Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: What Hunts Back
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It hadn't been long since they left the jade-colored lake and entered a river flowing down from a valley-like area.
Kwaaaaaah...!!
Kuwaaaaa...!!
Kuoooooo...!!
"Kyaaak."
"Eek."
Fierce roars that made Ryuhi and Ephnis collapse to their knees without realizing it echoed one after another from the direction of the lake.
Hwan-in silently grabbed the two women's arms, pulled them to their feet, and pressed on along the river.
It wasn't a group shout, but the roar of a single individual.
Just from that roar, he could guess it was far stronger than the green apes.
'The apes all had mid-to-low-grade souls. If their leader is several times stronger like the big monsters in Hob Village, we should avoid it now.'
Of course, it might not be that strong. It could just have a highly developed body, but even then, they couldn't handle the leader and all its followers.
Hwan-in had calculated that even if the leader was only as strong as the bladed boars from the Eastern Twin Mountains, his chances of winning unscathed were less than 10%.
Moreover, the land otters the women called Sikota had followed them only to the river mouth before turning back.
The women had grown a bit anxious when the Sikota left, but Hwan-in had never counted them as part of their fighting force anyway, so he paid it no mind.
"We'll move faster from here."
Just in case, they had crossed the emerald river over 20 meters wide without even drying their wet bodies and were hurrying upstream along the bank...
"U-Uncle! Forest raiders! There are so many! Across, across the river in the forest...!"
With Huini's urgent cry, a massive jade-colored figure leaped up over the treetops and landed on the riverbank with a heavy thud!!
"......"
With the 20-meter-wide river between them, Hwan-in stared at the monster that had just revealed itself.
It was nearly 3 meters tall. Not an ape, but a forest giant.
Behind its massive bulk, nearly forty apes emerged from the forest, radiating hostility.
The other green apes appeared to be females, their breasts sagging and hips about 1.5 times wider than the males.
Hwan-in quickly noted they each carried bundles of wooden spears, then drew his own spear, pointed its tip at the ground, and silently fixed his gaze on the leader ape.
Fortunately, the river was deep with a swift current. None of them could cross except maybe the leader.
But looking closer, a faint aura enveloped the leader ape's body. A transparent haze, like the souls of the bladed boar or Rua.
Ephnis, seeing it, thought for a moment before gasping in shock and muttering in a trembling whisper.
"A-awakened beast... "
'The presence of a transparent aura means awakening. But the bladed boar and the six-legged deer...'
The leader ape, locked in a staring contest with Hwan-in, its bulging eyes unblinking, suddenly bared its teeth, slammed and pounded the ground with its fists, and let out a howl.
Kraaaak!! Kraaaaaaooo!! Woooooo!!
Thud, thud-thud, boom-boom-boom...!!
The leader's roar made their clothes flap and the nearby river water churn.
The women began trembling in fear, but Hwan-in didn't blink, calmly watching the leader ape.
'It looks even stronger than expected.'
Even in a 1-on-1 fight, Hwan-in felt he couldn't guarantee victory.
Generously, maybe 10% odds. With the dozens behind it, no chance at all. But the deep, fast river stood between them, so Hwan-in silently stared at the raging leader.
After a while of pounding its chest and slamming the ground in frenzy, the leader ape suddenly calmed, returning to its initial composed demeanor.
Its eyes burned with enough rage to devour Hwan-in and the women whole, but for some reason, Hwan-in sensed it was acting.
'I see.'
The leader ape was the same type as him.
Pfuuuuh—
The leader exhaled a heavy snort, then abruptly turned, yanked up a tree as thick as Hwan-in's waist with both hands, and hurled it at him.
Whiiiiiish!!
Hwan-in, anticipating it the moment the leader turned, didn't panic even as the several-meter log missile flew at him. He unleashed a double-layered Soul Explosion.
Boooom!!
The colorless, formless blast twisted the log's trajectory. It grazed past Hwan-in and crashed into the forest behind him.
A tree exploding sounded from behind, but Hwan-in didn't twitch an eyebrow.
The staring contest between the leader ape and Hwan-in resumed.
The ones getting noisy were the females behind the leader and the women behind Hwan-in.
Murmur murmur.
Whisper whisper.
Eventually, the leader ape led its group back into the forest.
The female apes glanced alternately at the leader and Hwan-in before following one by one.
"I-it's... going back... "
"Ahhhh... "
Once the leader and females vanished, not just Ryuhi and Ephnis, but even Huini and Ennel collapsed to their knees as if their legs had given out.
