Chapter 95: Hunt on the Brink of Death (1)

Zaid spat out blood and wiped his mouth. The edges of his daggers were dripping with the blood of a beast he had just beheaded.

[Level 10: 180/200]

A smile spread across his lips as he looked at the amazing progress he’d made in just 4 hours. The night was still young, and the number of beasts hadn’t decreased much.

He killed many... looted many bodies. He finished off many others.

The amount of PE and ME he’d farmed in just 4 hours far exceeded everything he’d farmed in the time he’d been an Awakened One.

[ME: 55,600]

’Shit, I’m fucking rich.’ He couldn’t hide the smile on his face, but what made him happiest was...

[Scavenger Fragments: 26/100.]

Although he was still three-quarters of the way there, the progress had been tremendous. However, the danger had also been significant. He’d run out of potions a while ago, and continuing to hunt C-Rank beasts (or loot their corpses) was a deadly risk.

That’s why he’d stayed away from those dangerous areas for quite some time.

’Though that’s not my biggest problem.’

Zaid ran to a secret hideout and hid when he heard footsteps coming from the streets nearby.

’Valia, is it another Rank B?’ he asked.

Valia crossed the distance and nimbly climbed onto a nearby house, where she hid among the roof tiles and looked in the other direction.

’Yes. He’s accompanied by four Rank Cs.’

Although he frowned, Zaid soon sensed danger coming from another direction. ’They’re coming from the other side. Maybe they want to fight?’

Valia climbed down from the house where she was, crossed the street, and climbed onto another house to look.

’Probably. This one’s coming alone. Just a Rank B.’

’They devour one another and grow stronger that way... D-Ranks become C-Ranks, and C-Ranks in turn rise to the high B-Ranks. Could they possibly become A-Ranks if they keep devouring one another?’

Valia smiled slightly. ’I think we’ll find out soon.’

’Are there more B-Ranks?’

’There are more and more of them. The C-Ranks are disappearing, and these guys are starting to take over the regions. I’m afraid there won’t be any D-Ranks left by morning.’

Zaid frowned. This whole situation was a problem. Now they couldn’t run away because the Rank Bs were right above them. They’d have to wait for the fight to end before they could make their escape. And it wasn’t as if he wanted to do that anyway.

If he was lucky and the winning beast didn’t eat the loser, he’d have a great feast... but he hadn’t been that lucky yet. Unfortunately, the Rank B beasts he’d seen fighting didn’t leave even a single strand of hair on their victims.

They were real cannibals!

And to think that just a few hours ago they were human...

Amid the houses and the square where they had been fighting, two enormous beasts appeared.

One had four followers. It stood 2.5 meters tall and was a high-ranking werewolf. Its followers were all Rank C werewolves.

The other one was taller—about 1 meter taller. Its shoulders were broad and thick. Its arms were astonishingly muscular, as were its legs. At a glance, it was much more powerful than the other beast, but since it had no followers, nothing was certain. This second one was a type of ogre with intelligence.

The smaller beast wielded a sword. The larger one, a spear. The two stared at each other for several minutes, until the smaller beast smiled and made a taunting gesture with its sword.

The ogre frowned and growled. Outraged.

He swung his massive spear in a precise forward motion that struck the defending sword squarely.

The werewolf rolled backward, carving furrows in the ground. But he kept his smile and seized the moment to launch a head-on attack. His sword swept horizontally, striking the spear twice in quick succession.

Although he was outmatched in physical strength, he outmaneuvered the ogre with his agility. The ogre tried to strike him once, but he leaped over the spear and struck the ogre directly in the eyes.

At the same time, the werewolf’s four followers sprinted to either side to surround him and attacked him from various key points, aiming to immobilize him right from the start.

Everything seemed to be going well for the wolf pack, but the Ogre spun around at an angle that seemed almost impossible given his size and dodged the attack from the most powerful werewolf, landing a blow to the werewolf’s ribs and slamming him to the ground on the other side.

The effective strike and the ensuing explosion shook the four younger wolves. They missed their attacks and were even caught in a horizontal strike that broke their formation and sent each of them flying until they crashed into the trees in the square and the surrounding houses.

The Ogre took the lead in a single move and had no intention of losing it. He pulled his spear back toward himself and struck the werewolf on the ground repeatedly.

CLANK!

CLANK!

Fortunately for the older werewolf, he managed to block most of the attacks, including the final one, and countered it with his own barrage of powerful strikes.

Once again, the Ogre was forced into a defensive position, and this time the wolf’s four followers took full advantage of it, leaping forward and plunging their weapons into his flesh, piercing all the way to the bone.

One of the swords remained lodged in his side, piercing one of his ribs.

"GROARR!" With a mighty roar, the Ogre hurled his spear at the older werewolf and grabbed the head of the nearest younger werewolf, slamming it against the ground. He went completely berserk after being wounded like that, so he kept pounding the head until it exploded.

He immediately leaped toward the older werewolf, having completely lost control. Although the wolf tried to restrain him, he was brutally overpowered.

In just twenty seconds, a battle that had lasted more than 5 minutes came to an end with a clear—but wounded—winner.

’Damn. These ogres are really strong.’ Zaid swallowed hard.

’He didn’t use any Talents, did he?’ Valia asked from the other side.

’No. I think it’s a fact that even though they have high stats and possess abilities inherent to their race—like that final burst of rage, which is the ogre’s berserker mode—they don’t have any talents. I don’t know if it’s because they’re beasts now or what... Actually, can they even shift back into human form after everything they’ve been doing?’

The question remained unanswered, and although Zaid wanted to find out, he wasn’t crazy enough to investigate this damn false religion any further.

RUMBLE!

Zaid felt an earthquake shake him. It brought back bad memories...

’Several B-Ranks are coming...’

Zaid nodded. ’The ogre sped up its meal... I think a legendary battle is coming.’