Survive
Chapter - 39
The horde of monsters stood directly beneath him. Their eyes burned red like open flames, staring up at their prey hiding atop the tree while releasing their distinctive growls.
“Their intelligence is different from before… Silent type again?”
He had already counted the exact number of Chalog in front of him and was ready to strike if they made the first move.
However, Silent-type Chalog thought differently compared to the other three types. The Hunter type was known for its brutality, attacking anyone who entered its territory. The Silent type, on the other hand, was far more intelligent, possessed wind attributes, and moved at extreme speed, making it difficult to capture.
The other two types were different still. Their intelligence might fall below the Silent type, but the Curse and Assassin types possessed strength two, even three times greater than both Silent and Hunter types.
Fortunately, those two horrifying types did not exist in the Xinahiru Forest. If they did, Zavi’s chances of leaving the forest alive would be nearly ninety-nine percent impossible.
Not long after predator and prey observed one another, a powerful roar echoed from another direction, strong enough to make the ground tremble.
Zavi turned his head, searching for the source, and froze when he realized the roar was coming from all directions, far in the distance.
He let out a quiet chuckle. Worried. Unsure whether he would survive what was coming.
“Hunter types for sure… did someone provoke them?”
After muttering to himself, he lowered his head until his chin brushed against the rough, uneven tree branch.
Bang!!
The bullet tore through the air, heading straight for the head of the foremost Chalog. Its skull was pierced and shattered, spraying dark purple blood in every direction.
“One down.”
Last night, or perhaps earlier this morning, he had learned that the Silent type’s intelligence far exceeded common sense, yet it was restrained by their fear of light. He did not know why Silent types feared light. Zavi even suspected that exposure to it might cause their bodies to disintegrate or die.
According to local stories, there had been two recorded cases where Silent types attacked groups of travelers heading toward the border. The attacks were brutally violent. They did not kill their victims. Instead, they skinned them alive, forcing them to endure pain worse than death itself.
These Chalog were infamous for hunting in packs, unlike other types that acted individually or in temporary groups. They did not rely on one another, and there were even cases of cannibalism among them.
Zavi’s expression remained flat as he stared ahead.
“Why are they still not moving?”
Around fifteen Chalog continued to observe him, unmoving, silent, even after one of their own had been killed.
What now? Were his bullets enough to kill them all?
He thought anxiously.
“Yes. Sixteen in total. If I miss even one or two shots, I don’t know if I’ll survive like last time.”
Zavi took a deep breath, steadying his thoughts and calming his trembling hands so his shots would stay true.
Then—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bullets burst from the barrel, creating white smoke and lingering gunpowder in the air. Each round struck the wolf-shaped Chalog directly in the neck, instantly shattering their skulls.
“ARGHHH…!!!”
Zavi’s eyes widened.
“Huh? This is bad!”
He watched as one Chalog, in its final seconds, let out a deafening scream, enough to trigger the others into aggression. They immediately charged toward him, ignoring even the faint sunlight. Their goal was clear. Revenge for their fallen kin, and their hatred toward Zavi had reached its limit.
They leapt onto higher ground nearby, then jumped again toward the tree trunk. The distance was roughly five meters from Zavi’s prone position on the curved branch.
“Hehehe, sorry.”
He could only let out a small laugh to mask his panic.
The pack’s weight caused the tree branch to bend even lower. Worse still, one of them dropped to the ground, ready to finish Zavi the moment his body touched down completely.
“Damn it. I didn’t think it could be this smart.”
In panic, he aimed his revolver forward, firing brutally until the cylinder emptied.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Two Chalog fell, their bodies crashing down. One was not fatally wounded, left writhing.
Click. Click.
“Empty…?”
Quickly, he grabbed spare bullets from his coat pocket, loading them one by one until the cylinder was full, snapping it shut, then firing again until it ran dry.
The barrage of shots killed five Chalog instantly, their bodies collapsing below and forming pools of dark purple blood around the corpses.
