"Gene? What are you doing?! Get down!"
The team member called Gene snapped back to his senses, immediately crouched down, and pulled his cloak tightly around himself, hiding as best he could in the dense grass.
Fortunately, he had reacted quickly. His small mistake had not alerted the Centaur fifty meters ahead—
It had the mottled lower body of a horse and the muscular upper body of a man. Its facial features were deeply carved, with prominent brow ridges. Its wild, grass-like beard and long hair merged with the mane running down its back, and a pair of enormous Moose-like antlers grew from its head.
The tall grass reached past the Centaur's knees. Holding a wooden club, it strolled slowly across the plains, its tail occasionally swatting at nearby flies, its gait leisurely.
All the team members held their breath and watched the Centaur.
The moment the Centaur stepped into their prepared trap, two team members sprang up and simultaneously pulled the hunting net taut in opposite directions!
The net tangled around the Centaur's four hooves, instantly throwing it off balance! Before it could cry out, someone suddenly charged at it and swung a fist at it!
That fist carried the power of thunder. With a single strike, the over-two-meter-tall Centaur crashed to the ground, blood pouring from its seven orifices!
"Evelyn!" The blond man who had killed the Centaur called softly to his teammate.
A particularly light-footed woman drifted over and gently stroked the Centaur's corpse with both hands.
The flesh beneath her palms gradually turned purplish-black, faintly speckled with shimmering powder.
Seeing this, the blond man relaxed slightly. "All right, Evelyn has poisoned the corpse. Everyone else, rest where you are and keep watch for movement nearby."
After giving the order, he turned back with an unhappy expression.