124
Chapter 124
An achievement was unlocked.
There was no reward, and the achievement's name was One Who Attacked Their Parents.
This achievement meant only one thing.
Namely, that the Magma Bear over there was my father.
A father that even Jjokkomi had never met in person.
Our father, whom we had only heard about in stories, was right in front of my eyes.
"Roar!"
In the brief moment I was reminiscing about the past.
An attack rushed in along with the Magma Bear's roar.
A massive sphere of Lava flew at us, and countless Flame Bears poured out attacks from all directions.
However, not a single attack managed to reach us.
[Crimson Luna Rabbit lv.100(Max)]
└ Pw.1500
└ Rnk.Epic
[Domain: Moon]
└ Rank - Legendary
Tosun's Mom used her Unique Skill.
As she perked up her ears, all the attacks stopped in midair.
It was a sight that made it seem as if time had frozen.
Soon, a blood-red crescent moon rose above Tosun's Mom's head, and the moment it glowed, the suspended attacks were enveloped in Moonlight and annihilated.
Tosun's Mom reached out and drew a diagonal line in the air with her fingertips.
At the same time, red Moonlight scattered from the crescent moon.
The Flame Bears touched by the Moonlight had blood erupt from their bodies before they powerlessly collapsed and died on the spot.
It happened in a flash.
Not metaphorically, it truly was just an instant.
Because all of this had occurred in just a few seconds.
There was no need for us to step in.
"Groan..."
"G-Groan..."
"Roar..."
With a single gesture from Tosun's Mom, the horde of Flame Bears was reduced by half.
Did they lose their will to fight after feeling the overwhelming gap in power?
The attacks no longer flooded in.
Even though half of their kin had died, the Magma Bear and all the other Flame Bears trembled with terrified expressions, still bearing their injuries.
Tosun's Mom reached out her hand once again.
It looked like she planned to finish things off by killing the rest of them too.
I belatedly snapped back to my senses.
And hurriedly blocked Tosun's Mom's path.
"...Bear!"
It was an instinctive Action without an ounce of hesitation.
Tosun's Mom looked at me, slowly lowering her hand with a questioning expression.
"Hmm? Son-in-law Bear? What's the matter?"
"Bear, bear bear bear, bear bear..."
There was no real reason to hide it.
I spoke honestly.
That it seemed like that Leader was my father.
So I asked if she could show mercy just this once.
"Huh!? Whaaat?!"
"Gasp?! That bear was your p-p-papa?!"
"What? He's your father, Teddy Bear?"
Tosuni, Little Yellow Dragon, and Ms. Vampire.
The three looked at the Magma Bear with surprised expressions.
This was my first time meeting my father.
Honestly, I couldn't even acknowledge him as my father.
He was just my biological father, a bear I had no other relationship with.
Even so, I couldn't just casually let him be killed.
Flawed as he might be, the Magma Bear was my birth father.
No matter if he attacked us first, I wanted to forgive him at least this once.
Because I felt that if the Magma Bear were killed here, an uncomfortable feeling would weigh on me for quite a long time.
Also, ever since I learned that Magma Bear was my father, Jjokkomi's face had kept lingering in my eyes.
"Hmm. Son-in-law Bear's father... I'm pretty sure Tosuni said Son-in-law Bear didn't know who his father was...."
"Bear bear, bear bear bear bear."
I didn't know until just now.
I had only heard stories from Jjokkomi.
Today was my first time actually seeing my father in person.
I instinctively knew that bear was my father.
─I quickly explained.
"Are you sure? Are you sure you're not mistaken?"
"...Bear bear."
"Hmm, so you're sure... Alright, if Son-in-law Bear is certain, then it must be true. Then I won't kill him as Son-in-law Bear requested."
Tosun's Mom even withdrew her Killing Intent.
Only then did the surrounding air become much calmer.
"Groan...?"
Father...?
The Magma Bear, who was sprawled on the ground, looked up at me and muttered like that.
I tore my gaze away from him and quickly turned my head.
"Teddy Bear, you had a father too."
"This is my first time hearing that you have a p-p-papa too."
Ms. Vampire and Little Yellow Dragon spoke.
The two of them were still looking back and forth between the Magma Bear and me with surprised faces.
Tosun's Mom asked the Giant Centipede to resume moving.
The Giant Centipede watched the horde of Flame Bears, and swish- started to slip away, dodging them here and there. In the meantime, not a single Flame Bear attacked.
While we were escaping and avoiding them.
I took in the sight of the Flame Bear corpses scattered on the ground.
Thinking that maybe there were half-siblings among them.
I don't feel sorry for them.
If they tried to kill their opponents, they should have been prepared to die themselves.
"Whoosh."
Tosuni generously sprinkled her cotton toward the Flame Bears.
Soon after, we escaped from the midst of the Flame Bear horde.
"Ribbit? Are we just leaving like this? Didn't you say it was your first time meeting your father whom you've never seen before, ribbit?"
"Kyua! Is it okay not to talk to your dad? You were enemies at first, but now that you've subdued him, he's not dangerous!"
"Bear bear, bear bear bear."
There's nothing in particular to talk about.
Even if there was a topic, I didn't really have the desire to have a conversation.
As I said before, that Magma Bear is just my biological father.
Unless something unusual happens, this would be our first and last connection, probably.
"Kyua... You should have at least revealed the fact that you're his son before leaving...."
Red Panda.
Why are you the one feeling regretful....
Besides, that guy heard me say he was my father earlier.
I turned my head and looked at the receding Magma Bear.
The Magma Bear was erupting Lava from his body, and that Lava was flowing along the ground and seeping into the corpses of the Flame Bears.
