The trees broke one by one in its path.
Its white fur swayed with the wind.
Its golden eyes gleamed, able to see everything for kilometers around.
But right now, its sense of smell was sharper than anything else. It could smell the delicious, juicy, and mouthwatering meal that awaited it.
It walked calmly. The three fugitives weren't far.
They thought they could escape from it—but that was just a foolish illusion.
This whole mountain was its home.
There was nowhere to run.
"Hope... The more hope food has, the tastier it is. And fear... ah, there's no better spice," it said with a deep, rumbling voice.
It could smell both hope and fear—and maybe even that human. Right?
"It's here."
With its head, it pushed aside two trees in front of it. A river appeared.
A frozen river, shining under the moonlight like a scene from a dream.
In the middle of the river lay two unconscious demons.
Their scent was driving it insane.
A scent mixed with fear—its favorite!
In such a beautiful place, it couldn't wait to tear them apart with its teeth.
To drink their blood, clean its teeth with their bones, and maybe use their skulls as bowls to drink water.
It moved its four limbs forward.
With each step, small cracks formed on the frozen river.
"Oh… this is delicious."
It bit into Katri's leg and tore it off. Blood covered its face.
After chewing the first leg, it went for the other—then the stomach—ripping out the intestines.
"Human… Are you going to stay hidden much longer?"
It spoke while licking Katri's heart with its tongue.
Its voice was emotionless, yet it cut to the bone.
"To be honest… I don't understand your species.
You enjoy eating other creatures, yet only seem interested in the ones that look human.
Why?"
Daniel knew hiding was pointless now.
He stepped out from behind the bushes.
"It's because of the internal organs.
We prefer human-like anatomy. But your smell? It's awful.
Eating you is disgusting."
One-Eyed Winter stared at the first human to ever escape it.
"You sacrificed your arm just to get away.
I admire your bravery.
And on top of that, you've given me such a tasty meal and a beautiful scene."
"As thanks, I'll give you a quick death," it said, licking its face clean.
"Thanks for the offer," Daniel replied, "but that won't be necessary.
Because I'm not the one dying today."
He glanced at Katri's body—only the head and a few bones remained.
"I've heard those words many times.
Anyway… where's the elf? She was supposed to be the main course."
Daniel simply shrugged and stayed silent.
"Heh, you better not regret that later."
Before the Beast of Corruption could strike, Daniel pulled a small piece of wood from his pocket—about the size of a gold coin.
It looked ordinary, but it wasn't.
It was a shard of Pyroash, a tree whose wood explodes upon contact with black gold.
"This...? You human—!"
Naturally, One-Eyed Winter noticed what it was.
Without hesitation, Daniel threw the wood at the beast.
It landed on the frozen river.
BOOM!
Before it could react, the entire river exploded.
Daniel quickly dove behind a tree to shield himself from the blast.
Black mist and smoke filled the air.
Katri's crushed and torn body parts flew in every direction—one of her eyes even landed right in front of Daniel.
"Ugh—The blast was stronger than I expected."
Part of his face and hand had been badly burned by the explosion.
But now wasn't the time to worry about that.
After a few seconds, he stood up and looked back at the river.
The ice had completely melted, turning it into a regular flowing stream.
Meanwhile, the frozen trees nearby were burning.
Even though the explosion was powerful because of all the black gold, its spread was limited.
That was one of black gold's traits—its blast radius was small but intense.
And Daniel had made sure it didn't scatter too far.
Thanks to Lunaryl's explanations, he'd understood how to use it.
Speaking of that elf, Daniel glanced into the distance.
She didn't have any combat abilities—more of a support type than a fighter.
That alone made him wonder…
If she hadn't entered the tower, how would she even survive?
Now he understood why so many chose to enter the tower in teams.
Going solo was just too dangerous.
The smoke slowly faded.
The silhouette of One-Eyed Winter appeared again—slowly stepping forward.
"Huh…? This… Dammit!"
As Daniel expected, the monster was still alive.
And not just that—it attacked the moment the smoke cleared.
"Damn it—!" Daniel cursed.
He dodged quickly, but not fast enough.
His shoulder—the one missing the arm—was completely torn apart.
"You filthy human! I became like this because of you! I swear on the Mother Goddess—I'll tear you apart with my own teeth!"
One-Eyed Winter roared with rage and hatred.
Daniel pressed his remaining hand against his shoulder, trying to stop the bleeding—but it was useless.
"Looks like… you're not doing too well either."
Half of the demon's body was completely burned away, exposing bone—and more importantly, half of its heart was visible.
All Beasts of Corruption possessed a kind of immortality.
They couldn't be killed unless the core of their body was destroyed.
And that core… was always their heart—a glowing, pure white heart.
Daniel never expected a single explosion would be enough to kill a monster like this.
One-Eyed Winter's eye color shifted from gold to deep red.
Without giving Daniel a chance to escape, it activated its Eyes of Annihilation and fired directly at him.
A massive beam of light burst from its eye and struck Daniel—piercing straight through his abdomen and continuing on, even blasting a hole into the icy mountain behind him.
Daniel's half-conscious body was thrown backward by the impact and slammed into a massive chunk of ice.
"You lowly insect! That's your punishment for what you did!
An ant should never dare to challenge superior beings!
Know your place, filthy dog!"