"The smell of blood is strong."
Meili's smile vanished, replaced by wariness and confusion.
King Ulgarum paced in place restlessly.
All around them, the trees, wildflowers, and even the short grass were withering and collapsing as if their life had suddenly been drained away.
A shiver ran down Meili's spine.
She could sense it now—
a far more terrifying beast was watching her.
"Who's there?!"
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The earth shook.
Not with the tread of an Earth Dragon—
but with footsteps.
"Found you… found you… hahaha… the hundredth one…"
That manic laughter tore through the silence.
And in the next second, the forest brush exploded apart.
Branches and leaves flew everywhere as a gigantic beast rose from the shattered undergrowth and pressed down over the clearing like a hill.
It looked like a lion-wolf sovereign wrapped in magnificent robes, every part of it blending regal splendor with brutal savagery.
Its body stood over four meters tall, wrapped in gray-black fur and heavy mane.
Its half-lion, half-wolf head bore a pair of icy blue slit pupils that gleamed like jewels forged in frost.
Its open jaws revealed rows of dagger-like fangs, saliva dripping between them as a ferocious aura rolled out around it.
Standing upon the broad shoulders of that giant beast were two maids, one in blue and one in pink.
And behind them, carved straight through the forest, was a fresh path of destruction.
Everywhere along that trail lay the corpses of Ulgarum.
And what made it truly horrifying was the way they had died—
their bellies ripped open, entrails and blood spilled across the earth.
"This… how magnificent… it's almost as huge as a rock pig…"
Meili was so shocked she could barely finish speaking.
Beside that monster, even King Ulgarum looked no more threatening than a lapdog.
Boom!
The mountain moved.
Its huge body launched itself forward in a blur, and when it appeared again, only an enormous claw like a falling canopy remained in sight.
Before the strike even landed, the air pressure alone blasted Meili's tiny body away.
That accidental gust saved her life.
Because before King Ulgarum could even react, its head and upper torso were smashed apart.
Blood, foam, and flesh burst through the air.
Half its body dropped backward on the spot.
Petra, still on the ground, was so terrified she could barely breathe.
Splattered in dog blood, she shook like a leaf, weak sobs escaping her unconsciously.
"N-No… don't eat me…"
Ram frowned and kicked the giant beast in the mouth.
"You idiot Grin. Even if your head got bigger, it's still stuffed with a rat's brain, isn't it? If you scare the children of Arlam Village into lifelong trauma, the compensation is coming out of your wages."
The moment she finished speaking, Ram jumped down from the beast's shoulder despite her own fatigue.
She rushed to Petra's side, gathered the trembling girl into her arms, and immediately turned away from the blood-soaked center of the clearing.
Getting Petra back to the village safely had also been part of Grin's instructions.
On the other side, Rem leaned close to the giant beast's ear and asked softly,
"Do you need Rem's help, Grin-kun?"
The behemoth shook its head, retracted its blade-like claws, and carefully lifted Rem down, its voice booming like a bell.
"Don't worry, Rem. Leave this to me. You and Ram go back to the village and restore the barrier as fast as possible."
"Understood, Grin-kun."
Rem obeyed at once and followed after Ram.
This colossal beast was none other than Grin, having fully unleashed the demonic beast form of the Beast Prince.
With King Ulgarum dead, the hourglass-like drain on his mana finally stopped.
At the same time, the surrounding plants stopped withering.
Even so, nearly half the forest now looked as if autumn had descended in an instant—trees withered, leaves scorched, and countless unopened seeds had died before ever sprouting.
Once activated, the Blessing of the Forest looked less like a blessing and more like a moving ecological disaster.
The giant beast strolled leisurely toward Meili.
As it passed King Ulgarum's corpse, it extended one claw and lightly brushed it.
Ssshk—
The corpse split apart like tofu, and its organs spilled through the cuts.
Meili looked up in despair as the giant beast stopped before her and slowly crouched down.
"You… what kind of monster are you…?"
The beast let out a low, sinister laugh.
Its breath hit Meili like a storm wind.
"Meili… start running…"
The giant raised its massive fist and smashed it into the ground directly in front of her.
The impact felt like an artillery shell exploding under her feet.
The shockwave hurled Meili into the air, stole her hearing, and left only a shrill ringing in her skull.
After tumbling through the air several times, she finally crashed back to the ground covered in injuries.
Her strength was gone.
She could only lie there gasping.
After a long moment, just as a little of her hearing returned, Grin's deathly voice reached her again.
"Can't run anymore, Meili-chan? We're not friends, so letting you die a little slower should fit your own logic just fine, shouldn't it?"
The beast slowly reached out and closed one giant hand around Meili's tiny body.
Its strength was precise.
Only her head remained exposed, but the pressure was already enough to make breathing difficult.
"Cough—cough!"
Meili spat up mouthfuls of blood as she stared in despair into the huge eye fixed on her.
"Elsa… help me…"
The instant those words left her mouth, a black shadow flashed in like lightning.
A figure drew a kukri from the waist and slashed at Grin's hand.
Clang!
Metal struck flesh with a piercing ring.
A sharp pain stabbed through Grin's wrist and knuckles like needles driven into the joints.
Pfft!
Several cuts opened across the claws holding Meili, and blood sprayed out at once.
"Who?!"
The strike had severed tendons and joints with terrifying precision, disrupting the force in his hand and making his grip go slack.
Meili slipped free.
And just as the black figure reached out to catch her, Grin's beast instincts reacted first.
Planting one foot, the giant twisted violently and drove a spinning kick straight into the attacker.
Boom!
The figure was blasted backward through the air.
At the same time, Grin's thick tail snatched Meili from midair and whipped her behind him.
"Wow~ Mr. Beast really does have fast reactions."
A deep, velvet-soft voice drifted through the clearing.
Then Elsa, the Bowel Hunter, slowly rose from the ground, a northern kukri spinning between her fingers like a butterfly.
A dent caved in part of her chest, and blood continued spilling from the corner of her mouth.
An ordinary person would already be at death's door from a hit like that.