Just standing there was enough to bring a suffocating deterrent force, completely different from the team of Orcs they had encountered before. But for fragile humans, it made no difference—they would break at the slightest touch anyway.
"Ah~, if you're worried about your companions, you can rest assured for now," said the Werebeast with long gray hair. "I don't have any companions chasing them, and I'm the only one scouting here—you understand what I'm saying, right? You should understand, right? After all, when you spoke just now, you were the only one who reacted differently from them, so I thought so."
"..."
The only answer he received was silence, but it wasn't intentional. Su'er did want to say something, but when he opened his mouth, he realized his upper and lower teeth were knocking against each other rapidly, and even his lower jaw was almost stiff to the point of cramping.
This was fear born from an instinctive reaction, just like a frog stared at by a snake, motionless.
Su'er could see the white steam rising from the Werebeast's breath in such cold temperature, and the scarlet eyes. Although they looked playful, the murderous intent in them had never dissipated. Su'er had no doubt that if he made any unnecessary movements, the Werebeast in front of him would take out his heart in a second—no, in the end, was he even worthy of the Werebeast's vigilance?
"There is... a team of Orcs... in that direction..."
Slowly raising his hand, Su'er said this in the Werebeast language, pointing to the place where he and his group had just found the Orc team.
Compared to his own flesh, those Orcs, who liked and enjoyed killing and could pose a great threat to the Werebeast tribe, should be the real threat—at least that's what Su'er thought.
However, the Werebeast's reaction disappointed him. Even through such a ferocious mask, Su'er could see that the Werebeast showed no signs of wavering... He already knew?
A chill penetrated into Su'er's internal organs. Realizing this fact made him feel like he had swallowed a large mouthful of ice—since when had this Werebeast been following them?
"Ah, this is already known, and I have already sent the news back," as expected, under Su'er's increasingly ugly expression beneath the mask, the Werebeast said frankly, "During the time waiting for the leader's reply, I am more curious about you than those Orcs..."
"...Monkey, why do you want to learn our language?"
Sincere, simple, and harmless questions, but from a certain perspective, it was the most extensive malice, directed at an entire species.
Without any precautions, the white-haired, wolf-eared Werebeast just poked the ground bit by bit with his long sword and walked over. The crisp clinking sound seemed to hit Su'er's brain with a heavy punch. The situation might be worse than he imagined.
"What are you planning? Or what else can a weak beast like you do?"
Slowly circling Su'er, who stood still, the white-haired Werebeast looked up and down curiously at the upright monkey. He had never noticed the actions of these monkeys before.
[No resistance, no threats]
Riku...
It might be a wrong choice to keep silent and resist here. Su'er trembled and clenched the dagger in his hand, as if this could give him courage and strength, but neither he nor the Werebeast around him believed that such a small toy could cause any harm to the Werebeast.
It's time to end his life, right? Just stab there, stab hard... But Lenny and the others shouldn't have run far, not to mention—when he made such a move, would this Werebeast standing next to him... truly be too late to stop it?
His mind was spasming.
"...In order to get closer to the Werebeasts," Su'er gasped and trembled as he finished his words, just like any cowardly person, "We, we are monkeys... aren't we? We are, yes, beasts..."
He tried to force himself to show an ugly smile, and the mask on his face reminded Su'er that he was still covering himself.
"Hahahahahahahaha," a heroic laugh broke out, and the white-haired Werebeast seemed to have heard some earth-shattering joke. "Want to become a member of our Werebeast? Hahahahaha!"
"Haha, hahaha," unable to figure out the real thoughts of this Werebeast, Su'er could only follow his laughter, laughing in a forced and awkward way.
"Lie!!!"
The roar suddenly erupted from the laughter, and the white-haired Werebeast suddenly took off the devil mask covering his face, bent down fiercely, leaned in front of Su'er, and took a deep breath.
Su'er, for the first time, saw the face of this Werebeast at such a close distance.
Fierce horizontal lines, a scarred face—even one of his left eyes was blind, several tragic scars covered the area around his eye sockets, and even the nearby skin was torn off. Even though it had healed now, Su'er could still vaguely see some pale bones exposed.
The wrinkles all over made him look very old, but his face was somewhat young, as if he had lost a lot of vitality. Even among the Werebeasts, Su'er judged that this was a Werebeast who could be called a veteran.
The bared canine teeth seemed about to bite off Su'er's fragile neck in the next second. He was almost unable to breathe the next breath of fresh air. Every muscle in his body was spasming. It was the suppression of biological instincts, the most instinctive reaction to deadly danger.
Su'er wanted to defend himself, to argue that he was not lying. He even organized a long string of logical words in his mind, but he said nothing until the end, as if his body no longer obeyed his command.
It's over.
Su'er closed his eyes.
However, the pain did not come. The suddenly enraged Werebeast did not bite off Su'er's throat or tear him in half. He just returned to his calm state. This time he did not wear a mask, so Su'er could clearly observe every expression of his.
"Are you denying me... No, should it be denying *us*?" The white-haired Werebeast took a half step back to leave enough space and stretched out his hand to directly tear off the mask covering Su'er face.
"What else are you hiding?"
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