Colin had been feeling uneasy lately.
Once, he had spied on Golden-Horn Dute's territory from afar and noticed that the shallows were beginning to dry up.
The Horned Giant Rhinos, reeking of shit, soaked in the shallows and rolled in the mud all day long. Their bodies were growing ever larger, and their skin was visibly thickening.
It seemed those bastards were about to squander the precious Land of Earth's Blessing.
Colin believed he had to act immediately. At this rate, even if he managed to drive the Horned Giant Rhinos away, he probably wouldn't get there while it was still hot. Colin knew full well that Earth's Blessing could be depleted, and the drying shallows were a sign that the blessing was running out.
But what could he do?
Colin thought again of that stubborn little fellow.
There were always times when a lone wanderer reached the limits of his strength. This Nightmare Leopard king needed loyal subordinates.
Colin descended the mountain to the damp, gloomy ground and ventured deep into the bushes. He had to admit he shouldn't have gone soft and let that fellow go. Even if he was going to leave, he should have finished the job for Colin first.
Colin occupied an isolated peak in the Akalai Mountains, only about fifty kilometers in a straight line from the nearest bank of the Mara River—a leisurely walk after a meal for Colin. There was abundant food here, and dangerous hunters. Colin knew the laws of the rainforest in the dry season: at this time, many Nightmare Leopard families gathered along the riverbank.
During this time, deep in the dense forest, a red-spotted Nightmare Leopard roamed near the banks of the Mara River, searching for any trace of Headscar.
He wasn't just looking for Headscar. He also needed to assess the alpha males of other Nightmare Leopard families. If Colin wanted to drive out the Horned Giant Rhino Family, he would at least have to form a family of his own. A Nightmare Leopard family—something he had once disdained—had now become the decisive move that would determine his future.
Colin hid in the dense forest, secretly observing those who had come after him.
In truth, even for Colin, a Nightmare Leopard who was a Furnace-Core Creature, recruiting a family's alpha male was extremely difficult.
An alpha male was the head of a family, closely bound to its members. They put their families first, and everything they did was in service of them; they could even sacrifice themselves for that purpose. Colin couldn't recruit those strong, powerful fellows on their own, because they wouldn't abandon their families. But if they brought their whole families along, they would all be burdens to Colin, and that wouldn't serve his interests.
He had no intention of sharing that precious Earth's Blessing with the other members of those families.
After turning it over and over, Headscar was still the best choice.
A lone individual, and a formidable fighter at that.
Fortunately, Colin found traces of Headscar.
A lone Nightmare Leopard that often appeared around the Mara River basin was hard not to notice.
Colin was an expert tracker. He silently followed Headscar as Headscar returned to his den from a hunt. Colin's figure could still be made out during the day, but once night fell and the dense Samei leaves blocked the last trace of light, even passing right beside herbivores failed to alarm them.
He had almost completely become one with the night.
His red spots and fur could effectively disrupt his prey's vision. In the eyes of most animals, red and dark purple looked no different from the bushes.
Headscar followed game trails and crossed dry riverbeds, carrying his prey back to a tree not far from Blackwater Swamp.
He lay down and quietly enjoyed his hard-won prey.
Because the Typhon that had occupied the Mara River basin had died, more dangerous predators had come there. Headscar's hunts were fraught with danger; those extremely dangerous predators even dared to snatch food from Nightmare Leopard families.
Headscar gnawed on the entrails, savoring the wetness as the organs burst between his teeth.
A fruit came crashing down.
Headscar looked up at the treetop in displeasure. The old monkey had thrown the fruit at Headscar, but didn't so much as glance at him, looking instead at the dark forest nearby.
The next moment, the troop of monkeys barked.
Moving red spots emerged from the darkness, and a pair of eerie green eyes lit up.
At the bottom of the swamp, Famu was resting after tending to his burns.
Some of the charred flesh had healed, and new scales covered the injured areas, but nearly a third of the burned area remained unhealed. There were also some faint tooth marks on his neck.
He caught the monkeys' warning cries.
A highly unusual four syllables.
Headscar was three, Famu was five, and four meant a dangerous hunter somewhere between them.
Famu flexed his muscles, his iron scales scraping against the stone wall as he crawled out of his den.
Immediately afterward, a colossal creature could be seen gliding through the deep water, the current stirred up by his bulk scattering the schools of fish.
On the bank, Headscar watched Colin warily.
This king of the Nightmare Leopards.
Headscar rose, crouched low, and bared his fangs at Colin.
