Chapter 45 — Blood on the Leaves

Ren kept the Armado stationary for the moment, giving Silvia a stable firing platform.

“Silvia, take the runners.”

The MAG 58 roared again.

This time her bursts were tighter. The first charging Windfang Tiger took multiple rounds through the chest and neck. It collapsed mid-stride, momentum carrying its body into a tumbling slide across the dirt. The second tiger lasted only a moment longer — a short, corrected burst caught it in the shoulder and head. It dropped hard and did not rise.

The injured one tried to change direction, limping toward the denser trees. Silvia tracked it, missed once more as the vehicle’s idle vibration threw her aim, then adjusted and stitched a clean burst across its side. The cub went down and stayed down.

Her voice came through the radio, a little breathless but steady.

“All smaller ones neutralized. Only the large one remains. She is still down but alive.”

“Copy,” Ren answered. “We’re closing the distance. Keep the MAG 58 on her. Lyra, be ready with another stun if she tries to rise.”

He put the Armado into gear and rolled forward at a controlled pace, angling so Silvia would have a clear field of fire. The Stormclaw Matriarch lay where she had fallen, massive chest heaving, silver-blue fur matted with blood. One front leg was clearly broken. Wind mana still flickered weakly around her remaining claws, but the damage had robbed her of speed and stability.

They stopped thirty meters away.

“Silvia. Finish it.”

The MAG 58 spoke one final time. A longer, controlled burst punched into the Matriarch’s neck and skull. The great body shuddered once, then went completely still. The swirling wind around her claws faded into nothing.

Silence returned to the forest edge, broken only by the soft tick of the cooling machine-gun barrel and the low idle of the Armado’s engine.

Ren shut off the vehicle and stepped out. Lyra followed, wand still in hand. Silvia remained in the turret a moment longer, scanning the trees, before climbing down.

“Status,” Ren said.

“No injuries,” Lyra replied. Her ears were still high with residual tension, but her voice was calm.

“Unharmed,” Silvia reported. Her violet eyes lingered on the massive corpse of the Stormclaw Matriarch for a second, then flicked toward Ren. There was something quieter in her gaze than usual — residual combat focus mixed with the same soft, unfamiliar warmth that had been slowly growing over the past days.

They began collecting the usable materials.

From the six Windfang Tigers and the Stormclaw Matriarch they took claws, bones, and teeth for later sale, along with clean portions of meat for food. The system registered the following:

**Items Obtained:**

- E-rank Magic Stone ×1

- E-rank Mana Stone ×1

- D-rank Magic Stone ×1

- D-rank Mana Stone ×1

- C-rank Mana Stone ×1

**System Reward:**

- 11,000 gold coins (from the six Windfang Tigers)

- 45,000 gold coins (from the Stormclaw Matriarch)

Ren stored everything systematically. When the last of the materials was secured, he checked the system once more. The gold from the pack had been added cleanly.

**Windfang Tigers (×6):** +11,000 gold coins

**Stormclaw Matriarch:** +45,000 gold coins

**Current Total Gold: 801,100 gold coins**

The great striped bodies would be left for the forest; they had neither the time nor the need to butcher something of that size completely.

When everything was finished, Ren looked toward the deeper forest, expression thoughtful.

“These monsters didn’t belong in a simple ambush on a trade path,” he said. “A pack like this appearing so suddenly and driving every other animal into panic… either they came from another region, or something forced them out of their natural habitat. We should look into the cause when we have the chance.”

Lyra nodded, still catching her breath. Silvia’s violet eyes lingered on Ren a moment longer than necessary before she also inclined her head in agreement.

They climbed back into the Armado. Ren started the engine and turned the vehicle back onto the path, leaving the blood-soaked clearing behind.

The forest closed around them once more, quieter than before, yet carrying a new weight of unanswered questions.

The road to Fenrisgard still stretched ahead.