

Then, after taking a long breath—

"HELP!"

I called out to my companions, who should have been nearby.

"SKRRAAAAA!"

"KRAAAAA!"

The dinosaurs took my cry for help as their signal and charged simultaneously.

The sight of several of them rushing at me at once was truly overwhelming.

But it was fine.

I hurriedly darted around the tree.

With their bite force, they would crush this tree in no time.

Crunch!

Just as I expected, two of them latched on to the tree and crushed it in an instant.

The remaining two circled the tree to chase me.

Now was my chance.

While two of them were occupied with chewing through the tree, I had to incapacitate at least one of the others.

"SKRRAAAAA!"

One of them thrust its enormous jaws toward my face.

This one came first.

Its attack followed a straight line, so dodging it was easy.

Whoosh!

I lowered my stance and dashed beneath its jaw.

Then I slashed through its thigh, which was considerably thicker than its forelegs.

Slice!

With the Heavenly Demon’s Sword reinforced by aura, cutting through it was effortless.

Having lost one of its hind legs, the creature could do nothing but lose its balance and collapse.

"KRAAAAAAGH!"

The dinosaur screamed in agony.

Bright-red blood gushed from its severed thigh.

I had no time to pay attention to the injured creature and immediately turned my head.

The others could attack me during even this brief moment.

"...?"

But something was strange.

Panting heavily, I looked around.

There was nothing.

No one was there.

Even the two dinosaurs that had been crushing the tree moments ago were gone.

Aside from the one thrashing around on the ground, they had all disappeared.

What the hell happened?

The situation made no sense at all.

Regardless, the dinosaur with the severed leg continued snapping its jaws at me.

I could feel its determination to chew me apart somehow.

Stab!

I forcibly broke that determination by driving my sword into its skull.

I retrieved my sword and looked around once again.

The desperate atmosphere from moments ago had vanished without a trace, leaving only silence behind.

What in the world was that?

I had never encountered anything like this before, leaving me bewildered.

But this was the Forest of Four Seasons.

These creatures might possess some special ability. I couldn’t lower my guard.

"Grylls!"

As I remained vigilant, a familiar voice reached my ears.

I turned toward the sound and saw Ludwig approaching.

Kkobong had to protect the others, so Ludwig appeared to have come alone.

Cain was perched on his shoulder, probably because Ludwig had needed an interpreter to find me.

"Mister, you’re here—!"

I started calling out to Ludwig, only to freeze.

Something shimmered behind him.

It looked almost as though the light had been refracted, creating a slight distortion.

When I examined the shape more closely, my blood ran cold.

"Behind you!"

[Behind you!]

The instant I shouted, Cain yelled the same thing.

No—he hadn’t simply repeated my warning.

He had also seen something behind me.

I immediately spun around and swung my sword.

Crunch!

"Grrk!"

Although I slashed behind me, I only cut through an innocent tree.

But I had seen it clearly.

Its body had blended into the surroundings by refracting light, but its outline had still shimmered ever so slightly.

I could hardly believe my own eyes, but there was no mistaking it.

It was one of those creatures.

Good grief. Even a chameleon couldn’t camouflage itself this well.

I slowly backed toward Ludwig.

Fortunately, he seemed to have understood my warning and was unharmed.

"Grrrr..."

"Grrrrr..."

"Rrrr..."

When Ludwig and I stood back-to-back and remained vigilant, the creatures couldn’t approach us easily.

Even so, it was difficult to pinpoint their locations. The empty air occasionally shimmered, but that was all.

I had never heard of dinosaurs equipped with stealth capabilities. The same would probably be true for everyone else.

[That is an advanced concealment technique. What manner of creature is it?]

"A dinosaur."

[A dinosaur? Do you mean the dinosaurs I know of?]

"It might be hard to believe, but you can look at that corpse."

I gestured toward the carcass lying on the ground.

Only after seeing it did Ludwig and Cain appear to believe me.

Then again, it was supposedly a creature that had lived before the Age of Mythology. It was understandable that they would find it difficult to believe.

[How astonishing. Most of them should have evolved into creatures such as drakes or wyverns.]

"They must have evolved differently here. More importantly—"

Whoosh! Thud!

I stopped mid-sentence and hurriedly raised my shield. A powerful impact struck it.

The creature appeared to have swung its tail like a whip.

Slash!

"SKRRAAAAA!"

Despite barely being able to see it, Ludwig seemed to have severed its tail.

It clearly demonstrated the difference between our skill levels.

