Four monkey spirit beasts were swarming in, but the aura of each one was not very strong. To give a measure, the auras of the two strongest monkey spirit beasts combined were only about the same level as the tree demon. Of course, this was referring to the tree demon before it had fought with him.
The tree demon now, judging by its aura alone, looked like it would have trouble handling even one of them.
‘Those bastards, were they waiting for this?’
Judging by the tree demon’s reaction, it seemed to know those monkey spirit beasts.
Ooooh-wooo-wooo~! Hmm.
It seemed they likely knew each other on bad terms. Its long, drawn-out cry was filled with fury, and it appeared even more heated than when it had been in the thick of battle just a moment ago. From that alone, one could guess that the tree demon and the monkey spirit beasts had clashed before.
“Kyaaak!”
The monkey spirit beasts drew closer. They basically resembled monkeys, or apes, but they had a single large horn on their foreheads, their two arms were as thick as their torsos, and their bodies were larger than most cows.
Furthermore, contrary to their brutish appearance, their eyes, which shone brightly even from a distance, were filled with the unique savagery of spirit beasts, and a cunning that surpassed it. The moment he saw their triumphant gaze, Jaekyung was certain that those bastards had been aiming for this very moment to strike.
‘Are they after the fruit, as I thought?’
The tree demon's fruit makes beasts lose their minds, and it even causes spirit beasts to drool and approach. Those monkey spirit beasts must have also been drawn here by the fruit, just like Jaekyung himself. The only difference was that they had hidden and watched for an opportunity, while he had not.
Was it a mistake? Was I a little careless? It certainly was.
But now is not the time to shrink back in regret, but to fill my head with fighting spirit and show my dominance.
Thump!
As Jaekyung struck the ground with his tail, the muddy ground split wide open, sending out ripples. The momentum of the monkey spirit beasts, which had been charging with monstrous cries, faltered, and their bodies even paused for a moment.
They now realized that the snake they thought would be severely injured from fighting the tree demon was in better shape than expected.
“Cheong-o!”
“Yes?”
“Tell those bastards to get lost now. If they don't, I will devour them all, leaving not even a single strand of fur behind.”
From high up in the sky, Cheong-o chirped and shouted at the top of its lungs. Jaekyung had spent quite a long time with Cheong-o, but he still couldn't understand the mystery contained within those noisy chirps. However, this ‘universal language’ proved effective this time as well.
The monkey spirit beasts, whose spirit had been briefly dampened, grew angry and began to let out even fiercer cries than before.
“It’s no good, Jaekyung! They say they’ll eat the fruit and you too!”
“Hmph!”
When a creature becomes a spirit beast, it becomes much smarter than an ordinary beast, but the degree of that intelligence varies greatly depending on the original species. It's not an absolute rule, but in most cases, the smarter the original species, the greater the increase in intelligence when it becomes a spirit beast.
Therefore, the intelligence of those bastards who became spirit beasts from monkeys might be on par with that of an average person. Even just looking at them now, one could see they had at least enough intelligence to see through a bluff. 'Now there's really no other choice.'
Jaekyung let out a great roar, releasing his aura. But even so, he did not advance. His head had grown hot with fighting spirit, but it was only reasonably heated, not completely out of its mind.
Why should I discard my advantage and risk a disadvantage?
Ooooh-wooo-wooo~!
The tree demon’s ability. The colorless, odorless poison was still in effect. If the monkeys entered its effective range, they would immediately begin to be affected, and that effect would grow stronger the deeper they came in and the longer they fought.
‘The problem is… they know that too.’
The monkey spirit beasts stopped just at the edge, barely outside the range of the tree demon’s poison. As expected, they had an accurate grasp of the tree demon’s ability. Jaekyung scowled, glaring irritably at the monkeys making a racket outside the poison’s range.
“Right. Just stay there and watch.”
Jaekyung raised his head and shouted to Cheong-o. “Tell the tree bastard that I’m going to collect some of my payment in advance!”
“Huh? What does that mean?”
“Just tell it that!”
Jaekyung waited for Cheong-o to translate for the tree demon, then slowly approached it. The tree demon flinched slightly as if startled, but Jaekyung paid it no mind and raised his body high.
Although his body length had just surpassed 20 meters, compared to the tree demon, the difference was like that between an adult and a child who had just learned to walk.
No matter how high Jaekyung raised his body, he couldn’t reach the nearest ‘fruit,’ so he had no choice but to strike the ground with his tail and leap up.
Chomp!
His wide-open mouth bit into the fruit and tore it off. The tree demon stirred, but it showed no other reaction. Thanks to Cheong-o's translation, it now understood what taking payment in advance meant.
‘A smart one, I see.’
A good mind is useless if not used properly. On the other hand, even if one is not smart, if they know how to use what they have, they can be called wise for that alone. In Jaekyung's view, the tree demon was the latter, and those monkey bastards were the former.
Crunch!
