Chapter 176 The Beast Pack of Brown Bears, the Goblin Secret, and the Tiger King

"Don't go out."

"Lei gave the order," and Tata nodded obediently.

He was afraid of this side of Lei, as if he had suddenly become a different person. Cold and distant, treating him like a stranger, without a trace of his usual warmth.

The window opened, and a cold wind rushed into the small bedroom. Tata watched as Lai, carrying two knives, jumped out of the window and quickly disappeared into the night.

The wind was unusually cold tonight, making Tata shiver all over. He struggled to close half of the window with his small body, leaving the other half open for Lai to come and go.

The warmth in the room quickly dissipated, and little Tata huddled under the blanket, leaving only her ears and nose sticking out.

In Neil's bedroom across the hall, Seyia stood blankly by the window, looking at the somewhat familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar figure, unsure of what to do.

He trusted his eyesight, but wasn't entirely sure the person was Ray. He had no idea what kind of magic could transform someone so drastically.

Could it be that Lei isn't human at all?

No, no, no.

Seyar immediately dismissed his unreliable conjecture. He knew that Lai was a wood-type mage, but he was also absolutely certain that Lai was human.

No wonder Ray had that conversation with me at the beginning; it seems this family does indeed hold some secrets he doesn't know...

As Seyia gazed out the window at the moon obscured by clouds, a hundred thoughts swirled in his mind.

This time was different from the past. Ryan retained 90% control over Lai, in other words, Ryan lent Lai his power to the maximum extent possible.

During the skeleton's attack, Ryan simply borrowed Ray's body. He was asleep the entire time and therefore had no memory of it.

Only Big Black, who witnessed everything, knew the whole story.

It was just a mixed-breed domestic dog. Although it could speak a little bit of animal language, Ray couldn't understand what it was saying, so it was as if nothing had happened.

Wild beasts wreaked havoc in the village. From his treetop, Ray could hear children sobbing and adults praying incessantly.

Beneath his feet were various beasts that were still running wildly in a frenzy, while beneath their feet lay the corpses of their companions, which had been trampled into mincemeat.

At this time, locking the doors and windows, not turning on the lights, not lighting candles to let in any light, and not making a sound is the best way to save your life.

Ray was waiting for an opportunity. It wasn't a good time to act in the village, but he could take action as soon as the beasts left.

"roar!"

A roar came from the herd, like a tiger's roar, followed by all the wild beasts howling. The sound shook the eaves and treetops, causing snow to fall in a flurry.

With such a commotion, none of the villagers could sleep.

Booz, whose leg had been broken by a wild beast, huddled on the second floor, too afraid to move an inch.

His leg had only recently recovered, and it would ache terribly on cloudy days, whether it was raining or snowing. He hated those wild beasts, but he was helpless against them.

"Stay put and don't let anyone move!"

For the first time, Buzz scolded his fat son, Gris. His eyes widened, and Gris, who was huddled in his mother's arms and howling at the top of his lungs, immediately shut up.

“Why are you scolding the child? He’s so young. You’re scaring him,” Buz’s wife whispered, trying to dissuade him.

"Hmph." Buz snorted and said nothing more.

Seeing this scene of motherly love and filial piety, another member of the family silently wrapped himself tighter in the blanket.

The one who can act with impunity is always the most loved. Helen's parents sent her to learn weaving and tailoring; finding a job in town to support herself wouldn't be difficult. But herself...

Perhaps my future is just about being sold to a family that offers the highest price, like Maggie's eldest sister, who I heard is already pregnant with her fifth child. One boy isn't enough for a family like that.

The girl shivered under the covers at the thought of that scene. Her body wasn't cold, but her heart was.

The Barnett family huddled together on the second floor for refuge. His face was gloomy, and his pipe flickered in the darkness.

"Father, what should we do? This time it's even more serious than last time."

Kari sat next to Barnett, hoping he could come up with a solution. Barnett was the pillar of the family, but at that moment, he also wanted to have a smoke.

Barnett didn't say anything, he just kept exhaling smoke.

"Boss."

"Father."

“Something’s not right. I have a feeling something’s going to happen.”

"Then what should we do?"

"Let me think about it. Tomorrow morning, you can gather some men with weapons and go check each house to make sure they're all alone."

"good."

"We also need to calm the villagers down."

"Um."

The tiger was exceptionally conspicuous; it was twice the size of an ordinary tiger and lagged at the back of the group, as if driving the wild beasts away. Any animal that fell behind would be bitten to death without hesitation.

Monkeys were leaping and bounding about on the heads and backs of the beasts, disturbing their peace. The wild animals, already anxious from the tiger king's pursuit, were now filled with rage, wishing they could destroy everything in their path.

"roar!!!"

Another roar erupted, and a fireball shot from the Tiger King's mouth, instantly igniting a brown bear. The bear was transformed into a giant fireball, howling as it ran towards the small square.

We could have left the village much sooner by crossing the small square, but then this whole ordeal happened.