They thought they were done for when that log flew at them...
The women felt their terror-stricken hearts pounding as they gazed at Hwan-in's steadfast back, standing like an unyielding ancient tree.
An overwhelming sense of relief, like meeting a great tree in a raging storm where you couldn't see an inch ahead.
Their hearts, sensing he'd stand firm no matter what and shield them from the fiercest gales, soon calmed. The women shakily rose to their feet.
Ryuhi pressed her pounding chest—for different reasons—and asked Hwan-in.
"Wh-why did it just leave like that?"
"......"
"Maybe the river's too wide to cross?"
"You already forgot how the raider leader showed up?"
"I'm not a goldfish! I'm saying the underling monkeys can't cross! It didn't come alone because it'd die to Uncle!"
Ephnis cut in, calling Huini's jab at Ennel nonsense.
"Didn't you see all the raiders carrying bundles of wooden spears? They could've attacked without crossing. If those 48 threw spears at once, Uncle might survive, but we'd all die."
"......"
"Even if it couldn't win against Uncle, it could've killed us to vent."
"......"
"......"
"The leader... just let us go."
"Why let us go? We killed over 20 of their kind—revenge would be normal, right?"
"I don't know. Throwing that tree at the end just seemed like a warning for next time. I don't get it either... "
"Saving it for a backstab later...?"
"That'd be doing the job twice. Why not attack when it came?"
"Hmm... "
"Ugh... "
The women grumbled, clueless, but Hwan-in had a close-to-truth inference.
'No way... To become leader, it killed off all rival males blocking its path and let us go. Bringing all the females to show the group it did its part...?'
It was a guess based on his knowledge of ape habits.
If those initial 28 were all the group's males, it fit perfectly.
"...Let's go. The apes won't chase us anymore."
"Y-yes!"
"Yep!"
'A world where beasts surpassing human specs exist, and even they raid, ravage, and scheme politics.'
Hwan-in wondered if he'd fallen into hell.
It was the second day traveling along the river after leaving Jade Lake.
No battles since the ape incident.
They could dedicate the whole day to travel. Perhaps because they'd left Jade Lake, temperatures rebounded to midsummer heat.
The landscape and vegetation shifted again: the river narrowed to 5 meters wide, flanked by fine sandbars.
Beyond the sandbars, dense forest and undergrowth formed a jungle, under a vast blue sky with lazy white cumulus clouds drifting by.
The scenery was pure peace, but Hwan-in's senses ignored it entirely.
Crunch!
A massive sand-colored crocodile over 4 meters long savagely swung its jaws at Hwan-in, snapping its teeth as it lunged.
But they didn't have the upper hand against the giant croc. Its jaws, fit for a Viking pub trophy, were scarred from axes, bleeding profusely, looking ragged for ages.
Its attacks even seemed pained up close.
Crack!
Kraaak!
Another stone axe strike shattered part of its jaw, bone included. In agony, the croc whipped its head side to side and retreated hastily, but...
"Hup."
Hwan-in fearlessly leaped onto the retreating croc's snout.
Kruk!
The panicked croc shook its head wildly again, but Hwan-in was already past it, onto the body.
Sensing danger, the croc twisted to shake him off, but as if anticipating that, Hwan-in jumped down and thrust his spear wildly into the fully exposed belly.
Pfufufufuk—
Krrrruk...!
Like a fish flopping on land, the giant croc thrashed—major organs damaged.
Hwan-in indifferently watched, relentlessly stabbing where he guessed the heart was.
Krek... krrruk...
Only when blood pooled from the wounds did the giant croc expire.
Strange world's crocs had unusually tough life force.
'Soul is... low-grade.'
Spirit Possessing the sand croc heated his body, boosting jaw strength and lung capacity.
Hwan-in swung his spear to shake off blood and guts, then eyed the spear Huini and Ryuhi had maintained.
He'd felt it since cleaving Jade Lake apes to the bone, but properly forged iron weapons showed their true might in durability.
Catching a 4-meter monster croc this easily without Spirit Possession.
With a wooden spear or club, he'd need Spirit Possession and skills nonstop.
"Kyaa! It's coming this way!"
"Ugh!"
Krrrng!
"Mommy!"
Huini and Ennel faced a croc 40% smaller than the giant, cooperating fluidly despite the fuss, herding it.
But as the giant died, it slunk to the riverbank, turned, and bolted toward the water with frantic splashes.
