After that, no more monsters attacked us, and our climb up the mountain continued surprisingly smoothly.
About an hour later, we began to hear a loud clang, clang echoing from somewhere in the distance—like something being repeatedly struck.
Curious, we headed toward the sound.
When we arrived, we found a small beastman-like creature swinging a spear, clumsily striking a nearby tree and rock.
Its movements were slow and awkward, and from the dull sounds of impact, it was obvious that its attacks lacked any real power.
“What are you doing?”
Before we knew it, Zeke was already standing beside the creature, casually speaking to it.
“WAAAH!!”
The beastman noticed us and immediately fell backward in shock, landing flat on the ground.
“Hahaha, sorry about that! We’re not here to attack you. We were just curious about what you were doing.”
Zeke said with a grin, extending his hand.
The creature hesitated for a moment, then took his hand and stood up. After dusting itself off, it puffed out its chest proudly.
“I am Ligan of the Licant tribe! I’m training to become the strongest monster in the world!”
“…Pfft.”
The Demon Queen burst out laughing.
“You—what’s so funny?! I’ll have you taste the power of my spear!”
It was hard to blame her.
Ligan was barely a meter tall. Most of his kind had wolf-like features, but his appearance was closer to that of a puppy—with round, innocent eyes and a soft, adorable face.
And yet, he was declaring that he aimed to become the strongest monster alive.
Naturally, Zeke and I couldn’t help but laugh as well.
“You laughed! Unforgivable! Line up! I’ll punish you all one by one!”
Just as Ligan raised his spear and prepared to attack—
CRACK… SNAP…
The sound of breaking branches echoed from behind him.
We all turned toward the noise.
From deeper within the forest, a massive creature slowly emerged.
It stood over four meters tall, its entire body covered in dense, armor-like muscles. Its arms were as thick as a woman’s waist, and its skin gleamed with a dark, hardened sheen.
On its head was a large horn, resembling that of a rhinoceros beetle, giving it an almost insect-like appearance.
“A-Ah… that’s a Gran Beetle… One of the three monsters that rule this mountain…!”
Ligan collapsed to the ground again, trembling violently, his fur standing on end.
“We—we have to run… now!!”
Even at a glance, the Gran Beetle radiated overwhelming power. Its presence alone made it clear—it was on a completely different level.
The Demon Queen let out a small laugh.
“Hmph. And you call yourself a future ‘strongest monster’? Running away from your enemy—do you really think that’ll get you there?”
She smirked, clearly amused.
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