Ch.66Beast Alliance (3)

Upon arriving at the battlefield where the Demonic Beast Alliance and Insect Monsters were fighting, we managed to rescue Storm Wing. His wings were completely damaged, and his entire body was covered in wounds.

It seemed he had injured his eyes as well, as he couldn’t open them and appeared to distinguish us only by sound and smell.

“Mmmrrooo— (Mary, please heal him.)”

“Okay! Be careful, Khan!”

I waved to her and moved forward with Minky.

Minky walked ahead a bit to find a good position, stretched out her neck into a bombardment stance, while I took a deep breath.

Hoooooo—

Mmmrrooooooooo—!!!!!

My roar echoed throughout the forest. The intimidation and Fear contained within it drew the attention of everyone in the forest.

All the demonic beasts and insects flying in the sky, as well as those fighting in the forest, turned to look at me.

Muuh—!

Satisfied, I snorted and swung my axe at the nearest cockroach.

Keeeeek—!?

The cockroach instantly dodged my axe and charged at me, but it had been fighting with a chameleon until just moments ago.

While it was distracted by me, the chameleon wrapped its tongue around the cockroach’s body.

Keek—!?

Caught off guard, the cockroach’s body was seized, and the chameleon’s powerful constriction began to crush it.

Mrrrooo—

I beheaded the cockroach with my axe and moved on to find my next opponent. The next one was a centipede fighting with a toad.

With a body several meters long and thousands of legs moving quickly, it was dodging the toad’s jumping attacks, tongue strikes, and poison mist. When I approached, it was startled and created distance.

I threw my axe at its body, but despite its size, it didn’t slow down at all and quickly avoided it.

The toad also aimed its tongue at the centipede’s body, but it flexibly moved its entire body and successfully evaded the tongue attack. Then it fled.

Apparently deciding that a 2:1 fight was disadvantageous, the centipede ran away without looking back and quickly disappeared from our sight.

After staring at the scene in disbelief for a moment, the toad and I moved in different directions to find other opponents—I went left, and the toad went right.

Kwaaang—!!!

Minky had begun her bombardment, as flames erupted throughout the forest. Minky’s bombardment had such powerful explosive force that even a giant cricket would be knocked senseless with one hit.

Moving to where her bombardment had landed, I saw she had accurately hit a long-antennaed insect, which was now engulfed in flames and unconscious.

I crushed its neck under my foot as I moved forward. The insect died, leaving only green fluid, twitching antennae, and a torso.

As I continued forward, I found five demonic beasts and insects entangled in battle.

A massive reindeer was facing off against a rhinoceros beetle with antlers half my height, while a hedgehog was fighting against a snail and a grasshopper.

The reindeer and rhinoceros beetle were dueling with their antlers like swordsmen, thrusting and parrying.

Nearby, the hedgehog was shooting spines to attack the snail and grasshopper. The snail responded by firing powerful acidic liquid, while the grasshopper moved at high speed, gradually approaching the hedgehog.

Watching the five battle, I targeted the snail, which seemed easiest to catch. I enlarged my body, placed my hands on the ground, and aimed my horns at the snail.

I pulled my hind legs back in preparation, concentrating lightning on my horns and legs.

My horns flickered with lightning, and the lightning gathered at my feet was burning the ground around me, ready to burst forth at any moment.

Mwoooooooo—!!!!

With a roar, I became a streak of light charging toward the snail.

I knew that roaring while charging would negate the advantage of a surprise attack, but my instinct insisted on roaring despite the disadvantage.

Although I mentally opposed this, I nodded to the instinctual urging in my heart and let out the roar…

I realized that sometimes you really should follow what your heart tells you to do.

In one step, I halved the distance to the snail, and in two steps, I was at its side.

Kuuuung—!!!

On the third step, I pressed down on the ground with even greater force, like executing a special stance in a martial arts novel.

The snail turned toward me when I roared, but I was already in front of it. Terrified, it pulled its head into its shell to strengthen its defense.

But…

Purgegegeok—

Pajijijik—!!!

My horns shattered its shell, ignoring its defense, and the lightning concentrated in my horns was released, thoroughly cooking its insides.

As if I had become a French chef, the lightning perfectly cooked the snail’s body inside, spreading a fragrant aroma across the battlefield.

The smell was so good that I almost drooled, but we were still in the middle of battle.

Thinking I could eat it after the war ended, I turned my attention to the grasshopper.

