“If you follow this road straight on, you’ll get there. That’s where we go to gather medicinal herbs.”

“It used to be a place without a single beast, but about ten days ago, they started appearing…”

“There are already more than twenty dead.”

“At first we thought they were just lost. Or maybe some starving animal had wandered in.”

“But even when the whole village went out to search, not a single trace of a body could be found.”

Ethan’s brow furrowed as he listened to Chief Colt’s explanation when he reached the forest where the Cagrenis had appeared. He had found it strange from the moment he first heard about it, but seeing the place made it even stranger.

The Cagrenis method of hunting relied on their exceptionally sharp eyesight, powerful claws and paralysing venom. They would spot their prey running across the vast plains, then swoop down from the sky to snatch it. Adult or child, they would pick up their prey and carry it straight to their nest.

Silent in flight, the Cagrenis moved at incredible speed. The moment their prey became aware of their presence was when a pitch-black shadow loomed over their backs.

Sharp claws grasped the prey, slicing through its flesh. The paralysing venom seeps deep into their bodies, leaving them limp and helpless as they are dragged back to the nest.

The nest, built on cliffs too steep for natural predators to climb, makes escape almost impossible for the paralysed prey. After all, a body with no strength left cannot climb a cliff. If they fall, they plunge to their death.

Their chances of escape are close to zero. Even mercenaries, once captured, can only wait for rescue. If too much time passes, they will either be devoured by the Cagrenis or succumb to the spreading poison – one or the other.

But an ordinary villager fleeing a Cagrenis nest? It doesn’t make sense.

Either something had been overlooked, or the villagers were hiding something.

Still, Ethan had already secured the payment, so if things went badly, he would have to make a quick getaway.

Running his fingers over the hilt of his sword, he stepped onto the hardened ground. The path, worn smooth by years of footfall, was bare, without a blade of grass. Only the hurried footprints of someone fleeing back the way he had come were left.

“Ethan.”

If, who was nestled against Ethan and hiding inside a fur-lined hood, peeked out cautiously.

“What.”

Ethan, his eyes busily scanning the surroundings for any traces left behind by the beasts, responded curtly.

“I don’t see anything. Is it really here?”

“Probably.”

One of If’s few interests was magical beasts. Since they were creatures mutated by a virus – an accidental byproduct of science – it was only natural that he wanted to see them for himself.

Ethan lifted his eyes to see broken branches. In the dense forest, where the canopy was so thick that the sky was barely visible, the broken branches created gaping holes, as if something had torn through with great force.

The trunks, scratched by claws, bore traces of purple poison. Some of the trees, which had been standing for several days since the attack, had already begun to rot black from the claw marks.

Judging from the claw marks and the reaction of the poison, this was most likely the work of a Cagrenis.

But there were far too many trees in the area. The dense foliage would make it difficult for them to spot prey. Furthermore, there were no cliffs in sight to serve as suitable nesting sites.

Even if a Cagrenis had passed through here, it wouldn’t have stayed for ten days.

This place could never be a Cagrenis habitat.

Frowning, Ethan examined the tracks carefully.

The Cagrenis had attacked the villagers who were gathering medicinal herbs here. Numerous tracks were scattered around, tracks that would be hard for an ordinary person to notice.

Scratches on the ground from the beast pressing down on its prey with its claws, and even the distinctive droppings characteristic of bird-like magical beasts.

Despite the abundance of these tracks, there was one reason Ethan remained uncertain.

The location.

No matter how he looked at it, this place wasn’t suitable for a Cagrenis to be hunting.

Had it crashed after being injured?

If so, there would be signs of it dragging its legs or wings, but there were none.

Did it lay eggs?

Yes, but there was no place to make a nest.

If, by some rare chance, Cagrenis had laid eggs without building a nest, then instead of hunting like this, she should have been protecting her eggs from predators.

To an egg, both humans and animals were a threat.

As his thoughts continued to unfold, there was only one conclusion.

The Cagrenis had begun to act against their instincts, to behave erratically.

Could this be related to the sudden increase in magical beasts?

An increase in their numbers usually occurs for reasons such as a failed attempt at extermination during their breeding season, or a bountiful harvest that leads to more available food, causing them to reproduce in greater numbers.

But it wasn’t that their population had increased.

Rather, the magical beasts’ territory had expanded.

The territory of magical beasts worked much like that of animals. They settled in places that suited their instincts – places where hunting was easy, food was plentiful, predators were rare and offspring could be protected.

Yet in a region where not a single magical beast had ever appeared before, they had suddenly begun to do so.

