Chapter 770: The Boss’s Arrival

At the same time, Dmitri shifted his aim, abandoning his current target to help.

~Whoosh!~

His arrow streaked through the rain and buried itself deep in the charging Stalker’s hide. The shaft penetrated, drawing a howl of pain from the beast, but it didn’t stop it.

Rather than waste time on another spell that wouldn’t land, Priya made the smart call and rushed back toward Dmitri, consolidating their position. Dmitri moved forward to meet her, placing himself between the healer and the oncoming beast, dropping his bow and drawing a short blade for close combat.

~Clash!~

The Stalker’s claw met Dmitri’s blade, and the sheer force behind the strike flung him backward, the archer tumbling across the wet ground, outmatched in raw power by the body-refiner beast.

"Dmitri!" Priya shouted, already casting a spell as she scrambled to retreat, trying to put distance between herself and the predator.

But the Stalker had other plans. With Dmitri thrown aside, the path to the healer was open, and it lunged, claws sweeping toward Priya before she could complete her retreat.

~Whoosh!~

~Thud!~

Before the claws could reach her, Garrett arrived.

His greatsword came down in a brutal overhead strike, cleaving through the Stalker’s neck, biting halfway through and leaving the beast’s head hanging limply to one side. The Stalker convulsed, its lunge collapsing, its lifeblood pouring out into the rain-soaked ground.

"Are you okay?" Garrett asked, planting a boot against the twitching beast and wrenching his greatsword free of its ruined neck, already repositioning to strike again if it so much as moved.

Priya nodded quickly, out of breath, rain streaming down her face. "I’m fine. Thanks to you. That thing just wouldn’t go down, my spells barely scratched it."

"Don’t mention it. Dmitri, you alive?" Garrett called over his shoulder.

Dmitri pushed himself up from the mud, wincing, retrieving his bow. "Still breathing. That hit nearly took my arm off." He nocked an arrow, his expression grim. "These Stalkers are no joke. We can’t fight them the way we fought the other packs. We need to stay tight, cover each other."

"It’s my fault, I left you guys alone," Garrett grunted, moving to shield both of them as more Stalkers circled through the downpour. "We hold here and let the boss do the heavy lifting. No more getting split up, that could have been bad."

The three of them regrouped, forming a tight defensive formation amid the chaos, learning the hard lesson that the valley’s elite defenders demanded far more caution than anything they’d faced above, while across the battlefield Moon and his beasts continued their rampage, thinning the pack.

As Moon danced between the Mountain Stalkers, hacking them to death in frozen, crackling heaps, the valley suddenly felt different. Eerie.

And shortly after, a howl shattered through the cacophony of battle and dying beasts.

"HOWL!"

Everyone turned toward the source.

Dmitri, Priya, and Garrett’s faces contorted the instant they felt the aura rolling off the beast that emerged.

This Stalker was nothing like the ones they’d been fighting. Its fur was fully golden, not merely streaked, as if the creature had been dipped in a pool of liquid gold, like a shining beacon through the pouring rain.

It was larger than the others.

And in its eye sockets shone two beautiful ruby orbs, gemlike eyes that seemed to pierce straight through to the soul of anyone who met their gaze.

The ruler had come.

Moon completed his combo on the two Stalkers before him, and turned toward the new threat. The two beasts collapsed dead behind him, blood spraying from their severed necks like fountains, the rain washing it away even as it fell.

"You arrive at last," Moon said, smirking. "Took losing more than half your subordinates to finally pull you out of hiding. It doesn’t seem like you value their lives much?"

There was no doubt in his mind.

The golden beast before him was a Surpasser. But a Surpasser was no longer the threat it once would have been. Moon could kill Surpassers now with his own hands, and both Honeybun and his Lesser Elf Beast Soul could match one in their own right.

The ruler of the mountain had revealed itself expecting to crush the intruders who’d slaughtered its kin, and instead it had walked towards its own death.

Honeybun moved to the front line at once, its eyes fixed on the golden Mountain Stalker, clearly itching for the fight.

Moon activated Eye of Truth.

[Mutated Mountain Stalker]

[Details: The apex ruler of a Mountain Stalker population, elevated far beyond its kin through a rare mutation. Commands the entire pack through dominance, organizing them into hunting teams. Its golden hide is dense and durable, and its ruby eyes grant heightened perception and a mild pressure that unnerves prey. Exceptionally intelligent for its race, it keeps itself hidden and only reveals itself when its domain is directly threatened. A powerful close-range body-refiner reinforced by its mutation.]

Moon read through the description, assessing the threat, and made his decision. A Surpasser-tier body-refiner was dangerous but manageable, and it would make excellent battle experience for Honeybun, a physically powerful opponent to test the turtle’s skills against.

"Honeybun, take charge," Moon called. "It’s yours. But be careful, this one’s a close-range powerhouse. It could actually hurt you in your jade form, so don’t get careless with your defense."

<My time has come,> Honeybun announced in response.

Dmitri, Theo, Garrett, and Priya all jolted in surprise, their heads snapping toward the little golden turtle, a single thought shared across all four of their faces.

The turtle can TALK?!

Garrett’s mouth hung open. Priya blinked rapidly, certain she’d misheard over the rain. Dmitri stared at the unassuming turtle as though seeing it for the first time. Even Theo, who’d suspected the turtle was more than it appeared, hadn’t expected it to speak.

Moon caught their reactions and bit back a grin. He didn’t bother explaining.

Honeybun stepped forward to meet the golden Surpasser, and the ruler of the mountain turned its ruby gaze upon the turtle that dared to challenge it.