Chapter 41: Young Beast (Part 3)

Having finally encountered the interceptors, Leon’s squad did not anxiously launch an attack.

"Detect Evil."

A holy radiance illuminated the cave before them.

Blocking the passage was a bizarre beast.

It was dog-like on all fours, its body as white as snow, yet its canine head appeared particularly adorable. Tailless, it possessed a pair of seemingly pure eyes.

However, the mere presence of this one-meter-tall, cute little beast here was suspicious in itself.

There was no food here required for normal life to survive—what did it eat?

Larry’s "Detect Evil" yielded a flash of white light.

This was a standard paladin tactic used to test the aggressiveness of foreign beasts.

Generally speaking, "neutral" meant that under most circumstances, the animal would not actively attack people.

Still seeming unsure, she threw out a "Judgment of Sin."

It was still a faint white light; this beast had not killed any humans within the past two weeks.

"...It's very clean; there's no scent of blood on it."

Talia's sense of smell made its judgment, but immediately afterward, she stopped Larry, who was attempting to walk straight past.

Even though all detection methods suggested everything was fine, her biological instincts told her something was definitely wrong with this thing.

The hairs on her body stood on end; she could not comprehend what kind of life form was before her, but it was certainly no benevolent creature.

"Kill it," Talia ultimately decided.

Now was not the time to be playing animal protector.

Larry, in the vanguard, paused and drew her sword, but before she could act, a sudden change occurred.

"Ah!"

The "little dog" abruptly tilted its head, and its skull twisted a full 180 degrees, as if completely free from the restriction of joints.

Its mouth faced upward, while its eyes blinked below.

The creature, which should have been dead, wore a bizarre arc at the corners of its mouth.

Its originally pure eyes jerked violently, the original pupils shaking wildly within the eyeballs.

With a twitch, numerous pupils appeared within its slender canine eyes.

Countless black-and-white inverted pupils seemed to be staring right at you.

From this moment on, just looking at this creature caused a profound sense of severe unease.

Yet, a scene even more baffling had just begun.

It stood up.

The little beast rose directly onto its hind legs. In the process, its flesh expanded, and its body swelled abruptly, transforming into an upright bipedal beast resembling a man-bear.

"Smite Evil!"

Leon was the fastest to move; since it was an enemy, there was no need to hesitate.

This strike was fast and fierce, the silver light forming an arc that cleaved directly into the creature's chest.

"The feedback feels wrong..."

The next moment, he frowned. He felt no holy power blessing the strike whatsoever; the monster before him was neither evil nor tainted by sin.

"Clang!"

Following that, Leon's pure warrior "meat-cleaver" strike was directly knocked right back.

Leon was astonished to find that in terms of sheer strength, an ogre's might actually fell short of this monster that had been a tiny beast just moments before.

And the wound slashed by the blade healed at a speed visible to the naked eye!

"What kind of monster is this..." Leon had never heard of such a creature in all these days, and it didn't match any of the common creatures found in underground ruins at all.

No one could provide an answer, but since it was an enemy, killing it would suffice.

The knights drew their swords without hesitation, and Talia stepped into the shadows, ready for a lethal backstab at any moment.

However, this battle was destined to be much harder than anyone anticipated.

Ordinary weapons failed to break its defense entirely. Demont’s adamantine twin blades had a terrible effect against it, leaving not even a scratch upon impact.

Meanwhile, Leon’s Sword of Courage was heavy and powerful; it could break defense, but the pure physical damage it inflicted could not keep up with the creature's regeneration speed.

On the contrary, Larry, owing to the diverse damages and curses brought by her several magic swords, was able to inflict genuine, solid harm upon the opponent.

We cannot waste time here.

"Get back!"

With a roar, Leon swung his sword with all his might, forcing the creature back.

If Smite Evil was ineffective, then he would simply hack it until it died.

Slash after slash, Leon swung his sword with unreserved, maximum effort.

Constantly roaring, constantly gathering momentum, even by a warrior's standards, Leon was at his peak right then.

Finally, a nearly flawless, full-strength Smite Evil completely cleaved through the creature.

Followed by a head-on ferocious chop, his brute force materialized into the purest physical attack, and the blade split the monster directly in two.

Even so, it still did not die; after being split in two, it continued to struggle on the ground.

This scene gave everyone a headache, highlighting the problem of partying up with members of the same class—when truly facing an opponent tailored to counter them, everyone was countered.

Paladins always stood on the front line against evil... which also meant that if something wasn't evil, a paladin was just a downgraded vanilla warrior. Leon did not possess the ability that Suer had to unleash a Smite Evil against the God of Law.

Since elemental damage was effective, having a spellcaster around right now would have been wonderful.

Fortunately, this time, it failed to successfully resurrect.

After struggling for a dozen seconds, it finally died, dissolving into a puddle of black water.

"Finally..." Larry let out a sigh of relief, preparing to sheathe her weapons.

This time, she had even chipped the edge of one of her rapiers and was in urgent need of maintenance, having suffered considerable losses.

However, everyone seemed to be rejoicing too soon.

