Behind him stood Anita, pulling her demon‑slayer sword free from his body.
She stared at the blade for a moment, then spoke to it as casually as if she were commenting on the weather.
"Five points for a Clan Leader, right?
That means I've got ten points already, even though I've only killed six Fire Demons!
This is going smoother than farting after bean soup."
Apollonia stared at her, mouth open.
"Ice element?! Anita… you awakened your second element?!"
"Hm?" Anita looked at her.
"Well… sort of.
Either way, the ice element is mine now — whether I kill a hundred demons or not."
Botond looked up at her, still kneeling.
"One of your eyes… it looks like a demon's.
I won't ask why.
You saved our lives.
You're our ally."
Anita touched her right eye — the one glowing with an eerie, unnatural light.
"Oh, you mean this one?
Ever since I cut down my first demon, I can see much farther with it."
Silence settled over the clearing.
The flames crackled.
The demon's body froze solid, then shattered into pieces.
And Anita stood there, demon‑slayer sword in hand —
and everyone knew something had changed in her.
The Pink Pheasant Incident
"So you're telling me you took down six demons all by yourself?" Apollonia asked, still sitting on the ground with her broken leg.
"Great. Forget our rematch. I never want to duel you again."
"Who would want to duel you anyway?" Anita shrugged.
"I have demons to hunt."
Botond exhaled heavily as he pushed himself to his feet.
"Now that I've found Lady Annerose… where do we go next?"
"I'm heading toward the castle," Anita replied.
"But my sword doesn't sense any demons coming from that direction anymore."
"Then that's where we're going," Apollonia said.
"Botond, carry me on your back. With a broken leg I can't fight — or walk."
"Lady Annerose, can you walk?" Botond asked.
"Yes… I think so," the noble girl said as she slowly stood.
"Now that I've calmed down a little, I can stand again.
I suppose… I'll have to give up on that pink pheasant."
Anita's head snapped up.
"Don't even mention the pink pheasant. I can still taste it in my mouth.
I've never eaten meat that good."
Annerose's eyes widened.
"What?! When did you eat a pink pheasant?!"
"About half an hour ago," Anita replied with complete naturalness.
"Some parts of the forest are burning so hot that animals basically roast themselves.
I was tracking demons when I spotted a pink chicken.
Turns out it was a pheasant, not a chicken."
"No…" Annerose whispered, already terrified of the answer.
"When it saw me, the poor thing tried to run, but it ran straight into the fire," Anita continued.
"So I figured, since it roasted itself crispy, its meat shouldn't go to waste.
And I was right!"
"The breast, the thigh, the wings… divine.
If I'd known pink pheasant tasted this good, I would've hunted that instead of the Golden Stag.
But in the end I had to hunt demons anyway, so whatever."
Annerose went pale.
"The feathers! What happened to the pheasant's feathers?!"
"Oh, it had two long feathers," Anita said.
"But those were the first to catch fire. Burned up instantly.
Why, did you need them?"
Annerose collapsed to her knees.
"This can't be happening… the Feathers of Eternal Love!!!"
Anita shrugged.
"Well, yeah. I'll never get that flavor out of my head."
The others stared at her as if she had arrived from another planet.
And Anita just stood there, demon‑slayer sword in hand,
utterly convinced that everything she had done was the most natural thing in the world.
The Hunt Begins
All three Fire Demon Clan Leaders had fallen —
but the battle was far from over.
The demonic chaos was not fueled only by Wildfire's rampage,
but also by the magical monstrosity the demons had dragged with them from Harpy Island.
The Earth Demon‑Toad devoured knights as if they were tiny insects.
Its body was made of cracked, armor‑like layers of hardened earth,
its eyes glowed sickly yellow,
and every flick of its tongue meant another death.
In the bushes, two hunters watched the creature.
David, the Twinblade,
and Beela Hawkeye, the infamous hunter of the Wolves.
