Chapter 129: The Beast- Girl’s Hidden Instinct

The Beast- Girl’s Hidden Instinct

Deep within the central zone, beastly roars echoed across the open terrain.

The atmosphere grew tension in the hunting ground grew with every passing minute.

Mist hung over the wilderness, thicker than before. It drifted between ancient trees and broken stone, carrying the faint smell of blood, frost, and damp earth.

Something enormous moved in the distance.

A branch snapped.

Heavy footsteps shook the ground, followed by a deep roar that rolled through the wilderness like thunder. Even the leaves trembled beneath its force.

Then, just as suddenly, everything fell quiet again.

Leon glanced at the timer on his wristband.

Thirty minutes remained.

Once the time ran out, the Heavenly-tier hunting ground would close. Every surviving examinee would be teleported out, marking the end of the examination.

They had already accomplished far more than most students could hope for.

One Calamity Boss after another had fallen to Selena’s overwhelming strength. Evelyn had supported her with her webs and venom, trapping their enemies and creating openings whenever necessary. Meanwhile, Leon had continuously used Soul Drain to locate powerful targets and guide their movements.

Their teamwork had been effective.

Almost frighteningly so.

But even after all those victories, something about Selena seemed different.

She had slowed down.

Not enough for an enemy to take advantage of it, but enough for Leon to notice.

Selena stood quietly amid the mist. Her silver-white hair had become slightly disheveled, and a few loose strands rested against her porcelain cheek.

One hand lingered near her chest as she took a slow breath.

She looked exhausted.

Yet something didn’t quite add up.

Her breathing was steady. Her spiritual energy remained abundant, and her body showed no obvious signs of serious fatigue.

In fact, she could probably continue fighting for another hour without much difficulty.

The problem was somewhere else.

Deep inside her, something was stirring.

With every battle, every clash, and every powerful opponent she brought down, the feral instincts buried within her bloodline grew stronger. They surged through her like an uncontrollable tide, pressing against the boundaries of her reason.

The Divine Beast White Tiger within her seemed to be awakening.

And it wanted more.

More battles.

More powerful prey.

More opportunities to sink its claws into something worthy of being hunted.

Selena could feel it in every part of her body. The instinct to chase, to tear through anything standing in her way, to pursue the strongest creature in sight until it finally fell beneath her claws.

It was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

She clenched her fingers and took another deep breath.

Calm down. Get a hold of yourself.

Normally, prolonged combat could gradually erode a beast-girl’s rationality. The longer she allowed her bloodline instincts to dominate her, the harder it became to distinguish between her own desires and the urges of the beast within.

If she pushed too far, she risked losing control entirely.

Some beast-girls eventually succumbed to their instincts. Others suffered severe backlash when they tried to suppress them.

Neither outcome was pleasant.

But Selena’s situation was different.

She was bound to Leon by a forced soul contract. The bond made it impossible for her to harbor even the slightest murderous intent toward him.

That alone should have helped keep her instincts in check.

Yet something stranger had happened.

Her instincts hadn’t weakened.

They had changed.

Instead of directing their aggression toward Leon, they seemed to have developed an entirely different fixation on him.

The more she fought beside him, the stronger that peculiar attachment became.

Whenever Leon approached, her heart reacted before she could think. When he praised her, a strange warmth spread through her chest. And when he touched her, even casually, the feral instincts within her seemed to settle in a way that made absolutely no sense.

It was as though the beast inside her had found someone it wanted to remain close to.

Someone it wanted to protect.

Someone it didn’t want to share so easily.

The realization was embarrassing enough to make Selena’s cheeks warm.

What is happening to me?

She had faced terrifying monsters without flinching. She had crushed powerful opponents beneath her overwhelming strength.

Yet somehow, a single thought about Leon was enough to leave her feeling strangely unsettled.

And she couldn’t exactly explain that to him.

Not when she barely understood it herself.

"Selena, what’s wrong?"

Leon’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

He had just finished defeating an Ice Frost Wolf. Its massive body collapsed behind him before dissolving into pale fragments of energy.

But Leon barely looked at his fallen opponent.

His attention had already shifted to Selena.

"Are you hurt?"

The concern in his voice was genuine.

Selena’s heart gave an unexpected little jump.

She immediately turned her face away, hoping the mist would conceal the warmth spreading across her cheeks.

"I’m fine."

Her answer came out quieter than she intended.

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, only to look away again the moment their gazes nearly met.

Leon stared at her.

For several seconds, he said nothing.

"Huh?"

He tilted his head slightly.

"Is it the battle?" he muttered.

Taking a step closer, he studied her carefully. As her beast-soul master, he could sense her condition far better than an ordinary observer.

And what he sensed left him puzzled.

Selena was perfectly fine.

Her spiritual energy was stable. Her breathing was normal, and her body showed no significant signs of exhaustion.

There was nothing wrong with her physical condition.

She could easily continue fighting for another hour.

So why was she acting like this?

Leon recalled the expression on her face moments earlier.

She hadn’t looked exhausted.

If anything, she had seemed... excited.

That realization slowly brought a knowing smile to his lips.

Ah. So that’s what this is.

He didn’t know the exact details of what was happening inside her, but he was beginning to suspect that her problem had very little to do with fighting.

Before Selena could retreat any farther into her thoughts, Leon leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss against her smooth cheek.

"Just thirty more minutes," he said warmly. "Hold on a little longer."

Selena froze.

For one brief moment, her mind went completely blank.

Then her golden eyes widened.

"Darling... you..."

