I approached the body of the fallen Orrick.
The others kept their distance.
Not from me.
From it.
The remaining Orrick kin stared at the corpse with something close to fear—like what had just happened wasn't supposed to be possible. Like that one had broken an unspoken rule.
I watched them in silence, waiting for understanding to form.
It didn't.
Slowly, the kin moved in and lifted the body of the Orrick it had killed in its rage, carrying it away without a sound.
No challenge.
No retaliation.
Just quiet withdrawal—like the act itself had been… forbidden to acknowledge.
Around us, the watching monsters began to disperse.
Not in panic.
In acknowledgment.
He is the lord now.
A notification appeared in my vision.
Achievement Unlocked
Conqueror
I scoffed quietly.
Conqueror?
I shook my head once.
Your territory has expanded.
I paused.
However, you are still classified as a Region Lord.
Another scoff escaped me.
Figures.
Still… that wasn't the only reason I was here.
I gripped the fallen Orrick and dragged its body away from the others, moving deeper into the forest where no one could see what I was about to do.
Where no eyes could judge it.
Where no mouths—if monsters even had mouths for things like this—could whisper.
When I found a secluded clearing, I laid the body down gently.
Respectfully.
It felt… deserved.
I bent down, pressed my hand against its hide, and spoke softly.
Copy.
Light flared.
My hand shone brightly for an instant—
Then faded.
Too fast.
I frowned.
Did the Orrick not have many abilities?
The system paused.
It had one ability.
I froze.
One?
Confusion settled heavily in my chest.
Its body reinforced itself.
Its left arm pulled things toward it.
Those were abilities.
…Weren't they?
How could it only have one?
Something about this whole thing felt wrong.
Deeply wrong.
I punched a hole into the dirt nearby and lowered the Orrick's body into it—head included.
The soil accepted it without complaint.
As I covered it, I paused and looked into its lifeless eyes one last time.
Gently, I closed them.
"Whatever happened to you," I said quietly, "I'll figure it out."
"You may rest easy now."
I finished covering the body and stood upright.
Another message appeared.
You gained 300 EXP
Level Up
Level 21
I exhaled slowly.
Why did you wait so long before showing me?
You seemed emotional. I thought it would be better to wait.
I tilted my head up toward the canopy and chuckled softly.
You know… I thought you hated me.
But now I think you do care.
The system didn't respond.
Just silence.
I lowered my gaze again, understanding it for what it was.
A small smirk tugged at me.
Then I moved.
The forest felt different now.
Not because the trees had changed.
Because everything living inside it knew something had.
As I passed, monsters shifted away from my path. They watched from behind trunks, from tall grass, from shadowed branches.
Afraid.
Not aggressive—uncertain.
I stopped suddenly.
My instincts flared so hard it felt like a hand squeezing my core.
I went completely still and activated Pulse Tremor.
One second.
The ground came alive beneath me.
Vibrations flooded my awareness.
…So many movements.
I frowned.
I've never used this in the forest before.
It was overwhelming—everything walking, crawling, leaping, breathing—but as I focused harder, patterns began to separate.
The normal rhythm of life.
And then—
Irregular movement.
Violent.
Impact after impact, like something huge was crashing through the world.
I sighed.
Should I investigate?
It wasn't my responsibility if monsters killed each other.
This was how the wild worked.
I hesitated.
Then moved.
Curiosity won.
I darted through the trees toward the disturbance.
The closer I got, the clearer it became.
Trees crashing.
Stone breaking.
Earth tearing.
Groans.
Whines.
The sounds of bodies failing.
I slowed as the forest around me began to look… wrong.
Plants withered unnaturally, leaves curled and blackened like they'd been burned without heat.
Thorns pierced the ground and climbed tree trunks in thick, violent spirals.
Even the air felt heavier.
Not humid.
Not cold.
Just… burdened.
I stepped into the clearing—
And my eyes widened.
A group of massive stag-like beasts stood their ground—roughly ten of them.
Thorn-wrapped bodies.
Bark-like hides.
Roots pushing up around their hooves like the forest itself had anchored them there.
Two were already dead.
Three lay injured, breathing shallow.
Three more stood protectively around the remaining two—smaller, younger.
I turned my gaze toward the attackers.
There were many of them.
And they were… wrong.
Misshapen. Uneven. Pulsing with faint purple light that leaked through cracks in their flesh.
Limbs mismatched. Bodies warped—like someone had tried to make monsters from a broken blueprint.
Instinctively, I used Sovereign's Sight on the largest among them.
Vireloch — Level 17
…Weak.
I shifted my focus to the defenders.
Bramblehart — Level 15
I exhaled.
I can see why they're losing.
Doubt crept in.
Is it wrong to intervene?
Isn't this just how the world works?
Before I could decide, the ground shook.
One Bramblehart slammed its antlers into the earth.
Thorns erupted upward.
The Vireloch dodged—barely—as spikes tore through the soil beneath their feet, turning every step into a trap.
One of them wasn't fast enough.
It was impaled through the chest.
The thorn kept driving it higher, lifting it into the air until it dangled there, limp and helpless.
Or so I thought.
Its hands shot out—clamping around the thorn.
Muscles tensed as it pulled, dragging itself free inch by inch before tearing loose and dropping hard to the ground.
I looked away instinctively.
That one's dead—
Something caught my eye.
A faint purple glow leaked from the open wound.
It pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
My gaze snapped back.
The flesh closed.
Rapidly. Seamlessly.
As if the thorn had never been there.
…Now I understand.
I looked back at the Brambleharts.
You can't kill them.
The purple light drew my full attention now.
It didn't feel like power.
It felt wrong.
Then I noticed the ground beneath the Vireloch.
The grass there was dead.
Not trampled.
Drained.
As if life itself had been pulled out and never replaced.
My breath caught.
The leader Vireloch's chest began to split open.
Purple light intensified—
Then exploded outward.
A massive beam tore from its body, screaming through the air straight toward one of the Brambleharts.
The Bramblehart drove its hooves into the ground.
The forest answered.
Grass surged upward, wrapping around its body, reinforcing it like living armor.
The beam struck.
The Bramblehart held.
Pushed back—yes—but still standing.
The grass beneath it strained—growing, thickening, trying to support it—
then faded.
Withered.
Died.
The defense collapsed.
The beam sent the Bramblehart flying into a tree with bone-shaking force.
The Vireloch leader let out a sound.
A groan.
But not pain.
Satisfaction.
Wrong.
Everything about them was.