A few hours earlier.
Dawn was approaching, but the sun had yet to rise.
On the outskirts of Ai City, at Rhodes Ranch.
Rhodes, the ranch owner, stood nervously outside his ranch. Even the three strong, armed cowboys beside him could not put him at ease.
He knew full well that he had encountered a problem ordinary people could not solve.
Moo!
A low bellow rang out.
Rhodes immediately looked toward the cowshed.
When he saw a "cow" with no flesh or blood left, nothing but hide wrapped around its frame, his grip involuntarily tightened around his revolver.
The three cowboys behind him broke out in cold sweats. One of them even began to chatter his teeth uncontrollably.
"W-what is that thing?"
The cowboy stammered out the question.
The other two cowboys instinctively looked at Rhodes.
Not only was the ranch owner the only person keeping his composure, but he had also been the first to discover these things and tell them to arm themselves.
"I don't know."
Rhodes shook his head honestly.
Thanks to an old friend, he knew about that mysterious world.
But he had never had any contact with it.
He neither wanted to nor dared to.
Yet things always seemed to head in the opposite direction.
Refusing to get involved did not mean those things would never appear before you.
"What should we do?"
A cowboy asked Rhodes.
The composed ranch owner had already become the three young cowboys' pillar of support.
"Wait!"
Rhodes lowered the brim of his hat.
"Wait?"
The three cowboys froze.
"I've called in an expert."
"Until he gets here, all we need to do is keep ourselves safe and wait."
Rhodes spoke quietly.
The three cowboys exchanged looks and ultimately chose to wait outside the ranch with him.
They did not