"AOOO~!!!" The Pirate Leader Snow Ape let out a cry, as if issuing a command, but...
'Something's wrong!'
'There's something wrong with this world!'
'Where did all my little monkeys go?'
The Pirate Leader Snow Ape hung from a giant tree by one hand and one foot, looking around. It found that its hundred or so Bandit Snow Monkeys had all vanished without a trace.
It looked up and saw a blood-red moon hanging high in the sky. Beneath the crimson heavens, the Pine Forest was eerily silent, the atmosphere utterly bizarre.
'Hm?'
'Is that...'
The Pirate Leader Snow Ape stared into the distance. In the deserted, uncanny Pine Forest, it saw a young man.
He was dressed in snow camouflage, with the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow slung across his lower back. His naturally curly hair swayed gently with the breeze.
It was as if they were the only two living things left in the entire world. And that young man, a strange smile on his face, was watching it from afar.
