Chương 57: Reborn as the Dragon: — Chapter 57 - The True Hunter Often Appears in the Form of Prey

Hana, the bird monster leader, had finally talked herself into a clear head. She rolled over with great effort in the damp cave and addressed her companions, all collapsed on the ground behind her in various stages of starved misery.

"Get up. We're going out to hunt. Stop rotting."

"But leader, there's a dragon in Silvermoon Forest. And we stole eggs from its followers." One of the bird monsters had curled herself into a ball on the cave floor, wet feathers plastered over an emaciated, hollow-looking body. Her eyes were full of fear. She very much did not want to go outside.

"Coward!" Hana cracked a full slap across the bird monster's face, sending her rolling twice across the cave floor. At the same moment, Hana's own stomach let out a long, mournful gurgle. That seemed to trigger something. The entire damp, cold cave filled with the sound of gurgling stomachs, one after another, echoing off the walls. They were all starving. The bird monsters looked at each other. Each one saw the same misery reflected back. They decided, reluctantly, to go out.

At worst, they'd just stay far from the Dragon's Nest. Silvermoon Forest was enormous. They could catch something, somewhere, that wasn't anywhere near that dragon.... A short while later. Mid-level Silvermoon Forest, somewhere unspecified. A group of bird monsters crouched in the undergrowth, bone clubs in hand, peering through the grass at a cluster of plump, magnificent Blaze Rabbits. Flying was out of the question. Too visible. The dragon would spot them instantly, and then they'd be dead.

So they'd decided to walk the ground like ordinary birds, less effective, harder to fight at full strength, but far less likely to end in a fireball. Besides, they weren't trying to take down anything impressive. Mountain wolves, Blaze Rabbits, something easy. That was the plan.

"Leader, look at the butt on that one. So fat. I love it so much~""Right? I want to bite it. It would sizzle. I know it would sizzle."

"I want the leg. That is a serious rabbit leg."

"The gold chain around its neck. That's gorgeous. I need that." The group murmured excitedly among themselves. Hana stared at the rabbits with a faint frown. Since when did Silvermoon Forest have Blaze Rabbits that size? Were they feeding these things something special? And did Blaze Rabbits normally wear jewelry? She turned it over in her head for a while and came up with nothing. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. They were far from the Dragon's Nest.

No matter how strange these rabbits looked, could they actually beat bird monsters? Impossible. Completely impossible.

"I'll count to three," Hana said, sweeping a warning look over her crew.

"We all go at once. Whoever catches one keeps it. No fighting each other. Understood?" The bird monsters nodded eagerly. Some of them were already vibrating.

"Three—""Two—""... Wait—" She hadn't finished counting. They'd already gone. They charged out of the grass like dogs that hadn't seen a bone in a week, howling, tongues practically flapping in the breeze.

"Hiahiahia! Little bunnies, get in my stomach!"

"I CAN'T. That rabbit butt. How does a Blaze Rabbit get THAT fat?!" Those were the restrained ones. A few bird monsters had launched themselves at the rabbits mouth-first, like javelins with teeth, planning to skip the whole catching step entirely. Then the Blaze Rabbits stood up." ROAR." The bird monsters stopped. A shadow fell across their vision. The rabbit at the front was wearing the gold chain. It flexed, and every muscle in its body inflated like a balloon being pumped full of air.

Eight-pack abs appeared in neat rows. Its back spread into a hard, clean inverted triangle. It raised both rabbit paws out to its sides, then curled them slowly into its biceps. One thick shoulder popped out the character for Cai, talent. It turned, presenting its back. The hunched posture straightened. Cables of muscle tightened and converged across its lats, forming the character for De, virtue. Virtue and talent. Shoulders and back. This was Buggs Bunny.

And Buggs Bunny's panel was nothing like it used to be: [Name: Buggs Bunny (strong) (Great Strength) (Dragonized)] [Gender: Male] [Race: Blaze Rabbit Leader (Black Dragon Follower)] [Level: 7 (First Tier) (1-10)] [HP: 1000] [Strength: 7(+4) | Attack: 220] [Constitution: 7(+3) | Armor: 100] [Spirit: 1 | Magic Resistance: 10] [Skills: Fire Breath, Fireball, Grapple Slam, Over-the-Shoulder Throw, Spinning Back Elbow to the Head, Headbutt, Leap-Step Straight Punch to the Throat, Iron Mountain Crush]...

The bird monsters averaged level 17, with 17 Strength. On the ground, their Strength halved, down to 8. Buggs Bunny was only level 7. But its Strength, after relentless day-and-night training, had hit 11. It was also the biggest Blaze Rabbit in the group. The tallest. Standing upright, it cleared the bird monsters by a visible margin. Flex routine complete, Buggs Bunny turned back around. A rolled leaf cigarette was clamped between its enormous white front teeth, pulled from somewhere, nobody had seen where.

It took a long, slow drag. Then it waved. Then it extended one paw and raised the middle finger. Come on then. The contempt in its eyes was total. Even without knowing what the gesture meant, the bird monsters understood exactly what it meant.

"Leader," one of them said quietly.

"I think a Blaze Rabbit just disrespected us."

"These rabbits aren't right," said another.

"They're not scared of us." Hana had noticed. The whole group of them was on their feet now, rolling their shoulders, cracking their knuckles, red light smoldering in their eyes. Their rabbit faces had pulled into wide, jagged grins. The muscles around their mouths bunched and twisted, each face a knotted mass of grinning tension. Hana's gut told her to run. It was already too late." SQUEAK SQUEAK!" [BEAT THE HELL OUT OF THEM!] Buggs Bunny pointed at the bird monsters, and the rabbits moved.

They came in groups of three and five, swarming each bird monster simultaneously, one on the wings, one on the feet, one on the head. The bird monsters thrashed. It didn't matter. Each of them was pinned under a pile of rabbits before they could do anything useful. Then the ground started shaking. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. The bushes around them split apart. More rabbits. Hundreds. Thousands of Blaze Rabbits, their eyes glowing, pouring in from every direction and closing the circle.

Seven of the bird monsters had the sense to launch into the air. Then the nets came down. Thousands of Blaze Rabbits swung vine-woven hunting nets in unison, and the sky went dark with them. The seven who'd gotten airborne came down hard, crashing into the dirt in a tangled heap. Buggs Bunny walked over to Hana with the unhurried stride of someone who had absolutely no one to answer to and nothing to worry about. It crouched in front of her. She was already pinned under a cluster of rabbits. SMACK. SMACK.

Two open-paw slaps across the face, nice and easy. Just helping her relax. Then it took the still-smoldering leaf cigarette from between its teeth and pressed it gently against Hana's chest. It rotated slowly. The ember went out. A long breath of smoke followed, blown directly into Hana's face. Hana felt the burn on her chest. She gasped instinctively, a deep, reflexive inhale. The smoke hit the back of her throat like a wall. She erupted into violent coughing, mouth wide open.

"Hack, ptui." A mouthful of rabbit phlegm landed directly on her tongue. Hana: (°Д°)!!! ➤ Next: Wishful Thinking