She turned toward him, staring at his face as though she couldn’t believe he had actually done that.

Leon merely smiled.

Selena’s cheeks burned hotter.

"There you go again!" she protested, her voice trembling despite her best efforts to sound annoyed. "You’re always trying to take advantage of me!"

The words were sharp enough.

Her expression, however, betrayed her.

A shy smile had already crept onto her lips.

She quickly turned away before Leon could notice how thoroughly he had flustered her.

"Come on," she muttered. "We still have monsters to hunt."

Leon chuckled.

"That’s my dear Selena."

Her shoulders stiffened.

She stopped walking for a moment and shot him a suspicious look over her shoulder.

"Don’t call me that when you’re smiling like that."

"Why?"

"Because you know exactly what you’re doing."

"I don’t."

"You absolutely do."

Leon looked at her innocent expression with barely concealed amusement.

Selena narrowed her golden eyes.

He was doing it again.

That infuriating smile. That shameless attitude. The way he could make her lose her composure with barely any effort.

If anyone else had dared to treat her this way, she would have made them regret it.

Leon, unfortunately, was a different matter.

And that was precisely what made him so troublesome.

Their voices carried softly through the mist.

For a brief moment, the terrifying hunting ground seemed almost peaceful. The distant roars faded into the background, and the tension that had weighed on their shoulders loosened.

Almost.

Leon watched Selena walk ahead of him, her silver-white hair swaying gently with every step.

A strange sense of wonder stirred within him.

Someone like Selena had once seemed impossibly distant.

She was powerful, beautiful, and proud. Her strength alone was enough to make countless people hesitate before approaching her, let alone imagine getting close to her.

And the old Selena?

She would never have behaved this way around someone like him.

Yet here she was, blushing over a kiss on the cheek and arguing with him over an affectionate nickname.

The contrast was almost amusing.

She still possessed that formidable presence. Nothing about her strength had diminished. If anything, she had become even more impressive.

But there was another side to her now.

A softer side that appeared in brief, unexpected moments.

And Leon found himself enjoying those moments more than he cared to admit.

Since joining him, Selena seemed to have grown even more radiant. Her beauty had always been striking, but there was something different about her expressions now. The occasional glimpse of embarrassment, the reluctant smiles, the way she sometimes looked at him when she thought he wasn’t paying attention...

They made her feel closer.

More real.

Leon shook his head with a faint smile.

"She’s really changed."

Then he turned toward Evelyn.

"Let’s go."

He paused when he noticed her standing completely still.

Evelyn looked as though she had forgotten how to move.

She had witnessed the entire exchange.

"Oh! Right!" She blinked rapidly and hurried to catch up. "I-I’m coming."

Her purple eyes lingered on Selena for another moment.

A faint flicker of envy crossed her face before she quickly concealed it.

Of course she’d get more affection.

Selena was stronger than her by a considerable margin. She was also beautiful, and Leon clearly enjoyed teasing her.

Was it really so surprising that she received that kind of treatment?

Evelyn sighed inwardly.

There had been a time when she was the pride of the Blackheart family. In Aurelia City, she had possessed the ability and status to command the winds themselves.

People had looked up to her.

They had respected her.

Some had even feared her.

Now, here she was, following Leon around like a servant.

The thought irritated her more than she wanted to admit.

She wasn’t used to this position. She wasn’t used to watching someone else receive the attention she secretly wanted for herself.

And yet...

She glanced at Leon’s back.

Despite everything, she had chosen to stay beside him.

No one had forced her to remain here. Whatever complaints she might have, she couldn’t honestly claim that she regretted her decision.

In fact, the opposite was true.

She enjoyed being around him.

More than she should.

More than she was willing to admit aloud.

That was the most frustrating part.

"Hey."

Leon’s voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts.

Evelyn looked up.

He had turned around, wearing that familiar, irritating smirk.

"What? Don’t want to come?"

Evelyn blinked.

"What are you talking about? I’m already following you!"

"Are you? You looked pretty distracted."

"I’m thinking!"

"About what?"

"None of your business!"

Leon gave her a slow, thoughtful look.

Evelyn immediately felt suspicious.

She knew that expression.

Whenever he looked at her like that, trouble usually followed.

His gaze briefly swept over her stunning face before he spoke with a teasing smile.

"Keep up, or I’ll spank that pretty ass of yours when we get out of here."

Evelyn stopped dead.

For a moment, she simply stared at him.

Then her face turned red.

"You—!"

She clenched her teeth so hard that Leon almost laughed outright.

"Don’t you dare!"

"Then keep up."

"You shameless bastard!"

Despite her furious expression, Evelyn hurried after him.

Leon laughed softly as he turned back toward the path ahead.

Evelyn glared at his back, her cheeks still burning.

She wanted to hit him.

She really did.

At the very least, she wanted to wipe that smug smile off his face.

Unfortunately, the fact that she was still thinking about his words made her even more annoyed.

Why do I even bother with this man?

Leon glanced back at her again.

"You were thinking too slowly."

Evelyn’s eyes widened.

"I’m thinking about whether I should bite you!"

Leon’s smile grew.

"That’s better. At least you’re thinking."

Evelyn nearly lost her temper.

She glared at him with enough intensity to set the mist on fire.

Leon, naturally, looked entirely pleased with himself.

Watching the two of them bicker, Selena glanced back over her shoulder.

She tried to maintain a serious expression.

She really did.

But after seeing Evelyn’s furious face and Leon’s shameless grin, she couldn’t help smiling.

"You two really are impossible."