"Ah, it's escaping!"
"No! Catch it!"
Krrrng!
Tail grabbed, the croc couldn't overcome the two beastkin girls' (+Spirit Possession) strength, dragged along snapping irritably, but.
"You jerk! Jerk!"
"Ei!"
It got its snout and head pummeled instead.
Hwan-in watched briefly, then glanced at the jungle across the river.
'Seems like that forest where I ran into the giant rabbit by chance.'
The underbrush filling the jungle floor matched the density and shape that had tormented him so.
Considering direction and distance traveled, no doubt.
'Following this river should lead to the Great Lake of the Horned Scale Whale, Oljrot.'
Hwan-in thought that might be better.
Better than wandering aimlessly along the river hunting the unknown yellow-headed mountain—head to the lake area for the village said to be nearby.
Leaving the sisters wrestling the small croc, Hwan-in approached Ryuhi and Ephnis checking the smoked meat bundle.
"This one's spoiled, right?"
"Yeah. Give it here."
"Sis, this one too."
"Mm... Even with constant care, spoiled meat's starting to show."
"Doesn't look good."
"Suddenly hot again. Jade Lake was freezing; here it's so humid you sweat just standing."
Her gaze drew his to her pale cleavage, starkly exposed from worn chest flaps, sweat pooling in the valley.
Hwan-in glanced briefly, then inspected Ryuhi's smoked meat.
Smoke hadn't permeated evenly due to irregular shapes, and fluctuating temps let mold creep into folds.
Shelf life shortening faster than expected.
"We'll grill these for lunch, right?"
"Yeah. Eat the risky smoked meat first for now."
Eating raw could cause diarrhea or worse food poisoning, but recooking slashed risks sharply.
"If smoked meat looks off, grill it immediately—no saving it. Once gone, settle nearby and make more. Bury the moldy ones."
Not wanting risks, Hwan-in convinced them to bury all moldy pieces.
"Caught it~!"
Looking over, the croc lay belly-up with a deep spear wound in its side.
The sisters' combined thrust hit the heart by luck.
Hwan-in nodded impressed.
Sand-colored but Nile croc-like. A female adult, felled by two mid-teen girls.
'Definitely different species from humans.'
Eyeing Huini's excitedly wagging wolf tail, Hwan-in looked skyward.
Sun overhead—lunchtime.
As they skewered and grilled croc and near-spoiled smoked meat, Ryuhi asked worriedly.
"Emergency Ration, is it okay to eat like this? Haven't seen animals since leaving... "
Guk?
"No no, not you."
Ryuhi waved laughing as Emergency Ration, pecking bugs from Hwan-in's fingers, turned.
"At this rate, smoked meat gone in 5 days."
"Look closely—plenty edible plants. Occasional beasts too. Worst case, stay put, stock meat, resmoke."
"Got it, Uncle. We'll do as you say."
Post-meal, they rested; women headed to river to wash.
Hwan-in followed, scanning for enemies with Soul Vision. Needed to guard close if jungle beasts ambushed.
Watching them shed beast hides and bathe in clear water, he pondered.
He'd stopped counting days, but roughly 2 months here.
Even he wanted out now—meet civilization, clean bath, comfy bed and food.
'This world must have soap.'
If not, make it. Low quality, but water, animal fat, ash possible.
4 weeks to cure—no go here, but village doable.
Soap thought brought playful splashing into view.
"Ei!"
Splash!
"...No playing—wash quick."
"Tch. No fun."
"Sis, grass bundle here."
"Thanks. Scrub my back?"
"Sure."
Four women: late teens to early 20s. Peak metabolism age.
Age for inexplicable pimples despite care—yet skin flawlessly clear.
White nudes glistening with droplets, enviable even to other women.
Just daily river baths—how so pristine?
Also, wet hair didn't clump oily.
'Heard some Westerners' hair stays glossy days unwashed...'
Anyway, not like this at first meeting.
Beauty potential, but gaunt cheeks, visible ribs, skin rashy like hives or bites.
Then flesh filled out, skin cleared—now this.
He eyed faint warmth in their lower bellies.
'Related to me absorbing that energy?'
Fist-sized warmths now pearl-sized.
Ryuhi's unchanged since—no absorption.
Sensing his gaze, Ryuhi shyly covered chest with arm, smiled, waved lightly.
Top-tier actress allure, but Hwan-in just waved back indifferently.
Just environmental change? Or from relations with him? He wanted to check.