Chapter 33

“More people have the Beast Transformation skill than I thought.”

Far from the other hunters, Suho was making his way through the jungle without hesitation. Countless specters appeared before him to attack, of course, while mana-corrupted tree limbs relentlessly sought his life from every direction.

WAAAAAH!

[A banshee uses ‘Skill: Wail.’]

[You lose your sense of direction for 10 minutes.]

On top of that, a ghostly banshee wailed overhead, muddling Suho’s mind.

‘Ruler's Authority!’

CRUNCH!

Suho’s invisible hand reached out, seized the banshee by the neck, and snapped it.

...!

[You have defeated a banshee.]

[‘Skill: Wail’ has been canceled.]

“You’d better not cry. Santa won’t bring you any presents.”

Grinning, Suho killed the banshees as soon as they appeared. As for the specters swarming all around him, he swept them all up in one go!

His twin swords spun like a windmill.

[You use ‘Skill: Storm Slash.’]

KABOOM!

[You have defeated a specter.]

[You have defeated a specter.]

[You have defeated a specter.]

...

Storm Slash was extremely useful when fighting multiple enemies. But even after killing so many specters, he showed no sign of leveling up.

‘Then I’ll just kill more!’

He had to kill them all to move forward anyway.

[You use ‘Skill: Storm Slash.’]

[You use ‘Skill: Storm Slash.’]

KABOOOM!

[You have defeated a specter.]

[You have defeated a specter.]

...

The days when a single Storm Slash drained all his mana were long gone. With his current mana pool, he could use it a full eight times.

But something was strange.

‘I’ve killed this many, and I still haven’t leveled up?’

At this point, it felt as though he wasn’t getting any experience at all.

‘Could these things...’

Did their true body lie elsewhere?

A cold gleam flashed in Suho’s eyes as he scanned his surroundings. Thanks to his increased Perception stat, his senses were every bit as keen as those of the beast-transformed hunters.

‘Found it.’

He immediately pinpointed the most dangerous presence in the tangled jungle, changed course, and started running toward it.

His GPS—no, Rakan’s Fang—asked,

“Where are you going?”

“Let’s make a quick stop.”

It lay slightly off the route to the relic, but it wasn’t in the opposite direction. He could afford a brief detour along the way.

A little later...

“Now what’s this?”

Suho discovered a bizarre-looking tree.

[Specter Tree]

“Specter Tree?”

“It is a sacred tree that guards the sanctuary.”

Rakan’s Fang recognized it.

“Sacred? This thing?”

Suho tilted his head up to look at the Specter Tree. Rather than sacred, the grotesque tree looked like a haunted village shrine.

And that was exactly what it was.

WAAAAAH!

HEE-HEE-HEE...!

Even now, new specters were growing like fruit from its twisted branches.

Beru’s eyes gleamed as he explained.

“It appears to be a ghost tree that grew by feeding on the corpses of humans who died on this land.”

“So there really was a separate body.”

No wonder he hadn’t leveled up, no matter how many specters he killed. In any case, it seemed he had found the right target.

Grinning, Suho suspended Rakan’s Fang in midair with Ruler's Authority. Then he raised Vulcan's Horn in both hands and mercilessly hacked into the side of the Specter Tree as though swinging an axe.

KABOOM!

An enormous crash rang out. Yet the Specter Tree remained standing tall in the same spot.

‘So you’ve got high defense, huh?’

Let’s see who wins.

Gritting his teeth, Suho began hammering the Specter Tree in earnest.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG...!

Just then—

“GRAAAWR!”

A chill ran through him. Sinister red shadows lunged at Suho as he attacked the Specter Tree.

He quickly sprang back, parrying their claws with his sword.

[Dungeon Jackal]

[Dungeon Jackal]

“Grrrr...”

Landing on the ground, the dungeon jackals menacingly surrounded Suho from the front and rear, cutting off his escape. Their eyes already regarded him as prey.

As befitted creatures guarding the tree that protected the sanctuary, their very presence set them apart from ordinary dungeon jackals.

But that only made them more welcome.

“Good. You guys should be useful.”

Suho smacked his lips, and an explosive surge of energy erupted from his entire body.

WHOOOSH!

[The buff effect of ‘Title: Wolf Slayer’ activates.]

[All stats increase by 40% when fighting beast-type monsters.]

“Grr?!”

The dungeon jackals instinctively lowered themselves and bared their teeth. The prey that had clearly seemed weaker than them just a moment ago was suddenly radiating the oppressive presence of a predator!

“... Grrr!”

Suho swung his sword at the dungeon jackals as they lunged at him together.

* * *

[Shadow Jackal Lv.1]

Normal Grade

[Shadow Jackal Lv.1]

Normal Grade

“Grr!”

Dark energy rippled around the shadow magic-beast soldiers. Perched atop their heads, Beru nodded with a haughty expression.

“Heh. Yes, from now on, serve as loyal hounds protecting the Young Monarch.”

“This is why we lost the war...”

Rakan’s Fang spoke with a sigh.