Two Chalog remained, waiting beneath him, hopping with jaws wide open, revealing jagged, razor-sharp fangs.
“HAEK! HAEK!!”
Fear overtook his face. “Hiiii… stay away, damn it!”
Crack…
“What!?”
Unexpectedly, one Chalog used its companion’s body as a foothold and leapt upward. Its sharp teeth latched onto the edge of Zavi’s swaying coat.
His jaw tightened. Rage ignited in his chest, every breath heavier than before.
“Damn monster…”
Bang!
The final bullet fired. The monster died from a shot to the neck.
Even lying atop the tree while shooting had exhausted him. Every breath made his chest feel tight, as if it might explode from inhaling too much gunpowder filled with chemical residue.
“Cough… cough…”
Zavi could not hold on any longer. When he covered his mouth with his left hand, he realized that without gripping the branch, he would fall straight down, only one and a half meters from a Chalog standing nearby.
“This is bad…”
Thud.
Not only that, the bullets in his coat pocket scattered in all directions. Two landed in front of him, while the other two were three meters away. He had no choice but to retrieve them to kill the remaining four Chalog, one of which was already dying from blood loss and unable to move.
As he tried to stand, the wounded Chalog suddenly lunged and bit down on his ankle, tearing through bone.
“Ahhhh… it hurts… it hurts so damn much.”
The scream echoed through the forest. Even Moreira and Esvalen, who were nearly at the forest’s edge, could hear it faintly.
“…Lord Kopling?”
Their steps halted. Moreira turned back, Esvalen doing the same beside him.
Meanwhile, the Chalog chewed on Zavi’s ankle, preparing to bite elsewhere. Zavi hurriedly loaded two bullets into the cylinder.
His hands shook. His breathing was ragged. Cold sweat drenched his face from the agony of losing his lower leg.
“Damn it…”
Bang!
The bullet tore through the Chalog’s neck, shattering bone and exiting near its eye. It died instantly, dark purple blood spraying everywhere.
His hands trembled even more.
The ordeal was not over.
Before he could regain steady breathing, the final two Chalog calmly emerged from the bushes, approaching him.
Zavi watched with his own eyes as if the Chalog were mocking him. Their expressions almost looked like smiles. Their steps were relaxed, their mouths closed, as if certain their prey could no longer move.
“How dare a filthy creature like you look down on me?” he shouted, shifting his body to reach the remaining bullets across from him.
But the Chalog did not allow their prey to escape. They charged, launching their final assault to end his life. Both bit into Zavi’s legs at the same time, preparing to tear him apart, but—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The cylinder spun rapidly. White smoke burst from the barrel. Of the three shots, two struck the head, and one hit the throat.
The revolver flew backward into the bushes. His breathing became frantic. His heart pounded violently. His chest rose and fell irregularly. Every breath felt like it was slicing through his lungs from the inside.
The monsters’ screams, the birds’ cries, his own breathing, and the wind suddenly faded, erasing the tension between life and death as if the world had been reduced to nothing but the sound of his heartbeat.
His body lay stiff and cold on the ground, blood continuing to flow, soaking into the soil beneath him. The pain remained, real and cruel, but it no longer dominated his thoughts.
Zavi let out a quiet laugh. Hoarse, barely audible.
“Heh… still alive, apparently.”
There was no joy in it. Only relief. His trembling hand touched the ground, confirming that he truly had not died yet. His leg was gone, his blood drained, but every Chalog around him had fallen.
His sacrifice was not in vain, though his actions had been reckless.
If he stopped here, there would be no more Chalog hunting others in this forest tonight. No more screams except his own.
With what little strength remained, he took a long breath and let his words fall slowly.
“That’s enough… for today. The Chalog are already powerless and won’t attack me anymore.”
Meanwhile, behind the bushes, one Chalog that had been wounded earlier by a ricocheted bullet to its lower back finally died after Zavi crawled out of the bushes, desperately seeking help from others.
But, just seconds after getting out of the bushes, he fell to the ground, fainting on the spot.
