The wind howled, a grim witness to the battle that was about to begin.

"Catty," Rian murmured, his gaze softening as he looked at her worried face. "I truly care for you." He paused, his expression turning serious. "Can you fight properly in your new body?"

"I think so, Master, but I'm not used to it yet," Catty answered honestly. "I feel like I should be leaping and crawling. Fighting in this upright, human-like posture is still difficult, especially with a sword."

"Alright. How about this: you fight using your old style, like a cat. Do you need a different weapon?"

Catty fell silent, looking down at her hands, which lacked claws. "Just a dagger. Do you have one, Rian?"

Rian retrieved a fine-bladed dagger from his Storage and handed it to her. Moments later, the first of the wolf monsters broke through the trees, leaping and charging straight for them.

"Without detection, it will be hard to know where they're coming from. I'll try the detection skill, but on a smaller scale," Rian thought. He quickly focused, a pale blue dome of mana expanding around him. He could sense fifty monsters closing in, some already lunging. Instantly, he channeled mana to his feet and wrists, applying wind magic to amplify his speed. He settled into a solid stance, his breathing steady, and ignited his sword with blue flame.

The first attack arrived. With lightning speed, he executed a horizontal slash. It was a blur of blue light. The monster was cleaved perfectly in two. Without missing a beat, Rian reversed the motion of his blade, cutting down another wolf charging from the opposite direction.

He saw Catty leaping from branch to branch, avoiding attacks before lunging to strike back. Her dagger left shallow cuts and scratches; her opponents were wounded but not defeated. She quickly spun, pouncing on a monster she had already injured, and flawlessly plunged her dagger into its neck.

As she did, Rian saw another monster ambush her from a blind spot. Catty couldn't evade in time. Claws tore into her arm, and blood gushed from the deep wound. With pure reflex, Rian focused mana into his hand, grabbed a nearby stone, and hurled it. The rock shot through the air like a cannonball, striking the monster in the head and blowing a hole straight through its skull.

"HOW DARE YOU HURT MY CATTY!!" Rian roared, his voice filled with a cold fury as he rushed to her side.

Without a word, he placed his hand on her wound. /Heal!/ A green glow enveloped the gash, and the flesh began to knit itself back together. But he couldn't finish; he was forced to break off the healing process to parry the lunges of other monsters.

Just then, RQ and a companion appeared. "My squad has begun the evacuation! We came back to help!"

"You don't need to fight!" Rian commanded. "Just protect Catty, no matter what!"

Seeing Catty's bloodied arm, a scorching heat boiled in Rian's chest. "I AM SO ANGRY THAT YOU HURT HER!" he bellowed. An immense wave of mana, far larger than he had ever released, erupted from his body. The purple aura flared, flowing automatically to every part of him. His movements became like the wind itself. He no longer seemed to touch the ground as he moved, his speed so great that his footsteps left small cracks in the earth.

From her position, RQ saw trees in the distance suddenly shake, followed by the pained howls of monsters.

"Who is he?" she asked Catty in awe. "He's so strong."

"He wasn't this strong before," Catty said, her eyes wide as she compared her own struggle to Rian's effortless slaughter. "And even now, I don't think he realizes just how powerful he's become." A faint blush crept onto Catty's cheeks as she remembered his shout. "My Catty? He called me 'my Catty'..." She quickly turned her face away from RQ, trying to hide her embarrassment.

"What is it, Catty?" RQ asked, noticing the sudden movement.

"Nothing! I'm just watching for another attack," Catty deflected.

More pained howls echoed from Rian's direction. Suddenly, two wolves broke through the line and charged at Catty and RQ. In a flash, Rian was there, a blur of motion. With a single, clean swing, both monsters were bisected, their blood splattering the ground just feet from where Catty stood.

"Don't worry," Rian said, his voice low and dangerous as he watched them from a distance. "I'm keeping an eye on you while I finish off these bastards. Daring to touch the most precious person to me!" He shot off in another direction like a phantom. Every word he spoke was spontaneous, born from an uncontrollable rage at seeing Catty hurt.

Hearing his unfiltered words, Catty turned away again, her face burning. She was utterly flustered.

Rian spun, his flaming sword a vortex of death. "Thirty-one! Thirty-two! Thirty-three!" he roared, counting his kills. He bounced from tree to tree, a whirlwind of brutal, precise slashes. "Forty-six! Forty-seven! Forty-eight!" He pointed his sword upwards, predicting an aerial attack, and leaped. "Forty-nine!" His detection skill found no more monsters nearby, save for one last wolf, which was leaping directly at Catty. With all his might, Rian threw his sword.

The blade flew true, and the wolf collapsed at Catty's feet, impaled through the chest. Rian landed softly before them, his breathing already calm and controlled, as if nothing had happened.

"Are you two okay? I've checked the area, I can't find any more monsters," he said.

"I'm alright… my Rian," Catty replied, a teasing look in her eyes.

Rian's face instantly turned red as he realized he had also called her "my Catty" in his uncontrolled anger. His own spontaneous words made him deeply embarrassed.

"You are incredible, sir," RQ said respectfully. "Can you detect the remaining five hundred troops? We cannot."

"I'm not as great as you think," Rian deflected, downplaying his strength. "Those were probably just weak troops sent as bait. They're likely waiting for a report from the fifty we just killed."

"By the way," RQ said, "what were you two doing last night? We heard laughter and thought you might be planning something sinister, which is why we watched you sleep in that little tent."

"Oh, no," Catty explained, trying to stifle a new giggle. "That was me. I was laughing at him because he ate burnt meat."

"What's the name of that forest, the one where I lived with Gramps? I don't know," Rian asked, changing the subject.

"The forest we lived in was known to my parents as the Savage Forest," Catty replied. "But I don't know what humans call it."

"I know it," RQ said, her eyes widening as she pointed toward a towering mountain in the distance. "That forest is behind that mountain, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's right," Rian confirmed.

"The Savage Forest?" RQ thought, a chill running down her spine. "The legendary, terrifying forest where countless strong monsters gather? Where even mythical creatures like dragons are said to originate? Are these two descendants of some powerful monster? If we don't make them our allies… we have a 100% chance of being annihilated by his power."

"I can't use my wide-scale detection skill again," Rian explained, interrupting her thoughts. "I used too much mana just now. Maybe in an hour."

"In that case, why don't you rest at our village first?" RQ offered, hoping they would accept.

"Let's go with them to their village," Catty said, pulling on Rian's hand.

They began their journey through the woods. But hidden behind them, a single creature, cloaked in an anti-mana hood, slipped away unnoticed. It was an intelligent scout, far smarter than its fallen comrades. It returned to the main horde of monsters and reported to its leader: the fifty-strong vanguard had been completely annihilated by an unknown individual, who was now heading directly for Cikubangsari village.