Chapter 70: The King of Beasts and the Shadow of Ruin

I licked the bones of the Abyssal Fish again and again.

The lingering taste on the bones was simply too delicious.

“Hehe.”

I finally understood why dogs were so obsessed with bones.

With my heightened sense of smell, just licking the bones was enough to savor their flavor.

“Delicious.”

My stomach was full, and the weather was perfect.

I felt like sprawling on a rock and taking a nap, but it wasn’t the right time yet.

I still had to find the missing people.

‘But how do I find them?’

Sniff, sniff.

I sniffed the air, but there was no familiar scent.

I couldn’t hear any human voices, either.

It seemed I wouldn’t be able to rely on my senses to find them.

That left only my brain.

No matter how much my intelligence had declined, I still had my innate reasoning.

Finding people lost in the mountains shouldn’t be too hard to figure out.

‘Let’s follow the water.’

After all, humans can’t survive without water.

Even if they were lost, they weren’t fools they’d likely be near a water source.

“Sigh.”

Getting lost in the mountains could be extremely dangerous.

They were such a handful.

As the eldest here, I had no choice but to take responsibility.

For the sisters who might be crying somewhere out there.

I rubbed my full belly and stood up.

Stretching my arms with a long reach, I prepared to move along the stream.

But just as I was about to set off—

“Grrr…”

A low growl froze me in place.

I couldn’t move a single finger.

‘Ah…’

I instinctively knew.

There was a monster behind me.

And it wasn’t just any monster it was an incredibly powerful one.

The sound of its footsteps drawing closer was unbelievably heavy, enough to make the ground tremble.

‘I don’t want to die.’

I was going to be eaten.

Just like how I devoured the Abyssal Fish.

Such is the law of the jungle.

I shut my eyes tightly, overcome with despair.

Dying was bound to be incredibly painful.

Just as those horrifying thoughts filled my mind—

Thump, thump.

The creature’s footsteps passed me by.

“Huh?”

Curious, I cracked my eyes open and looked.

Its silver fur was patterned with black stripes.

This was the hallmark of a “Silver Tiger,” the apex predator of predatory monsters.

‘What’s going on?’

A Silver Tiger should have attacked me the moment we locked eyes.

Why was it just passing by?

The mystery puzzled me.

This creature was infamous as the “Tyrant of the Mountain.”

‘Did I… survive?’

At some point, my body began moving again, but I stood frozen, still trying to process the situation.

I couldn’t understand why the creature hadn’t killed me.

While I stood there in confusion, it drank from the stream, its back turned to me.

Then, an idea came to me a theory.

Perhaps it recognized me as an equal, a predator on par with itself.

‘No way…’

I cautiously approached the Silver Tiger as it lapped up the stream water.

I wanted to see if my theory was correct.

Lap, lap.

I knelt beside it and started lapping the stream water as well.

The Silver Tiger didn’t show any hostility.

Instead, it gently scratched its neck, as if welcoming me.

Although I couldn’t fully interpret its growls, I felt like I understood their meaning.

Companionship.

Friendship.

Perhaps even camaraderie.

These fragmented ideas ignited a fire within me.

“Roar!”

“Roar!”

I tilted my head back and let out a mighty roar, and the Silver Tiger echoed me.

But I wasn’t afraid anymore.

My roar was louder and fiercer than the Silver Tiger’s.

“From now on, your name is Silver.”

“Grrr.”

The creature responded with a soft growl, as if acknowledging its new name.

The moment the leader of the group was decided.

Three women gathered in front of the remains of the Abyssal Fish someone had devoured.

“Hm…”

Jinhyang reached out to examine the remnants of the fish.

Behind her, Raxy Bora watched with a worried expression.

“Unni, do you think Harang ate this?”

Raxy Bora clung to her own arm nervously as she spoke.

Jinhyang slowly nodded.

“Yeah. Looks like the kid was hungry and ate it.”

“R-really?”

“Normally, if it were a monster or a wild animal, they’d eat even the guts.”

“Ah.”

Hearing Jinhyang’s words, Raxy Bora leaned in to inspect the remains of the Abyssal Fish.

Sure enough, the flesh had been thoroughly picked clean, leaving only bones and organs behind.

‘It really must be Harang.’

Raxy Bora heaved a sigh of relief.

At least Harang wouldn’t starve anytime soon.

The stream nearby was also full of water, which meant dehydration wouldn’t be an issue.

‘As long as we find her soon.’

However, Jinhyang’s next words made Raxy Bora’s heart sink.

“There seems to be a monster nearby.”

“A m-monster?”