Startled by my sudden appearance, it jumped high to retreat from the hedgehog. But the hedgehog released spines in a wide area, like a shotgun, covering the sky.

Pyubyubyubok—!

The grasshopper tried to dodge with its short wings, but the hedgehog’s spines covered too wide an area, piercing its body and causing it to fall to the ground.

Kwaaang—!!

And Minky’s bombardment hit it precisely. She must have spotted the falling grasshopper and intercepted it.

As the flames subsided, the grasshopper fell to the ground with all its long hind legs and two pairs of front legs burned away, looking like a sausage engulfed in flames.

After watching the burning grasshopper fall, I turned to the reindeer and rhinoceros beetle still engaged in their duel.

Like fencing masters, the rhinoceros beetle thrust its horn with surprising agility despite its bulky body, pressuring the reindeer, while the reindeer swung its massive antlers to parry the beetle’s attacks, gradually closing in.

Mwiiiiik—!!

As I was about to leave them to their passionate duel and find another opponent, the reindeer let out a cry that seemed to be asking for help.

The hedgehog and I made eye contact, considering what to do, when the reindeer cried out again.

At that sound, I gestured to the hedgehog to leave it to me and headed toward their dueling ground, while the hedgehog left to help other demonic beasts.

Kung— Kung— Kung—

As I approached their dueling ground, the rhinoceros beetle became desperate and retreated…

The reindeer, as if it had been waiting for this moment, stood still and began to do something.

Mwiiiiik—!!!

With a roar, a blue light began to form on the reindeer’s antlers.

Flash—!!!

An intense light appeared, and lightning shot from its antlers, striking the rhinoceros beetle’s body.

Despite its hard carapace, the beetle seemed vulnerable to the electricity that jolted its insides, moving in jerky motions like a lagging game.

I also wanted to respond to the reindeer’s lightning, so I wrapped my axe in lightning, charged forward, and brought it down on the rhinoceros beetle’s body.

Mrrrooooo—!!!!

Kwaang—!!!

I’d only had the axe for just under two months, and without a whetstone, it was gradually becoming blunt.

Now it made a dull thudding sound rather than the clean cutting sound it had when I first used it.

Of course, despite being blunt, its power was still formidable enough to smash the beetle’s carapace.

With a cracking sound, the beetle’s wing carapace shattered, and I gripped the axe with both hands, raising it high as if to cleave the beetle in two.

Kwaaang—!!!

I brought it down with all my might, wrapped in lightning.

The beetle’s bodily fluids splattered everywhere, its waist folded in half, bringing its horned head to touch its rear end.

Satisfied with the somewhat artistic result, I nodded and looked at the reindeer that had shot lightning.

It seemed to have been through a fierce battle, with many scratches on its antlers and blood flowing from its head where it had failed to dodge an attack.

When our eyes met, it bowed its head as if expressing gratitude. I nodded back and moved on to support others.

* * * * *

Mwoooooo—!!!

Mwiiiiik—!!!

Keeeeek—!!!

Shishishik—!!!

Kuheheheng—!!!

All the demonic beasts, including myself, let out victory roars as we slaughtered all the insects on the battlefield.

I was satisfied that we had achieved such a victory despite the insects outnumbering the demonic beasts when, from a distance, Mary approached with the reindeer, Storm Wing, and a large red bull.

“Khan—! Good job! You didn’t even get hurt this time and you were amazing! You’re getting stronger! Great job!”

Mary climbed onto my head and patted it. In this battle, I wasn’t overwhelmed by numbers and was able to fight mostly one-on-one or in group battles, avoiding injury.

As I was thinking that while it’s fine to fight alone, having comrades is also good…

Mmrrrooo—

Mmrroo?

A red-haired bull, with a height up to my waist and a body length similar to mine if I were lying down, was trying to bring its horns close to my head.

Instinctively, I brought my horns to meet it, forgetting that Mary was sitting on my head, and rubbed horns with it.

This was something I had never done even with my mother, yet my instinct made me act as if it were the most natural thing.

As our horns rubbed together, creating sparks, it spoke.

“Mmrrrooo— (Thank you for helping, tall kinsman. My kin. We lived in the forest. But they died. Giant wasps and ants. They attacked us. Kin, just me alone.)”

A bull calling me kinsman. With deeper red fur than mine. And strength comparable to a Minotaur.

In this forest of demonic beasts, I met for the first time a Mad Bull—a kinsman sharing half of the blood flowing through my body.