"Haiz, searching for so long and still not a single one."
Tris sighed in frustration after more than half a day spent hunting the Ice Pillars Beast.
Though puppets 'Feathers' assisted in the search, the falling snow greatly reduced visibility, making it difficult to locate his target.
Even Space magic 'Eye From Nothingness' had its limits, such as range and distance.
The consumption of spiritual energy when using magic to aid in searching was also something to be mindful of; after all, he could not afford to weaken himself while wandering the wilderness.
From behind Tris, a Big Mouth Rabbit lunged forward, jaws wide, aiming to bite off his head.
But suddenly, a black sword appeared, blocking its path.
The blade moved on its own, tracing elegant arcs through the air as though wielded by an unseen hand, before vanishing as abruptly as it had appeared.
The beast, mid‑leap, was sliced into pieces, falling into a pool of its own blood and entrails.
At that moment, a dark‑feathered bird swooped down from above, using its talons to pluck a beautiful stone from the unfortunate creature's remains.
Once it had secured the stone, the bird flew toward Tris and dropped it neatly into his palm.
Quickly stowing the prize into his spatial ring, Tris continued walking without looking back.
Such ambushes were nothing new since he had entered the forest.
In winter, seemingly due to the decline in available food, even low‑rank Magical Beasts grew far more reckless and daring. As a result, Tris had already endured several such ambushes.
In truth, powerful beings often sensed the strength of their opponents with uncanny accuracy. Just as Tris and Bishop Draven had instantly recognized Rose as a dangerous foe upon seeing her.
Yet humans did not rely solely on instinct; they used intellect and knowledge to analyze and judge.
By contrast, beasts, with far lower intelligence, often possessed sharper instincts, a vital tool for their survival.
Thus, for those foolish Magical Beasts to keep charging recklessly at Tris despite their keen intuition of danger, it was clear their current state of existence was truly dire.
'Perhaps I should return soon.'
Just as Tris thought that, weary from his search, his ears caught an unusual sound coming from afar.
'It sounds like a Magical Beast in battle… Could it be another adventurer hunting?'
Curious, Tris directed his 'Feathers' to fly toward the source of the noise to investigate what was happening there.
* * * * * * * * * *
It was a long serpent with two distinct heads.
Its body was as thick as a great tree trunk, too large for even an adult to wrap their arms around.
The scales covering its body looked extremely dense and resilient.
At that moment, the massive snake twisted in fury, lashing out at its surroundings.
Each violent coil and tail strike left destructive marks upon nearby trees and the ground.
From its two heads, foul‑smelling green toxin bullets shot forth, corroding and burning anything they touched.
Its opponents were three white spiders, each as large as the span of a grown person's arms.
The spiders moved swiftly on their slender legs. Whenever the snake's attacks came, their sharp eyes and lightning reflexes allowed them to leap aside with remarkable agility, sometimes to the side, sometimes onto a nearby tree, and sometimes even using the snake's own body as footing.
The spiders danced nimbly around their much larger foe.
Though the serpent's strikes were powerful and deadly, they were useless if they failed to land.
Moreover, the longer the battle dragged on, the more disadvantaged the snake became.
As they moved, the spiders continuously spun threads, anchoring them onto the serpent's body. Gradually, its movements grew hindered, entangled by the webbing.
When the snake slowed, the spiders took turns stabbing at its body with their sharp forelegs.
Yet, protected by thick scales and hide, the blows left only shallow scratches.
Still, the spiders persisted, tirelessly repeating the same attacks.
The battle dragged on for nearly ten more minutes.
At one point, when the webs became too entangling, the serpent cleverly used its own venom to burn away and cleanse the threads from its body.
This rendered the spiders' tactic of slowing their foe far less effective than expected.
And then, as the prolonged fight continued, it was the white spiders who first succumbed to exhaustion.
This was unsurprising; any observer could see the serpent's physique was far stronger, and the constant dodging drained the spiders quickly.
One spider faltered, too slow to evade. The serpent seized the opening, whipping its tail with tremendous force, sending the spider crashing into a nearby tree.
Though not dead, the spider's legs were broken, an injury tantamount to a death sentence in such a battle.
Yet, unexpectedly, the serpent did not finish it off to reduce its foes from three to two.
Instead, it writhed erratically, thrashing wildly in movements that could hardly be called true attacks.
The remaining spiders easily avoided the chaotic strikes, continuing their original strategy unfazed.
Soon after, the great serpent collapsed, motionless.
It was dead, killed by the poison of its small but deadly hunters.
Each scratch, though minor, had allowed the spiders to inject a trace of their poison. Over time, the accumulated toxins unleashed their devastating power.
As a result, a powerful Magical Beast, skilled in wielding venom, ended up dying from the poison of creatures far smaller and weaker than itself.
Victorious, even the injured spider limped toward the fallen prey. Together, the white spiders began to feast upon their enormous kill.