Ethan was focused intently on the unfolding situation ahead, his senses stretched to the max.
"Stop right there!"
A loud shout exploded from the front, slicing through the rain and wind.
Startled, Ethan snapped out of his thoughts and looked up. A group of dozens stood ahead, blocking the path. At their head was a man whose face looked like it had been carved from the stubborn hide of a mule. A curved saber hung on his back, and his body was spindly and thin.
Looking closer, he resembled a mummy more than a man, like sothing that had crawled out of a desert tomb. His ugliness was legendary, made worse when he opened his mouth—yellow, crooked teeth jutted out like cracked stones, and his words ca out with a nasal wheeze that grated like hooves on dry stone.
'Didn't I adjust my direction to avoid them?' Ethan thought.
"Four humans and a cub, daring to stand tall before the Moon-Gazing Rhinoceros Tribe... and trying to sneak past us like rats? Do you want to die?"
The mule-faced man sneered, eyes glinting with malice as they fixed on Dot. His tongue flicked out to wet his cracked lips—an unconscious, hungry motion that made Ethan's skin crawl.
A voice called from the side before Ethan could react.
"Rhino, don't waste ti. The rain's still falling, and the Pincer-tailed Sand Badgers retreating like that? It's not normal."
Another group approached—also dozens strong. At the front strode a man with sharp canine features, radiating quiet strength. His presence contrasted sharply with the mule-faced figure. The mule—"Rhino," apparently—glared at the newcor.
"Inugoro," he said coldly, "I've heard your Underworld Hound Tribe likes cozying up to humans. Planning to ddle in Moon-Gazing business now?"
Inugoro t the gaze without flinching but said nothing to Rhino. Instead, he turned to his people and gave a curt command: "Let's go."
Rhino let out a harsh, barking laugh. "Hahaha… tucking tail and running! The Underworld Hound Tribe lives up to its na."
Inugoro froze mid-step. Sothing wasn't right. The sand badgers' retreat—it didn't sit well with him. There was danger in the air, thick and pressing. He didn't want a conflict now. They needed to reach Beastfall City.
But Rhino's words dug deep, and his mocking bray scraped the already raw nerves of Inugoro's tribesn. The tension from the earlier battle with the sand badgers had barely faded. They had fought side-by-side with the Rhinoceros Tribe out of necessity, but the alliance was paper-thin. Now Rhino dared to throw insults.
The mule-faced man's laughter grated like bone on bone.
Pfft.
Before anyone could react, a figure flashed through the rain. A finger touched Rhino's forehead—just a tap.
Then ca a sharp, wet crack.
Blood arced through the air as a hole opened in Rhino's skull, and the sound of his braying laughter was silenced instantly.
"I'm really sorry," Ethan said, lowering his hand. "Your voice was unbearable. I just couldn't take it anymore."
Over a hundred pairs of eyes stared in stunned horror. Ethan calmly withdrew his finger, covering one ear with his other hand as if to shield himself from the remaining echoes of the laughter. Then, with no ceremony, Rhino's corpse toppled from his mount.
Thump!
The thin body hit the ground and, before their eyes, began to shift.
Bones stretched. Skin thickened.
The frail figure transford into a massive rhinoceros—gaunt and bony, but unmistakably powerful even in death.
Inugoro stood frozen.
He hated Rhino—most of them did. But he also knew the truth: their Underworld Hound Tribe wasn't as strong as the Moon-Gazing Rhinoceros Tribe. Rhino had bullied them for years. They fought every ti they crossed paths, and Inugoro had never once gained the upper hand.
And now, a human had ended him.
Effortlessly.
With just… one finger.
Inugoro's scalp prickled with cold sweat. A shiver ran down his spine.
'Thank the ancestors I didn't pick a fight just now…'
Their tribe was known to be one of the few beast clans who didn't intermarry with humans, but they were still friendlier than most. Rhino's insult hadn't been entirely wrong—but now it didn't matter.
Ethan looked at the rhinoceros corpse, frowning. "Huh," he muttered. "When I killed that Long-Arm Ape guy, the body didn't shift back. But that one had already transford before the fight… So they like appearing human, but consider humans inferior. Hypocrites."
He shook his head.
"Kill him!"