That was why he thought this provocation would work, and indeed, it did.
“Kyaaak!”
As Jaekyung put the fruit in his mouth as if to show off and slowly chewed and swallowed, the monkeys' eyes turned red. Among the four, one with a particularly large number of scars on its face let out a monstrous cry and shot forward. It had no hesitation about entering the tree demon’s territory or running ahead alone.
It's always the first step that’s the hardest. The monkey spirit beasts, who had been hesitating at the sight of Jaekyung looking more intact than expected, had already lost their minds the moment they saw the fruit they were after disappear into Jaekyung's mouth. In that state, with a hot-tempered one rushing out first, they could no longer hold back.
This moment reminded Jaekyung of the time he fought the frog over the lotus. That frog back then had also been caught by a light provocation, unable to contain its impatience, and had leaped into the water. But these monkey spirit beasts now, despite being spirit beasts, were even more foolish than the frog at that time.
Greed had blinded the eyes of both, but the monkey spirit beasts were also drunk on the excessive courage born from their numbers. The result of that was the scene before him now.
“Kyaaaaak!”
The monkey, having easily dodged the tree demon’s root attack, met Jaekyung who charged in right after. A monkey is a monkey, it seems, for even though its body was already in the air, it moved as if performing an aerial stunt to dodge Jaekyung's fangs.
Then it stretched out its two hands, hooked them onto Jaekyung's nostrils, and held on. 'This damn monkey!' Flames of fury erupted in the eyes of Jaekyung, whose nostrils were being forcefully pried open.
This monkey bastard was certainly fast. If it started a serious game of hide-and-seek, it seemed it would not be easy to handle. But fortunately, he was not alone.
Ooooh-wooo~!
The tree demon began to swing its roots in earnest, like tentacles. Although some of its roots had been torn to shreds by Jaekyung, and some had even been severed, this kind of attack, driven by sheer mass, was still powerful.
The monkey spirit beasts could dodge the root attacks with their agile movements, but they could not ignore them completely. 'Better than I thought.' The tree demon performed far better against the monkey spirit beasts than Jaekyung had expected.
Originally, Jaekyung hadn't expected much from the tree demon, because after fighting it once, he had judged its direct combat ability to be weak. But thinking about it again now, that assessment had been somewhat unfair.
‘This one’s root attacks have little effect on me, but they’re plenty effective against those monkey bastards.’
Jaekyung snapped his jaws violently a few times at the unbelievably impudent monkey that had one hand shoved into his nostril and was scratching his face wildly with the other, then slammed his head into the muddy ground as if headbutting it. To anyone watching, it looked like he was in a frenzy, enraged by the agile monkey spirit beast.
It was an act close to self-harm, but its effect was certain. The monkey spirit beast, which had been clinging on tenaciously, pulled its hand out of Jaekyung's nostril just before impact and swiftly threw itself away.
“Stop!”
Jaekyung, having practically washed his face with mud, chased after the fleeing monkey spirit beast. If this were the middle of a mountain with many trees, Jaekyung would not have been able to catch up to the monkey spirit beast, no matter how much power overflowed in his body.
But this area, because the tree demon had taken root and absorbed all the life force nearby, was filled with only withered, tilted, and fallen trees. On top of that, the ground was a swampy mud pit, so no matter how nimble the monkey was, there was a limit to its movement speed.
“Kyaaak!”
The monkey spirit beast was still dodging Jaekyung's fangs with its nimble movements, but its cries grew more and more urgent. Jaekyung pursued it closely but did not use his full strength. He knew that even a cornered mouse could bite a cat.
If the tree demon's situation were dire, it would be a different story, but since it seemed to be holding on for now, he didn't try to force an early victory. After all, as time passed, the advantage would shift to his side.
Chomp!
He bit into empty air once more. The snake’s murderous eyes chased the panting monkey spirit beast. The monkey spirit beast, whose movements had become noticeably slower than at the beginning, seemed to have finally realized something was wrong, its initial ferocity gone and its spirit broken.
Its inner thoughts were laid bare as it occasionally glanced at its kin fighting the tree demon. 'Over there is...' Just as the monkey spirit beast did, Jaekyung also secretly glanced at the situation with the tree demon.
'Is it reaching its limit?' The tree demon, which had pushed the monkeys back at the beginning of the battle by squeezing out its remaining strength, now seemed completely exhausted, barely managing to hold on. Even that was thanks to the monkeys being distracted by the fruit even while fighting, not focusing on finishing off the tree demon.
If things dragged on any longer, even if the tree demon didn't fall, there was no telling how many precious fruits would be stolen. Jaekyung slowed his movements as if he was running out of strength, then, seizing the moment the monkey spirit beast caught its breath, he launched a surprise attack.
Startled by the sudden charge, the monkey spirit beast tried to dodge in a fluster, but Jaekyung, rushing in with his jaw wide open, was much faster than before.
Chomp!
