The Art of Hunting

After bending low and carefully creeping forward another dozen meters, the smell of blood grew thick and pungent. Seja pushed aside the wet fan-leaf shrubs, and the sight before her was horrifying.

More than a dozen human corpses lay scattered across the ground. Judging by the shattered insignias, they seemed to have been adventurers hired by some merchant caravan.

Notched two-handed swords, broken spear shafts, round wooden shields covered in cheap cowhide... the equipment strewn across the ground further confirmed their identities as adventurers.

The worn, shabby chainmail on their bodies had now been thoroughly ripped apart by inhuman claws. Twisted metal rings hung from the corpses like torn fishing nets, exposing the equally shredded leather padding and flesh beneath.

Farther away, the sounds of fighting and curses seemed to drift faintly through the air.

"These wounds were made by those Corrupted Lizardfolk."

Seja had grown up alongside the Swamp Forest and was accustomed to bloody scenes. She did not panic, though concern showed in her expression.

"They're hunting something down."

"Let's sneak over and take a look."

Chen Yu was never one to fear trouble when there was a spectacle to watch. Better yet, perhaps they could teach those Corrupted Lizardfolk—who were obstructing his efforts to open up the Smooth Bee Path—a lesson.

As Seja carried him past, he curiously studied the human corpses on the ground: chestnut-brown curly hair, high noses, freckled faces, filled with an exotic air.

They really were humans, no mistake about it—if anything, they looked even more human than he had expected.

They had heads and faces, two eyes, noses and mouths, all where they were supposed to be. They were just too human.

That put him at ease. At the very least, Zeyarila was not some bizarre world.

Seja tightened her hold on the Slime in her arms and cautiously crept onward. She found a high patch of ground with an unobstructed view, from where she could clearly see what was happening ahead.

Within an ancient banyan grove deep in the mire, dense fog hung everywhere, and the stench of rotten wood mingled with the smell of blood. Massive buttress roots rose like twisted walls, dividing the battlefield.

In the battle to seize food and supplies from the Corrupted Lizardfolk, the hunting party of the Rotten Moss Tribe was being forced back step by step.

Their original plan to rescue the human merchant caravan had failed. They had walked into an ambush.

"Hold the line! For the Ancestral Spirit! For the tribe!" An experienced warrior roared, swinging his Bone Blade at a charging Scaleclaw warrior.

Clang!

Sparks flew! The Bone Blade left only a shallow white mark on the opponent's shoulder, which was covered in thick gray scales.

The Corrupted Lizardfolk grinned savagely and lashed out with a backhanded claw. With a howl that tore through the air, it easily sent the Rotten Moss warrior's weapon flying, then its other sharp claw viciously plunged toward his abdomen!

Splat!

Claws sank into flesh, and blood burst forth.

The Rotten Moss warrior's eyes widened. Agony and despair swallowed him whole as immense force hurled his body away. He crashed into a slick banyan root and fell silent forever.

The Scaleclaw Tribe's hunting party closed in like a gray tide of death.

It was a force they could not possibly resist.

The Corrupted Lizardfolk were generally a full size larger than the Rotten Moss warriors, their muscles knotted and bulging. Their dull gray scales reflected a cold metallic gleam beneath the dim light.

Their claws were extraordinarily sharp, easily tearing through the Rotten Moss warriors' leather armor and comparatively softer green scales. Every pounce carried frenzied power, every bite accompanied by a companion's shriek.

"Retreat! Fall back to the stone pillar zone!"

The captain of the Rotten Moss Tribe, an old warrior with savage claw scars across his face, issued the command in a hoarse voice.

But their escape route had already been blocked by two Corrupted Lizardfolk. Murky, ominous dark-red light flickered in their eyes—the mad power bestowed by Corrupted Morgul.

Despair blanketed the surviving Rotten Moss warriors, yet the fighting spirit in their eyes had not faded, as though they were waiting for something to appear.

On the high ground.

"Envoy, should we intervene?"

Seja gripped her staff tightly, staring unblinkingly at the battlefield.

The battle had already been going on for quite some time before they arrived.

