As the pitch-black night swallowed the rice fields, Shun and Mye hid behind a low dirt wall near the old windmill. The entire landscape was drenched in the sound of howling wind and the rustling of rice stalks. Just as they had expected, the tigers emerged from the forest like creeping shadows, their eyes glowing eerily in the darkness.
They didn't charge blindly like the rampaging hippos from before—no, these beasts were far more intelligent. Under the moonlight, Shun and Mye counted at least twelve of them, their muscular bodies moving with terrifying precision, their black-striped fur blending seamlessly with the night, except for their gleaming predatory eyes.
Shun tightened his grip around his sword.
-"They're moving in formation," Mye whispered nervously, her voice trembling.
Shun narrowed his eyes—Mye was right. The front line of tigers was skillfully avoiding the simple traps she had set earlier, slinking around or leaping over them with calculated ease. However, on the left flank, two tigers were caught in the crosswinds of the windmill. The reinforced blades spun violently, triggering hidden spears to shoot upward, piercing through their bellies and ribcages. Their agonizing screeches pierced the night.
And yet… the rest of the pack didn't scatter. They didn't roar, didn't panic—they stayed completely silent.
-"They're… probing the battlefield," Shun muttered to himself, his heart pounding in his chest.
Never had he seen beasts so organized, so calculating.
Mye swallowed hard, her grip on her small dagger tightening.
-"Shun… what if they avoid all of our traps?"
Shun exhaled deeply, his eyes sharpening like a blade.
-"Then we'll have to change the plan… we meet them head-on, in the middle of the field."
These weren't ordinary beasts—they were predators evolved beyond instinct, predators that could strategize.
But Shun wasn't ordinary either.
Tonight… it wouldn't be just survival.
It would be a battle of wits… a deadly game of patience… and only one side would live to see the dawn.
Shun decided to turn the dense rice fields into a deadly maze, manipulating the thick layers of plants and natural pathways to confuse and restrict the movement of the predators. Using his ability to manipulate basic materials, he crafted narrow corridors and false paths that twisted around the windmills, forcing the tigers into tight, predictable routes.
At the center of the setup stood the old windmill, no longer just a harmless structure. Shun had carefully modified it—every time the windmill's blades spun, the mechanical rotation triggered a hidden mechanism. From within the frame, it would fire out waves of small, razor-sharp blades coated in a potent toxin.
Before leaving, Myria had entrusted Shun with several vials of paralyzing and weakening agents—concentrated, quick-acting poisons designed to slow down large creatures without damaging the environment. Shun soaked every throwing knife and spinning blade in these toxins, ensuring that even a minor scratch would be enough to cripple the beasts.
Combined with Mye's traps that targeted the legs and pressure points, and the suffocating narrow routes of the rice maze, Shun had built a perfect kill zone—every gust of wind through the spinning windmill became a storm of death.
Tonight, the battlefield wouldn't be a simple fight.
It would be Shun's domain…
A deadly labyrinth where every step the tigers took would only drag them closer to their end.
The tigers charged through the maze like predators who had mastered every corner of the battlefield. Though many had fallen to poison, the last three merged together into a monstrous form — a massive tiger standing upright, nearly three meters tall, its muscles bulging beneath dark, blood-stained fur, eyes burning with a mix of fury and brutal cunning.
Shun's expression hardened as he watched the beast.
-"They have intelligence… and fusion abilities?"-
His grip tightened around his sword, veins bulging along his arms from the rising tension.
The towering beast roared, its footsteps crushing the soft earth beneath, scattering rice stalks like dust in the wind. This time, the maze was useless—these creatures had memorized the terrain.
Shun clenched his jaw. Beside him, Mye trembled but stood her ground, fear swirling in her eyes yet refusing to back down.
-"We can't rely on traps anymore," Shun muttered, eyes sharp and focused. "Now… we fight them head-on."
Myria raised her magic staff high, her voice echoing across the silent fields:
-"Special Magic: Rainbow Over Lost!"
In an instant, the night sky was torn open by a colossal beam of light, cascading with brilliant colors like a violent, twisted rainbow. The energy surged downward like a cosmic waterfall, crashing upon the towering beast.
The fused tiger let out a blood-curdling roar, trying to retreat—but it was far too late. Its flesh began to melt away under the scorching radiance, bubbling and bursting into chunks of gore. Bones snapped, tendons were shredded, and blood vaporized into the air as the magical torrent devoured everything.
Shun stood still, his expression sharp and focused, while Mye stared wide-eyed in awe and terror at the overwhelming force of true magic.
Within seconds, the monstrous abomination that had terrorized Wirrt Village was reduced to nothing but a disgusting pool of melted flesh and shattered bones beneath the vibrant, deadly light of Rainbow Over Lost.
Suddenly, a sharp sense of unease struck Shun's mind. Something didn't add up. Why… why didn't the tigers fuse together from the very beginning after realizing the traps were laid out? If they were truly intelligent and dangerous predators, they wouldn't have acted so recklessly, falling into obvious ambushes and losing their numbers so easily.
What's more, not a single tiger tried to approach Shun in a way that could avoid ambushes—they charged headfirst, ignoring basic survival instincts. It was almost… artificial.
Shun's thoughts grew darker. Was someone pulling the strings behind the scenes, manipulating these tigers into becoming murderers? Were they just pawns—mere tools used to spread terror across this region? But why? Who would orchestrate such a brutal scheme, and where was this person hiding, observing everything from the shadows?
This revelation weighed heavily on Shun's heart. It was no longer a simple beast-hunting mission. A greater threat loomed over them—an ominous shadow stretching far beyond wild animals. Somewhere nearby, an unseen mastermind was lurking, waiting, and plotting something far more sinister… and Shun knew the real battle had just begun.