It was an attacking stance, and Headscar had to take it. He didn't know what this Nightmare Leopard had come here for, but instinct told him the other was shrouded in a dangerous aura. It couldn't be anything good.
Colin looked at the wary Headscar, his mind already made up. He would use his might to pressure the little fellow into working for him; he couldn't let him leave again.
But the White-Faced Monkeys here were far too noisy.
Colin cast a cold glance at the old monkey in the treetop. It had been the first to sound the warning.
But Colin saw no fear on that aged, wrinkled face. The old monkey looked at him mockingly, leisurely munching on a fruit.
Had the monkeys here lost all respect for Nightmare Leopards?
White-Faced Monkeys really were creatures some large predators couldn't be bothered with, but Nightmare Leopards ruled not only the ground but also the forest's middle layer. They were excellent climbers, and killing a troop of monkeys was easy for them.
Right now, for instance, if Colin wanted to kill the old monkey, he would need only five seconds from the moment he took his first step.
The old monkey knew that too.
But it also knew this Nightmare Leopard didn't have five seconds.
It spat out the fruit's pit.
The pit fell to the ground.
"Boom—!" Blackwater Swamp erupted with a crash. Colin turned and saw a massive form twisting upward from the water.
A savage serpent's head, an extraordinarily thick neck, and iron scales covering his entire body. Moonlight flowed over him, turning to liquid silver.
Colin's senses were so sharp that he heard the friction of the giant beast's iron scales opening and closing, as well as a low, rhythmic hum.
It was the resonance of a Furnace Core.
It was the melody of the rainforest's god of death.
A Typhon.
A Typhon was actually hiding in this barren, desolate stretch of water!
Colin sprang backward, evading the giant beast's bite. His opponent had locked onto him the moment he appeared and attacked before the spray had fallen back into the water.
Too fast, his movements impossibly agile.
Colin had no will to fight.
For he had heard the thunderous roar of this Typhon's Furnace Core. It was the domineering Child of the Earth, representing the most unreasonable power in this rainforest.
His opponent was an adult Typhon, and a warrior who wielded a Child of the Earth Furnace Core.
An adult Typhon, in a swamp, with a Child of the Earth Furnace Core—any one of those gave Colin no chance of winning, let alone all of them combined.
Colin had lived thirty years, the combined lifespans of three generations of Nightmare Leopards. Yet a thirty-year-old Nightmare Leopard ancestor was the same age as a Typhon in his prime. The difference in lifespan alone left Nightmare Leopards far behind.
Creatures that possessed Furnace Cores were intelligent species that had risen above savagery.
But they never called Typhons an intelligent species. Typhons were a super-species that stood above both intelligence and savagery!
Typhons could be more savage than savage species and more intelligent than intelligent species.
By the Leopard God's ghost, why was there a Typhon here?
Colin panicked.
He understood the terror of Typhons better than his kin who lacked Furnace Cores.
Famu slowly raised his head. This Nightmare Leopard reacted quickly, able to respond to the surprise bite powered by his dragon-transformed cervical vertebrae. He reacted much faster than the other Nightmare Leopards Famu had seen.
He watched the Nightmare Leopard, his body coiled and his neck slightly bent.
The unusually large Nightmare Leopard was still within Famu's striking range.
"Roar!" Colin growled.
He hoped to negotiate with the other.
But this Typhon might not understand his language.
What Typhons spoke was the most orthodox Mud Language in the Samei Rainforest. Furnace-Core Creatures like Colin and Dutt had no access to the orthodox inheritance, so their speech probably sounded all wrong to Typhons. If the other couldn't understand him, Colin could only pray that he survived the Typhon's attack.
Famu tilted his head and studied Colin.
Had he heard that right?
This Nightmare Leopard could talk too?
Though the accent was quite heavy, Famu could still understand him by combining it with the Nightmare Leopard's vocal signals.
The Nightmare Leopard said he meant no offense.
"Huff—"
Famu growled. He crawled out of the swamp and onto the bank, his neck close to the ground as he slithered toward the red-spotted, purple-furred Nightmare Leopard.
Colin heard Famu's voice—the most orthodox ancient Mud Language. Even the language carried a powerful majesty.
Famu told Colin, "You must offer a sacrifice in place of your flesh and blood."
Colin knew he was safe for the moment. This Typhon really could understand his garbled Mud Language.
He lowered his head.
Then he thought of something and spoke a name.
"Golden-Horn Dute."
The shallows at the foot of the mountain, the throne of the Horned Giant Rhino Family.
Water seeped down from the mountain, collecting among the scattered rocks in a murky pool.
