Chapter 40: Chapter 36 — The Hunt Turns Savage

The roar tore through the forest like a living thing.

John felt it before he truly heard it—pressure crashing into his senses, rattling his bones, vibrating through the ground beneath his claws. The air warped, heavy and suffocating, as if the world itself recoiled from the sound. Birds exploded out of the canopy in panicked swarms. Distant monsters screamed, some in defiance, others in pure terror.

The Level 10 monster had finally lost its patience.

John twisted midair just as the creature reared back, its chest swelling unnaturally. Mana surged—dense, violent, overwhelming. His instincts screamed.

*Move.*

A blinding torrent of energy erupted from the monster’s maw.

The breath attack carved a straight line through the forest, annihilating everything in its path. Trees didn’t fall—they vanished. Stone melted and shattered, the earth itself split open as the beam tore through soil and bedrock. The heat scorched John’s scales even from the side, the shockwave nearly ripping him out of the sky.

He rolled hard, wings screaming in protest as he barely cleared the edge of the devastation.

Behind him, the forest was gone.

Not damaged. Not burning.

Gone.

A smoking scar stretched for hundreds of meters, glowing embers flickering along its edges. The smell of ash and molten earth filled the air.

John hovered, chest heaving.

“…That would’ve killed me,” he muttered, voice tight.

Not *might*. Not *probably*.

*Would.*

For the first time since his rebirth, the gap in power wasn’t theoretical—it was undeniable. One direct hit, and everything ended. No second chances. No retreat.

The monster lifted its head slowly, eyes locking onto him again. Intelligent. Focused. Angry.

And then it fired again.

John didn’t think—he reacted.

He folded his wings, dropping like a stone, then snapped them open at the last second, twisting sideways as another beam ripped past him. The blast grazed his flank, pain exploding across his scales as heat seared flesh. He hissed, blood sizzling as it hit the air.

He forced himself to stay airborne.

*Focus. Focus.*

The monster didn’t spam its attacks. It waited.

John noticed it then—his heart pounding as realization hit.

A pause.

Not long. Just enough.

“…Four seconds,” he whispered.

Every breath attack. The same delay. A buildup. A recharge.

A weakness.

The monster roared again, launching itself upward with terrifying force, massive wings shredding the air as it chased him. Trees toppled beneath it, stone cracked as its claws dug into the earth whenever it landed to propel itself forward.

John turned and fled.

Not in panic.

On purpose.

He flew low, weaving through the forest canopy, forcing the massive creature to smash through obstacles rather than glide cleanly. Branches snapped like twigs. Entire trunks were ripped from the ground as the Level 10 monster pursued him relentlessly.

“You’re fast,” John muttered under his breath, dodging another blast that vaporized a hill behind him. “But you’re not careful.”

The forest screamed as they passed.

John felt it—the territories overlapping, the invisible boundaries other monsters guarded fiercely. This wasn’t his domain anymore. He was dragging death across land that belonged to far stronger beings.

Good.

That was the plan.

His wings burned. His mana reserves dipped steadily as he pushed his body harder than ever before. Every turn was calculated. Every dodge precise. One mistake meant annihilation.

Another blast fired.

John dove between two massive stone pillars, the beam slamming into them and detonating the rock in a thunderous explosion. Shrapnel tore into his side, but he didn’t slow.

Ahead, the forest changed.

The mana density thickened, oppressive and hostile. The air buzzed with territorial aggression. Even without seeing them, John knew.

He’d reached it.

The **hot zone**.

“This is it,” he murmured, eyes sharp. “Wake up, monsters.”

The Level 10 monster burst through the treeline behind him, unleashing another roar—one that wasn’t just rage, but dominance. A declaration.

The response was immediate.

A massive shape rose from the forest floor ahead, scales the color of obsidian and moss. A Level 8 beast, serpentine and coiled, eyes snapping open as it sensed the intruder.

Then another.

And another.

Roars echoed from all directions—angry, defiant, furious at the violation of territory.

John veered sharply, skimming the ground, deliberately cutting close to one of the awakened monsters. The Level 10 followed without hesitation.

Perfect.

The first clash was explosive.

A Level 8 monster lunged at the intruder, jaws snapping, only to be obliterated mid-charge by a point-blank breath attack. The explosion shook the entire forest, the corpse reduced to fragments.

But the damage was done.

More monsters surged forward.

A Level 9 emerged from the trees, massive and horned, eyes blazing as it slammed into the Level 10’s side. The impact sent shockwaves through the ground. Trees fell in waves.

John climbed rapidly, gaining distance.

“Good,” he whispered, watching chaos erupt below. “Very good.”

The forest became a battlefield.

The Level 10 monster roared in fury as it was forced to fight multiple enemies at once, breath attacks firing in brutal intervals, each one killing or crippling something—but drawing more attention every time.

John hovered high above, wings trembling, eyes calculating.

He didn’t join the fight.

Not yet.

He waited.

Every second, the monster burned mana. Every attack drained it, even if the beast didn’t realize it yet. Blood began to stain the ground—some of it not belonging to the defenders.

John clenched his claws.

“…Just a little more.”

A Level 9 monster slammed into the Level 10’s neck, teeth tearing into scale before being thrown aside violently. Another breath attack fired, delayed just long enough for John to confirm it again.

Four seconds.

Always four.

The Level 10 monster was winning.

But it was slowing.

John felt it—the shift in pressure, subtle but real. The monster’s movements weren’t as clean. Its roars carried strain now, not just rage.

“This is my chance,” John said quietly.

He dropped.

Not straight down—angled, controlled, slipping into the chaos like a shadow. He waited for the next breath attack to fire, counting silently.

*One.*

*Two.*

*Three.*

The blast erupted.

On *four*, John struck.

He slammed into the monster’s wounded flank, claws driving deep, tearing scale and flesh in a precise, practiced motion. He didn’t linger—ripped free and twisted away as the beast screamed.

Pain and fury exploded outward.

The monster tried to retaliate immediately—

And failed.

No breath attack.

John’s eyes gleamed.

“Too soon,” he growled.

He vanished back into the smoke and trees, letting the remaining high-tier monsters reengage. Another Level 9 attacked, forcing the Level 10 to turn, to choose, to react.

John circled.

Hit. Withdraw. Wait.

Again.

And again.

Each strike was small. Insignificant alone. But together, they added up—blood loss, disrupted focus, mounting exhaustion.

The forest paid the price.

Craters formed where attacks landed. Fires spread unchecked. Entire sections of land collapsed or burned, mana storms crackling through the air.

John felt the cost of his plan—and accepted it.

“I’ll rebuild later,” he murmured. “If I survive.”

The Level 10 monster roared again, louder than before—but this time, there was something else beneath it.

Frustration.

Fear.

John smiled grimly.

*Now you know how it feels.*

The hunt wasn’t over.

But it had finally become *fair*.

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