At the camp, the atmosphere remained light. Some beastmen were building temporary tents, and some were roasting meats over the fire while chatting, their laughter blending with the hiss of fat dripping into the flames.
Everyone was excited to go home, already imagining the looks of admiration when they showed off the abundance of prey they had hunted this time.
But Huo couldn't shake the weight in his chest. Even as Cai joked with Ren, and Wan recounted how he nearly got trampled by a two-horned hippo, Huo's gaze stayed fixed on the forest where Lin and his companions had disappeared.
"Huo," one of the beastmen assigned to scout the surroundings called out, approaching with a cautious frown. "Do you hear that? It feels like something is stirring in the forest."
The beastman's voice wasn't loud, but many heard what he said to Huo. The laughter died down. One by one, the beastmen tilted their heads, perking their ears, listening.
At first it was faint—a low, distant rumble that could have been mistaken for the crashing of waves. But then it grew sharper, wilder. Then a heavy snapping of trees followed by an earth-shaking roar of a beast.
Huo's blood ran cold.
"They've stirred something," he muttered, eyes narrowing toward the forest.
Huo immediately gave orders, his voice sharp and steady despite the pounding in his chest. Several men transformed into their beast forms, different towering figures with claws, fangs, and horns, and positioned themselves at the front line of their temporary camp.
Others scrambled to gather all their prey, stacking it in one place as quickly as possible, before more beastmen transformed to form a second line around the spoils of their hunt.
The laughter from earlier had been replaced with grim silence, broken only by hurried movements and the crash of collapsing branches from the forest.
Everyone is on high alert.
Huo stood at the forefront, his beast form flickering on his skin, ready to be released at any time. Beside him, Cai, Wan, and Ren took position, each tense, eyes fixed on the dark treeline.
The earth trembled again, harder this time. The deep vibrations rattled through the ground, together with a suffocating aura that made everyone feel the hair on their bodies rise. It was followed by the sound of trees cracking like brittle bones, falling in succession, as something massive forced its way closer.
They didn't know what kind of monster it was, but the sheer weight of its presence told them enough. This was no ordinary monster.
And it was coming straight for them.
Lin stumbled out of the forest, blood streaking down his arms and legs. His beast form flickered like a blown-out lightbulb, the injuries on his body too severe to sustain it. He collapsed to his knees, clutching something tightly against his chest.
"Help!" His voice cracked, raw with terror.
Gasps rippled through the camp as everyone turned toward him.
"There's a four-horned rock lizard!" Lin shouted hoarsely, his eyes wide and his face pale beneath the dirt and blood.
Hearing the name of the monster wreaking havoc, many paled, their bodies stiffening in place.
Four-horned rock lizard.
Even with twenty beastmen present, the name alone was enough to make their hearts quiver. Some of their comrades had yet to return, and though their numbers looked strong, everyone knew the truth that facing such a creature head-on will surely not be without casualties.
With Huo's signal, two beastmen immediately run towards Lin and carry him to the center of their camp to treat his wounds.
While fear rippled through the group, Huo stepped forward.
"Form the line!" His voice cut through the panic, sharp and steady. "Secure the prey behind. If we scatter, it'll be worse." He looked at each of them, his tone low but firm, as if anchoring their fear with his certainty.
Cai, Wan, and Ren fell into position, their confidence bolstering the others.
Huo's jaw was tight, his chest heavy with the knowledge of the danger ahead. Whatever fear gnawed at him, he buried it deep. He had to. As a leader, he needed to be responsible for everyone's safety.
"Hold the—"
The ground trembled violently before he could finish. Trees toppled as the four-horned rock lizard lunged from the forest. The air suddenly filled with the stench of blood.
Some beastmen scattered instinctively, but not fast enough. The monster's tail whipped around, smashing one of the front-line guards against a boulder.
"Don't scatter!" The screams hit Huo like blows, but he couldn't flinch. If he faltered, so would everyone else.
