After returning to my nest, I gave Tus and Pus a thorough lesson.

"You two, never cross over to that side."

"If those creatures invade, even I won’t be able to help."

"Kieeeeng!"

"Good. Do you understand?"

"Let’s make sure we stick to this."

Honestly, it felt a bit absurd lecturing them like this. Unless they were incredibly stupid, they wouldn’t go near that place.

The Deinonychus and Baryonyx I saw were like massive walls—an imposing reminder that brought me back down to earth after feeling overly confident from defeating the Caiman.

I just need to get stronger.

For now, I needed to calm my racing heart.

Fishing should do the trick.

I headed toward the section of the swamp where the piranhas gathered.

Piranhas.

One of my preferred food sources. There were plenty of them, and they tasted quite good.

Back when I was a Green Basilisk, they used to gang up on me, thinking I was an easy target. But now that I’ve grown, they scatter the moment they see me coming.

It’s almost an insult to the name ‘piranha.’

They’re supposed to be the kind that charges in recklessly, even when they know they’ll lose.

But that’s fine.

It just makes hunting a little less annoying.

Splash!

I dove into the water.

Since they hide underwater, it was better to submerge myself rather than use Small Dragon Soaring Sky Step.

Wiggling my long tail, I swam silently like a crocodile.

No noise, no splashing.

I spotted a piranha.

It looked plump enough.

No need to be quiet any longer.

Whoosh!

With a burst of speed, I shot toward it.

The piranha tried to react, but it was already too late.

There’s almost no way to escape from the explosive speed of a monitor lizard’s strike.

Snap!

I grabbed the piranha and tossed it onto land.

I didn’t bite down hard enough to kill it, but it wouldn’t be able to move.

I could take it back to the nest alive and eat it fresh later.

Maybe Tus and Pus could finish it off to level up.

I wonder if they even realize how much I’m thinking about them.

Raising children is tough.

Splash!

I caught three more piranhas.

That should be enough.

After coming ashore, I shook the water off my body.

Whoosh!

As expected, a small whirlpool formed in a part of the swamp.

Rumble.

A massive piranha—no, it was more like a giant golden carp—watched me from a distance.

Every time I hunted piranhas, it would show up like this, as if it were protesting.

I’m not sure if it’s meant as a warning or something else.

It’s an eyesore, and I’ve tried to catch it several times, but it’s never easy.

It doesn’t seem particularly strong, but its ability to escape is on a whole different level compared to regular piranhas.

To exaggerate a bit, this fish could practically fly through the air.

Maybe this is how other insects felt when they saw me using Small Dragon Soaring Sky Step.

Since it didn’t directly harm me and I had no good way to catch it, I decided to just ignore it.

Rumble.

"Yeah, yeah, off you go."

After returning to my nest and having a meal with the spiders, night had fallen before I knew it.

Pus crept up beside me, subtly showing off the new web it had spun today.

Was it asking for praise?

"Gekgek."

I raised a hand and gently scratched its back.

The size difference between us was so great now that even controlling my strength was difficult.

"Kieeeng!"

"Are you not scared of me at all?"

...And don’t stick your rear towards me. Whatever you’re expecting, I’m not going to do it.

"Kieeng..."

Pus sulked and crawled into a corner of the nest, lying down beside the already asleep Tus. Soon, it too was soundly asleep.

Another day passed without much incident.

The fact that I had seen the upper swamp was notable, but overall, it had been a peaceful day.

It was time to sleep.

I couldn’t express how wonderful it felt to finally be able to close my eyes without worry.

I yawned and coiled up to sleep.

And at that moment, a loud noise disturbed the quiet.

"Grrrr..."

Who’s making all that racket while the kids are sleeping?

Noise complaints are something I dealt with as soon as I became the swamp’s ruler.

The noisy toads and turtles had already been turned into jerky.

Even the golden carp that flies around at night keeps quiet, so who’s the reckless fool making all this noise?

I hadn’t felt this irritable in a long time.

Step.

I walked toward the swamp to see who was causing the commotion.

"...How about it?"

Wait a minute. That sound?

It was the voice of a person.

It wasn’t the first time I’d encountered humans here, but it still surprised me.

What could they be doing here?

Whatever the reason, getting involved wouldn’t be a smart move.

Unless they were weirdos like Baek Yeon-Yeong, most humans would be hostile toward me.

Time to quietly slip away.

Sneak, sneak.

Just as I was about to retreat—

"...H-huh!"

I made eye contact with someone.

Thunk.

And a smaller person bumped right into me.

Those people were now fully aware of my presence.

Well, nothing I can do about it.

Time for Plan B.

I’ll smile and look as harmless as possible.

"Hello, humans."

From the looks of it, you’re injured.

I don’t really have a way to heal you, but...

Should I offer to lick the wounds?

I gave them a concerned look.

The group of eight third-rate martial artists had been reduced to five.

Deinonychus had hunted them down.

Even so, they were still martial artists, and somehow managed to avoid total annihilation.

"Creatures using battle formations? This is insane!"

The Blood Slayer shook his head in disbelief.

