A group of Silent-type Chalog stood still directly beneath him. Their eyes glowed like burning fire, staring at their new target perched on the tree while emitting their characteristic low growls.
Zavi snorted. "Their intelligence is different from before… Silent type again?"
He had already counted the number of Chalog in front of him precisely and was ready to attack if they moved first.
However, Silent-type Chalog thought differently compared to the other three types. The Hunter type was known for its brutality, attacking anyone who entered their territory. Meanwhile, the Silent type was far more intelligent, possessing attributes of storm wind, destructive fire, and extreme speed, making them extremely difficult to capture.
The other two types were different as well. Their intelligence might be below the Silent type, but the Curse and Assassin types possessed strength two or even three times greater than both Silent and Hunter types.
Fortunately, those two terrifying types were not present in the Xinahiru Forest. If they were, the possibility of Zavi leaving this forest alive would be almost ninety-nine percent impossible.
Not long after predator and prey observed each other, a loud roar suddenly sounded from another direction, strong enough to make the ground tremble and the air surge violently.
Zavi glanced around, searching for the source of the sound, then froze when he realized the roar came from multiple directions not far from his location.
'Damn. Am I going to die in this forest?'
He laughed softly to ease his panic, unsure whether he would survive what was about to happen next.
"It must be Hunter types… did someone provoke them?"
'Could it be those people who did it?'
After thinking for a moment and considering that it might be true, he lowered his head slightly until his chin nearly touched the rough, uneven tree branch.
Then he quickly raised his revolver.
Bang!
The bullet shot through the air, heading straight for the Chalog at the very front. Its skull was pierced and shattered, spraying dark purple blood in all directions.
"One down."
Last night, or perhaps earlier this morning, he had already realized that the intelligence of the Silent type far exceeded common sense, but they were limited by their fear of light. He did not know why the Silent type feared light, and Zavi even suspected that exposure to light could cause their bodies to collapse or die.
According to stories circulating in that region, there had once been two recorded cases when Silent types attacked a group of travelers heading toward the border. The attack was extremely brutal. They did not kill their victims. Instead, they skinned them alive, forcing them to endure pain far worse than death itself.
This type of Chalog was known for hunting in groups, unlike other types that usually moved alone or in temporary packs. They did not depend on each other, and there had even been cases of cannibalism among them.
Zavi's expression remained flat as he stared ahead, but that calm did not last long after witnessing their behavior.
'Why are they still not moving?'
Around fifteen Chalog continued to observe him without moving, without making a sound, even after one of them had been killed.
'Now… do I have enough bullets to kill them all?'
He thought anxiously.
"Yes. Sixteen in total. If I miss even one or two shots, I don't know if I can survive like I did last night."
Zavi took a deep breath, calming his mind and steadying the tremor in his hands so his shots would remain accurate.
Then—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bullets burst from the revolver's barrel, producing white smoke and the smell of gunpowder drifting in the air. Each bullet struck the wolf-shaped Chalog directly in the neck, instantly shattering its skull.
"ARGHHH…!!!"
A burst of fire shot toward Zavi before the Chalog collapsed onto the leaf-covered ground.
Zavi's eyes widened.
"Huh? This is bad!" He managed to dodge the attack by hanging from an uneven branch while gripping his revolver.
Then as he tried to climb back up, he saw one of the Chalog, in its final moments, release a deafening scream powerful enough to trigger the aggression of the others. They immediately charged toward him, even ignoring the faint sunlight. Their purpose was clear: revenge for the death of their kind, and their hatred toward Zavi had reached its limit.
They leapt onto ground covered with tall vines nearby, then jumped again toward the tree trunk. The distance was about ten meters from Zavi's position lying on the curved branch at the far end.
"Hehehe, sorry."
He could only laugh softly to hide his panic.
The weight of the Chalog pack caused the tree branch to bend further downward. Even worse, one of them fell to the ground, ready to finish Zavi the moment his body truly dropped.
"Damn. I didn't expect them to be this smart."
In panic, he aimed the revolver forward and fired brutally until the cylinder was empty.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Two Chalog fell, their bodies spinning as they dropped from the tree before landing completely on the leaf-covered ground beneath it. One of them did not die immediately, only writhing in pain with its breathing rising and falling.
Click. Click.
"Empty…?"
Quickly he took spare bullets from his coat pocket, loaded them one by one until the cylinder was full, closed it again, and fired until it was empty once more.
The barrage of shots instantly killed five Chalog, their bodies collapsing below and forming pools of dark purple blood around their carcasses.