The beasts became even more frenzied because of the fireball, charging forward recklessly.

Lei seized the opportunity to leap down from the tree and charge at the enraged brown bear.

This is not a wild animal that the villagers can easily deal with. The village is made up of wooden structures, and if left unchecked, it could very likely cause a major fire.

Ray took the steel knife from his back and infused it with magic. A dark green light, like blood, flowed from the hilt to every groove of the blade. He could no longer feel the weight of the knife; wielding it was as if he were controlling his own arm.

The berserk brown bear slapped half of a window in the barn, leaving countless claw marks on the wall.

It quickly discovered that this venting did not alleviate its pain. The fire had spread up its fur to its chest. It immediately lay down on the ground and began to roll around, trying to extinguish the flames, but it did not succeed. Its thick fur crackled and popped as it burned.

Upon seeing Ray's glowing blade, his anger immediately shifted to the humans charging towards it.

Brown bears have poor eyesight and are easily attracted to things that emit light.

"roar!"

Ray could already smell the stench from the bear's mouth and the burnt fur on its body. He leaped away from the brown bear's right forepaw.

"Overestimating one's abilities."

The blade swung upwards, a crescent-shaped flash of light sweeping towards the brown bear. The bear's paw fell to the ground with a thud, blood gushing out. The brown bear, having lost its right paw, let out a painful roar.

Looking at the still-splattering blood, Lei felt a surge of excitement in his chest.

He curled his lips into a dangerous and unrestrained smile, the lines on his face seeming to come alive.

"You've gotten off easy. Don't delay my business."

The blade slashed down again from top to bottom, and the brown bear fell to the ground with a loud thud. The flames on its body were extinguished by the flowing blade light, and there was no blood on the steel knife in Ray's hand.

He didn't waste any more time and turned to run towards the herd of beasts. Next, he needed to deal with the demonic tiger king.

The goblins on Mount Bella were not resting; they too were awakened by the rumbling sounds and the roars of beasts, sometimes near, sometimes far.

As the sounds grew closer, Yiru felt a chill run down his spine. This commotion was even greater than the last one, and he worried that the herd of beasts might come up the mountain.

Iru and Nana worked together to lift the bed boards and the wooden planks at the entrance to the cellar, threw in a few pieces of animal hide and the only two cotton quilts in the house, and let the children jump into the cellar one by one.

"Nana, you go down too."

The roar of a wild beast interrupted Nana's words.

Yiru urged his wife to hide in the cellar, then ran to the living room, filled two jugs with warm water, and handed them to them.

"Stay inside and don't make a sound. Come out when it's light and you hear no more noise outside. I'm going to go outside and check."

Nana grabbed Iru's trouser leg.

"You come in too."

"There's too little space here. Please take care of yourself and our child."

Nana looked at the two twins who were staring at her with wide, bewildered eyes.

"Listen to me, I'll come back safely."

Without saying another word, Iru resealed the cellar exit with wooden planks, took his sharpened dagger and axe, and went out to see what was going on.

Ever since the last unusual activity by wild beasts, Jeru has been secretly observing the movements of Soru and his group of three goblins, and over the years he has indeed discovered some anomalies.

First, they would sneak away from Mount Bella on a fixed night each month, and when they returned, the aroma of cooking meat could be smelled near their dwelling for several days in a row.

At first, Jeru guessed they might have just gone hunting or stealing. But later, he noticed on several occasions that even when they went out without weapons, he could still smell meat, which was rather strange.

Furthermore, although the three of them, Solu and his companion, did not go out to work, nor did they grow many vegetables, and spent their days idly running around the mountains, they still managed to survive well in the winter. They even got to use a new iron pot, wear new clothes, and lived a very comfortable life.

There's nothing wrong here; only a fool would believe that!

He finally discovered the problem recently. They had been going out unusually frequently lately, and although it was always at night, Jeru, who had been keeping an eye on them, still noticed.

They seemed to be going out to meet someone. Afraid of being discovered, Jeru could only follow at a distance, vaguely making out two hooded figures, one tall and one short.

Soru and the others went out last night, and according to their usual routine, they shouldn't go out again tonight, so Jeru let his guard down. However, he never expected such a commotion outside tonight!

He vaguely felt that this matter might be related to Solu and his group, so after a simple disguise, he went to Solu and his group's cabin.

He knocked on the door, but there was no response.

After a moment's thought, Jeru pounded on the door even harder, but there was still no response from the goblin inside.

He tentatively pulled on the wooden door, and it opened easily. He went inside to check, and sure enough, there wasn't a single goblin there.

Jeru left the cabin without making a sound, absolutely certain that they were off doing something bad.

"roar!"

From the distant mountain village came the roars of beasts. Jeru turned and ran down the mountain to see what was going on.

"Iru! Is that you? Iru!"

Jeru spotted Iru just as he stepped out from afar; goblins have excellent night vision.

"Jeru? You came out because you heard the noise too."

"Hmm. Iru, I have something to tell you."

