Eastern Region of the Great Winter Forest

The habitat of the Wind Chime Birds, which had originally been shrouded in silence, suddenly erupted with shrill screams in an instant!

“AAAAAAAHHHHH-SCREAAACH~!!!!”

The next moment—

BOOOOM!!

Accompanied by a deafening roar that shook the mountains and split the earth apart, the king of the Wind Chime Birds—known simply as the Bird King—was instantly struck by a crimson beam of light! Its overwhelmingly powerful ultimate attack was shattered on the spot by the scarlet radiance!

At the same time, even after piercing through the protective magic surrounding its body, the unstoppable death ray continued forward without losing momentum, blasting straight through the Bird King’s wing.

The giant avian magic beast, whose wingspan stretched dozens of meters wide, immediately plummeted from the sky and smashed headfirst into a pile of rocks.

Moments later—

The boulders exploded apart in every direction as the Bird King crawled out from beneath the rubble in utter disgrace, its head bloodied and battered.

Even though it had suffered such unbearable humiliation before all of its clansmen, the Bird King did not harbor even the slightest thought of revenge.

What filled its heart was endless fear.

And an unceasing trembling born from the depths of its soul.

Looking toward the black-haired girl in the distance who had casually knocked it out of the sky with a mere snap of her fingers—

The moment its gaze met those crimson-red eyes, and the moment it sensed the familiar yet overwhelmingly oppressive aura of Shadow of Silence Power surrounding her body, the Wind Chime Bird King instantly abandoned all dignity as ruler of its race and crawled over like an obedient lapdog.

Its eyes no longer contained the slightest trace of fighting spirit.

Only shameless flattery remained.

“S-Sorry!! Lady Yumo!! I didn’t know you had already transformed into human form?! I thought some blind adventurer had trespassed into my territory! I’m terribly sorry! Please spare me!! I’ve got elderly parents and children to feed!!”

Facing the Bird King’s desperate begging, Yumo rolled her eyes helplessly.

Her tone remained ice-cold.

“Didn’t I already tell you? If the visitor looks human, don’t just randomly attack them for no damn reason, little birdie. Or did you treat my words like background noise?”

“S-Sorry!! I definitely won’t dare do it again!!”

“Hehe. If there’s a next time, I’ll just appoint a new king for your Wind Chime Bird clan~”

Yumo spoke leisurely.

However, hidden within those words was an immensely powerful surge of Shadow of Silence Power that instantly forced the Bird King flat against the ground, unable to move. Upon hearing Yumo’s warning, the Bird King hurriedly nodded frantically.

“There won’t be! Absolutely no next time!!”

“That’s for the best.”

Yumo withdrew her increasingly “kind” smile and simultaneously dispelled the oppressive pressure of Shadow of Silence Power weighing down the Bird King and the surrounding Wind Chime Birds.

Instantly, all the magic beasts let out long breaths of relief and collapsed onto the ground as though they had narrowly escaped death.

After recovering its life, the Bird King hurriedly scrambled up and fawned beside Yumo again.

“Lady Yumo? Then why have you suddenly come to our Wind Chime Bird territory today?”

“I need something from you.”

Yumo went straight to the point.

“From me?”

“Yeah. Since I transformed into human form, I can’t exactly keep sleeping outdoors anymore.”

“Hm? You mean... you want us to help build a house?”

“No. The house is already built.”

“Huh? Then... then what do you need us to do?”

“I’m missing a bed right now. I want something comfortable. Soft would be best~”

As she spoke, Yumo’s somewhat dangerous gaze slowly locked onto the Bird King.

More specifically—

Onto the large patches of snow-white feathers covering its body.

The Bird King instantly felt a chill run down its spine as a terrible premonition emerged within its heart.

“And well... I think your feathers look pretty nice~”

Yumo revealed a sinister smile.

......

......

Several minutes later—

The once somewhat majestic Wind Chime Bird King had been stripped completely bare of all its feathers by Yumo in front of the entire flock.

The seventh-tier magic beast now resembled a plucked chicken, looking both ridiculous and pitiful.

The surrounding Wind Chime Birds struggled desperately to hold back their laughter.

At this moment, the Bird King’s dignity had been utterly annihilated.

Its claws clenched tightly, its eyes overflowing with humiliation-born fury.

But—

What could it possibly do?

If it wanted to survive within the Great Winter Forest, it had no choice but to submit to the Abyss Demons and obey the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons.

Otherwise, its entire race would become food on the Abyss Demons’ table.

All it could do was suppress its rage and watch as the black-haired girl slowly walked away carrying its feathers.

‘A bird’s revenge can wait a thousand years!!’

Sooner or later!

I’ll get my revenge!!

The Bird King viciously glared at Yumo’s departing figure.

Unfortunately for it—

The Wind Chime Bird King still didn’t know that despite having her back turned and already walking far away, the black-haired girl could still clearly sense the hostility and hatred radiating from its gaze.

Fortunately, however—

Yumo had no intention of arguing over such trivial matters with it.

Or rather—

Making the Wind Chime Bird race harbor intense hatred toward her had been Yumo’s goal from the very beginning. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have bothered occasionally sending Abyss Demons over to pressure the Wind Chime Bird clan every now and then.

At the final stage of the trial, after all—

The protagonist group would need to lead an army into the Winter Forest.

For everything to proceed smoothly, Yumo believed it was necessary to arrange an “inside guide” for the protagonists.

Of course, Abyss Demons themselves could never fill that role.

Only persecuted magic beast races within the forest could.

Those magic beasts not only deeply hated the Abyss Demons, but also understood their habits and knew the rough location of the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons.

That way, they could naturally and legitimately guide the protagonist group forward.

Hehe~

When the time came, destroying her should become a little easier, right?

Thinking this, Yumo unconsciously revealed a satisfied smile as she strolled through the snowy forest. The surrounding Blood Butterflies danced elegantly through the air as though sharing in their master’s joy.

Sigh...

Sometimes Yumo truly admired the lengths she went to for everyone’s sake.

After quietly sighing to herself, Yumo once again shifted her attention toward the massive bundle of compressed feathers in her hands.

Although coming to the Wind Chime Bird territory had indeed partly been an excuse to pick a fight, she genuinely did need these feathers.

And she needed this many of them.

Back when she had not yet taken human form, girls like Liyu and Limo usually rested inside her body—

Ahem. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Inside the palace, that is.

Now that she had transformed, she needed to prepare a new place for them to live. Yumo disliked the idea of her children sleeping out in the open.

With Saiboke-Baniya’s help, she had already built a countryside villa first.

And now, she needed these feathers to make bedding~

Even though Liyu and the others constantly insisted on sleeping together with her—

Considering the children’s independence—

And in order to stop them from becoming overly dependent on her—

Yumo still planned to prepare a soft, comfortable bed for each of them!

Not just for Limo and Liyu either, but also for the children who currently weren’t inside the forest.

When they returned, they’d need somewhere to sleep too, right?

Surely they couldn’t all squeeze into her bed.

Thus—

Yumo wandered leisurely through the forest as though taking a casual walk,

Enjoying the snowy scenery while simultaneously pondering room assignments for the new house.

And at that moment—

Yumo suddenly stopped walking.

Her brows furrowed slightly.

Then—

The girl thoughtfully turned her head toward the southern region of the forest.

Thanks to her extraordinary perception abilities, Yumo sensed several unusual presences.

Hm?

‘Did someone else enter the forest again?’