“Yeah. Looks like there’s a Silver Tiger in the area.”

“What?”

Raxy Bora gaped at her in shock.

Before she could ask further, Yoon Bora pointed toward a patch of underbrush.

“Bora, look over there. You see those footprints?”

“T-those…”

Raxy Bora’s gaze followed her sister’s finger, and she froze in place.

The footprints were enormous, almost as long as Harang’s height.

“Those are Silver Tiger tracks.”

“…”

Even though Raxy Bora wasn’t a Hunter, she knew exactly what a Silver Tiger was.

After all, it was the quintessential apex predator among beast-type monsters.

‘A Silver Tiger is in this forest?’

The most dreadful thought crossed Raxy Bora’s mind what might happen if Harang encountered a Silver Tiger.

“Unni, do you think Harang is okay…?”

Raxy Bora bit her nails nervously, staring at the massive footprints.

Even Yoon Bora seemed lost for words, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

Among the three, only Jinhyang remained composed.

Her “intuition” wasn’t sending her any warning signals.

According to Jinhyang’s intuition, Harang’s disappearance wasn’t a bad thing.

For reasons she couldn’t explain, it signaled the possibility of something good happening.

‘What could it be?’

Even though the child was missing, her instincts exuded a positive energy.

Jinhyang couldn’t understand it but didn’t doubt it either.

Her intuition had never betrayed her.

“Don’t worry, nothing will happen.”

Jinhyang waved a reassuring hand at the twin sisters.

“Um, okay…”

“If you say so, Unni.”

The twin sisters, who had some grasp of Jinhyang’s abilities, nodded in agreement.

Whether it was a Silver Tiger or an alien base in the forest, if Jinhyang said it would be fine, it would be fine.

Her talent for sensing danger was unmatched.

They just needed to find Harang without worrying about anything else.

Meanwhile, I was riding on Silver’s back, roaming the forest.

Sticking to a route that didn’t stray far from the valley,

Silver trotted along at a light jogging pace.

But to me, it felt like an incredible speed, and it terrified me.

“Silver.”

“Grrr.”

When I called Silver’s name, it responded with a low growl as if answering me.

At this point, I could be sure—Silver understood what I was saying.

“Could you slow down a bit? You’re going so fast, and it’s scary.”

“Grrr.”

At my request, Silver slowed its pace.

Now, it was moving at a speed equivalent to my full sprint.

‘Still pretty fast.’

They say when a Silver Tiger runs at full speed, all that’s left is an afterimage.

It really did seem like the real deal.

And yet, this extraordinary Silver Tiger was nothing more than my subordinate.

“Hehe.”

For some reason, I felt elated.

To think that even the apex predator among beast-type monsters was beneath me.

Indeed, I was the king of beasts.

“Silver, have you seen anyone else besides me?”

“Grrr.”

In response to my question, Silver abruptly stopped in its tracks.

It was such a sudden halt that it didn’t even decelerate; it just froze in place.

“Ahhh!”

Caught off guard by the sudden brake, I was thrown off by the momentum, tumbling down onto Silver’s elongated snout.

“H-hah.”

Startled, I placed a hand over my chest to calm my racing heart.

“Grrr.”

Silver let out a soft growl as it watched me, almost as if saying, Sit properly on my head.

“There’s no seatbelt, you know.”

Grumbling, I climbed back up onto Silver’s head.

Once I was securely seated, it began moving again, albeit at a slower pace than before.

‘Did it slow down because I got thrown off?’

The thought of a monster being considerate of me felt surreal.

Though, as the king of beasts, perhaps it was only natural for my subordinate to treat me with care.

“Heheh.”

As I enjoyed the breeze while riding atop Silver, I noticed someone in the distance on a hill.

‘Who’s that…?’

It was hard to see clearly from so far away, but I could tell they were tall.

However, their broad build suggested they weren’t someone I knew.

Jinhyang was tall for a woman, but her shoulders weren’t that wide.

‘Looks like a man… but why is there a man in this remote forest?’

A primal sense of unease crept up within me, but I decided to approach.

They might be a lost hiker stranded in the mountains.

“Let’s go a little faster, Silver.”

“Grrr.”

Silver carried me forward at a quick pace.

The wind whipped against my face, making it hard to see, but I squinted my eyes to get a better look.

Starting from his legs, I scanned upward to his torso.

And when my gaze finally reached his face,

I froze as if I had turned to stone.

The one who had dragged my life into ruin.

Lee Taeseong was standing there.

‘R-run.’

That was my first thought.

But before I could act on it,

Silver charged toward Lee Taeseong at an even faster speed.