"This toad is gulping down knights like Floralys gulps down pastries," David muttered.
"It's eaten twenty knights since I started watching it," Beela replied, tracking every movement of the beast.
"How the hell did they bring such a monster with them?" David asked.
"Maybe they just teleported it here," Beela shrugged.
"Well, true… that's how they scattered us too."
Beela narrowed his eyes.
"That earth‑armored hide is so tough that neither swords nor arrows can pierce it.
It's resistant to fire, and its tongue is so fast the knights don't even have time to dodge."
"If this thing reaches the city…" David said grimly.
"It'll destroy everything and everyone.
We have to stop it here. No matter the cost."
Beela smiled —
the kind of smile only a hunter wears when he finally faces the prey of his dreams.
"I'll take care of it.
As a hunter, it's always been my dream to bring down a magical beast."
"And how exactly?" David asked.
"We can't even scratch its hide!"
"It's a frog," Beela said.
"Even if it's a big one.
On the outside it may be invulnerable —
but on the inside, it can be killed."
"With a mouth that big, getting into its stomach will be easy."
David went pale.
"You want it to swallow you?!
Even if you manage that, the acid in its mouth will kill you instantly!"
"I'm earth‑elemental," Beela replied.
"I can endure a few seconds.
And with Savage Mode, I'll kill it."
"You can use Savage Mode? Isn't that a knight technique?"
"My version is a hunter's technique," Beela said.
"But I need a catalyst for it."
"And since I didn't expect to run into a magical beast in Greenwood Forest,
I didn't bring my earth rune‑stone."
His gaze slid to the sword on David's back.
"That sword you're carrying… that's Eagle Claw, isn't it?"
"Yeah," David nodded.
"Floralys shoved it into my hands this morning, told me to use it against the demons.
I told her I'm only good with short blades, but she insisted so much I had to take it."
"If I remember correctly, Eagle Claw's elements are earth and wind," Beela said.
"You want to use it as a catalyst?"
"Do you know why legendary swords can use two elements?" Beela asked.
"Because they're legendary?" David guessed.
"Because they have two different elemental rune‑stones built into them," Beela explained.
"But I'm warning you: if I use the earth rune‑stone inside Eagle Claw as a catalyst,
the sword will probably shatter from the inside out."
David didn't hesitate for even a second.
"Take it. Use it.
The lives of the townsfolk will always matter more than a legendary sword."
Beela took the weapon, and determination flashed in his eyes.
The hunt had begun.
Beela Hawkeye's Memory
David handed him the Talonblade without a moment's hesitation.
Beela's fingers closed around the hilt of the legendary sword —
and in that instant, a memory flashed through his mind.
Wolfwood Castle – The Kitchen, a few years earlier
The hunters had just brought in a freshly skinned deer.
This time, it was Beela's turn to carry the meat inside.
At the kitchen table sat Young Wolf, legs dangling, impatiently waiting for his scones.
"Good to see you, Young Wolf," Beela began.
"I wanted to ask you something."
"Come, sit," Andras waved.
"The scones will be ready in a moment.
So, what did you want?"
"That technique you taught your elite knights… the one called Savage Mode.
Is it really strong enough to defeat a magical beast one‑on‑one?"
"Yes," Andras nodded.
"It was created specifically for fighting magical beasts."
"And… could a hunter learn it too?"
Andras thought for a moment.
"Well… Ironclaw is more of a hunter than a knight.
There's nothing knightly about her at all."
He smirked, then continued:
"But to answer your question: it wouldn't be impossible.
I'd just have to modify it."
"So I could learn it?"
"And why would you want such a technique?" Andras asked.
Beela smiled.
"You know what my greatest dream is as a hunter?"
"A bunny girl?" Andras shot back instantly.
"Fair," Beela chuckled.
"But no — my greatest dream is to hunt down a magical beast."
"Your element is earth, right?"
"Yes, I'm earth‑elemental."