Ignoring it, Suho busily continued his axe work(?) on the side of the Specter Tree.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

SKREEEE!

Countless specters rushed at Suho to stop him, but now the shadow jackals were steadfastly watching his back.

Suddenly, an angry voice rang out.

“No, why are you protecting the intruder instead of the Specter Tree you’re supposed to guard...!”

“SKREE! Whose side are you on?!”

“That wasn’t me this time.”

“Hmm?”

Apparently, the other fang was watching Suho from afar.

And finally...

CRACK!

“Ah, there we go.”

RUMBLE!

With a tremendous crash, the enormous Specter Tree toppled backward.

[You have destroyed a Specter Tree.]

[The surrounding specters disappear.]

SHHH...

At that moment, the specters circling Suho scattered and vanished on the spot.

[You have leveled up!]

“An instant level-up?”

Suho’s eyes widened. He had leveled up just from felling a single tree!

He quickly scanned his surroundings, then bounded up a nearby tree to survey the other areas from above. In the distance, specters were still roaming about and attacking hunters.

‘There’s more than one Specter Tree!’

Suho’s eyes flashed. And the locals would know their locations best.

“Lead the way!”

“GRAWR!”

At Suho’s command, the shadow jackals took the lead and raced toward the second Specter Tree.

* * *

RUMBLE!

Somewhere, something came crashing down.

“... What was that?”

Having already dealt with all the Hyena Guild members, Baek Miho had been surveying her surroundings. She turned toward the thunderous sound.

‘That’s where that man went earlier.’

Perhaps she was imagining it, but there suddenly seemed to be slightly fewer specters nearby.

‘No, I’m not imagining it.’

Their numbers had definitely fallen. By about a third.

That gave her some breathing room.

Baek Miho turned to the Hyena Guild member she had subdued for questioning. Most of them were dead, but one lay bound and covered in blood.

Fixing her vertically slit Eyes of the Beast on his terrified eyes, she asked,

“Do you want to live?”

“I-I want to live!”

The werewolf answered desperately.

“Then prove it. Show me why I should let you live.”

“W-what?”

“I mean, tell me everything you know.”

“Hic!”

GRRR.

As Baek Miho bared her teeth, the werewolf felt like prey facing a predator.

A little later...

“... A Monarch?”

Baek Miho’s expression turned peculiar. She hadn’t actually expected much, but the information the werewolf provided was unexpectedly valuable.

“You’re saying there was a king who ruled over the magic beasts?”

“Y-yes! But that king died a long time ago, and they say the throne is vacant now!”

“So all this chaos is to choose a new king?”

“Yes. We suddenly started hearing a voice too, so we rushed straight here.”

Unwilling to die like his comrades, the werewolf readily spilled everything he knew.

The Hyena Guild members had actually thought they were the only ones who could hear the voice. Since they were awakened people who had drunk the Fang Clan’s blood, they had assumed this qualified them for kingship.

But once they arrived, they discovered otherwise. Any hunter with the power of beasts was qualified to become king, and all of them had gathered here to fight it out.

“Hmm.”

A king...

Baek Miho sank into thought for a moment.

Of course, she would be lying if she said she wasn’t tempted. Even now, the voice demanding she prove herself was stoking her desires until her head hurt.

“Prove yourself worthy of becoming king!”

‘... But it’s still suspicious.’

No matter how she considered it, she simply couldn’t imagine magic beasts approaching humans with good intentions. Much less choosing a human as their king.

‘What a joke.’

Baek Miho snorted and folded her arms. Staying out of it had been the right decision after all.

Still, she wondered what the outcome of this trial would be. No, to be honest, she was afraid. What sinister scheme were the magic beasts here plotting under the pretext of the Trial of the King?

‘Why did Dad have to be away at a time like this?’

Baek Miho sighed as she thought of her father, Baek Yoonho. If they really were choosing a King of Beasts from among humans, no one could be more qualified than an S-rank hunter like him.

But she was certain of one thing.

‘Even if Dad were here, he would have made the same decision as me.’

“Prove yourself worthy of becoming king!”

“Ugh. So damn loud.”

Even now, the voice inciting her desires made Baek Miho’s head throb.

“Kill, and kill again!”

Then it happened.

CRASH-RUMBLE!

Once again, something could be heard collapsing somewhere, just as before.

And something strange happened.

“The one who survives to the end... Argh! Please, just stop already!”

“Huh?”

What was going on now?

The voice that had been repeating itself all this time suddenly snapped in irritation.

Baek Miho and every other hunter in the forest looked up in bewilderment. Even the werewolf begging her for his life pricked up his ears in confusion.

Then the voice that had been repeating endlessly in their heads abruptly fell silent. Meanwhile, the number of specters had fallen by half.

‘What’s going on? Could the Trial of the King be over...’

Of course it wasn’t.

A moment later, the voice resumed as though nothing had happened.

“Prove yourself worthy of becoming... Aah! No! Not that one, please! There’s only one tree left!”

“... Hmm?”

What in the world was going on?