She recognized the identity of the Corrupted Lizardfolk's opponents. They were Moss Lizardfolk from the Rotten Moss Tribe farther north.

"This group of Moss Lizardfolk still has a trump card up their sleeve."

"A trump card?"

The confusion on Seja's face had not lasted long before she saw a figure slowly emerge from the thick fog.

Her eyes widened, brimming with delight.

Just as the Corrupted Lizardfolk grinned viciously and prepared to launch the final blow, crushing the remaining Rotten Moss forces completely—

Whoosh—!!!

A shrill scream that tore through the fog rang out without warning! It was as piercing as Death's whistle!

A crude spear infused with terrifying power became a blurred black shadow, shooting in with incomparable precision from the side of the battlefield!

Splat!

The Corrupted Lizardfolk charging at the front, just about to rip apart an injured Rotten Moss warrior, suddenly froze.

Like a hot knife through butter, the wooden spear pierced the thick gray scales it took such pride in and drove deep into its chest!

The tremendous impact even drove his burly body staggering back two steps before he crashed to the ground, leaving only a gruesome hole in his chest that continuously gushed foul blood.

The battlefield fell deathly silent in an instant! Whether the despairing Mossrot warriors or the berserk Scaleclaw hunters, all stared in shock toward the direction from which the spear had flown.

From the edge of shadow and dense fog, a towering figure emerged slowly, so imposing it made hearts tremble.

Semiya.

Her deep olive scales clung to her explosive physique like cold-forged iron. Several Bone Blades hung at her waist, gleaming with a grim white chill, while a blowgun was slung diagonally across her back.

In her hand, she carried a dripping, bloody head.

She gave no battle cry. She merely stepped silently onto the battlefield, each footfall seeming to land upon the rhythm of a heartbeat—heavy and lethal.

Her amber slit pupils swept coldly over the battlefield. As her gaze passed over the uncertain Corrupted Lizardfolk, the pure killing intent that could freeze souls nearly took tangible form, making even the fiercest Scaleclaw warriors feel a chill crawl down their spines.

"Lady Semiya!"

"Our Valkyrie is here!"

She ignored the frightened yet faintly hopeful looks of the Mossrot warriors. She had only one target—crush the Corrupted Beings before her.

"It's that monster!"

"Kill her!"

One Corrupted Lizardfolk was the first to recover from its shock. Roaring, it lunged forward with slashing claws, trying to crush this sudden threat with brute force.

Semiya did not even draw her blade.

She shifted slightly aside, evading the edge of the claw strike. Her powerful tail swept out like a steel whip!

Bang!

A dull impact rang out! The Corrupted warrior was struck squarely in the waist and ribs. Its thick gray scales shattered and caved in, and its whole body flew away like a kite with its string cut, snapping a low branch before collapsing limply to the ground. Blood spilled from its nose and mouth, and it never rose again.

Semiya moved!

Her movements were swift as lightning, precise as a venomous snake!

A Bone Blade left its sheath, carving a cold arc through the air and instantly slicing open the throat of another Corrupted Lizardfolk attempting a Sneak Attack. The motion was clean and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.

Then, with a backhand motion, she drew a short spear and hurled it with pinpoint accuracy, pinning a Corrupted hunter who was drawing its bow in the distance dead to a tree trunk.

She was like an efficiently operating killing machine, charging upstream through the gray tide.

The powerful Corrupted warriors seemed clumsy before her, and the gray scales they took such pride in were like paper beneath her strength and the precise strikes of her Bone Blades.

With her arrival, the tide of battle began to turn! Hope reignited in the eyes of the Mossrot warriors, and they launched a counterattack.

"Seja, you said that's your older sister?"

Chen Yu's voice was full of suspicion.

This female Lizardfolk's combat power was simply off the charts, wasn't it?

As expected of an elite Lizardfolk with a Prestige Title.

But he found it hard to connect such a powerful female Lizardfolk warrior with the foolish shaman who had clung to him.

Forget sisters—they barely seemed like the same species.

Seja's face reddened. She understood what Chen Yu meant.

"I-I'm pretty amazing too."

She tried to wave her staff around to show off her strength, but those slender arms hardly looked convincing.