Somewhere in the Nightingale Forest.
The blood-red eyes of Savage Claw swept around the surrounding cowering gnolls; not a single one dared meet its gaze, but it knew it had to leave this place.
Standing over seven feet tall and weighing 350 pounds, Savage Claw was a giant among gnolls, who averaged around six feet three inches and 200 pounds. Originally, it was the leader of this band of lowland gnolls, and its days had been very comfortable.
But in the recent duel, it had been defeated by another, equally ferocious gnoll.
The victor had emerged from the depths of the Nightingale Forest, a gnoll even stronger than it, towering over seven feet ten inches, with a terrifying strength.
Even though Savage Claw had been defeated, it would not die.
Not because of its opponent's mercy, but because of its own strength.
When Savage Claw attacked at full force, a faint blue energy flow would surround it, a special energy that helped Savage Claw completely negate the air's resistance against it.
This not only gave Savage Claw a moving speed far surpassing that of other gnolls, but it also enabled it to eliminate all its body odors during an attack, providing excellent stealth.
This was also why Savage Claw was confident that it could live well on its own.
With a heavy snort, Savage Claw left its former gnoll encampment and ran towards the eastern part of the forest.
Without subordinates to command, hunting would now have to be done by Savage Claw itself.
Now, it was roaming the woods near human towns, hoping for a different kind of bounty. It was getting tired of the meat of forest beasts.
The meat of wild beasts could never compare to the deliciousness of human flesh, especially that of human females, which was exceptionally tender and juicy. One bite would cause red juices to splash everywhere, an utterly delightful taste.
However, Savage Claw had tasted human flesh only three times. Although these events were in the distant past, the memories had left a profound impression, making it long for more.
This was also the reason it was heading towards the eastern side of the forest.
For it knew there was a human town nearby, which was the closest to it, apparently called... Flashgold Town.
Dusk had long fallen.
The newly arrived Savage Claw, after avoiding several humans dressed in leather armor, carrying bows and swords, unknowingly approached a large fenced but open area.
There, it smelled the dense, young, and tender scent of human flesh.
This was the smell of "younglings"!
The taste of "younglings" was generally quite delicious, which made Savage Claw's thick Adam's apple bob up and down a few times. It hadn't eaten all day, so Savage Claw decided to pick this spot.
It observed and noticed that every so often a patrol of guards, clad in fine chainmail, with iron-covered oak shields in one hand and sword hilts in the other, would pass by.
These must be the patrolling guards. In its own gnoll encampment, patrols were also organized.
It wasn't that Savage Claw feared these "weak" human guards, but it knew that by killing them, it would certainly alarm other guards and thus miss out on the delicious "youngling" flesh.
Although humans were on average weak, these guards would call for help!
And if it attracted those "iron men," that would be problematic!
Because the strength of those "iron men" was formidable, some almost as strong as it, or even stronger, and it didn't want to encounter them.
When it came to hunting, Savage Claw was very patient. Before becoming a leader, it also had to hunt for itself.
Just a little longer, and it could enjoy fresh and tender meat!
At that moment, in the western dormitory of the outer court, all the young servants had already laid down.
Soft snores rose and fell in waves, and the day's archery training had left the arms of most servants incredibly sore.
Only bushy-browed En tossed and turned with worries in his mind, and so his sleep was unsettled.
He felt as though in his half-asleep state, he had heard a "bang" as a door opened.
"Wonder which bastard was that loud!" he muttered.
But soon, he sensed something wrong because En heard a strange chewing sound.
Judging from the sound, it seemed to be coming from near the entrance of the servants' dormitory.
In the middle of the night, someone was eating?
No, that's not right!
In this large dormitory, besides himself and Freckles and a few others, which servant had such luxury?
Wasn't Rein's original position by the door?
Who's sleeping there now?
He couldn't remember, but the very thought of Rein made his thick eyebrows furrow, and suddenly his thoughts became clearer!
So, with a bit of grogginess, he propped up his upper body, huffing and puffing as he looked towards the doorway.
Just as he was about to curse out loud, a strong scent of blood wafted over, sending a shiver down his spine, and his skin broke out in goosebumps, instantly making him fully alert.
He saw a dark, hulking figure squatting by the door, cradling something in his arms and devouring it with big gulps.
Immediately, he realized that none of the young servants had such a massive size; even being the biggest among them, he was still much smaller than the other.
The dark figure squatting by the door seemed like a small mountain!
This made his thick eyebrows think of some very eerie things, and large beads of sweat instantly appeared on his forehead.
His heart started pounding violently at once.
He slowly lay back down!
But his trembling hands betrayed his inner turmoil.
"Am I separated from that bed by the door by seven people? No, six people. That monster should leave after it's had its fill, right?"
"Mom, bless me, I don't want to die yet!"
"Dad, tell me what should I do?"
The mentally crumbling thick eyebrows seemed completely at a loss for what to do.
That's right, there were guards!
Every so often, a small patrol team of guards would pass by the young servants' dormitory.
I used to be annoyed by their noise!
Seizing onto this lifeline, thick eyebrows immediately began to listen attentively for the rhythmic sound of footsteps outside.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the patrolling team had just passed, or hadn't arrived yet. Listening closely, the sinister "crunch crunch" of chewing actually became clearer.
At this moment, he had never hoped so much for the arrival of the guards!
Time passed agonizingly slow!
Finally, he heard the somewhat heavy, rhythmic footsteps and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Help!! There's a monster!!"
"Are you crazy, thick eyebrows? Stop screaming nonsense!" The freckle-faced boy sleeping next to him was the first to be woken by his shout.
"Yeah, Thick Eyebrows, what are you doing?" asked the son of the tanner, rubbing his eyes.
The young servants, one after another, were woken by thick eyebrows' thunderous scream, and started complaining about him, but the next second, they all froze, their eyes bulging as they stared at the massive figure standing in the doorway.
By the weak moonlight, the group of young servants could barely make out that the figure was humanoid, clad in torn leather shoulder guards and chainmail, with a protruding forehead and dense fur on the exposed parts - but clearly not a human head. It was unmistakably the gigantic head of a hyena!
Its face was ferocious and ugly!
At that moment, the creature was gnawing on a long human thigh, with fresh red blood and bits of flesh dripping from its gaping maw!
Savage Claw was very unhappy, having planned to secretly eat two "cubs" and then take two more away for the next day, but its perfect plan for the night was ruined by a "cub's" piercing scream.
Looking at the half-eaten "cub" on the ground, Savage Claw knew it was time to go!
The human guards were about to come. It seemed that taking two was no longer an option, but one should be manageable.
Then, Savage Claw grabbed a young servant who was petrified near the door, burst through the wooden door, and dashed outside.
The patrolling guards of Habsburg's estate had rushed towards the young servants' dormitory upon hearing thick eyebrows' scream, and now, they too had reached the entrance, ready to burst in.
What they didn't expect was the wooden door to suddenly "BAM," splinter apart!
The shattered wooden planks shot towards them like arrows!
The next second, a ferocious monster, over two meters tall, charged out from inside, knocking the two guards blocking the way and sending them flying seven or eight meters before making its escape!
Before long, the entire Habsburg estate was ablaze with lights!!