In the end, unable to dodge completely, one of the monkey spirit beast’s long arms was caught in Jaekyung's fangs. The monkey spirit beast freaked out and tried to pull its arm free, but before it could, Jaekyung’s jaw clamped down.
Cruunch!
Teeth as hard as steel and sharp as saw blades pierced through the spirit beast’s flesh, muscle, and bone in an instant. The monkey spirit beast, its arm torn off, screamed and retreated, but Jaekyung was not satisfied with just one arm.
Wham!
His tail, swung with all his might, struck the monkey spirit beast’s back. Unfortunately, it failed to break its bones, but it was enough to break the will of the mischievous creature. Fighting it directly, he now understood.
Although these things were called spirit beasts, they were just half-baked creatures that had barely shed their beastly form. He suspected that most spirit beasts were probably like this. Whether their bloodline had been awakened, or they had obtained a fortunate encounter, they had accidentally become spirit beasts but had not yet accumulated proper Cultivation.
A spirit beast at this stage could hardly be called a true member of the demon races. 'Though I’m not much different.' Jaekyung swiftly lunged again and bit the fallen monkey spirit beast.
The creature, bitten at the waist, freaked out and clawed and punched at Jaekyung’s mouth and nose area. But this struggle only served to further provoke Jaekyung’s anger.
Thump! Thump!
As he said, a mouse cornered in a dead end will bite a cat. The monkey spirit beast, sensing the crisis of death, struggled with every last bit of strength it could muster. In response, Jaekyung slammed the monkey spirit beast against the ground while still holding it in his mouth.
His teeth, which had been blocked by the resistance, slowly dug into the flesh and muscle. And then at some point, with a “creak!” sound, the monkey spirit beast’s body was torn in half. * Once Jaekyung dealt with one and began to use his strength in earnest, the tide of the battle was overturned in an instant.
Although it had been on the losing end for most of the fight aside from the very beginning, the tree demon’s fierce resistance was undoubtedly a considerable burden on the monkey spirit beasts.
Moreover, the tree demon’s poison had been faithfully eating away at their stamina, so Jaekyung’s intervention in their fight was really no different from sticking a spoon into a fully cooked meal. Jaekyung did not rush. Rather than ending the fight at once, he focused on tying up the monkey spirit beasts' feet so they couldn't escape.
For him, this was no longer a fight, but a hunt. A moment ago, when he had swallowed one of the monkey spirit beast’s arms, he had felt a hot, pleasant warmth spread through his body. That feeling of fulfillment was definitely greater than what he had felt when eating the tree demon's fruit.
And that was just one arm. The rest of it, except for that one arm, was growing cold over there, and three more, fresh and undamaged, were right before his eyes.
‘I cannot let them escape.’
Jaekyung greedily opened his jaws wide and charged. The tree demon also swung its roots as if wringing out its last bit of strength. From high above, Cheong-o flapped its wings, continuing its enthusiastic cheers with a voice that sounded a bit hoarse.
And a short while later. Jaekyung caught a living monkey spirit beast in his mouth, chewed it thoroughly, and swallowed it whole. That was the last one.
Of the remaining two, one was limp, entangled in the tree demon's roots, and the other was buried in a mud pit, its two legs gone.
“Jaekyung, you’re amazing!”
Enjoying the victory for a moment while listening to Cheong-o’s flattery, Jaekyung confirmed once more that the wounds here and there on his body were not deep, and approached the tree demon.
“Cheong-o!”
“Yes!”
By now, a glance was all it took. Cheong-o descended to just above the back of Jaekyung’s head, ready to translate.
“I will take the fruits as promised.”
The tree demon trembled once, and the fruits began to fall one by one. It moved a branch to catch them all, then presented them to Jaekyung. There were a total of eleven.
Jaekyung stuck out his tongue in satisfaction.
‘A reasonable one, I see.’
It was partly because it recognized its own situation, but the attitude this tree bastard had shown from the moment the monkey spirit beasts charged in was quite to Jaekyung's liking.
“Does it take long to bear those fruits?”
“It says it depends on how well it eats. With ordinary beasts, it takes a long time, but if it eats good ones, it doesn’t take long.”
Those ‘good ones’ would, of course, mean spirit beasts. It was just as he had guessed. Jaekyung pondered for a moment.
He could finish off the exhausted tree demon right now and claim the monkey spirit beast it had caught as well. He wasn't sure how edible a tree demon was, but he would be able to get something out of it.
But on the other hand, he could let this tree demon live and try to cooperate with it on a long-term basis. Since this wasn't his first time with such an arrangement, Jaekyung was positive about this new partnership.
Recalling his partnership with Cheong-o, which was more than just successful, a partnership with the tree demon that seemed capable of providing steady benefits was worth a try.
“Hey. Perhaps, we can be of help to each other.”
The voice of Cheong-o as it translated changed subtly. To exaggerate a little, it was like watching a theater actor from a past life.