Chapter 8: The Fury of the Feline: Votila’s Rage Unleashed

In the forest south of the village, several villagers, armed with crude weapons, stood in a tense standoff with a monster covered entirely in green fur.

The creature was colossal. Though it bore a vaguely human shape, its limbs were thick and powerful, resembling those of a black bear.

Its body was swathed in green fur, its eyes were so minuscule as to be almost invisible, and its mouth was a gaping maw filled with razor-sharp fangs.

Seven or eight villagers positioned themselves before the monster, their homemade spears leveled, their tips aimed to deter any sudden lunge.

Behind them, a severely wounded man lay on the ground. He had been bitten by the monster, his face gruesomely disfigured, half of it torn away, and his body drenched in blood. Old Physician Lirye knelt beside him, administering urgent care.

“No, this wound is far too extensive,” Lirye declared, his voice strained. “I must take him to my home to stitch it up, or the bleeding will never cease.”

“Doctor, even if you say so, we can’t spare anyone right now. Look out!”

As the villagers and Lirye spoke, the monster suddenly lunged forward, nearly tackling one of the men. Witnessing this, the others swiftly thrust their spears at the beast.

The spears found their mark, and the monster roared in pain, a guttural sound of agony, as it involuntarily stumbled back several steps.

The villager who had almost been knocked down barely escaped. His face, however, was ashen, and his body trembled with fright.

“Everyone! Let’s fight! Kill it!” Seeing that the monster could feel pain and fear, the villagers were emboldened, and they charged forward, brandishing their spears.

Roar!

The green-furred monster, caught off guard, was struck again by several spears. Enraged, it let out a furious roar, and the green fur across its body bristled, transforming it into a terrifying, colossal green porcupine.

With several sickening snaps, the monster swung its massive arms, shattering the villagers’ spears.

“We’re in trouble!”

After breaking their weapons, the monster charged violently at the villagers, sending several of them flying through the air.

In its furious rampage, the green-furred monster then spotted Old Physician Lirye, who was still kneeling beside the injured villager. At that moment, Lirye was the closest human to the beast. The monster opened its formidable maw, revealing its pointed fangs, and lunged directly at the old physician.

“Uncle Lirye!!”

Old Physician Lirye, who had been focused intently on stopping the injured man’s bleeding, looked up at the villagers’ shouts. Before him, a monstrous, fanged maw loomed terrifyingly close.

He could even smell the putrid stench emanating from the creature’s mouth.

Just as the old physician braced himself for certain death beneath the beast’s jaws, a spear tore through the air.

With a wet thud, the spear struck the monster’s mouth at an angle, its immense force sending the creature reeling sideways, narrowly missing Lirye. The monster, impaled, stumbled and then knelt on the ground, clutching its mouth as blood streamed down its paws.

“It’s Gusede!” someone shouted from the crowd. “Gusede saved the old physician!”

The spear was indeed thrown by Gusede, who had arrived just in time to save Lirye from certain death.

Upon seeing the signal flare by the lakeside earlier, Gusede had immediately rushed back to the village. He arrived precisely as the monster broke through the villagers’ encirclement and lunged at the old physician.

“Uncle Lirye! Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, but Liso…” Lirye glanced at the injured young man lying on the ground, his expression anxious. “We must get him back for emergency treatment immediately.”

Roar!!!

The monster bit off and swallowed the wooden spear in its mouth. It let out a furious roar, its eyes bloodshot, glaring with intense hatred at Gusede, the human who had caused it such agony.

Even Gusede felt a chilling sensation creep over him, as if he were being watched by a venomous snake. ‘What is this thing? Is it a magical beast?!’

Just then, a faint meow echoed through the scene.

“Meow~!”

A soft meow drifted over, causing Gusede to pause. ‘A cat? How is there a cat here?’

Gusede hadn’t noticed that as he impaled the monster, a cat had gracefully landed in the shadow of a nearby tree.

Votila’s full attention was now fixed on the monster before him, his deep golden eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.

He sensed a familiar aura emanating from the creature. That aura, a bloodline resonance unique to dragons, filled him with both an overwhelming sense of kinship and boundless rage.

This! This was his own bloodline, the essence of the legendary great dragon, Votila!

Pain, suffering, anger—memories of the past surged through his mind like molten lava.

His bloodline originated from his own physical body, his dismembered, fragmented body.

That weeping executioner! And his own heart, torn from him while he was still alive.

Those humans! Those humans! Did they commit such senseless slaughter merely to create this?

Damn them!

Suddenly, the black cat, consumed by inner fury, darted forward.

“Isn’t that Mulee Hua’s cat?!” As Gusede momentarily froze, the monster charged towards him.

Reacting without hesitation, Gusede hooked a spear from the ground with his foot, snatched it up, and sprinted towards the green-furred monster, thrusting the weapon forward.

Simultaneously, the inconspicuous kitten transformed into a blur of black shadow, streaking across the ground. In a flash, unnoticed by anyone, its two tiny paws unleashed two streaks of sharp, cold light as it crossed paths with the green-furred monster.

With a soft tearing sound, two lines of blood erupted on the monster’s face, tracing paths from its small eyes.

The monster let out a shriek of pain, temporarily blinded.

Seizing the opportunity, Gusede, using his momentum, plunged his spear into the monster’s neck. The spearhead buried itself deep, and the monster’s roar seemed to catch in its throat, unable to escape.

“Hmph…” Gusede released the spear and quickly retreated. “That should take care of it.”

Its throat completely pierced, the monster, wracked with unbearable pain, flailed its arms wildly, its eyes completely obscured by blood.

“Quick, quick! Help the injured!” Someone found a stretcher, and with many hands, the injured man was carefully lifted onto it and swiftly carried away from the scene.

Votila crouched on the ground, watching the monster coldly, his mood volatile. Though furious, his rationality clearly told him that in his current state, he could do little more to the creature.

Regarding the being before him, Votila could now definitively ascertain its origin: it was the masterpiece of a human Archmage, an alchemical construct, something known as an Alchemical Golem.

Based on a human template, it had been infused with numerous magical beast bloodline elements, even diluted dragon blood. All these conflicting and incompatible components had been melded together in a way Votila couldn’t comprehend, forming this unspeakable abomination.

Humans were truly a species incomprehensible to dragons, constantly creating such abominable things. What meaning could such creations possibly hold?

Those alchemists! Damn those alchemists!

And that little girl, Mulee Hua, she was an alchemist too!

…Damn it!