"No!"

  Beaumont roared, rage exploding inside him. He raised his shield and activated one of his strongest Skills, "Brutal Charge." A semi-spherical barrier of transparent energy formed around him and his shield.

  Like a bulldozer, he rushed toward Arthur. With every step he took, the ground trembled, dirt scattered, and the air screamed.

  Arthur, whose paws had just touched the ground, sensed imminent danger. Before he could fully regain his balance, he pushed himself backward. Beaumont passed right in front of him, smashing everything in his path.

  At the same time, the other humans attacked with another volley of arrows and energy blades.

  This time dodging was harder, and he ended up taking a hit to his hind leg, which he quickly healed using "Regeneration."

  But it didn’t stop there. Beaumont didn’t cancel his Skill and kept chasing him, killing intent filling his eyes.

  Once the two of them were far enough away from Amaya, one of the humans immediately rushed to her side and checked her condition.

  When he saw she was still alive, relief appeared on his face. He pulled out a small glass bottle filled with dark blue liquid from his waist pouch and made her drink it.

  Even though Arthur was cornered by their relentless attacks, he caught a brief glimpse of what the human had done and wondered in confusion,

  'What was that… a healing potion? Let’s hope so. I don’t want that mage to die. I avoided her vital organs. Still, the sooner she gets treatment, the bes—'

  Bang!

  His train of thought was abruptly cut off. He dodged an energy blade that continued forward and sliced through a massive tree.

  At the same time, a poison-coated arrow pierced his back. Thanks to his immunity to toxins, he didn’t suffer any real effect.

  'Tsk… this is starting to get annoying.'

  In truth, the three E-Rank humans weren’t much of a threat to him, so he decided to leave them for last and focus on the biggest problem.

  Calmly, he turned his head and glanced at Beaumont, who was still chasing him like a raging bull. His face had turned deep red, and the veins on his forehead and neck bulged and twisted like worms beneath his skin.

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  'What’s wrong with this idiot? He looks like he’s about to explode. Is it because of his skill? It’s clearly putting massive strain on his body. Maybe it’s not meant to be used for long periods… unlike what he’s doing now.'

  Arthur had a decent understanding of how Skills worked, so his analysis was logical—and mostly correct.

  From his own experience, he had noticed that almost all Skills fell into four categories: physical, mental, magical, and finally hybrid Skills that combined two or even all three categories.

  Physical Skills focused purely on the body. They increased toughness, Strength, and enhanced basic abilities and senses at the cost of Vitality or mana.

  Unlike them, magical skills were mostly external and mid- to long-range. As the name implied, they allowed the user to unleash powerful magical attacks or construct solid defenses through mana consumption.

  Mental Skills were the strangest. They were divided into two types: defensive Skills, which granted him mental immunity and great willpower, making it difficult to influence him; and offensive Skills, which allowed a person to launch attacks targeting the enemy's mind directly.

  Physical barriers were useless against them, like the spider woman's charm skill.

  The last category was the most diverse and powerful. The "Primal Predator" skill he took pride in was classified within this category, as it gave him multiple abilities—some mental, some physical, and even magical.

  Seeing Beaumont in this strange state made him smile mockingly. He said, suppressing a laugh, "Take it easy, man. There's no need to push yourself this far. Just leave; I don't intend to hunt you down anyway."

  All Beaumont heard was a strange and suspicious growl. Nevertheless, he felt that the wolf in front of him was mocking him somehow, especially with its unnatural expressions which sent a shiver deep inside him.

  "You damn monster, I'll kill you!"

  Beaumont furrowed his brow in annoyance. He endured the strain and pushed himself further, increasing his speed and drawing closer to the wolf, which was running in a zigzag pattern between trees and bushes.

  Then, he pumped more Mana into the semi-spherical barrier. It began to shrink and sharpen in the middle until it resembled a sharp cone—or rather, a giant spearhead—emitting a disturbing buzzing sound.

  "Take this!"

  A twisted grin appeared on his face, and with all his strength, Beaumont thrust his shield forward. The spear of energy shot ahead at an insane speed, aimed directly at the unsuspecting wolf.

  Time seemed to slow. Beaumont watched his attack eagerly, expecting it to hit—but, unbelievably, the wolf suddenly leapt upward toward a massive tree trunk in front of him.

  The spear passed right beneath him, slicing through both of his tails and grazing his hindquarters, then pierced the tree trunk and continued its path.

  Without showing any visible reaction, the wolf landed on the trunk, which began to tilt slowly. It then pushed off and flipped gracefully through the air, passing over Beaumont.

  Their eyes met. Beaumont opened his mouth in shock, and before he could react or even comprehend what had just happened, a terrifying aura erupted from the wolf, freezing him in fear for a brief moment.

  Screech!

  Helpless, he watched as the wolf disappeared from his line of sight, landing behind him.

  Then four claws dug into the side of his chest with force, dragging across his body like a plow, tearing through flesh and armor alike, all the way down to his lower back.

  Blood leaked profusely from the massive wound, yet he remained standing tall. Gritting his teeth, he spun around with force, swinging his heavy shield.

  However, the wolf stood on his hind legs in a strange manner, retreating slightly to dodge the shield. Then, like a human wielding a dagger, he swung his single front leg and shredded Beaumont's shield-arm with his claws.

  "Aaah!"

  Beaumont screamed loudly, the strength leaving his grip. He dropped the shield, which hit the ground and sank slightly into the soil due to its immense weight.

  Without any hesitation, Arthur tilted his body slightly, touched the shield with the tip of his stump, and stored it in the "Dimensional Storage," showing a satisfied smile.

  At that moment, when Beaumont saw what he had done, the scream froze in his throat, and his mind went blank.

  He couldn't understand anything anymore, doubting if he was in the middle of a terrifying nightmare because nothing that happened made any sense.

  — — — — — — — —

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