"Draw its attention!" Huo bellowed, steeling his voice even as his heart thundered with fear. His body was blurring into his beast form as he charged to meet the monster head-on.
The beastmen snapped out of their panic at his commands.
Wan and three others leapt forward in their beast forms, massive paws slamming the earth. They clashed head-on with the monster, the sound of impact like boulders smashing together. The sheer force flung one beastman skidding back, blood spraying from his mouth, but the others held.
"Cai, Ren, strike its legs!" The two leading a few beastmen darted in from the side, claws raking against the thick stone-like scales. Sparks flew where their blows scraped. Cai's attack luckily hit a soft joint, making the monster bellow in pain.
The camp erupted into chaos, some beastmen guarding the prey, others rushing to reinforce the front line. The rock lizard's roar swallowed all other sound, as the battle for survival truly began.
The stronger the monster, the higher its intelligence. The four-horned rock lizard had already realized that Huo was the one giving orders, and now it ignored the others entirely, focusing its fury on him.
The monster's massive tail slammed into the ground, sending up dirt and shards of stone in the air. Huo crossed his forelimbs to shield his upper body, muscles straining as he flew backward while the ground trembled beneath him.
With a roar, Huo lunged, his claws slashing across the same place again and again. The rock lizard's scales were harder than iron, but Huo's relentless strikes finally began to pierce through, each blow carving deeper into the monster's defenses.
"Everyone, strike its legs!" Huo shouted.
The beastmen obeyed without hesitation. Two groups darted to one side of the monster, slashing at the softer scales beneath its limbs each time it shifted its massive weight.
With the continuous sound of claws against stone, the scent of blood filled the air.
"Keep it off balance!" Cai roared, as he ducked under the creature's tail swipe.
For a moment, it worked, and the rock lizard's movements faltered, its front leg buckling slightly under the relentless assault. Huo seized the opening, rushing in with a fierce strike at the wounded joint.
Huo thought it was over.
The four-horned rock lizard staggered and was about to collapse when its tail slammed into the ground like a spear, drilling deep into the soil and stopping its fall.
The ground trembled beneath them. The monster's muscles bulged, its scales glinting with a blood-red sheen as it hauled itself up.
"It's still standing!" Ren shouted, eyes wide.
Huo gritted his teeth, but his voice remained steady. "Hold your ground! Don't let it recover!"
The four-horned beast's eyes were burning with fury, and with its massive body, it lunged with terrifying speed straight for Huo.
He barely had time to dodge before the lizard's claws crashed down where he'd stood, leaving wide cracks on the ground. The shockwave sent him rolling back, covering his body with dirt and shallow wounds from the splinters.
The monster growled, its breath hot and foul, before it charged again.
The other beastmen continued their assault. The rock lizard swung its thorned tail, and three beastmen were sent flying, crashing into trees. Without Huo taking all the monster attention, their formation was immediately broken.
"Fall back!" Cai shouted.
Hou pushed up to his feet, panting, blood dripping down from his mouth.
A monster's strength was often determined by the number of horns it possessed, and each additional horn signified a doubling of its power. Some even developed unique abilities.
For example, the red tod, a crimson-furred monster with two horns, was known for its astonishing speed, making it hard to catch. Then the rock lizard, whose bulky body was covered in stone-like scales, was known for its strong defense.
But even with that, with more than twenty beastmen attacking from all sides, it should have fallen long ago.
Huo's eyes looked over the monster. Its body is full of wounds, and its thick scales have cracks oozing green blood, but instead of weakening, the lizard seemed to grow stronger.
Something was wrong.
Then his gaze caught on the crown of the monster's head. Between the four horns, a small jagged horn is still growing.
Five horns!
Huo's blood ran cold.
"Fall back!" he bellowed, voice cracking from horror. "Retreat! RETREAT NOW!"
This wasn't just a four-horned rock lizard anymore.
It was a monster on the verge of evolution.