Ieros' smile never wavered as the hunters took slow, hesitant steps toward him. Their leader kept stuttering, desperately trying to figure out who—or what—he truly was.
With an expression of utter boredom, Ieros began walking toward them. Yet despite the relaxed look on his face, the smile in his eyes never reached their depths. There was something cold hidden beneath it, something that made the hunters instinctively recoil.
Step by step, he closed the distance.
The female hunter closest to him suddenly screamed and lunged forward. Her dagger shot toward his neck with lethal intent.
Fast, Ieros noted.
But it lacked precision.
Without the slightest panic, he sidestepped. His sword rose in a smooth arc, the blade gliding through flesh and bone as though they were nothing more than wet paper. The strike severed her entire arm.
A horrifying scream erupted from her throat.
The severed limb hit the ground with a dull thud while blood sprayed into the air. The crimson droplets missed Ieros by mere inches.
The girl staggered backward, clutching the stump of her shoulder. She thrashed wildly before collapsing from blood loss, her screams fading into weak whimpers.
Ieros didn't spare her another glance.
Time was running out.
His pace increased.
The sword flashed again.
One hunter lost his head before he even realized he had been attacked. Another was split from shoulder to chest, his body collapsing in two uneven halves.
Only five hunters remained.
The leader's face had turned deathly pale as Ieros continued advancing.
Then something clicked in his mind.
Mana bombs.
A small smile spread across the man's face.
Ieros frowned.
His gaze instantly dropped to the hunter's hand as it slowly moved toward his waistband.
So that was his plan.
Ieros had intentionally tried to drown them in fear, hoping panic would prevent them from thinking rationally. Fearful prey made mistakes.
Unfortunately, one of them had finally regained enough composure to remember the bombs.
The moment that realization surfaced, Ieros abandoned any intention of dragging the fight out.
Another hunter charged him.
The sword slipped through the man's stomach.
A wet tearing sound echoed through the clearing as intestines spilled onto the forest floor.
Ignoring the dying man's screams, Ieros inhaled deeply.
Then he spun the sword in his hand.
His grip shifted.
No longer holding it like a swordsman.
But like an assassin.
Like a dagger.
His body twisted.
Muscles coiled.
And then—
He threw.
The sword tore through the air with terrifying force.
Its balance wasn't designed for throwing, causing the wind currents to push against it. Yet the sheer strength behind the throw overwhelmed the resistance.
The blade continued forward.
Straight toward its target.
The leader's eyes widened.
Too late.
The sword punched through his chest and carried him backward nearly two feet before both man and blade crashed onto the ground.
Silence followed.
Then chaos erupted.
The remaining four hunters stared at the sword embedded in their leader's corpse.
Their expressions twisted into savage determination.
Without hesitation, they charged.
Now unarmed, Ieros should have been helpless.
But fate had other plans.
A thunderous roar shook the forest.
The trees exploded apart.
Massive monsters burst from the undergrowth like a living tidal wave.
The hunters barely had time to scream.
Claws tore through armor.
Fangs shredded flesh.
Bones snapped like brittle twigs.
Within seconds the four hunters were reduced to mangled corpses.
Ieros watched the massacre unfold and, for the first time in a long while, felt grateful that his cave happened to be so close to the forest entrance.
A relieved sigh escaped his lips.
The battle was over.
At least for now.
Without wasting time, he began looting the corpses.
Most of the items were worthless.
A few could prove useful once he eventually left the forest.
But the true prize was the collection of mana bombs.
His eyes lingered on them.
These things were incredibly expensive.
The fact that his uncle had handed five of them to a group of weak cadets was astonishing.
A small trace of guilt surfaced within him.
He hadn't wanted to kill them.
But he knew the truth.
Had the situation been reversed, they would have slaughtered him without hesitation.
Survival left little room for mercy.
As he searched another corpse, something nudged his back.
Ieros ignored it.
A moment later, it nudged him again.
Harder.
Annoyance flashed across his face.
Without looking, he pushed the creature's snout away.
"I'm busy," he muttered.
The monster nudged him again.
And again.
And again.
Minutes passed.
His irritation steadily grew.
Just as he was about to snap, the sunlight above him vanished.
A massive shadow swallowed the clearing.
Ieros blinked.
Why had the sky suddenly gone dark?
Slowly, he looked up.
And immediately fell onto his backside.
A gigantic ape stared down at him.
Its face alone was larger than his entire body.
For a brief moment, both remained frozen.
Then Ieros scrambled to his feet and hurriedly dusted himself off.
Recognition quickly appeared in his eyes.
Not the individual ape.
Its species.
He knew exactly what it was.
Unlike most monsters, these beings weren't mutations born from mana contamination.
They had descended from the heavens alongside several other ancient races when the world changed.
Yet among all those races, this particular species was the strangest.
Not because they were weak.
Quite the opposite.
They possessed strength so absurd it bordered on insanity.
Even a newborn possessed enough physical power to strike with a force ranging from five hundred million to seven hundred and fifty million kilograms.
A single punch could flatten mountains.
The downside was equally ridiculous.
Their reproductive rate was practically nonexistent.
Entire centuries could pass without a single birth.
Which meant the young ape standing before him was nothing short of a miracle.
Ieros swallowed.
For the first time since the battle began, genuine nervousness appeared on his face.
The giant ape extended two fingers.
Before he could react, he found himself lifted effortlessly into the air.
Between those enormous fingers, he looked no larger than a grain of dust.
The ape examined him curiously.
Its intelligent eyes studied him for several long moments.
Ieros remained perfectly still.
Making sudden movements around a creature capable of crushing mountains seemed like an incredibly bad idea.
Finally, the ape gave a satisfied grunt.
Without another glance, it turned around and began walking deeper into the forest.
Still holding Ieros between its fingers.
And for the first time in a very long while, Ieros found himself wondering whether he had somehow traded one life-threatening situation for an even worse one.