Land Overlord

Looking at the gray giant beast locked in battle with the Thunder Giant Lizard, Leiluo was certain that it was a Behemoth—the Land Overlord capable of standing against dragons.

Watching the Thunder Giant Lizard steadily lose ground, Leiluo could not help feeling emotional. Though the Thunder Giant Lizard stood at the top of the food chain as well, when it encountered a Behemoth—even an immature one—it was simply no match. But why was there a Behemoth in a world of magical beasts? What kind of trope was this?

While Leiluo was staring at the Behemoth and letting his imagination run wild, the battle between the two giant beasts reached its most intense stage.

The Thunder Giant Lizard, weakened from constantly casting lightning spells, finally recovered somewhat. Although the Behemoth's claws had torn several horrifying wounds across its body, lizard species possessed extraordinary regenerative abilities to begin with. Moreover, none of those wounds had struck any vital areas. Thus, while the Thunder Giant Lizard's movements were somewhat sluggish, it did not affect the overall battle. After all, a Behemoth was not yet a Behemoth Giant Beast.

As for the Behemoth, it was not nearly as overwhelming as Leiluo had imagined.

But that made sense. When a Behemoth grew to around six meters during its juvenile stage, it underwent its first transformation, growing gray fur all over its body. This fur greatly increased the Behemoth's resistance to magic. A Behemoth with gray fur had reached Heroic Rank, but it was still far from becoming a Land Overlord.

At this stage, the Behemoth would no longer grow larger. Instead, it would continually challenge other fierce beasts until it underwent its second transformation. At that time, its body would surge to fifteen meters in height, its gray fur would evolve into silver fur, and two thin, blood-red markings would appear around its eyes.

Only then would the Behemoth—no, it should be called a Behemoth Giant Beast—become that King Rank Land Overlord capable of contending with dragons.

The Behemoth Leiluo saw had probably only recently grown its gray fur. Otherwise, as fellow Heroic Rank creatures, it could have easily dealt with the Thunder Giant Lizard.

The situation was truly unclear now. Relying on its powerful healing ability, the Thunder Giant Lizard traded wounds with the Behemoth. Though the Behemoth was powerful, it had only recently transformed. Its strength was not yet at its peak, and it had experienced little combat. It foolishly clashed head-on with the Thunder Giant Lizard, one biting while the other clawed. Even its gray fur was stained red. But the Thunder Giant Lizard's wounds were no longer healing as quickly as they had at the start of the battle.

"This won't do. If this Thunder Giant Lizard kills and eats the Behemoth, it might become a Master-level Thunder Giant Lizard King. This valley isn't far from the clan. When that happens, it'll be a disaster for the clan. I have to stop it." Leiluo thought so, and he acted on it.

No longer caring about the gap between Gold Tier and Heroic Rank, he picked up his battle axe and charged out.

The Thunder Giant Lizard, which had gained the upper hand, noticed Leiluo as well. But when it saw that he was merely a tiny Gold Tier creature, a trace of disdain flashed through its narrow eyes. It swept its tail at him, intending to kill Leiluo outright.

But Leiluo was the protagonist, after all. Though he was only Gold Tier, wasn't this casual strike from the Thunder Giant Lizard looking down on him too much? Orcs were people too! They had their pride!

As the Thunder Giant Lizard's tail swept toward him, Leiluo leaped into the air. Gripping the axe with both hands, he swung it down with all his might like an executioner delivering a sentence.

Empowered by Leiluo's immense strength, the blow severed half of the Thunder Giant Lizard's tail.

The Thunder Giant Lizard, which had been playing house with the Behemoth, never could have imagined that the ant in its eyes could cut off its tail. And now, it could no longer regenerate a new one. For a moment, the Thunder Giant Lizard froze.

After all, it was a candidate for Land Overlord. Though it had little combat experience, the Behemoth was still capable of seizing such an obvious opening.

The Behemoth charged forward and slammed its body fiercely into the Thunder Giant Lizard, flipping the tailless creature—unable to keep its balance—onto its back.

Then the Behemoth kicked off with both legs, raised its claws in midair, and drove them into the Thunder Giant Lizard's head with lightning speed, killing this Heroic Rank giant beast.

Seeing the Behemoth seize the opportunity he had created so quickly, a trace of approval flashed through Leiluo's eyes, while his thoughts began to stir. If one could defeat a Behemoth in battle, it would serve the victor. If Leiluo's clan had a Behemoth, its reputation would surely soar among the clans surrounding the wasteland. Then, those clans unable to survive the harsh winter would likely come to seek refuge, and Leiluo's clan could truly grow stronger.

Imagining his clan becoming a great tribe with hundreds of thousands of people, with himself raising a call from on high and followers gathering like clouds, a glistening strand of drool slipped from Leiluo's mouth.

Seeing Leiluo drooling at the Thunder Giant Lizard's corpse, the Behemoth thought that Leiluo wanted to eat the prey it had worked so hard to kill. It immediately let out a roar at him. Though Behemoths did not transform by eating, after such a great battle, being unable to have a proper meal was an agonizing thing. It was like refusing to let an ox sleep after plowing a field—did you really expect the ox to plow until it died?

The Behemoth's roar startled Leiluo out of his little world. Looking at its foodie gaze, he suddenly thought of a way to keep the Behemoth without having to defeat it.

Leiluo stored away the Thunder Giant Lizard's meat. He knew it would do little good for the Behemoth, so it would be better to bring it back for Saxi and the others to eat. Perhaps it could help them advance further. He also put away the Thunder Stone said to be found in Thunder Giant Lizards. Although the clan had no magic-based professions at present, it might come in handy in the future.

After handling everything, Leiluo began his plan to win over the Behemoth. It was a method that had been used to death in countless books—grilled meat.

As the saying went, a method did not need to be new as long as it worked. So many predecessors had taught them that the way to acquire pets—no, muscle—no, that wasn't right either—right, guardian beasts—was grilled meat. And after seeing the Behemoth's Zhonghuajia foodie eyes, how could Leiluo not test this divine skill?

Thus, Leiluo decisively used the barbecue method taught to him by a frontier boss during one of his old part-time jobs and began grilling meat for the Behemoth. Just as he had expected, the Behemoth sat quietly beside Leiluo, drawn by the aroma. Its drool could rival Huangguoshu Waterfall in Guizhou.

Just as one man and one beast were enjoying themselves, one grilling enthusiastically and the other eating happily, shouts came from a nearby hill. "Found them! They're up ahead! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!"

Hearing the commotion, Leiluo stood up and saw a group of ogres running toward him. He quickly picked up the battle axe beside him and nudged the Behemoth with his foot, but the fellow was still eating with great delight.

The ogres crossed the hundred-meter distance in an instant. Their leader saw Leiluo and signaled for the companions behind him to stop.

Only then did Leiluo see clearly that there were more than twenty ogres.

"Orc, which clan are you from?" a Two-Headed Ogre at the front stepped forward and asked.