In Zangarmarsh, a hunting party that had set out from Telredor was searching for prey in the swamp.
"Botan, the prey in the swamp is getting harder and harder to catch." Ranger Mara's expression was downcast; they had been in the swamp for several days, but hadn't found any decent prey.
Captain Botan smiled and patted Mara on the shoulder, "Don't be discouraged, we still have enough rations to stay in the swamp for a few more days, enough for us to eat."
"But..."
Mara was about to say something else, but she saw Botan's gesture and immediately stopped her words.
"It's a Marsh Strider..." Botan held his hunting bow and observed the prey moving towards their trap, then signaled to the other hunters in different directions.
The other Draenei received the instructions and quickly got into position, waiting for the moment the Marsh Strider stepped into the trap to loose their arrows.
Mara rubbed her bowstring, "What a big one..."
"If we're lucky, we'll have a good haul," Botan's face showed a smile. His hunters were skilled and had been hunting in this swamp for a long time. A Marsh Strider like this was no problem...
However, just as the Marsh Strider was about to step into the trap, the mushroom forest not far away suddenly vibrated violently, causing the ground beneath their feet to tremble.
The Draenei hunters were startled for a moment, but quickly calmed down. Botan held Mara to prevent her from falling, and Mara held Botan's hand, steadying herself, "What's happening?"
Soon, the answer came.
From the mushroom forest not far away, a massive figure suddenly burst out. It lumbered towards the Marsh Strider, which noticed the giant predator and burst into a speed completely unlike its usual sluggish pace, moving its long tentacles and quickly fleeing the area.
"Is that a Fungus Giant?!"
Mara stared in shock at the monster that had intruded into their encirclement. After a brief surprise, it turned into anger and annoyance. "Damn it, how did these things appear in this area—we should have shot earlier!"
The Fungus Giant's massive foot crushed the trap meticulously set by the Draenei hunters into a mess—traps designed for most swamp creatures were no obstacle to these giants.
Seeing days of effort about to go to waste, Mara angrily drew her longbow, intending to shoot an arrow at the Fungus Giant, but Botan quickly stopped her.
"Calm down, Mara, our arrows are useless against Fungus Giants, they'll only enrage it."
Botan soothed the newcomer to the hunting party. Mara's chest heaved; though anger still clung to her, it at least helped her calm down.
Botan was right. Hunting bows and arrows simply couldn't kill monsters like Fungus Giants. These giants were the true rulers of Zangarmarsh. They stood at the top of the food chain in this land. Whether it was other weaker spore creatures, or creatures similar to Marsh Striders and other giant bees, they were all just their food.
The shattered trap in the swamp showed the unparalleled destructive power of these giants, coupled with their bodies, which, like spore creatures, had virtually no weaknesses, the terror of the Fungus Giants was evident.
However, what happened today would be more than Mara and Botan had imagined.
As the hunters were disheartened by their ruined trap and startled prey, the lumbering Fungus Giant stumbled and crashed into a nearby giant mushroom.
After another violent tremor, the resilient giant mushroom and the Fungus Giant both fell. Mara looked towards the chaotic scene, "What's going on? This guy is like he's drunk!"
"No... no," Botan saw something clearly, and his expression instantly became serious. The smile he usually carried disappeared. "This giant was attacked. It reached its limit and fell here."
"Attacked... Is there anything else in the swamp that can harm a Fungus Giant? Could it be another hunting party?"
"Impossible, I've marked this area, our hunters wouldn't enter this area and run into us, and no team would take down a Fungus Giant in such a way..."
Following Botan's gaze, Mara then saw that the back of the fallen giant had been blasted into a pulp by some force. Dozens of strangely shaped long spears were deeply embedded in the Fungus Giant's body, with thick ropes tied to the ends of the spears, seemingly weapons used for capture.
"We need to get out of here quickly—" Botan hadn't finished speaking when he heard several screams from deeper in the forest. Mara's face changed, and she said to Botan, "It's Kael'thas and Lyca's voices!"
"Damn it!"
Realizing something was wrong, Botan immediately took off the hunting bow from his back and at the same time said to Mara, "Go find the hunters to the west, tell them to stop hunting and quickly return to the hiding place."
"Huh? Botan, what about you guys?" Mara was stunned for half a second, then immediately reacted.
"I have to go into the forest to check. Don't worry about me. When you see our people, tell them we've been attacked and to return to Telredor as soon as possible."
After Botan left these words, he quickly rushed into the mushroom forest. Mara looked at Botan's back, gritted her teeth, and turned to run in the opposite direction.
Along the way, Mara's mind was in a whirl. She moved quickly through the complex terrain of the swamp while pondering what had attacked the Draenei hunting party and the Fungus Giant.
Ogre? No, that's not right, those aren't their weapons, and Ogres have no interest in creatures like Fungus Giants that have no meat at all. They wouldn't actively leave their territory to hunt this thing.
Sporelings? But... Sporelings have always been threatened by Fungus Giants, and they have friendly relations with some Draenei and Broken. They shouldn't be attacking Draenei!
Could it be orcs? But... haven't the orcs already left Zangarmarsh and not returned for a long time?
Lost in thought, Mara breathlessly arrived at the hunting camp of their other small team. However, even before she approached the camp, she suddenly noticed something was wrong.
Faint sounds and panting seemed to come from the direction of the camp. Alerted, Mara quickly adjusted and suppressed her breathing, using the cover of mushroom clusters and swamp plants to gradually approach the camp.
When the scene in the camp came into her view, Mara's face instantly turned ashen. She stared with frightened and angry eyes, unable to believe what she was seeing.