There were only two possible explanations.

Either something had gone wrong in the areas where these creatures originally lived, or the creatures themselves had changed.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have brought him.’

Ethan held on tightly to the small body wriggling in his coat.

He considered the situation for a moment, but quickly dismissed the thought. If he had left her at the inn, he would have been too distracted to even swing his sword properly.

“Listen carefully. As soon as I let you out, climb the nearest tree and hide immediately.”

The Cagrenis were huge. Their strength was formidable, which meant that hiding behind a tree trunk would only result in being grabbed – tree and all – before being dragged back to their nest.

It was safer to stay in the trees. The dense foliage obscured vision, making it harder for the beast to spot its target and giving it a better chance of avoiding its claws.

‘Not that it’ll come to that—I’ll take care of it first.’

“A tree?”

“Yeah, climb as high as you can, preferably where there are a lot of branches.”

Ethan shifted his gaze and pointed to a tree. Its trunk was thick and sturdy, with exposed roots that were equally solid, firmly anchored deep in the ground. Its branches stretched out evenly in all directions, forming a dense canopy. The leaves were so dense that they could easily conceal a person.

“Somewhere like this should do.”

And luck was on their side.

As Ethan set If down, he quickly drew his sword. With a sharp twist of his waist, he used the momentum to slash away a massive claw.

The creature had brown feathers that darkened towards the tips, a white beak, and at its end, remnants of blood and bits of guts that had yet to be cleaned off.

Piiiiiih!

A shrill scream pierced the air, sharp enough to hurt his ears. Ethan grimaced but maintained his concentration.

His eyes went straight to If.

Only when he was sure she had climbed safely into the tree did he shift his gaze back to the enemy.

Its size was larger than anything Ethan was familiar with, but no matter how he looked at it, it was undoubtedly a Cagrenis. There were no visible abnormalities.

Ethan examined the claw that held his sword. A purple liquid dripped from its tip.

With a twist of his blade, he ran the edge along the length of the claw, slicing clean through the flesh that joined the foot to the claw.

PIIIIIIIIIH!

A deafening scream, much louder than before, tore through the air.

The sheer volume, now at such close range, made Ethan’s face contort in discomfort.

“Why are you screeching so much?”

A severed claw fell to the ground. The Cagrenis thrashed in pain, flapping its wings desperately.

Ethan widened the distance between them before hurling his sword straight at the creature’s wing.

With a sharp whistle, the blade shot through the air like an arrow and hit its target, cutting cleanly through the wing.

Piiiii-!

Ethan grabbed the cloth attached to the hilt of the sword and pulled hard.

The embedded blade dragged the Cagrenis down, sending it crashing to the ground where it writhed and writhed.

“Oh, this is nice.”

It was quicker than an arrow and more powerful than a spear. Ethan examined the returning sword with a grim smile.

Covered in dust and dirt, Ethan struck the flailing wing of the Cagrenis.

Such beasts were far from unintelligent. Once they fell into a trap, they wouldn’t let it catch them again. There was no second chance if the hunt ended in failure.

Something felt wrong.

If it had been smaller, it would probably have been a young one that had recently left its parents’ care. But with a body of this size, it should have matured long ago.

But if it had approached him – a mercenary – even from a distance, it was either just a big child or one who had never faced a mercenary before.

These creatures were intelligent. Once fooled by a trick, they would never fall for it again.

Anyone who had encountered mercenaries before would never get down on the ground, forcing them to use a bow instead.

And yet this one had shown no caution at all, making it far too easy to catch.

Ethan scanned the struggling Cagrenis.

Its venom could fetch a handsome sum on the black market, its feathers could be used to fletch arrows, and its claws were often used to decorate carriages. Even its saliva served as an antidote to its own venom, so that too could be sold.

He couldn’t take everything, so the most valuable and least bulky items were the venom and the saliva. He could give some of the saliva to the villagers.

As he calculated the value of the by-products from the Cagrenis, the creature suddenly began to struggle with all its remaining strength.

Even the Cagrenis could sense the blatant and chilling intention to tear its body apart.

What caught the Cagrenis’ eye was a presence in the trees.

With every ounce of strength it could muster, it flapped its broken wing violently.

Crunch.

Piiiii—!

Before its extended wing could reach the tree, a sword pierced it.

Ethan twisted the blade without a moment’s hesitation.

The Cagrenis let out a piercing scream as its bones and flesh tore in agony, struggling desperately.

“How dare you target someone?”

His cold eyes glinted ominously as they focused on the Cagrenis.