'But you had enough energy to cry your eyes out?' Azel thought and rolled his eyes slightly. 'Well, this isn't bad… I need to look up our new enemies.'

He crouched beside the massive corpse again.

The bird if one could even call it that, was big as hell.

Azel leaned closer, inspecting the creature's features.

Apart from its sheer size, the sharp beak, and talons that were strong enough to crush boulders, there wasn't much else notable.

It didn't have any horns or extra eyes either… It was just one oversized murder-bird.

"Is there anything else they can do?" Azel asked, glancing at Selene who stood beside him with her hands clasped.

"Apart from manipulating wind with magic, we didn't see anything else," she replied quickly. "It only attacked once, then we managed to bring it down together."

Azel nodded thoughtfully, standing back up.

"Alright." He gave the corpse a solid kick, rolling it slightly aside. "Gather everyone again. We're going on a second round of hunting."

Selene blinked. "Right now?"

"Yes. Right now."

"Okay my lord!" She ran off excitedly.

…

Soon enough, they stood once more at the entrance of the Evil Forest.

The place looked as menacing as ever… although the aura surrounding it was not quite the same, however it was still a place that was trying to kill them.

Azel was enthusiastic about tonight's hunt… however the werewolves behind him looked far from enthusiastic.

Even though they were overjoyed to see their lord's sudden return, their joy had quickly turned to dread once they learned he planned to drag them right back into this cursed place.

Azel stood at the very front with his arms crossed. He looked more handsome than ever.

'Did he do something with his hair?' Selene noticed, it didn't look as spiky as before.

"I'm sure we all learned from last night," he said. "I showed you how to hunt. I showed you how to think and use your heads. Now, we'll move on to the next step…"

He paused, letting the tension rise a little. "And I think this one's very important."

The werewolves exchanged uneasy glances. Was it going to be something equally dangerous?

Azel suddenly frowned. "The next step… is dealing with a prankster."

The crowd murmured in confusion until they felt the ropes that had been looped around their legs.

"What—!?"

"My lord?!"

"Something's… aaagh!"

Azel looked down in annoyance to see the rope slither up his own leg too.

"Huh." He sighed. "Fucking pranksters…"

Before anyone could react, the ropes yanked tight and in an instant, they were all dragged into the forest, screaming, shouting, and tumbling through the undergrowth.

…

Azel gritted his teeth as he was pulled along the ground like a ragdoll… A very calm ragdoll though.

His face remained calm, but the irritation was unmistakable.

Branches snapped, leaves flew, and somewhere behind him he could hear one of the werewolves yelling about losing a shoe.

'Fucking pranksters,' Azel repeated bitterly.

He'd already dealt with one the first day he came here. Now there were more?

'What kind of twisted forest breeds this many clowns?'

He'd initially planned for a simple hunt… catch some beasts, gather meat, and train the pack but apparently the forest had other ideas so he was forced to switch tonight's agenda to dealing with these fuckers.

He sighed inwardly. 'This needs to end. Permanently.'

Still, he had to admit… the strength behind these ropes was surprising.

The pull was strong enough to drag him through roots and rocks, and the ropes themselves didn't even seem to be made of any normal material.

They were like enchanted vines.

'How the hell are they this strong? The first one wasn't even half this tough,' he thought, narrowing his eyes.

He waited for the pull to slow down slightly, then summoned a blade of pure aura and sliced through the rope cleanly.

The tension released, and he flipped midair before landing lightly in a bush.

"Finally," he muttered, brushing off his coat.

He crouched and listened.

The forest was quiet again... but there were sounds of movement nearby.

He followed the noise, stepping silently through the brush until the ground suddenly dipped ahead.

'What the hell is this?' Azel thought, crouching at the edge of a sudden drop.

Below him was a large clearing… a crater of sorts, dug several meters deep into the forest floor.

And down there, moving around lazily, were small black creatures. They were barely the size of human babies, with stubby limbs and smooth featureless faces, except for the ghostly glow where their eyes should be.

He frowned. 'So these are the pranksters?'

From what he could sense, there were about eleven of them, all of them radiating mana.

They were weak, by his standards. But something else caught his attention.

Down in the clearing, several of his werewolves… his "hunters" were tied up along poles like trophies.

Vargan, one of his best, was hanging upside down while two of the little monsters tried to wrap extra vines around his ankles.

'You've got to be kidding me,' Azel thought, pinching the bridge of his nose.

It wasn't just the werewolves.

A massive Marrowcruncher bear was tied up too, groaning weakly. Several smaller forest beasts were pinned to wooden poles as well, as if presented for some strange ritual.

And yet… despite the absurdity, none of them seemed harmed.

They were either just unconscious or dazed.

He scanned the area once more and exhaled in relief when he didn't spot Selene among them.

'Good. She's not here. She'd better come save them.'

One of the tiny creatures… the apparent leader was dragging Vargan by the leg while two others cheered, waving tiny sticks like flags.

"Is this truly the future of hunting for Lycas?" Azel muttered under his breath.

Still crouched, he focused on one of them long enough for a glowing system bar to appear before his eyes.

[Dar, Rank 4]

'Rank 4?' he thought. 'That's barely above trash tier… So how the hell did they capture an entire squad of hunters?'

A new window blinked to life.

[Description: Dars use their hypnosis ability to trap victims in their most desirable dream. They feed on the victim's happiness to grow stronger, eventually devouring them once their emotional energy runs dry. A Dar's strength increases based on how many dreams… and victims, it consumes.]

Azel's eyes narrowed. "Damn…"

He looked toward a pile of bones stacked in one corner of the pit. "So they've been eating for a while."

Still, the scene didn't look overly dire. The Dars weren't preparing to eat anyone right now, they were playing.

He exhaled and sat down cross-legged in the grass. "Well, it doesn't look serious yet. I'll wait a bit before stepping in."

After all, watching how his subordinates handled situations like this was a lesson of its own.

Every mistake was experience, and experience was the best teacher according to Steven.

He settled into the bush comfortably, crossing his arms. "Let's see how you handle this mess…"

The plan he had in mind was simple… observe, evaluate, and jump in before anyone actually died.

But as usual, the forest had other plans.

Behind him, a rustling sound whispered through the leaves.

Azel's eyes flicked sideways. He didn't move, waiting for the source to reveal itself.

Then he turned slightly… and found himself staring into two glowing white eyes barely a hand's width away.

A tiny Dar stood there, holding its stubby hands to its mouth.

It took a deep breath.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding m—"

"DAR!" the creature screamed.

The sonic blast hit him point-blank.

"Son of a—"

The force launched him straight out of the bushes, hurling his body into the open air.

He soared over the edge of the clearing like a catapulted rock and crashed straight into the middle of the pit.

The ground cracked where he landed.

All awake eyes turned to him.

Azel pushed himself up slowly, wiping dirt off his sleeve.

'Fucking pranksters…' he thought darkly, his expression blank but his patience hanging by a thread.

One of the Dars blinked at him, then tilted its head.

"Dar?" it squeaked curiously.

Another one jumped up and down excitedly, waving its tiny arms. "Dar! Dar!"

The rest joined in, chanting together like a cult. "Dar! Dar! Dar!"

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