"Tap, tap, tap."

From around the corner of the cave, somewhat familiar footsteps echoed once more.

"One, two... four." Soon, a full four "little dogs" silently watched them from the passageway ahead.

This time, everyone drew in a sharp breath. This battle was destined to be arduous.

While Leon's group was embroiled in a bitter fight, certain others were experiencing something even more bizarre.

A squad from the slave market had also encountered them.

"Hah, there are even little dogs here..." The scout in the lead, upon first sight, chatted back and forth with his companion while reaching out to tease one.

"Snap!" And just like that, in the blink of an eye in everyone's view, he vanished into thin air.

Only the "little dog" was happily chewing away.

Its tiny body expanded, and its mouth stretched wider than a human's.

Within seconds, it finished chewing, resumed its cute posture, and continued to silently watch the squad before it.

"Ahhh!"

Before the combatants could ready themselves, at the rear of the formation, a young priest screamed while clutching his hand.

The next instant, he collapsed and died on the spot—the bipedal monster was chewing on a severed hand in its mouth, and with a single slap, it flattened him into a pancake.

Similar events unfolded throughout the cave. In front of the intruders, one little beast after another appeared.

Completely devoid of malice, they simply relished the joy of feeding.

What could possibly make a pack of beasts happier than encountering a self-delivered feast right after waking up?

Not every squad had the ability to evade or even resist.

In one of the corners, a skirmish had just ended.

There were the corpses of two small beasts on the ground, but all five members of this squad had been utterly wiped out.

Amidst a mess of flesh and blood, only a single surviving little beast was happily enjoying its extra meal.

As it ate, its body gradually expanded.

"Wuwu!" Finally, it emitted a throat sound resembling a deer's call, and its entire body swelled up a size.

Bizarrely, two short, broken horns sprouted on its forehead, a spiral faintly beginning to form upon them.

It was transitioning from dog-like to something increasingly resembling a deer.

Within those eerie twin pupils, the number of eyeballs multiplied more and more.

"Get back!" In the pitch-black cave, the holy light still shone, and battle cries continued.

Even facing this many "hounds," Leon and his party were still fighting.

Yet without a doubt, Leon’s squad had fallen into a bitter struggle.

At such a difficult time, the one who was still able to step up was none other than Leon, the squad leader.

Even within the narrow confines of the cave, his two-handed sword spun like a windmill, moved as swiftly and dexterously as a dragonfly, and remained as resilient as a rock shield... All by himself, he blocked the attacks of at least three small beasts.

"Clang!"

Even when knocked back once more, executing a defensive waltz-step, he was able to swiftly dissipate the momentum and strike again.

Constantly beaten back by brute force, yet constantly pressing forward to attack—this was the combat technique of a veteran.

Being able to hold on until now was a crushing victory of experience and combat skills, a seasoned veteran's suppression of reckless, stumbling greenhorns.

At this moment, borrowing the formidable combat instincts and techniques of the heroic souls, Leon displayed nearly flawless combat and defensive skills.

Of course, there was also his unwavering consistency in motion and his fearless mental resilience.

Yet, with Smite Evil performing poorly at present, he could not act as the primary attacker.

"Convicting Strike." The rapier behind him once more pierced through the eyeball of a small beast.

Fighting back-to-back with Leon was the six-armed female knight, outputting steadily and efficiently.

Her magic swords were either imbued with fire and lightning or carried curses of weakness and the misfortune of sluggishness, enabling her to inflict tangible damage upon these beasts.

The effect could hardly be called great, but it remained steady—at least better than holy power.

The two sides inevitably fell into a war of attrition, and the regeneration capabilities of these beasts were utterly astonishing.

Had Leon not blocked the brunt of the pressure, casualties among the combatants would likely have already occurred.

On the other side, Talia had lured one away and continually attempted to weaken it.

Her twin daggers worked wonderfully against humans, but the wounds they could inflict on beasts were too minor, and against these potent undead-like creatures, their effectiveness was likewise abyssal.

"Cure Light Wounds." A deep, resonant voice rang out from behind.

A warm light landed upon Leon, and his wounds healed rapidly.

Leon looked back. Demont, ferocious and decisive with his dual blades, had ironically ended up relegated to logistical support due to his lackluster adamantine twin blades (devoid of enchantments or magical metals).

The decision made at midday had been correct; thankfully, Leon had allowed Demont to accumulate sufficient holy power.

Right now, at least with the alternate healing support of Demont and Larry, this frontline was barely being held down by Leon through sheer grit.

Could they win through attrition? Leon felt rather helpless. If it truly came down to wearing them down to victory, how could they ever hunt that heinous culprit?

Heaven knew how many more of these beasts lay ahead.

Yet, there seemed to be no shortcuts either; thinking too far ahead might genuinely result in dying right here.

"Perhaps they have a weakness?"

For beasts never seen before, having some fatal weakness was normal.

Right here, Leon committed a potentially fatal mistake.

Just as Suer had previously taught Dianya, casually "opening your eyes" to look at things was never a good habit.

