The moon is shining through the clouds…

The night is beautiful, but not for those inside the Eversong Forest; for them, it’s a nightmare.

Every little sound could be a lurking beast, every shadow a potential death sentence.

Everyone is afraid, setting up camps and lighting bonfires to ward off wild beasts.

Groups have formed; some elves have already fallen to the creatures, while others hunt them down.

Everyone is working as a team, except one.

? “Ta ra ra ta ta… There lived a certain man in Russia long ago, he was big and strong, in his eyes a flaming glow.??” Anon sings and dances through the forest without a care in the world.

Graawwww

Suddenly, a hellhound jumps in front of him.

“Oh… Hellooo.” Anon greets the hellhound with a smile.

Gwwaaaaaaaah

The hellhound charges towards Anon.

Wooof

Gin, in his puppy form, barks at the hellhound.

“Don’t worry; I created you from something like this,” Anon reassures Gin as he pets him.

Grawwwwh

The hellhound leaps at Anon.

Anon swiftly grabs the hellhound’s mouth with one hand, stopping it mid-air. The hellhound, realizing Anon’s power, tries to break free with its claws, but Anon’s grip is too strong, his skin akin to mithril armor. .

The hellhound whines in pain, feeling its jaws crushing into each other.

“Boo…” Anon teases as he looks into the hellhound’s eyes, mercilessly crushing its jaws together.

Crack

“You weren’t weak, my friend, just unfortunate to meet me tonight,” Anon remarks as he drops the hellhound.

The hellhound, still alive, tries to crawl away, despite its crushed jaws.

“Allow me to end your misery,” Anon says, touching the hellhound’s skull slightly.

The hellhound’s eyes fill with horror; it has an unexplainable look of terror.

Anon grabs its skull tightly and pulls its head off, along with its spine. The hellhound dies instantly.

Anon takes a tooth from its jaw and discards the rest of the head.

“Wooh… This power after the upgrade. I can’t explain it, but it feels amazing,” Anon says as he continues forward.

In the city…

People are glued to their screens.

A group of five individuals is shown, fighting a Hell Hound together.

The hellhound is overpowering them as they have only theoretical combat knowledge and no real experience.

Suddenly, the hellhound jumps on the healer girl and kills her instantly.

“Noooooooo…. My daughter!” A man shouts and rushes toward the jungle but is stopped by soldiers.

His wife faints on the spot, and his younger daughter tries to wake her up, crying.

“Mother… Please wake up. Mother, please wake up. Nothing happened to sister… Mother, please.”

Ian and Moon hold hands, watching the tragic scene.

“Dad, should we console them?” Moon asks.

“Yeah, let’s go,” Ian agrees.

They approach the grieving family to offer comfort.

The other members of the party flee the area upon seeing the hellhound devouring the girl.

The scene shifts to another group sitting by a bonfire, eating fruits.

“We should go and hunt for the Hell Hound,” a male elf with gray hair suggests as he takes a bite.

“I-I am scared,” a young elf girl with brown hair stammers, her body trembling.

“Hey, why don’t we try for the second or third position? It’s risk-free and you guys can keep all the money for yourself.” another man suggests, looking at the gray-haired elf.

“Y-Yeah… He’s right. W-We should try for the second and third position atleast we can escape with our lifes and—” another girl with white hair tries to speak but is interrupted by the gray-haired man.

“Don’t mess with me. I’m standing in this lethal forest, and you expect me to settle for second or third place? I am garry grey of the grey household… I am a upper noble bitch, the likes of you works as my maids. I don’t want that **ing money, i spend that amount just like that… I want that trophy and that Honor for my brother here.” The gray-haired man shouts, throwing his fruit towards the girls in anger.

“Hi—” both girls squeak simultaneously, frightened.

“Hey, sit down. Don’t fight amongst yourselves, we are wise Creatures not some savages.” another man says calmly, and this man is none other than Saul himself.

The gray-haired man sits down, still glaring at Saul.

“Saul, why did we team up with these weaklings? We don’t need them. I say we use these girls as bait and hunt a hellhound ourselves,

If we stick to these **ers, they will kill us with their whining before any other beast kills us.” he proposes.

“I’m thinking of doing the same. That’s why I’m sitting here, waiting for the Hell Hounds to approach us. Once they come here, we’ll leave the girls and hide in the bushes. When the hellhound gets close to them, we’ll attack it,” Saul explains.

“B-B-But, what if the hellhound kills us before you kill it? We will die, you can’t do that to us. We also want to escape alive… We don’t want any price. We just want to leave… You are not going to let us die right ?” one of the girls asks.

“Shut up, you. No one needs you, even if you die… Your parents don’t want you either. That’s why they sent both of you here. You two are the last kids of your house, right? You have seven more siblings. Your parents can’t afford to feed all of you; that’s why they sent you here to get rid of you, blaming it on the forest,” the gray-haired man says harshly.

“T-That’s not it, my—” The white haired girl tried to speak something but she was immediately interrupted by saul.

“It’s true. My mother talked to your mother. She said they couldn’t afford to feed you or sell you as a slave, so they sent you here. Now be useful to us. I sense something approaching; it’s a hellhound. Only they can run this fast. Everyone, hide. Both of you, be good bait,” Saul instructs before hiding in the bushes with the others.