Each of those monsters was powerful enough on its own, but they had mimicked a battle formation, switching roles and mercilessly hunting them down.

Still, five remained. If they included the Tang Clan girl, that made six survivors.

"At least we’re still alive, Blood Slayer, isn’t that something?"

"Enough of that."

It wasn’t because they had fought off the monsters.

They had sacrificed three members and barely survived.

Tang Soyeong played a significant role in their escape.

Even though she wasn’t a fighter, she was still from the Tang Clan.

She had thrown a smoke bomb from her pouch, giving them the chance to flee.

Still, it hadn’t been enough to save the three who perished.

"We’re doomed... We lost Dal Daehyup too... huuuh..."

Tang Soyeong started crying again.

Honestly, it was getting a bit annoying to listen to, but they owed their lives to her.

Though her personality was a bit strange, they figured being kind to her would be beneficial in the long run.

"Miss, don’t worry too much. The Blood Slayer and I are third-rate martial artists on the verge of becoming second-rate. You could even say we’re quite seasoned."

Tang Soyeong turned her head and looked at Zhang Bong, then turned away again.

"Huaaah... What a bunch of weirdos... aren’t they embarrassed?"

Zhang Bong coughed awkwardly, while the Blood Slayer interjected.

"Forget about that! The important thing is we need to survive. We need to find somewhere safe and gather food."

"You’re right, but what are we going to find in this swamp?"

The swamp was unfamiliar and hostile territory for the third-rate martial artists.

"Something’s bound to turn up. Fish, maybe? Or perhaps something crawling around."

Their first priority was to find shelter and food.

It would be even better if they could find herbs to treat the wounds from the earlier battle.

And so, they began exploring the swamp.

"...It’s quiet."

"Of course it is, it’s night."

The swamp was eerily silent.

Almost as if something—or someone—was controlling the creatures.

At that moment, Zhang Bong spotted something strange.

"...Wait, what’s that?"

A massive turtle with a peculiar golden sheen on its shell.

"Huh? Is that a... golden turtle?"

A legendary spirit beast, said to exist only in myths.

The Blood Slayer didn’t believe him.

"Golden turtle? You must be mistaken. It’s too dark to see properly."

He was about to scold Zhang Bong for overreacting when his own eyes caught sight of something glowing.

A massive toad with a golden hue.

"Huh? A... golden toad?"

Both of them screamed in shock at the same time.

The other third-rate martial artists rushed over to their position.

What they saw were enormous spirit beasts radiating a golden glow.

"Th-that’s..."

Roar.

A giant golden carp swam in a small whirlpool, glaring at them.

"M-man-year carp!"

The swamp descended into chaos.

"Get them!"

Greed filled the martial artists’ eyes.

"Let go of me! I saw it first!"

"Even if you third-rate martial artists manage to catch them, they won’t do you any good! L-let me study them first!"

Even Tang Soyeong, who had been crying moments ago, was excited by the sight of the golden toad.

Though not quite as valuable as a legendary beast, the golden toad was still highly prized by the Tang Clan.

The martial artists scrambled to capture the spirit beasts.

But no third-rate martial artist could catch such creatures.

"Argh! How is that turtle so fast?!"

"M-my hand! My hand is acting strange!"

"Even if it’s a spirit beast, how can a carp fly through the air?!"

The bright moon hung high in the sky.

They were, quite literally, performing acrobatics under the moonlight.

"Huff... huff..."

Exhausted, the martial artists panted heavily, taking a brief rest.

"Hah... they’re so damn fast."

"Still, with this many spirit beasts around, if we take our time, we might be able to catch one."

"What if we set up camp here? If we corner one at a time, even spirit beasts can’t escape us forever."

Although they hadn’t found any food, the presence of spirit beasts had ignited a strong motivation within them.

The Ten Thousand Great Mountains had become a land of opportunity for them.

"If I can just catch that golden toad... Maybe I’ll be forgiven for losing Dal Daehyup..."

"Heheh."

Tang Soyeong let out a strange laugh.

Even while the others were resting, she crouched down, eagerly scanning for the golden toad.

"Miss, stop that and come over here. It’s getting late..."

Zhang Bong approached her, but then his steps came to an abrupt halt.

Clatter.

"Huh... H-huh?!"

He dropped the sword he was holding.

Ignoring Zhang Bong’s reaction, Tang Soyeong kept walking forward.

Thunk.

And then she bumped into something.

Tang Soyeong looked up.

The full moon hung in the sky.

A teal-colored creature stood against its light, dripping venom from its mouth.

"Grrrr..."

It growled lowly, clearly not in a good mood.

Tang Soyeong froze in place.

"H-huh?!"

The Blood Slayer and Zhang Bong wanted to rush to her aid, but their bodies wouldn’t move.

That thick armor. Those sharp claws.

Its blue eyes.

That long tail.

Its savage growl.

"Hrraaaah!"

The overwhelming aura of internal energy, powerful enough for even third-rate martial artists to sense.

"It’s... it’s a dragon! A dragon has appeared!"

It was a monster that could only be described as a dragon.