Yet at this moment, Leon himself voluntarily activated his Dragon Eyes.

When those vertical dragon pupils opened, what they saw was not bizarre "bipedal beasts," but clusters of spirals twisting together.

In the vision of the dragon eyes, these eerie life forms appeared to be large, upright horns, upon which faint, peculiar spiral patterns resided...

"Dragon, dragon, dragon, dragon!! There’s a dragon!!"

Suddenly, a shriek interrupted Leon’s train of thought.

The beasts, which had remained so quiet even upon death, suddenly let out eerie howls.

Following that, the other beasts began to howl as well.

The roars of "Dragon, dragon, dragon" echoed throughout the entire cave.

"What are they roaring about?!"

"My head! It hurts so much!"

Meanwhile, the others seemed not to hear what Leon was hearing; they only perceived the beasts howling haphazardly while launching a mental attack.

The next moment, an even stranger change occurred.

The skin of these dog-like creatures, originally smooth as snow, suddenly twisted drastically in color, shifting from white to black, while "grease" continuously dripped around their bodies.

The upright "bear-men" abruptly swelled a size larger, their bulk expanding until it directly brushed against the ceiling.

Within their twin pupils, distorted fragments densely packed together.

Howling incessantly, massive amounts of bloody fluid seeped from their mouths, and the entire creatures convulsed constantly, as if plunged into madness.

"Dragon, dragon, dragon!" They continued to scream this word, then charged toward Leon like madmen.

Yet to the ears of everyone other than Leon, it was merely a malicious roar that induced dizziness and vertigo.

Leon suddenly realized that perhaps the "Languages (Understand spoken words)" trait within his "Beastification" system had taken effect.

"Boom!" The crazed beasts roared as they charged with brute force toward the "dragon."

This time, Leon, who was forcibly blocking the path, was directly knocked flying by the abruptly magnified brute strength.

At this moment, the immense strength provided by the Ogre Gauntlets fell entirely short.

"Leon! Catch!"

A pair of gloves thrown abruptly through the air was caught by Leon mid-flight.

Right now, the immense strength on par with a hill giant was probably required.

Before he had time to put them on, the next wave of attacks from the crazed beasts had already arrived.

"Boom!" This time, Leon gritted his teeth, braced his sword, and blocked it.

However, the legs that were pushed back scraped two deep trenches directly into the ground, and the web spaces between his thumbs and forefingers were bleeding.

"Smite Evil!" Larry, anxious from behind, struck out with her sword of holy light regardless of consequences, buying him some breathing room.

"Dragon, dragon, dragon!" The monster actually let out a miserable scream.

This time, the silver sword of smiting actually forced the monster back!

The holy power that was originally harmless to it now produced a snow-melting effect wherever the blade touched the beast's body.

Huge gaping wounds appeared directly on these monsters at the places struck by the sword.

They were no longer neutral hunting beasts at this moment, but bloodthirsty maniacs attacking all life.

"Dragon, dragon, dragon, dragon!" Suddenly, a sharp scream rang in Leon’s ear.

"Leon, watch out!!"

While Leon was still astonished that Smite Evil was effective once more, Talia’s warning shout came a step too late.

The demonic beast that had been chasing her abandoned her entirely, executing a sudden powerful leap straight toward Leon—

"Too late!"

His twin swords were still parrying what was in front; turning back was too late.

The monster’s foul drool was already right before his eyes, and the gaping maw aimed at Leon's head seemed on the verge of snapping shut.

Leon instinctively threw a punch in resistance, his battle-honed bodily instincts urging him to dodge backward, but it seemed already too late.

"Boom!"

The sudden explosion shocked everyone.

That extended arm had actually punched directly through the demonic beast right in front of him!

The demonic beast that seemingly could never be killed had its entire head crushed directly by this instinctive strike.

Following that, the monster's regeneration, which had repeatedly proven effective, failed entirely, and its entire physical body dissolved directly into ashes.

Meanwhile, Leon’s arm had also bizarrely thickened by a size, and patches of pale red dragon-scale coloring appeared on the exposed skin.

As for the Codex, the answer had actually been provided long ago.

[Encountered stimulation from 'Beasts', dragon blood is boiling... Dragonification degree increasing.]

[Dragonification reaches 5%, racial trait 'Dragon Claws' activated!]

At this moment, what Leon felt was a morphological change in his entire left hand; his fingers twisted, resembling claws.

Coordinating with his dragon eyes, he instinctively reached out, attempting to grab something in the empty air.

"Crack." It felt as though something had been pinched out of existence.

In the void, from this moment onward, something had begun to change.

"Watch out!"

Another crazed beast shouting "Dragon, dragon, dragon" was right in front of him, and Leon threw a punch once more.

"Snap!"

This time, it punched straight through the chest, and the opponent still exhibited no regenerative effects, dissolving into piles of ash just like that.

One punch per target, and that unimaginably troublesome pack of beasts had simply vanished with such ease.

At this point, everyone was completely dumbfounded—and the most dumbfounded of all was Leon himself!

He looked at his own fist.

"Turns out... I'm this fierce?!"