The Rhino Tribe warriors finally snapped out of their shock and surged forward, weapons drawn, transforming mid-charge. Gigantic rhinoceroses barreled through the mud, howling.
Ethan looked down at the corpse underfoot.
"Damn… I really thought it was just your voice that sounded like that. But it's your whole tribe, huh?"
He cracked his neck. "Sorry again. I'm going to borrow your body."
With that, he gripped the huge horn at the center of the dead beast's face. Without activating any transformations, relying purely on his physical strength, Ethan swung the corpse—over ten ters of raw, dead muscle—through the air.
Thump!
A loud crash echoed through the battlefield. One of the charging rhinoceroses was struck head-on, lifted clean off the ground with a braying scream, and flung away like a ragdoll.
Rhino's body, even in death, was the strongest among them. Its flesh was dense, its bones harder than iron. As Ethan swung him like a hamr, more attackers fell.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Each crash sent shockwaves through the soaked earth. Mud exploded upward. Rain scattered in bursts. Rhinoceroses rolled, tumbled, scread.
From the distance, Inugoro and his team stared in stunned silence.
Even Uncle Jed had stopped mid-run, his steel spear forgotten at his side. No help was needed here.
Then, with a final grunt, Ethan hurled Rhino's corpse through the air. It slamd into the wet earth with a final crack.
The beast's horn snapped off.
Ethan caught the broken horn mid-air and tucked it under one arm.
"Broken… The horn of a Moon-Gazing Rhinoceros… broken…" Inugoro muttered, eyes wide. His lips moved soundlessly, disbelief etched across his face.
That horn was said to be indestructible.
And a human had snapped it… casually.
Ethan, anwhile, didn't even realize what had happened inside him.
Had he looked closely, he would've seen the change—the five tendrils of the World Tree within his body had already intertwined with his five internal organs. Each ti he exerted force, they pulsed with energy, drawing power from the Tree and injecting it back into him like a living circuit.
Back on the battlefield, the remaining rhinoceroses saw what had happened—and froze.
Their leader was dead. His body had been weaponized. His sacred horn broken.
Panic erupted.
The ground was slick, and in their haste to flee, several rhinoceroses slipped, tumbling over one another.
Then they got up—and bolted.
"Hey! Don't run! I'm talking to you! Stop!"
Ethan's shout only made them run faster, scattering into the rain like frightened cattle, mud flying in all directions.
Ethan turned, slightly disappointed, and looked at Inugoro.
The hound warrior's body tensed. Behind him, his tribesn instinctively took a step back.
That single step left Inugoro fully exposed to Ethan's line of sight.
His chest tightened.
'Damn it… I just wanted to pass by quietly…'
Ethan exhaled, brushing dirt from his hands.
Then, extending his Soul Sense, he scanned the direction of the Clearspring City convoy—but found nothing.
Gone.
Silas and his three n were nowhere to be found. He clenched his jaw.
Did those things work? What happened after they drank the Serpent's Embrace and Phoenix's Desire?
Frustration surged inside him.
He wanted to dig up Rhino and kill him all over again.
With a sigh, he walked over to Uncle Jed and pulled the steel spear from the ground.
"Let's go together," he said.
Inugoro, who had begun quietly organizing his people to leave, stiffened again as Ethan's voice reached his ears.
He turned. Ethan was watching him. Smiling.
The hound warrior whispered sothing to his people. They nodded, hesitant but obedient, and slowly walked away.
Inugoro took a deep breath and stepped toward Ethan.
"Don't be nervous! Don't worry, I'm not a bad guy!" Ethan said cheerfully, slapping his shoulder.
Inugoro flinched.
'Not a bad guy?! You blew Rhino's head off because you didn't like his laugh… then you used his corpse as a flail!'
A warrior can be killed, but not humiliated—Ethan had done both!
His heart pounded in his chest, but he forced himself to smile weakly and nod.
He didn't dare disagree. This wasn't about pride anymore—this was survival.
His people, his tribe, their future—it all rode on whether Ethan got bored again.
Behind them, Uncle Jed led the way. Clara and Nora trailed behind, casting curious glances at the beastfolk now walking with them.
They didn't understand why Ethan had asked him to travel with them.
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