Undead Beast Master: Living Solely for My Desires-Chapter 265: The Silent Huntress

They were high in the mountain; as such, the sun was able to illuminate the surroundings very well.

It was thanks to this fact that when Thorne turned around, he saw something that couldn't be explained.

A shadow was being cast by seemingly nothing. It was moving like it had a mind of its own.

In no time, Thorne was able to guess that the reason one of his scouts was gone was because of this thing.

"FASTER!" he commanded as he forced the horse to run as fast as possible.

The other scouts, seeing the panic in their leader's voice, didn't understand the reason but considering that today they had become witness to a ghost calling a dragon over. They dared not ask questions as they mimicked the actions.

The horses began to grunt and puff as they ran, using everything they had. It was an immense stress. It wasn't like when one was running in a field; at this moment in time, they were running down a mountain with full force.

Not only was the ground very uneven, meaning each movement had to be careful—otherwise, one wrong step and the leg of the horse would twist, leaving also their rider falling.

But also, the speed was insanely high. They moved almost as fast as an arrow, making it hard to control the reins.

These were elite horses controlled by skilled people.

And yet…

After a few seconds, Thorne couldn't help himself but glance back.

The shadow behind them was still there, and it was getting closer.

The problem was that it had great advantage over them; after all, a shadow does not have a physical body, so it doesn't need to worry about going too fast, making it out of control and falling over,

Nor does it care if the terrain below it is uneven or flat.

Seeing their leader's expression as he turned back, one of the male scouts looked behind as well.

And once he spotted the shadow that was moving toward , he felt tingling sensation in his whole body. The scout had never been so scared before in his life.

"FASTER!" he shouted as he began to hit the horse repeatedly, trying to make it go faster.

It worked, as the scout took the lead for a few seconds. But unfortunately for him, forcing the horse to move above its limit on uneven terrain was a bad idea, and finally, the horse made a mistake as one of its legs didn't manage to position in the right way and slipped.

The horse fell to the ground, and due to its great speed, its front left leg broke.

The scout didn't have it easy, however, as he was thrown to the side and hit his head on one of the rocks, making him bleed.

"WAIT FOR ME!" he shouted in panic as he attempted to get up. He wasn't bothered by his bleeding head. What terrified him was that his horse was in no condition to run and just now his companions had passed him.

There was no way that they were going to stop to help him.

"WAIT!" he cried again as he tried to get up but was unable as his vision became blurry. The injury on the head was more serious than he thought.

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'At least it must go after the horse, right?!' the scout thought as he shifted his gaze to the injured horse on the ground. The animal was closer to the shadow, so surely the shadow would go toward it, right?

But to his horror, the shadow passed over the horse like it didn't pay it any mind and headed straight to the men.

"WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT!" he cried repeatedly as he unsheathed the dagger behind his back. He didn't want to die!

He couldn't do anything, however, as the shadow moved so insanely fast that he—with his hurt head—couldn't react. And the moment the shadow reached him, a sleek, black panther with piercing yellow eyes came out of the shadow, fangs and claws pointed toward him.

He couldn't do anything, and a second later, his throat was crushed by the panther's bite.

However, the beast was not done.

Taking the body into the shadows with it, the shadow that was being created by the panther shot forward even faster than before.

This was the first time Nightshade was using her powers after evolving, and she had only one thought.

It was so fun! It had been so long since she had gone on a hunt, and it felt so right to chase the scared prey, like she had been meant to do this all her life.

Even if it was a bad thought, Thorne felt glad for a second—one of his scouts as well as his horse had fallen, so he must keep the shadow busy, right?

Whatever was chasing them would surely have already satisfied its hunger with the two men it had killed, right?!

Sadly for Thorne, he didn't know that not every beast hunts for food—some hunt just for the sport.

Thorne's hopes were quickly dashed when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw another scout and his horse collapse to the ground—just as a black panther appeared above them.

Thorne started to get goosebumps all over his body.

Whatever was chasing them wasn't planning to let them go.

He was going to die today.

"SIR!"

Hearing a woman's voice, Thorne gazed at the girl with pinkish hair.

"We are just soldiers, but you are the right-hand man of General Hadrik. We can't leave you to die here!" As she spoke these words, she gazed at the remaining scouts.

All of them had scared expressions, but knew what needed to be done. So they closed their eyes, taking deep breaths, making peace with their decision.

And then abruptly changed their course.

Whatever was hunting them would surely charge at the bigger group if the one that it was hunting split up, right?

That was the plan of the girl with pinkish hair, and all Thorne could do was clench his teeth in frustration.

His entire army had been eradicated under his command, leaving him the only survivor.

"I will kill you. Whatever you are, I will kill you!" he shouted with pure rage as he galloped down the mountain. In that moment, he vowed to do whatever it took to destroy the one responsible for all of this—the figure cloaked in white robes, who had the power to summon a dragon.

*****

Standing with crossed legs one over the other, Zaroth was waiting patiently.

'I think she is done,' he thought as he opened his eyes.

He desummoned Nightshade and then summoned her next to him.

She was now of the Epic tier. Not only that, but once she had evolved a few days back, the system had informed him that she wasn't a Nightclaw Panther anymore. Apparently, she was now a Shadow Panther.

"So how did it go?" he asked, gazing at the beautifully sleek panther.

Due to personal reasons, Zaroth hadn't done much in the days between Althea's death and his arrival here. The only thing he knew had changed about Nightshade was that she now had the ability to become a shadow, allowing her to move faster and more stealthily than before.

Her ears twitched, and a low, satisfied growl came out from her throat, as if pleased with herself.

Then she showed a power that made Zaroth's eyes widen in surprise.