Night in this world wasn't silent—it was alive. The forest creaked and whispered, owls hooted, insects hummed. But underneath it all, there was something else.
Something stalking me.
I could feel the weight of its gaze. Predatory. Patient.
The apex hunter of these lands had marked me.
I smirked and kept walking, letting the firelight of my small camp fade behind me. My ears caught it first—a faint crunch of leaves, far too controlled to be random. My nose caught it next, the coppery tang of blood mixed with the musk of predator fur.
It was close.
I didn't quicken my pace. Instead, I crouched low, running my fingers across the dirt until I found what I wanted—a small, broken branch. I flicked it casually to the side.
The sound was enough.
A blur of shadow leapt from the treetops, muscles coiled, claws gleaming, and fangs like twin swords flashing in the moonlight.
The saber-tooth cat.
Its roar split the night as it pounced for my throat.
And I moved.
Not backward. Forward.
In the blink of an eye, I closed the distance, ducked under its leap, and slammed my elbow into its ribcage. The sound of bone shattering rang out as the beast twisted mid-air, crashing into the ground with a pained yowl.
But it wasn't done.
The cat rebounded instantly, claws lashing with deadly precision. Every strike was a masterpiece of killing instinct, perfected through countless hunts.
To anyone else, it would've been death. To me, it was a dance.
I slipped past its swipes, weaved through its slashes, my body moving before thought. My new reflexes—honed by dire wolf instincts and sharpened by Raphael's optimizations—made every attack feel predictable, slow even.
Finally, it lunged, fangs bared for my throat.
I caught them.
Both of them.
My hands closed around the cat's saber fangs as its jaws snapped, teeth grinding uselessly against my grip. Its golden eyes widened, and I saw, for the first time, fear.
"Sorry, big guy," I whispered, before driving my knee into its skull.
The forest shook with the impact. The saber-tooth collapsed in a heap, lifeless.
---
I dragged the carcass back to my fire, carving the lean, scarred muscle into strips. The meat was darker than the sloth's, less fat, more bite. When I roasted it, the aroma was wild—feral.
The first bite sent a rush through me, sharp and electric, like lightning in my veins.
And then it hit.
> "Beelzebub: Predation complete. Extracting essence."
"Traits acquired: predator stealth, enhanced agility, ambush instincts."
My body felt lighter, sharper. Every movement flowed like water, every breath synced with the night.
> "Integration complete. Agility increased by 38%. Stealth and environmental blending optimized. Combat instincts upgraded."
Piece by piece, I was ascending.
But there was one prey left.
The giant of the plains.
The Mammoth.
And with it, the chance to break through toward the strength Athena had predicted.
"…Time for the main course."
The plains opened wide before me, an endless stretch of grass rippling in the morning wind. Unlike the forest, there was no cover here, no shadows to hide in. Only sky, earth, and beasts.
And I could feel it.
The ground trembled with each step of something massive. A deep, resonating rumble that carried through my bones.
When I saw it crest the ridge, my breath hitched—not from fear, but from sheer awe.
The mammoth was colossal. Not just big—colossal. Its shoulders rose like hills, its tusks curved like twin ivory towers, each long enough to impale a dozen men in one sweep. Its shaggy coat bristled in the wind, carrying scars from countless battles. Its eyes glowed with primal fury, a titan forged by nature itself.
If the sloth was a tank, this was an entire fortress.
"…Now that," I murmured, smiling, "is a main dish."
---
The mammoth spotted me, trumpeting loud enough to rattle the sky. Birds scattered in waves as it charged, each step splitting the earth beneath it.
To a primitive hunter, this would be the end. To me?
It was exercise.
The beast thundered closer, tusks gleaming like scythes. I waited. Just a heartbeat. Then I moved.
One step. My body blurred forward, meeting it head-on.
Its tusk swung like a falling tree. I raised my arm—and caught it.
The impact exploded like thunder, the shockwave blasting dust and grass outward in a ring. My heels dug trenches into the earth, but I didn't budge.
The mammoth trumpeted in rage, pressing harder. I gripped tighter, veins blazing with power, and twisted.
With a roar of effort, I wrenched the mammoth off its feet.
The ground cracked as the titan's massive body slammed sideways into the dirt, shaking the plains like an earthquake.
---
It staggered back up, bellowing in fury, charging again. I didn't wait this time.
I dashed forward, my fists glowing faintly as raw energy surged through me. The distance vanished in an instant, and I leapt high, higher than its massive head.
My fist came down like a meteor.
BOOM!
The mammoth's skull cracked, its legs buckled, and its massive frame collapsed with a final, shuddering groan.
The earth went quiet.
The king of the plains was dead.
---
But to me, its story wasn't over.
I carved through its mountain of flesh, dragging slabs of rich, marbled meat to the fire I built nearby. The aroma was heavy, thick, primal. When I tasted it, the flavor was unlike anything else—robust, ancient, as if every century of its existence had been distilled into the meat.
Then Beelzebub devoured the rest.
> "Beelzebub: Predation complete. Extracting essence."
"Traits acquired: colossal vitality, shockwave force, cold resistance, enhanced durability."
Light flooded me, strength compressing into every fiber of my being.
> "Integration complete. Physical defense enhanced. Endurance capacity multiplied. Shockwave generation ability unlocked."
I exhaled, the air vibrating faintly with power. My body felt like a continent in motion, every breath heavier than mountains.
Beelzebub's extraction had left me with colossal vitality, shockwave force, cold resistance, and a body that no longer bent but endured. I was no longer simply adapting—I was evolving. But I wasn't satisfied. Not yet.
The mammoth was a king. But kings are only stepping stones.
I could feel the hunger gnawing at me. Not just for food, but for prey worthy of me. Bigger, stronger, deadlier. Raphael's silent calculations flickered through my mind—my growth curve was spiking, my path to 6-A accelerating. Still, I craved more.
The rivers held whispers of monsters that swallowed mammoths whole. I followed those whispers. When the water split and a titan crocodile surged forth, its jaws wide enough to clamp a fortress, I leapt straight in. Our clash churned the river into a storm. It writhed, armored and ancient, but I tore through it, crushing its skull and dragging its essence into myself.
The grasslands birthed new challengers. Packs of terror birds, towering raptors with bladed beaks, swarmed me with blinding speed. Their screeches split the air—until I split them. My fists blurred, my kicks shattered bone, and Beelzebub devoured their reflexes, feeding me precision beyond human comprehension.
Then came the cave bear, a mountain of fur and fury, its roar quaking the valleys. It charged, every step shaking the ground. I met it head-on. One strike shattered its jaw, the next caved its skull. From it, I took raw density, primal ferocity—the strength of beasts forged for war.
From wolves to mammoths, from crocodiles to cave bears, I had eaten my way to power.
This world had nothing left to offer me. My path to continent-breaking strength was clear.
The Hunting Arc was complete.
And it was only the beginning of my journey.