Life or Death Speed

Inside the cargo hold, chaos reigned.

The behemoth’s roar awakened everything; in an instant, wolves howled, tigers roared, and birds shrieked.

“Haa… haa…”

I panted for air, my hand still tightly clutching the whiskers I had just ripped out, my soul yet to settle from the shock.

The two Sirens who were just standing here—are they just gone?

I guessed this monster was powerful, but I didn’t expect it to be this exaggerated.

Intercept the fleeing targets first, then turn back to kill?

A normal wild beast wouldn’t do this; this monster has a brain!

This is bad.

I quickly let go of the whiskers, held my breath, and stepped backward.

The cargo hold was noisy; although the sound made my ears ache, it could also hide my presence.

‘Dammit, how exactly was I discovered?’

I carefully watched the Long-bearded Leopard’s movements while clicking my tongue in complaint about this lethal proximity.

‘Originally, I should have retreated to a safer position before pulling the fur.’

‘But I didn’t expect that in the pitch-black environment, that Siren would charge straight at me.’

‘As if he knew exactly where I was.’

‘This forced me to act while being so close to the behemoth.’

‘Night vision?’

‘Impossible, otherwise they wouldn’t have needed to light a lamp.’

‘If that’s the case, does it mean they possess some kind of sensory ability?’

Buzzing…

Tinnitus.

My thoughts, along with my footsteps, came to a sudden halt.

Tranquility.

A sudden, abrupt peace.

A sudden chill rose in my heart; I focused my eyes and immediately looked toward the behemoth.

Thump! Rolling… the Siren’s skull, spat out, rolled across the floor.

Crack!

“Roaaarrr…”

Crushing the oil lamp the Siren had lit with one paw, the behemoth let out a deep growl.

“………Woof!”

Right behind me, a wild dog responded to the behemoth.

“Woof woof woof!” “Roaaarrr!”

Following that, more beastly roars erupted from the cages around me.

They barked and roared incessantly, even slamming their bodies against the cages, creating a clanging metallic sound, as if to say:

—The one who pulled out your whiskers is right here.

Run!

I bolted and sprinted toward the rear!

“ROAAARRRR—!”

Almost simultaneously, the behemoth’s roar erupted from behind, deafening!

Run! Run! Run for my life!

“Haa! Haa! Haa!”

Adrenaline surged; in my vision, the narrow passages between the cages began to tighten.

I opened my mouth wide, breathing almost maniacally, my legs moving so fast it felt like I was trying to kick the floor away.

‘What is this?’

‘Looking at how the caged beasts barked wherever I ran, I was baffled.’

‘Is this monster some kind of leader, using its underlings to point the way!’

“Are you insane!”

‘I opened the cages for you, yet instead of running out, you’re chasing me?’

‘I only pulled one hair, is it really worth all this!’

I cannot communicate with wild beasts; the option of a peaceful talk does not exist.

‘Hide in a cage? This area is full of beast cages; hiding inside would only make me die faster!’

‘Run further in? Am I supposed to race a wild beast in this state? I only have so many lives!’

Wait.

Clang—!

Grabbing the edge of a cage to make a high-speed turn, the iron bars rang out.

I sprinted at top speed while keeping an eye on the giant beast that had already put some distance between us.

The cargo hold paths were labyrinthine; sometimes a destination looked right there, but required a long detour to reach.

“Haa… haa…”

Panting, I forced myself to keep moving, struggling to maintain my speed.

‘There is a chance.’

‘Using the terrain, if I can just run out of the beast zone and back to the s*ave zone, I’ll still have a chance to survive—’

BOOM!

My lingering hope was blown away along with a nearby iron cage.

The behemoth didn’t even bother navigating the maze; it used brute force to flip over a cage and charged straight toward me in a direct line!

The cages were scattered like toy blocks one by one, its momentum overwhelming!

Thanks to that, all kinds of wild beasts poured out like a flood, and even some beasts ahead of my escape path began trying to smash their cages.

‘This… what the hell!?’

Bang!

Before I could even be shocked, an iron door of a cage right in front of me was slammed open.

A lead vicious dog lunged out, but before it could find its footing, it was trampled under the feet of the beasts rushing out behind it.

Then, four small vicious dogs appeared in my path.

“A pack of animals!”

Burning with rage, I grit my teeth in hatred, but now was a race between life and death.

Hearing the sound of cages collapsing continuously behind me, a scene of the items piled up nearby when I was opening the cages flashed through my mind.

‘Now… only one path remains.’

Decisively stopping my steps and turning around, I bolted toward another direction.

“Woof! Woof woof!” “Woof woof woof!”

As expected, those four vicious dogs chased after me without a second thought.

I naturally didn’t give them a single glance, for the colossus approaching at high speed was the true lethal threat.

Left turn here… then right!

Carrying a body loaded with various bags and items, I was already exhausted; now, I could barely even catch my breath.

Yet behind me, the distance between me and those dogs hadn’t increased at all; they were even getting closer.

Rumble rumble!

And the behemoth attacking with terrifying momentum was only one last cage away from me!

Ahead… is the final corner!

Without slowing down even a bit, I grabbed the iron bar at the corner and practically swung through the turn.

Relying on my memory, I arrived exactly where I wanted to go.

A dead end.

Yes, a dead end piled high with cargo… specifically, wine barrels.

Smash!

Pulling out my hammer and using my momentum to twist my waist, I gave a fierce swing, striking the weakest spot with a single blow!

Thump! Splash splash splash!

Only the sound of wooden boards breaking was heard as rolling wine gushed out, and the upper-level barrels, losing their balance, surged toward my rear.

“Awoo!?” “Whimper!”

Once those heavy barrels started rolling, the massive kinetic energy was enough to knock over and crush several wild dogs in one hit.

‘Can I climb over?’

Completely ignoring the stupid sight of those animals frantically dodging the wine barrel tide, I scanned the collapsed mountain of barrels and immediately identified a path I could climb.

Good, climb!

Using both hands and feet, grabbing any spot that could serve as a handhold, I climbed directly onto the wine barrels.

Once I’m over this, it’s the s*ave zone…

‘If I can just flip over, I won’t be attacked from both sides anymore!’

“Woof!”

But at that moment, one vicious dog actually slipped through the net.

Busy climbing as I was, how could I possibly have the time to deal with it.

Crunch!

So by the time I heard that sound, a sharp pain had already shot through my foot.

“Ugh-aaaa!”

Enduring the pain, I used all my strength to kick the dog square in the head.

Awoo!?

Whimpering in pain, the vicious dog fell down.

Boom!

It was at that exact moment that the behemoth smashed through the last cage and charged straight at me.

But at this moment, I was still one step away from climbing over the cargo.

I didn’t have time to check the injury on my leg, but I knew one thing by feel.

‘It was absolutely impossible for me to climb over here before this beast reached me.’

The behemoth drew closer and closer; I could clearly see the rage in its eyes and its gradually baring fangs.

‘This animal…’

Feeling the wine flowing beneath me, I steeled my heart.

‘I’ll take you down with me!’

Click.

Without a moment’s hesitation, I pressed the button.

Then, with all my strength, I threw the object in my hand toward the behemoth…

A silver bomb exploded in mid-air.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—!

Flames shot into the sky.