"What's up?"

Seeing Jeru's serious expression, Iru had no choice but to slow down.

“I recently discovered that Soru and his two friends have been in contact with two strangers, and I’m worried that they are the ones who caused this trouble.”

Upon hearing what Jeru said, Iru's expression immediately turned serious.

"Do those three good-for-nothings really have that kind of ability?"

“I just came from their cabin; they weren’t home.”

"That doesn't necessarily mean the incident was caused by those three. Let's go take a look first, and then we can discuss it later."

"good."

In reality, Iru was not as calm as he appeared; his heart was filled with doubt and worry.

If this incident was indeed caused by goblins, whichever one of them it was, it will inevitably incite hatred towards all goblins.

They were finally accepted and given a place to live, a place where they could have enough to eat and wear. No one can disrupt this life, no one!

The herd of beasts had already reached the vicinity of the tunnel. A short distance beyond the tunnel lay Rosen Town, where the population was more densely populated. If so many wild animals continued their rampage, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Iru and Jeru each hid in a tree to observe the movements of the herd. In the distance, the large, dark mass looked like a charging chariot.

They remained relatively calm. Such a scene would play out every few years in the Great Forest of Eton, on a grand scale, unlike anything they were seeing now.

What a scene it was! Tens of thousands of wild beasts mixed with magical beasts ran rampant through the forest, snapping trees and destroying grass wherever they went. Countless creatures died under their hooves, and even the most powerful magical beasts could not escape.

When the beast tide ended, the ground was littered with corpses and countless broken branches; the soil looked as if a layer of skin had been peeled off, the entire landscape turned upside down. Under such circumstances, those who survived were truly blessed by the gods.

"Iru, look over there!"

Iru looked in the direction Jeru was pointing and saw green light blades and red light spheres intertwined.

There were people at the very end of the herd.

"Let's go take a look."

Before Jeru could slide down the tree first, Iru hid in the bushes, with Jeru following closely behind.

The battle between Lei and the Tiger King had only just begun.

The monkeys were the tiger's helpers, always striking unexpectedly and interfering with his actions, which greatly annoyed him, and the gleam on his blade grew even stronger.

Lai initiated an attack on the Tiger King, which the Tiger King nimbly dodged with a leap and a flip, but Lai successfully attracted the Tiger King's hatred.

He raised his hand and slashed, blocking the monkeys' attack, but also exposing his chest. The tiger king seized the opportunity and pounced on him.

"Oh."

With a calm and composed demeanor, Lei quickly drew the bone knife from his back, and several light blades swooshed towards the Tiger King.

Compared to the massive steel blade, the bone knife given by Temugi was much lighter and more convenient. Lian's ancient magic compensated for the bone knife's lack of power, catching the opponent completely off guard.

Seeing that it couldn't dodge any longer, the Tiger King used a magic orb to deflect the incoming light blades. Its gaze towards Lei became even more ferocious, as if it wanted to devour him whole.

The herd had already fled far away, and Lai had to quickly deal with this monster. His attacks became even more ferocious.

The two goblins hiding in the tree naturally saw Lai fighting the Tiger King below.

Iru was anxious and wanted to help Lai, but he didn't have the strength. He never expected that the person fighting the monster was Lai, which greatly surprised him.

He didn't remember Ray having such terrifying strength, and he had never seen him so bloodthirsty.

Lei should be in a vegetable garden full of lush green leaves, or among chestnut trees covering the hillsides, or in a golden cornfield, not in the current battle situation surrounded by beasts.

The opportunity has finally arrived.

Several monkeys climbed the tree, intending to attack Lai from above. Before they could even move, Yiru smashed one of the monkeys' heads with an axe, its brains exploding and blood spurting out. The other monkeys immediately erupted into chaos.

It's like someone handing you a pillow when you're feeling sleepy.

Yilu was proud that his skills were still sharp, but he also incurred the wrath of these monkeys.

"Ohhhhhh!"

The monkeys let out strange cries and swarmed towards the two goblins, Iru and Jeru.

"Did you bring anything?" Iru asked.

"I brought it!"

Jeru also pulled an axe from his lower back.

Chopping trees, chopping meat, fighting – small in size, easy to carry, and surprisingly powerful, the axe is practically an essential household tool.

"superior!"

Iru gave the order, and two goblins faced off against five wild monkeys, thus beginning another off-field battle.

Although the goblins are now living a law-abiding life on Mount Bella, and occasionally taking on jobs such as digging tunnels for humans, it does not mean that they have lost their ability to fight.

Their arduous struggle for survival in the Eton Forest honed their incredible explosive power and extraordinary arm strength.

If they hadn't been starving for several days, the villagers might not have been able to capture them.

"Ray, we're here to help you!"

With the monkey troop lured away, Lai was no longer attacked from both sides and could finally launch a full-scale attack on the Tiger King. However, in his eyes, those monkeys were nothing more than inanimate objects used to buy time.

"You're finished."

"roar!!!"