"Roar!"
The mountains were high and the forest dense. A leopard's roar rang out.
Several shadows suddenly flashed through the dimness beneath the dense branches that sunlight could not penetrate.
They were four Shadow Leopards, all roughly the same size and all at the mid-stage of the first tier. Each had more or less a few freshly torn, blood-soaked chunks of flesh and severed limbs hanging from its mouth.
Judging from the scraps of clothing still stuck to them, it was obvious that all the victims had been from the Underlying Layer on the Border City's side.
A smaller female leopard with somewhat dull fur stepped out of the damp tree hollow where it had been hiding. Its eyes were pale green.
The roar from earlier had come from it, used to summon its cubs.
But now, as it looked at its cubs, it found that not one had brought back the heart and liver it loved to eat. They had all devoured theirs themselves. Unable to help itself, it ground its claws against the moss-covered tree root, easily tearing it into shreds.
Seeing this, the four leopard cubs all shrank their heads and looked toward their other brothers and sisters, unable to stop baring their teeth.
They had thought one of them might give up its share, but unexpectedly, none of them did.
"Chuff, chuff."
The mother leopard did not take it too seriously. After sharpening its claws, it was about to eat, but at that moment, it discovered that one of its cubs still had not returned.
It immediately became vigilant, growling low as it uneasily swept its gaze around.
Only then did the other cubs realize that something was wrong. Their tails began thrashing about, and each squeezed out its own cries from its throat.
First-tier demonic