I don't know what he's doing.
Is he holding a funeral?
I wasn't interested, so I turned my head back and looked forward.
Farewell, biological father.
Don't ever forget this favor for the rest of your life.
***
Not long after we started moving.
Frog let out a low groan before suddenly voicing a doubt.
"Ribbit ribbit... But this is a bit strange, ribbit......."
"What do you mean?"
Ms. Vampire responded to Frog's words.
"Ribbit, well... That place back there originally isn't Flame Bear territory. You have to go deeper to reach the Flame Bear territory. It'd be one thing if it were just a few, but a whole pack leaving their territory together to hunt shouldn't happen...."
"Hmm. Didn't a stronger Predator just appear? It's not that strange if you think they were robbed of their territory and fled."
"Ah, that could be the case, ribbit."
Frog and Ms. Vampire.
Tosun's Mom, who was listening to their conversation.
"Hmm. A stronger Predator than those guys just now...."
She smiled and suggested.
"I'm curious about what kind of guy it is. Shall we take a quick peek before we go?"
It seems she's overflowing with energy.
For reference, Tosun's Mom still hadn't deactivated her skill.
She was still in her Crimson Luna Rabbit state.
It seemed like she was maintaining it because she felt it was a shame to cancel the skill and end things just like this.
"Son-in-law Bear, is that okay?"
"Bear bear."
She must really be itching for a fight.
Do as you wish.
Giant Centipede changed direction.
Since Tosun's Mom was craving blood, we decided to briefly explore the deeper parts of the Volcanic Zone.
I didn't mind.
It wasn't like we had to rush to the Lake.
If we wanted to go fast, we wouldn't have ridden the Giant Centipede in the first place.
Ms. Vampire, Little Yellow Dragon, and Tosuni didn't seem to mind either.
And neither did Red Panda and Frog.
"Kyua? Are we going to catch the bad guy who chased away Teddy Bear's father? I'm in favor!"
"Little Master, you absolutely must not step in. Keep that in mind, ribbit."
"Kyuaaak! I'm going to fight too, bring it on, everyone!"
"Please don't act up, ribbit."
"Kyuaaaaak!"
"Ribbit......."
***
Volcanic Zone.
A place about 20 minutes away along the path Teddy Bear's party was heading.
Countless brilliantly colored spikes protruded from the ground here, and at the end of each one, the cold corpse of a Flame Bear was mercilessly impaled.
"Groan."
Munch, munch.
A single bear pulled out the Flame Bears impaled on the spikes one by one, roughly chewing and swallowing them.
A hairless body.
A monster engraved with a peculiar pattern that glowed brilliantly as if a Galaxy was flowing through it.
A Higher Species of the Flame Bear Mutant.
It was the Fantastic Bear.
[Fantastic Bear lv.77]
└ Pw.462
└ Rnk.Elite
[Domain: Chaos]
└ Rank - Mythical
Originally, the Flame Bear packs had a rule of immediately killing any Mutant born among them.
It was a discipline passed down from long ago.
However, not every pack followed that rule.
Teddy Bear's father, the Magma Bear.
One of the other packs, not the one he led, chose to abandon Mutants far away instead of killing them.
The Fantastic Bear right here was an individual abandoned by that very pack a long time ago.
The abandoned Fantastic Bear was luckily taken in by a certain monster.
Thanks to that, it was able to undergo Evolution after Evolution, reaching its current state.
And recently.
The Fantastic Bear returned to the pack that had abandoned it.
It didn't return to get revenge.
It was just a place its steps happened to reach by chance.
It didn't even know that the Flame Bear pack it encountered was the one that had abandoned it.
It was simply preying on the weak.
The Fantastic Bear freely roamed the Volcanic Zone.
Annihilating the Flame Bear pack that abandoned it, preying on other nearby Flame Bear packs, and hunting down even more packs nearby... As a result of repeating this process, the Flame Bear species inhabiting the Volcanic Zone was on the verge of being wiped out.
There was only one remaining pack.
Only the pack led by the Magma Bear.
"Kyuaaak! Enemy spotted! It's a bad guy indiscriminately eating Teddy Bear's dad's kin! I'll take it down!!!"
"Ribbit?! Stop! Anyone can see that's not an opponent the Little Master can handle!"
While the Fantastic Bear was frantically enjoying its meal.
Teddy Bear's party had arrived at this place before they knew it.
"Kyuaaaaak! Charge!!!"
"I said stop... ribbit?"
"Kyuaaaaaaak!!!"
"Hmm?"
"Kyuaaaaaaaak!!!"
"Bear?"
"What are you doing?"
"What a weirdo."
On the Giant Centipede's back.
The Giant Fist Lesser Panda was only shouting to charge but never actually running forward, roaring while hiding behind Tosun's Mom and only peeking his face out.
Swoosh-!
Tosun's Mom suddenly disappeared.
"Kyua? Kyua...."
With that, the Red Panda's roaring stopped as well.
Tosun's Mom, who had vanished from her spot, revealed herself right in front of the Fantastic Bear with scattering blood.
"Hmm, hello there."
"Groan?"
The Fantastic Bear raised its head.
Upon discovering Tosun's Mom, the Fantastic Bear howled fiercely, sprang up from its spot, and swung its front paw.
"Groaaar!!!"
"Mmm, unfortunately, you don't seem to be at the level I expected. Then... goodbye."
Beneath the Fantastic Bear's feet.
A massive pillar made of blood instantly shot up from the ground all the way high into the sky.
"Gr, oan......."
Submerged in the blood pillar, the Fantastic Bear had all the moisture drained from its body and died on the spot, leaving only its husk and Mana Stone behind.