The five-ton beasts soaked in the mud, their backs and nostrils exposed. Mud coated their skin, serving as both air conditioning to cool them and armor against insects. The dry season's flies were larger than the pellets of their dung, and only mud could keep them out.
Horned Giant Rhinos lived in family units. Mothers guarded their young, while the calves rolled at the water's edge, smearing themselves all over with mud. Three adult members were scattered around them, ears swiveling and nostrils flaring. They had no natural enemies for dozens of miles around. Five-ton bodies, hides too thick for claws or fangs to overcome, and two horns that could pierce anything.
The largest lay in the middle of the shallows.
Golden-Horn Dute.
He quietly admired his family as it grew stronger by the day.
Perhaps a second Furnace-Core Creature would be born, just like him.
The one he held the greatest hopes for was his eldest son. The lad was almost as big as he was already, and had been washed very well by the mud.
In the shadows of the trees by the bank, Colin crouched low, with Headscar behind him. Headscar imitated Colin's method of concealment, and the two Nightmare Leopards stood beneath the trees, almost blending into their shade.
Red-Spot Colin.
He had offered the king of the black swamp the location of the Horned Giant Rhino Family.
He had told Famu that the Horned Giant Rhinos' territory was the Land of Earth's Blessing, where Mother Earth's milk flowed forth to nourish all living things and grant intelligence to savage beasts.
Famu had submerged himself and approached through the water from downstream.
The current and the coating of mud completely concealed the Typhon's scent. Hugging the riverbed, he drew near underwater.
In the pitch-black night, one heat source was exceptionally bright.
That was the Golden-Horn Dute Colin had spoken of, the leader of the Horned Giant Rhino Family.
Famu saw his powerful heart. Besides that, Famu detected another heat source in Golden-Horn Dute's brain. It was connected to his two great horns and flowed through his cervical vertebrae to the rest of his body.
Golden-Horn Dute's biological Furnace Core.
In the dry season's shallows, the water only reached a Horned Giant Rhino's knees.
Famu watched Golden-Horn Dute for a while, then sank beneath the water.
Dutt sensed something was wrong. His ears swiveled, and he heard the faint sound of flowing water. Something had distorted the ripples, but the air held only the earthy smell of mud and the scent of his own kind.
He thought perhaps Colin had come again.
That leopard who had lost his home could only spy on this place from afar, not daring to venture closer.
What did it matter how strong a Nightmare Leopard was once he had lost his family?
Golden-Horn Dute called to his eldest son, that round, chubby lad.
But what answered him was a tremendous, reverberating crash.
Golden-Horn Dute saw his eldest son, who had been swimming toward him, sink into the mud with a splash.
The water was shallow, nowhere near deep enough to submerge a giant beast like a Horned Giant Rhino. Yet his eldest son had indeed been swallowed by the mud. Dutt thought his son was playing a prank, but beneath the spreading ripples, he saw thick blood welling up.
From above, a massive serpentine shadow could be seen swimming beneath the water.
Underwater, Famu skillfully avoided touching any of the Horned Giant Rhinos. His winding serpent body passed them as though swimming past gray islets.
Colin watched, his heart pounding with fear.
At such close range, not a single Horned Giant Rhino had noticed the Black Typhon right beside them.
Not even Dutt had noticed.
Famu had bitten off all four of Dutt's eldest son's legs underwater, leaving only his round body. The thick scent of blood spread, and amid the bloody haze, Famu unleashed a thunderous strike. He lunged from underwater and clamped his jaws around Golden-Horn Dute's body. The terrifying force toppled the eight-ton behemoth into the shallows. At the same time, the serpent body looped around the other Horned Giant Rhinos tightened like a rein hidden in the water.
The moment they saw the attack coming, every member of the Horned Giant Rhino Family moved, but all of them were tripped.
Dutt roared wildly.
He recognized his attacker as a Typhon. The resonance of the Child of the Earth Furnace Core made his eardrums tingle.
But he was not helpless to fight back, as long as he wasn't entangled.
As long as he wasn't constricted to death—
Famu's sharp teeth pierced Dutt's thick hide. Those teeth couldn't pierce the skin of the Dead Sun Armor, but the Horned Giant Rhino clearly couldn't withstand them.
An astonishing bite force erupted.
Before Dutt himself could understand what had happened, he lost his forelegs.
The thick rhino legs crashed into the mud, and viscous blood slowly ran down between Famu's sharp teeth. Dutt stared at the monster in horror, only one thought in his mind: This isn't a Typhon!
This is a savage black iron monster, and this monster is smiling at me!