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"Beastmen, huh?" Riku squinted at the red dot on the map. In terms of strength, they weren't actually all that powerful.
Sure, regular Beastmen could still massacre humans without breaking a sweat, but compared to Riku now? They were way behind.
Some elite Beastmen could use a technique called Bloodburst that broke through physical limits, but those kinds of fighters were rare—no way they were all that strong.
And the Divine Escape Talisman completely masked his presence, making it basically a perfect counter to Beastmen.
Even if he was discovered, he could always just teleport away with Shangri-La and leave the Beastmen eating dust.
"Guess that settles it—next target decided," Riku said with a smirk.
Just then, a sudden noise made his eyes narrow. He looked over quickly.
Thanks to the enhanced senses from the Gene Enhancer, he immediately noticed a group of climbers—dozens of Beastmen.
"What the hell are Beastmen doing out here?" Riku raised an eyebrow, a little surprised. He quickly ducked into hiding.
Due to the angle, he could see them clearly, but they hadn't spotted him. If they had, they'd already be charging in with bloodlust.
The only issue now was scent. Beastmen had the sharpest senses of any race.
Thinking fast, Riku pulled out an item from his storage space and masked his smell.
It's not like he couldn't take them in a fight—he totally could. But Riku was more curious about what they were doing here. Who risks their lives coming to a place as dead and remote as this for no reason?
"Captain Dora, I'm picking up a weird smell," one of the Beastmen twitched his nose and looked at the bulky tiger-like Beastman leading the group.
"No need to panic. Just focus on finding that thing," Dora growled in response.
"Got it," the others nodded seriously and started scouring the mountainside.
"That thing?" Riku's curiosity spiked. Clearly, these Beastmen were after something—and it seemed pretty damn important to them.
While he was still thinking, one of the Beastmen started heading in his direction.
Noticing that, Riku's golden eyes sharpened. He was ready to strike.
"Captain Dora! Found it! It's right here!" one of the Beastmen suddenly shouted in excitement.
"That fast? Looks like we're in luck today!" Dora beamed.
The Beastman who'd been close to Riku turned around and ran back to join the others, visibly excited.
"What did they find?" Riku carefully peeked out from behind the rocks to get a better look.
And then he saw it—Dora was holding something in his hand, something bright red, like a fruit, still dirty from being freshly dug out of the ground.
"Hahaha! With this fruit, the princess will become even stronger. She'll be able to use Bloodburst with no side effects, and the boost will be even greater!" Dora said gleefully.
"That's the eighth one! Just one more next year, and the princess'll be able to go toe-to-toe with those top-tier races!" another Beastman added, fired up.
No side effects for Bloodburst? Go toe-to-toe with the top six? Riku's eyes narrowed. Every race had its secrets, but he didn't expect to just stumble on the Beastmen's like this.
Bloodburst was already strong, but it still didn't compare to the Flugel. The top six races were literal embodiments of concepts. Races ranked below them—except maybe for the super-special Ex-Machina—basically didn't stand a chance. The gap was enormous.
Hell, even Jibril single-handedly wiped out the Elves' homeland with one Heaven's Strike and hunted them all down.
And Beastmen were even weaker than the Elves. So now they were closing that gap with some mystery fruit? That was kinda terrifying.
"Who's there?!" Dora suddenly snapped, his beast-like eyes locking onto Riku.
Even though Riku had stayed hidden, the Beastmen's insane senses still picked him up.
"If I say I was just passing by... would you buy it?" Since he'd been found anyway, Riku didn't bother hiding anymore. He stepped out calmly, completely unfazed. He'd already learned everything he needed to.
"A human?" The Beastmen, who had all been on edge, suddenly looked surprised—and even a little amused.
They knew humans well. After all, they'd killed plenty. Even eaten some.
"Heh... didn't think a human would wander into a place like this. And now that you've learned our secret, we definitely can't let you go," Dora grinned, showing his sharp fangs. His expression turned savage, murderous intent flaring.
"Get him. Time for a little bloodshed!" came the cold-blooded order.
"....."