Somewhere in Night Song Forest...

Savage Claw swept his blood-red gaze over the cowering gnolls around him. Not one dared meet his eyes.

But he knew he had to leave.

At more than 2.2 meters tall and 350 pounds, Savage Claw towered over the lowland gnolls, whose average height and weight were closer to 1.9 meters and 200 pounds. As the leader of this band, he had enjoyed a comfortable life.

Then he lost the duel.

His opponent was another dire gnoll from deep within Night Song Forest, even more powerfully built than Savage Claw. The creature stood over 2.4 meters tall and possessed terrifying Strength.

Despite his defeat, Savage Claw would not die.

Not because the victor had shown mercy, but because Savage Claw had strength of his own.

Whenever he attacked at full force, a faint cyan current gathered around his body. The strange energy completely canceled the air's resistance, giving him speed far beyond that of other gnolls. It also erased his scent while he attacked, granting him exceptional concealment.

That ability gave Savage Claw confidence that he could thrive alone.

With a heavy snort, he left the gnoll camp and ran east through the forest. Without underlings to command, he would have to hunt for himself again.

He wandered toward the woods near a human settlement, hoping to find different prey. He had grown tired of the meat of forest beasts. How could it compare to human flesh?

Human females were especially soft and tender. One bite sent warm red juices over the tongue. The taste was unforgettable.

Savage Claw had eaten human flesh only three times. Those meals had been long ago, yet the memory remained vivid and had never stopped tempting him.

That was why he had traveled east. He knew there was a human town nearby—the closest settlement to his territory.

Goldflash Town, if he remembered correctly.

Night had fallen some time ago.

Unfamiliar with the area, Savage Claw avoided several humans wearing leather armor and carrying bows and swords. Without realizing it, he reached the edge of a vast open ground enclosed by fences.

The air here was thick with the scent of young, tender human flesh.

Human cubs.

Cubs usually tasted delicious. Savage Claw's thick throat worked. He had eaten almost nothing all day, so he decided this would be his hunting ground.

He watched for a while. At regular intervals, a squad of guards in fine chainmail passed by, each holding an iron-bound oak shield in one hand and keeping the other near a sword hilt.

Patrol guards. Gnoll camps used them as well.

Savage Claw did not fear these weak humans, but killing them would alert the others and cost him the tender cub meat. Humans were generally frail, yet their guards could call for reinforcements.

If they summoned the iron-skinned humans, matters would become troublesome. Those warriors were strong. Some nearly matched Savage Claw, while others surpassed him. He had no wish to fight them.

Savage Claw was a patient hunter. Before becoming a leader, he had always hunted for himself.

He could wait a little longer for fresh, tender meat.

---

In the page boys' dormitory at the western edge of the outer bailey, the trainees were already asleep on the large communal bunks. Soft snores rose and fell through the room. A full day of archery training had left most of them with aching arms.

Only Bushy Brow slept poorly, troubled by the thoughts he kept to himself.

Half awake, he thought he heard the door bang open.

"Which bastard is making that racket?" he mumbled.

Something soon felt wrong.

Bushy Brow heard a strange chewing sound.

Crunch. Crunch.

It seemed to come from the entrance.

Was someone eating in the middle of the night?

No.

Aside from Bushy Brow, Freckles, and a couple of others, which page boy could afford a midnight snack? The bed by the door had once been Raine's. Who slept there now?

He couldn't remember.

The mere thought of Raine irritated him enough to clear some of the fog from his mind. Grumbling with sleepy anger, he propped himself up and looked toward the door.

He was about to curse when the thick scent of blood reached him.

A violent shudder ran through his body. Goosebumps rose across his skin, and he became fully awake.

A huge black silhouette crouched beside the door, holding something in both hands and tearing into it with great bites.

Bushy Brow immediately realized that no trainee possessed such a massive frame. He was the largest among them, yet he was nowhere close. Even crouching, the figure by the door resembled a small hill.

Terrible possibilities crowded his mind. Beads of sweat formed across his forehead, and his heart pounded against his ribs.

He carefully lowered himself back onto the bed.

His trembling hands betrayed his terror.

*There are seven people between me and the bed by the door. No... six.*

*It should leave once it's full, right?*

*Mother, protect me. I don't want to die.*

*Father, what should I do?*

Bushy Brow was close to breaking. He had no idea how to respond.

Then he remembered the guards.

A patrol squad passed the dormitory at regular intervals. He had complained about the noise of their footsteps before.

Now he clung to that memory like a lifeline.

Bushy Brow devoted all his attention to the sounds outside, waiting for the guards' rhythmic footsteps.

But fortune refused to favor him. The patrol had either just passed or had not yet arrived. The harder he listened, the clearer the dreadful crunching became.

Never in his life had he longed so desperately to hear approaching guards.

One minute.

Two minutes.

Every second felt endless.

At last, heavy, rhythmic footsteps reached his ears.

Bushy Brow filled his lungs and screamed with all his strength.

"HELP! THERE'S A MONSTER!"

"Bushy Brow, have you lost your mind? What are you shouting for?"

Freckles, sleeping beside him, was the first to wake.

"Yeah, Bushy Brow. What's wrong with you?"

The tanner's son rubbed his eyes.

Complaints rose throughout the dormitory as the page boys were jolted awake. A second later, every voice died.

They stared at the towering figure beside the door, mouths hanging open.

In the faint moonlight, they could barely make out a humanoid body clad in damaged leather shoulder armor and chainmail. Its head projected forward, and coarse fur covered every patch of exposed skin.

The head was unmistakably inhuman.

It belonged to a massive hyena.

Ugly and savage, the creature held a long human leg in both hands and gnawed at it. Dark blood and scraps of flesh ran from both sides of its enormous jaws.

Savage Claw was displeased.

His plan had been perfect: secretly eat two cubs, then take another two away for tomorrow. One cub's scream had ruined everything.

He looked at the mostly eaten body on the floor.

It was time to leave. The human guards would arrive soon. Taking two cubs was no longer practical, but one should pose no problem.

Savage Claw seized a page boy sleeping near the door, who had already gone rigid with terror, smashed through the wooden door, and charged outside.

The estate patrol had broken into a run the moment Bushy Brow shouted. They reached the entrance just as the door exploded outward.

Splintered planks flew toward them like arrows.

A savage monster more than two meters tall burst through the wreckage. It slammed into the two guards blocking its way and sent them flying seven or eight meters before departing at an unhurried pace.

Before long, torchlight blazed throughout Habsburg Estate.