"What a thick scent of blood."
Meli withdrew all the smiles from her face, leaving only a look of solemnity and confusion.
King Volgam paced restlessly on the spot.
The surrounding trees, the wildflowers on the ground, and even the short grass were withering and curling up, as if they had suddenly lost their lives.
Meli suddenly shivered; she felt a powerful mabeast watching her.
"Who's there!"
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The ground was vibrating—it wasn't an Earth Dragon turning over, but someone walking.
"Found you... found you, hahahaha, the hundredth one!"
Manic laughter tore through the silence, and in the next second, the forest thickets were violently ripped apart by a massive force.
Amidst flying broken branches and leaves, a giant half-wolf, half-lion mabeast reared up on its hind legs, looming over like a small mountain.
The behemoth looked like a "Lion-Wolf Monarch Clad in Fine Raiment," every detail blending the contrast between wildness and nobility.
Its body was over four meters tall, covered entirely in grey and black brindled fur.
On its half-lion, half-wolf head, a pair of icy blue vertical pupils shone intimidatingly, like frozen gems embedded in its fur.
Its gaping maw revealed two rows of dagger-like fangs, saliva dripping from the gaps between its teeth, mingled with a malevolent aura.
Standing on the giant beast's broad shoulders were two maids, one in blue and one in pink; behind them was a fresh path carved out by the beast's rampage.
The path was littered with the corpses of Ulgarum mabeasts; terrifyingly, these canine mabeasts all had their bellies sliced open, with countless organs, intestines, and blood spilled all over the ground.
"This is... how majestic, its size is almost comparable to a Rock Pig."
Meli was so shocked she was almost speechless.
Before this giant beast, King Volgam seemed to have turned back into a kneadable puppy once again.
Boom!
That "mountain" moved; its massive body leaped suddenly, turning into an afterimage, and when it reappeared, only a giant claw as large as a canopy came lunging at her face.
Before the claw even reached her, it brought a gust of fierce wind, blowing Meli's petite body right off the ground.
This also allowed her to escape with her life; before King Volgam could react, its massive head along with its chest cavity were instantly crushed and exploded.
Blood foam and mangled flesh flew everywhere as half of its body collapsed backward.
Petra, on the ground, was already scared out of her wits, drenched in dog blood and trembling like a leaf, faint whimpers escaping her mouth unconsciously.
"No... don't eat me..."
Ram frowned and kicked the giant beast's snout.
"Stupid Grin, even if your head got bigger, is your brain still that of a white rat? If you scare the children of Aram Village into a stupor, the medical fees will be deducted from your monthly salary!"
With those words, Ram dragged her exhausted body and leaped down from the giant beast's shoulder.
She rushed to Petra's side, took her into her arms, and turned without hesitation, quickly leaving the center of this bloody battlefield.
Rescuing Petra and bringing her back to the village was also the task Grin had given her.
On the other side, Rem leaned close to the giant beast's ear and said softly, "Does Green-kun need Rem's help?"
The giant beast shook its head, retracted its sword-like claws, and then picked Rem up and set her down, its voice booming like a bell.
"Don't worry, Rem. Leave this to me. You hurry back to the village with Ram and repair the Barrier as quickly as possible!"
"Alright, Green-kun. Leave it to Rem."
Rem nodded obediently and headed in the direction Ram had gone.
The giant beast before them was none other than Grin, who had unleashed his beast prince Beastification form.
After crushing King Volgam, who had placed the curse on him, the valve finally closed on his body, which had been leaking mana like an hourglass.
The surrounding plants also stopped withering at the same time.
Even so, nearly half of the vegetation in this forest looked as if autumn had arrived; trees were withered, branches and leaves were yellowed, and countless seeds that had yet to sprout stopped growing in their embryos.
Once activated, the Blessing of the Forest seemed to have turned into a moving ecological disaster.
The giant beast strolled leisurely toward Meli; as he passed the corpse of King Volgam, he reached out with a sharp claw and lightly sliced across it.
Rip!
Instantly, the corpse fell apart like tofu, its internal organs pouring out through the cuts.
Meli looked up in despair as the giant beast walked toward her step by step, finally crouching down in front of her.
"You... just what kind of monster are you..."
The giant beast laughed ominously, the breath from its mouth and nose blowing against Meli like a hurricane.
"Meli... you should start running..."
The giant beast spoke in a muffled, booming voice, raising a fist the size of a bushel and smashing it violently in front of Meli.
Meli felt as if a cannonball had exploded at her feet, the massive shockwave launching her into the air.
Her perspective kept rising, and her hearing temporarily vanished, leaving only a ringing in her ears echoing in her mind.
After tumbling a dozen times in the air, Meli finally hit the ground, covered in injuries from the fall.
The strength in her limbs was exhausted; she lay powerless on the ground, her chest heaving violently as she gasped for air.
After a long while, just as Meli's hearing began to recover slightly, Grin's reaper-like voice drifted into her ear canal once again.
"Can't run anymore, Meli-chan? We're not exactly friends, so letting you die slowly fits your assassin logic, doesn't it?"
Grin slowly reached out with his beast-like palm and gently grasped the defenseless Meli in his hand.
His strength was perfectly controlled, leaving only her small head exposed but enough to make it difficult for her to breathe.
"Cough, cough!"
Meli coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, looking despairingly at the human-head-sized eyeballs in Grin's sockets.
"Elsa... save me..."
As the words fell, a black shadow suddenly flashed by like lightning; the person drew a Kukri from behind her waist and slashed at Grin.
Clang!
The sound of clashing metal rang out, and Grin felt a stinging pain in his wrist and knuckles, as if he had been pricked by thin needles.
Pffft!
Several gashes appeared on the claw Grin used to hold Meli, and a mist of blood sprayed out like a flood.
"Who!"
Grin's hand tendons and joints had been precisely severed; his strength failed to connect, and his five fingers went limp and opened.
Meli's body was freed, and just as the black shadow went to catch her, Grin's beastly instincts caught her movement.
Using his left foot as a pivot, the giant beast spun his body violently, landing a roundhouse kick squarely on the black shadow.
The person was sent flying backward with a "boom," as if hit by a heavy truck.
Then, Grin's tail, as thick as a bowl's rim, flexibly coiled around Meli in mid-air and hid her behind him.
"My, my... Mr. Beast's reflexes are truly quick."
A low, soft, and sweet voice drifted over as the gut ripper Elsa slowly climbed up from the ground, the Northern Kukri twirling in her hands like a dancing butterfly.
A dent had appeared in her chest, and blood was continuously gushing from her mouth.
If it were a normal person, they would likely be in a near-death state.