Minho said, "You mean the cub of a Bubalo? You can choose not to kill it, but you cannot take it away."
Hayoon asked in confusion, "You mean it is too heavy?"
She thought about asking Minho for help, then felt it might be too much trouble for him.
Maybe she should go back and call Haeun.
Haeun's beast form was a panda, and he also had a lot of strength.
"It is not because of weight..."
Before he could finish, Hayoon heard a series of urgent booming sounds.
It felt as if the ground had turned into a drum and a massive drumstick was striking it wildly and without pause.
A shiver instinctively ran down her spine.
She quickly turned her head.
A large adult cow with a yellowish-brown body was charging toward them, its curved horns aimed directly at them, breathing heavily and full of rage.
Even with its head lowered, the giant cow was definitely over two meters tall. Its body was enormous and terrifying, packed with powerful muscles.
Not to mention being pierced by its horns, even a single headbutt from it would be enough to seriously injure her.
In the blink of an eye, the giant cow charged forward several meters.
As death closed in, Hayoon's face turned pale and her pupils shrank tightly. Her scream caught in her throat.
Her entire body stiffened, and she even forgot to take a defensive stance.
She was going to die here.
In that split second, the aura beside her changed.
Minho, who had already been prepared, transformed into a giant python.
The forest space was narrow, and this time he did not hold back his savage strength.
A series of cracking sounds exploded through the forest.
Centered around the giant python, all the trees within more than ten meters were swept down by his tail in an instant.
Then, with a sharp crack, the tail slammed heavily into the side of the giant cow.
The cow cried out in pain. Its already round eyes widened as if they were about to split apart.
Such a massive creature was sent flying several meters away by a single strike from Minho's tail, like a kite with its string cut loose.
If not for the trees slowing it down, it probably would have been sent flying more than ten meters.
The trees it crashed into snapped cleanly in half.
Birds and beasts burst into flight throughout the forest.
The scene was utterly terrifying.
The giant python's powerful body curved around Hayoon and slithered forward with a rustling sound.
Then he raised his head high into the air.
The python's head was even larger than the tree canopy itself, blotting out the sky.
Slowly, he lowered his head and stared at the twitching giant cow on the ground with cold, terrifying vertical pupils.
Then he opened his enormous jaws.
A snake roar filled with overwhelming intimidation erupted from his crimson mouth.
The sound waves seemed almost tangible.
The surrounding air trembled violently, and a fierce gale swept through the forest.
Even though the roar was directed at the giant cow, Hayoon, standing at the center of the storm, still went pale instinctively and raised her hands to cover her ears.
Her blood pounded wildly through her body.
Shock and fear instantly flooded her mind, and her ears rang loudly.
She forgot to close her eyes and stared fixedly at the scene before her.
The deep forest had been torn open into a clearing by the giant python.
A single beam of sunlight poured straight down from above.
Countless tiny particles floated in the air, creating a visible shaft of light.
The injured calf lay collapsed on the ground, too frightened to move at all.
The giant cow had first been smashed senseless and then terrified by Minho's roar.
Its four legs had completely gone weak.
Amid the shattered trees and complete devastation, the white-bodied, red-eyed giant python stood upright, coldly staring at the fallen giant cow.
His body was far larger than the cow's and his presence even more overwhelming.
The rows of snow-white scales covering his body reflected a cold gleam beneath the sunlight.
In this age of information overload, Hayoon had seen many grand and fantastical images.
But even all of those combined could not compare to the shock she felt at this moment.
The giant python was terrifying, yet also awe-inspiring.
He was magnificent, wild, and breathtakingly beautiful.
As the wind swept through the forest with a rustling sound of leaves, Minho transformed back into human form.
Hayoon slowly lowered the hands covering her ears, still stunned. Her heart continued pounding rapidly, unable to calm down for a long time.
She opened her mouth and barely managed to find her voice.
"Thank you... If not for you, I definitely would have died here today."
The tall and imposing Minho stood in the middle of the clearing and looked over at her.
"You really wanted that Bubalo cub?" he asked calmly. "You even ignored the scent of the adult Bubalo."
It was not only the scent.
There had also been footprints from the giant cow on the ground, but Hayoon had been so focused on the calf that she had not observed carefully at all.
Now that Minho pointed it out, she felt extremely embarrassed.
"So I cannot keep it?" she asked guiltily.
Minho could tell she did not understand Bubalo very well, so he explained.
"Bubalo are herbivorous wild animals. They can grow very large and live for a long time. Their meat is also very delicious. Even though their horns look frightening, they are actually not very alert. Usually they just slowly graze and do not even notice other predators approaching, let alone beastmen."
"Because they were easy to hunt and tasted good, many tribes used to hunt them excessively. The Bubalo that once could be seen everywhere have now almost disappeared."
"So several tribes, including the Ur-Shet Tribe, reached an agreement. For fifteen years, no one is allowed to hunt Bubalo anymore."