However, it would be best not to assume that this had ended the fight.

He had merely severed its tail. We still couldn’t determine exactly where it was.

Drip, drip, drip—

At least one of them had become easier to track.

Its stealth ability apparently applied only to its skin, as it couldn’t conceal the blood pouring from its wound.

Thanks to the trail of blood, we could follow its position.

...Wait a minute.

The instant I saw that, I hurriedly accessed the Gallery.

I then opened the auction house and checked whether it had what I needed.

They do have it... but it’s expensive because I have to buy an entire can.

It couldn’t be helped. I was fortunate they had any at all.

I purchased the item and shouted to Ludwig.

"Mister! Duck!"

The moment Ludwig heard me, he immediately lowered his body.

As soon as he ducked, I put down my sword and shield and flung the contents of my purchase in every direction.

Splash! Splash!

Purple paint from the can scattered everywhere.

What I had purchased from the Gallery was paint—an entire can of it.

I had used it several times before when erecting signposts.

It was somewhat expensive, but its price was nothing compared to the value of our lives.

"Grrrk?!"

"SKRRAAA!"

No matter how powerful their concealment abilities were, they became meaningless once the creatures were covered in sticky paint.

Moreover, the paint smelled terrible. If their sense of smell was particularly sharp, they probably couldn’t even think straight.

"Mister! Now!"

Leaving my back to Ludwig, I picked up my sword and shield.

The creature in front of me seemed to have gotten paint in its eyes and was staggering in confusion.

Now was my chance.

I activated every last trace of mana within my body.

Slash!

The aura-infused Heavenly Demon’s Sword sliced cleanly through the creature’s neck.

Bright-red blood erupted like a fountain, and its stealth ability was dispelled, revealing its body.

Thud! Thump!

The dinosaur’s severed head and body fell to the ground.

Only Ludwig’s side remained.

I turned to look at him.

Ludwig was just finishing off one of the fallen creatures.

However, another paint-covered dinosaur was approaching him from behind.

It advanced slowly even as its companion was killed.

It was cunning.

"Mister—!"

Slash!

Before I could finish speaking, someone swiftly charged over and eliminated it.

It was Ppareumbo, who had been clinging to my back until moments ago.

He must have anticipated that Ludwig might be ambushed.

Ludwig lacked mobility, so it was an impressively efficient response.

Thud!

With their stealth abilities completely dispelled, the dinosaurs revealed their full forms.

Breathing heavily, I carefully examined their carcasses.

These dinosaurs should have lived in an age far predating antiquity.

I wondered whether the Forest of Four Seasons had existed since that era.

Then again, there’s already a sky whale here. This isn’t particularly strange.

The forest seemed to be connected to the gods, either directly or indirectly.

Considering that giraffes—creatures from Earth—also lived here, someone had undoubtedly tampered with something.

Perhaps they had experimented with life like the people in some movie.

First, I should take some pictures.

Before dealing with the remains, I photographed them.

The Gallery would probably descend into chaos once I posted these dinosaur carcasses.

Moreover, these creatures had even possessed stealth abilities. Mere chaos wouldn’t begin to describe the response.

"SKRRAAAAA!"

"UWOOOOOOO!"

While we were cleaning up, sudden roars pierced my ears.

One of them sounded familiar.

That was Kkobong’s roar.

"Mister!"

"I know!"

"Take your time getting there!"

I rushed past Ludwig, whose injured foot impaired his movement.

I was worried that something might have happened to the others, but—

Crack! Crunch! Riiip!

The moment I saw Kkobong tearing a dinosaur’s jaws apart, I realized my concern had been unnecessary.

Although his fur was a different color, it looked like a scene straight out of a movie.

"Hmph."

Kkobong snorted at the dinosaur whose jaw he had completely destroyed.

He even leisurely pushed his glasses back into place.

Relieved by the sight, I checked on the others.

Everyone was safe.

Wonmo and Tyrano, in particular, were staring with their eyes wide open. Judging by their reactions, everything must have happened in an instant.

"..."

I stared at the relatively intact dinosaur carcass—it was only missing its jaw—and thought:

How am I supposed to butcher that?

I had only just grown accustomed to butchering ordinary animals, and now I had to butcher a dinosaur.

It was certainly a difficult problem, but there was something I needed to do first.

Let’s make a post on the Gallery.

It was time to prove that the theory claiming dinosaurs were harmless to humanity was wrong.

It doesn’t look like anyone was injured, at least.