In Violet’s estimation, the ideal scenario would have been to encounter local residents who came into this forest for hunting or fruit-picking. This would have provided them with an easier way to understand the general situation in this world without taking too many risks.

However, with nightfall now complete and not a single soul in sight, it seemed like this plan would have to be temporarily shelved. Based on her knowledge from Earth, it was generally too dangerous for hunters to venture into the mountains at night.

Just as Violet was about to take out some supplies to set up camp for the night and rethink their plans, a faint scream suddenly drifted into the girl’s awareness on the wind. While not particularly loud, it was quite noticeable in the tranquil night.

“…What was that?”

“Master, it came from that direction.”

The little dragon girl, Xiao Guang, clearly also detected the sound. However, she didn’t make any special move, just looking at Violet thoughtfully with her inquiring gaze.

“Let’s go and check it out,” Violet decided without much hesitation.

She jumped up from the rock, summoned her weapon, and began running in the direction of the sound, with Xiao Guang closely following behind.

Unlike their previous leisurely pace, this time Violet cast two blessings of swiftness on herself, making her speed increase rapidly. In less than a minute, she had traversed the dim and challenging forest at night and approached the scene.

Without rushing in, Violet found a slightly elevated thicket. Together with Xiao Guang, who was following closely behind her, they concealed themselves and observed quietly.

It was a life-and-death struggle.

One side was a group of five, led by a man in gray armor. The other side was a massive tiger-like creature, with fur so dark that it almost blended seamlessly into the night.

Yes, these were humans, a race quite similar to Violet’s previous understanding. However, compared to the humans on Earth, who tended to have a more scholarly demeanor and generally weaker bodies, these individuals seemed more energetic. Even the youngest girl among them, who was clutching a wooden staff and looked rather petite, appeared very spirited.

The black tiger that battled the humans was nearly three meters long, with bulging muscles and the agility of a sly rabbit. Every time it swiped its claws, it created heavy booms and ear-piercing friction on the leader’s shield or armor, causing the opponent to stagger and struggle to defend himself.

The tiger was incredibly fast, and it excelled at using the cover of the dark night and the complex terrain of the jungle to move like a shadow, launching attacks on the group of humans like a phantom.

On the human side, despite their number, only the leader, the warrior, could keep up with the tiger’s movements. The others couldn’t match the tiger’s speed at all. 

There was a woman in lightweight leather armor who remained in a tree, occasionally using her bow and arrows to hinder the enemy. However, the other three could only hide within a semi-transparent barrier, watching anxiously.

Violet also noticed that among the three seemingly less active individuals, a young man dressed similarly to the warrior was lying on the ground with a pale face. A large pool of crimson blood was flowing from beneath him, and his side armor appeared to have been completely torn open, revealing a gruesome sight.

The girl with the wooden staff was desperately trying to administer first aid to him, and a faint white light from the staff continuously seeped into the wound, but it seemed to have little effect.

The agonizing scream heard earlier had probably come from this young man.

The situation was highly unfavorable for the human side.

Although the woman in the tree was safe, her arrows couldn’t penetrate the tough fur of the black tiger, and thus had little impact on the battle. 

The middle-aged warrior was struggling to defend, making it difficult to seize an opportunity to inflict significant damage on the agile enemy.

As for the remaining three, while the man dressed in a wizard-like style was standing, he seemed unable to target the enemy directly and could only release various-colored lights that slightly boosted the attributes of the middle-aged warrior. However, this still couldn’t reverse the situation of them being on the defensive.

Without significant changes, it seemed unlikely that the human side could turn the tide.

It was apparent that the middle-aged warrior wanted to retreat, but he and the woman in the tree might be able to escape. The other three were undoubtedly trapped. If not for the former’s distractions and the semi-transparent barrier, they would likely have already become prey for the tiger.

“Hmm…”

Violet crouched down, half of her head peering out from the thicket, carefully observing the actions and displayed firepower of both sides, as if pondering something.

“Master, what do you plan to do? Those humans probably won’t last much longer,” Xiao Guang quietly inquired from the side. Her expression appeared quite indifferent, as though she were watching a distant fight between two insects, and she hadn’t placed any bets.

Violet glanced at the expression and suddenly asked, “Let me ask you a question, Xiao Guang. How do you view humans as a species?”

“Master, what do you mean…? They’re just ordinary ants. I don’t pay them much attention, nor do I specifically target them. After all, they are a short-lived and weak species, a lower race. Ignoring them is fine, right?”

“Although there are some humans with notable strength, they are all blessed by the will of the world and cannot be compared to pure humans.”

Violet’s eyelid twitched as she nodded, but she didn’t provide any particular response.

True, Xiao Guang was fundamentally a dragon, and not just any dragon but the highest-ranked among the dragon species in the game, a Holy Crystal Dragon. Now that she had stepped out of the game’s framework, gained self-awareness, she was a true top-of-the-food-chain existence. It was perfectly normal for her not to feel much about regular humans who were both weaker in terms of power and had shorter lifespans.

Violet had initially intended to emphasize that she was also a human, but she suddenly realized that “Violet” wasn’t really a human. While she had chosen the human race during character creation, after a certain story event, she had broken through the level 100 level cap and her race had ascended to the Divine Race.

Thinking about it, she belatedly realized that she had completely transformed into her own version of Violet, transcending the human category to become a unique kind of being…

How to put it? Although the phrase “I’m no longer human!” had been a popular meme for her back then when she played the game multiple times a day, actually achieving it now left her with a sense of melancholy.

“It looks like it’s over.” 

Xiao Guang’s calm evaluation pulled Violet out of her contemplation. She then noticed that the middle-aged warrior’s thick shield had finally shattered into several pieces due to the continuous strikes from the black tiger.

With no shield left, he looked somewhat grim, raising his sword with both hands, focusing intently, attempting to counter-attack when the black tiger pounced again, aiming to inflict real damage on the creature.

By not fleeing, it seemed like he was genuinely prepared to face life and death together with his teammates. As the strongest member of the group, having this mentality was quite commendable.

However, Violet was well aware that he wouldn’t be able to accomplish this. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have waited until they were completely cornered before attempting a last-ditch effort. 

The black tiger was currently building up power in the darkness, while he had to maintain a high level of concentration. With this constant trade-off, when the predator appeared again, it would be the warrior’s time of doom.

In reality, Violet could easily pinpoint the location where the massive tiger was hiding. The creature had merely blended with the night visually, but heartbeats, energy fluctuations, temperature—all these things were too obvious. Even a level 40-50 assassin in the game could do better.

However, those five individuals seemed genuinely incapable of finding this poorly executed concealment technique, and coupled with the observations over this period, it was evident that both the human and beast sides were far inferior to Violet and Xiao Guang in terms of power.

After making this assessment, Violet nodded to her pet dragon girl beside her.

“Go, Xiao Guang. Don’t let them die, I need information.”

“Understood!”