Two Chalog remained, waiting beneath him, jumping repeatedly with their jaws wide open, revealing serrated fangs sharp like surgical blades.
"HAEK! HAEK!!"
Fear instantly filled his face.
"Hiii… get away from here, damn it!"
Crack…
"What!?"
Unexpectedly, one of the Chalog used its companion's body as a foothold and leapt upward. Its sharp teeth clamped onto the edge of Zavi's swaying coat, and orange fire burst from its mouth, burning the tip of the coat.
Zavi's jaw hardened. Rage burned in his chest, every breath heavier than the last.
"Damn monster…"
Bang!
The final bullet fired. The monster died after the bullet pierced its neck.
Even lying on the tree while shooting had drained his strength. Every breath made his chest feel tight, as if it would explode from inhaling too much gunpowder smoke filled with chemical residue.
"Cough… cough…"
Zavi could not endure it any longer. When he covered his mouth with his left hand, he realized that without holding the tree branch he would fall straight down, only one and a half meters from the Chalog still standing nearby.
"This is bad…"
Thud.
Not only that, the bullets in his coat pocket scattered in all directions. Two fell in front of his body, while the other two lay three meters away. He had no choice but to retrieve them to kill the four remaining Chalog—one of which was already nearly dead from blood loss and unable to move.
As he tried to stand, the injured Chalog suddenly lunged forward and bit his ankle, crushing the bone and burning it.
Whoosh....
"Ahhhh… it hurts so much."
His scream echoed throughout the forest. Even Moreira and Celvira, who had almost reached the road at the edge of the forest, could faintly hear it.
Their steps stopped.
Moreira turned back. "Sir Lamena?"
Celvira did the same beside him.
Meanwhile, the Chalog chewed on Zavi's ankle, preparing to bite another part of his body. Zavi hurriedly inserted two bullets into the cylinder.
His hands trembled. His breathing was ragged. Cold sweat covered his face from the pain of losing the lower part of his leg.
"Damn…"
Bang!
The bullet pierced the Chalog's neck, shattering bone and exiting near its eye. The monster died instantly, dark purple blood spraying everywhere.
His hands trembled even more.
The trial was not over.
Before he could steady his breathing again, the last two Chalog quietly emerged from behind the bushes, approaching him.
Zavi saw with his own eyes as if the Chalog were mocking him. Their expressions almost looked like smiles. Their steps were relaxed, their mouths closed tightly, as if certain their prey could no longer move.
"How dare filthy creatures like you look down on me!" he shouted while dragging his body to reach the remaining bullets across from him.
But the Chalog gave their prey no chance to escape. They charged forward, hot orange fire flowing from their mouths before they spat it toward Zavi, landing on his leg as he crawled to retrieve the bullets.
"Ahhh...." he cried out in despair.
Refusing to give up, he quickly inserted the bullets into the revolver's cylinder with violently trembling hands.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The revolver's cylinder spun rapidly. White smoke burst from the barrel. Of the three shots, two struck the head and one hit the throat.
The revolver flew backward into the bushes. His breathing became chaotic, his heart pounded wildly, his chest rising and falling irregularly. Every breath felt as if it sliced his lungs from the inside.
The monsters' screams, the birds' chirping, his own breathing, and the sound of the wind suddenly faded, erasing the tension between life and death as if the world had shrunk into a single sound: the beating of his heart.
His body lay stiff and cold on the ground, blood continuing to seep into the soil beneath him with faint flames still burning on his leg. The pain was still there, real and cruel, but it no longer dominated his thoughts.
Zavi laughed softly and spoke in a hoarse voice, almost inaudible. "Heh... still alive."
There was no joy in him. Only relief. His trembling hand grabbed the soil around him and scattered it over the flames still burning on his leg.
"Ahh.. damn it," he hissed irritably.
He groped his body to make sure he was truly not dead yet. Half of his leg was gone, his blood nearly drained, but every Chalog around him had fallen.
His sacrifice had not been in vain, even though his actions had been extremely reckless.
If he stopped here, tonight there would be no more Chalog hunting others in this forest. There would be no more screams except his own.
With the last of his nearly exhausted strength, he took a long breath and spoke slowly.
"That's enough… for today. The Chalog are powerless and won't attack me anymore."
Meanwhile, behind the bushes, a Chalog that had previously been wounded by a ricocheting bullet that struck its lower back finally died after Zavi crawled out of the bushes, desperately trying to find help.
However, only a few seconds after emerging from those bushes, he collapsed onto the ground and immediately lost consciousness there, smoke from his coat drifting around his body.