Chapter 138: Meal

"Two days is better than dead," Rhazak said bluntly.

"You’re traveling with a human man, a human girl, and a cat, safety has to come first."

"That’s true..." Zharok rubbed the back of his neck.

"Since you’re here, why not eat with us? There’s plenty."

"I couldn’t ask for anything better." Rhazak let out a hearty laugh, sat cross-legged by the fire, and tore into the food Ethan had prepared, he ate like a man who hadn’t seen a hot meal in days, which, judging by the hollows under his cheekbones, he probably hadn’t.

"Mmm... This is incredible, a heavenly delicacy."

"Glad you like it, by the way — you mentioned the monsters’ movements are abnormal, what exactly is going on?"

Rhazak finished a large bowl of stew, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and said in a much colder tone, "A Ravager Lord has appeared in the Temple of Chaos."

"What?!"

"This is a disaster, meow~"

Zharok and Pearl looked stricken, Ethan and Liora just blinked.

Seeing their blank faces, Rhazak waved his hands. "A Ravager Lord! A Ravager Lord!"

"What is that?" Liora asked.

Rhazak deflated, he rubbed his forehead and sighed. ’Well, it’s understandable they wouldn’t know.’

Seeing that Ethan was equally lost, Rhazak cast a helpless look at Zharok and Pearl.

"A Ravager Lord is born when a monster devours a massive quantity of Chaos Fragments and mutates, meow, you know that eating Chaos Fragments makes a monster far stronger, right?"

"I know that... but your reactions seem bigger than for a normal high-tier monster."

"Of course they’re bigger, meow, a Ravager Lord isn’t just powerful — it can command other monsters, meow~"

On its own, a Ravager Lord was already devastating — a walking catastrophe wrapped in armor-thick hide, but it could also rally other monsters into a massive army,, its goal was straightforward and terrible, annihilate every living creature in the Great Forest that didn’t carry the power of Chaos. Beastmen, spirits, trees, animals — nothing would be spared. Maybe not on a dragon’s level, but its power still dwarfed ordinary monsters by a wide margin.

"Right now, monsters are gathering around it in an endless stream, drawn by its immense power like iron filings to a magnet, once the force is large enough, it will lead them across the entire Great Forest, slaughtering everything."

That sounded like a catastrophe.

Ethan’s expression hardened, if the Ravager Lord stayed hidden in a corner, it would be bad enough, but if it swept across the forest, the consequences would be devastating.

"Are we just going to let it run wild?" This wasn’t only the west’s problem — it threatened every corner of the Great Forest, the beastmen needed to unite.

"The beastmen of the west have already begun assembling."

"Are they planning to wipe out all the monsters, meow?"

"Not exactly, warriors from the Eagle Tribe and several other powerful tribes have formed a task force to take down the Ravager Lord directly, kill the leader, and the rest scatter, they can be mopped up later."

The problem was that the Ravager Lord was cunning, it had surrounded itself with a massive ring of guard-monsters, breaking through to reach it would mean heavy casualties.

"Among those guards, there are definitely ones with long-range attacks... It’s too dangerous, meow!!!"

At this point, sitting on the sidelines was out of the question.

"If we could be of some help..."

"What can you do?" Rhazak asked, sounding skeptical.

"Pearl and I can both launch large-scale attacks, we should be able to draw fire and reduce casualties."

Ethan’s Wrath of the Earth and Pearl’s various spells were all wide-area attacks, used properly, they could carve a serious hole in the monster horde.

Rhazak rubbed his chin and thought for a moment. "If that’s the case, we truly could use your help. Are you willing to come with us?"

He extended his massive hand. Ethan grabbed it without hesitation and smiled. "Of course."

Led by Rhazak, they arrived at a crude settlement — less a village than a temporary stronghold cobbled together from logs and stretched hides. Just as Ethan had expected, beastmen of every kind had gathered here: wolves, bears, leopards, lizards, boars, and a dozen other species, all sharpening weapons or patching wounds.

"Right this way."

The beastmen stared curiously at the humans in their midst. A few whispered to each other, ears flicking. But Rhazak offered no explanation. He led Ethan’s group straight into a wooden cabin at the center of the camp where several beastmen were already assembled around a rough table.

At the very back sat a massive eagle beastman. His broad wings were folded against his shoulders, and his eyes — sharp as a hawk’s — swept over the newcomers without blinking. He was the kind of creature that looked dangerous even sitting still.

Rhazak introduced them. "This is Ethan and his group. They came from the central part of the Great Forest."

"Humans?" The eagle beastman’s voice was low and flat. "What are they doing here?"

"Rhazak said you formed a task force to take down the Ravager Lord, right?"

"Yes. I am Rauk, a Great Warrior of the Eagle Tribe." He didn’t stand up or extend a hand. His gaze alone was enough of a greeting.

"Ethan. This is Zharok, Liora, and Pearl. Let’s skip the pleasantries — Pearl and I both excel at large-scale magic. We can use that to draw the monsters’ attention and thin the herd."

"Hmm..." A wolf beastman leaning against the wall nodded. He stepped forward and outlined the plan. The western beastmen would serve as a decoy force — loud, visible, expendable — giving the task force the opening it needed to reach and strike the Ravager Lord directly.

"Then let us join the decoy force."

"That would be excellent. Your wide-area attacks will definitely grab their attention."

"When does the operation begin?"

"Tomorrow."

There was time. Ethan stood and turned to Rauk. "Please gather all the beastmen who’ll be fighting."

"What are you going to do?"

"Feed them a proper meal."

"What can you possibly..." Rauk gave Ethan a skeptical look and left the cabin. Half-convinced at best, he brought only half the beastmen.

’They have some food in their carriage,’ Rauk thought as he flew back. ’But there’s no way it’s enough for this many. We’ll still need a hunting party.’

He landed at the stronghold, talons digging into the dirt. And stopped dead.

"Th-this is..."

A golden field of wheat stretched before him, swaying gently in the breeze. Beside it grew rows of fruits and heaps of Honey Sweet Potatoes, fat and orange, poking out of freshly turned soil.

"My goodness!! Are those all Honey Sweet Potatoes?!"

No beastman alive could resist them, the skeptics from earlier gasped in unison, ears and tails snapping upright.

"You’re just in time. Come help harvest." Ethan walked over holding a hoe, soil on his hands and knees, and greeted the beastmen warmly, he looked around.

"Why are there so few people?"

"Ah, there are others, but..."

"Call them all over."

Rauk spread his wings and launched into the sky without another word. If there was this much food, he might as well bring every last fighter. He climbed higher and higher until he vanished into the clouds.