"Full Form, huh?" Oliver muttered softly.

For the past five years, he had been studying everything related to taming with great dedication. One of those subjects was Forms.

Forms were transformations achieved when the bond between a tamer and their monster became strong enough for them to merge together. They were divided into two types: Partial Form and Full Form.

Partial Form was what Oliver had previously experienced against Auron, where only parts of the body transformed using the monster’s traits.

Full Form, however, was completely different. In Full Form, the monster fully merged with the tamer, allowing the tamer to manifest the complete characteristics of the monster and resemble it almost entirely.

Right now, Pearl looked nearly identical to Spilance.

A wide grin appeared on her face, revealing her sharp white teeth before she suddenly lunged forward and thrust her lance-shaped arms toward Oliver.

"Come." Oliver muttered calmly.

He raised his dagger and focused intensely on Pearl’s movements. He could not afford to miss even a single motion. Because if he made one mistake, he would die.

Pang!

His dagger clashed against Pearl’s lance-shaped arms.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The two continuously exchanged blows at incredible speed, each collision releasing sparks that illuminated the dark surroundings.

The wide grin on Pearl’s face slowly began to fade as every single one of her attacks was either deflected or countered by Oliver.

"Who are you? How can you see all of my movements?" Pearl asked through clenched teeth. This was the first time someone had been able to keep up with the rapid attacks of her lances while she was in Full Form.

Sweat slowly dripped down her temple. The man standing before her was far beyond her expectations.

"Someone who’s about to lose doesn’t need to know my name!" Oliver suddenly used Quickstep to move sideways before immediately unleashing Assault Slash.

Enhanced by the Crimson Striker class effect, the attack’s damage doubled instantly.

Swoosh!

"Arghh!" Pearl screamed as her side was slashed open. The armor covering her body shattered apart instantly.

"I’m not done yet! Crimson Massacre!" Oliver suddenly vanished from sight.

The next second, he repeatedly appeared and disappeared around Pearl while continuously slashing her from every direction. Pearl had no chance to retaliate against someone she could not even properly see.

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

"Arrgghhh!"

Pearl’s screams echoed throughout the dark forest. A few moments later, she collapsed onto the ground as her Full Form transformation finally ended.

Her clothes were torn all over, and countless bleeding cuts covered her body. Even so, she slowly forced herself back onto her feet and attempted to escape.

"You... you... how dare you oppose us, the Five Scorpions. I’ll take my revenge with my group later, just wait. Until then, enjoy your life while you still can." Pearl smirked weakly as blood dripped from the corner of her mouth.

At the same time, she secretly prepared to throw a smoke bomb and flee from the area. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

However, suddenly, something grabbed Pearl’s hand just as she raised it to throw the smoke bomb. She turned around and saw a massive monster with the upper body of a human woman and the lower body of a giant spider. Fear instantly rushed through her body.

"Let me go! Let me go, bastard!" Pearl screamed as she was lifted upward by Queen, whose towering body stood nearly seven meters tall. She tried kicking wildly, but it had no effect at all. Soon, her face was brought directly in front of Queen’s.

"My Oliver... is this my dinner tonight?" Queen asked playfully.

The moment Pearl heard that, her face turned deathly pale. This monster was a human predator!

"Wait..." Oliver suddenly grabbed Gilles from beside the carriage and forced him onto the ground before Queen and Pearl so he could watch it.

"No! No! Please don’t hurt me! Please!" Gilles begged desperately.

"Okay, Queen. Enjoy your dinner," Oliver said calmly.

"Arrgh! NO! NO! Release me! I’ll give you money! Anything you want, I’ll give you!" Pearl begged frantically as she was brought closer and closer toward Queen’s mouth.

"Then, can you bring back all the people you’ve killed?" Oliver asked coldly.

"Huh...?" Pearl was completely stupefied by the question.

The next second, Queen bit directly into her neck. Pearl’s body immediately went numb, leaving her unable to move or even speak.

"Thank you for the meal!" Queen said happily.

Munch! Munch! Munch!

A horrifying scene unfolded before Gilles’ eyes as Pearl was devoured alive from head to toe. His entire body trembled violently in fear.

Thud!

A pair of boots fell onto the ground. It was the only thing left of Pearl after Queen had finished eating.

Gilles immediately flinched backward as Oliver slowly approached him.

’This guy... he’s bad news! He’s far more terrifying than the Five Scorpions!’

"So, do you want to cooperate? Or do you want to become dessert for my Queen as well?" Oliver asked calmly. His glowing red eye pierced through the darkness of the night.

"Yes! I will! I will cooperate! Please spare me!" Gilles begged desperately while grabbing onto Oliver’s leg and crying.

A few minutes later, Arnulf and a group of hunters finally arrived at the scene. Among them were Lambert and Diana.

The moment they arrived, they immediately noticed numerous Arachix roaming around the area. At that point, they already knew those monsters belonged to Oliver.

Arnulf immediately ordered the hunters to place the exotic monsters back into their cages so they would not escape or get eaten by rogue monsters in the wild. They also tied up the surviving carriage drivers together with Gilles.

"Oliver! Are you alright? You said there was a member of the Five Scorpions here. Where are they?" Arnulf asked quickly.

Oliver casually pointed toward a spot near Queen where only a pair of boots remained beside a pool of fresh blood.

The hunters’ faces instantly turned pale as they instinctively stepped farther away from Queen.

"Sigh. I’ve already told you many times, Oliver. Please control your monsters better after this." Arnulf said while shaking his head helplessly.

"Sorry, Father." Oliver scratched his cheek awkwardly.

Since he had already promised to feed Queen properly, he occasionally allowed her to eat monsters, while humans were considered a rare delicacy for her.

"Lambert! Bring these men back to our town and interrogate them. Use any means necessary to obtain information." Arnulf ordered firmly.

Gilles was then forced onto his feet before being pushed toward the carriage. His eyes had become completely blank, clearly traumatized by what he had witnessed earlier.

Soon, the entire group began moving back toward the town.

---

At the edge of Hazelbrow City, inside one of the large warehouses, groups of people could be seen moving around busily. Numerous giant cages housing monsters were scattered throughout the area. Some of the monsters were enormous, while others were small and exotic.

Standing on the upper railing of the warehouse, a man silently observed everything below while smoking.

"Auch!"

Clint suddenly felt a sharp pricking pain near the scorpion tattoo on his body. The tattoo had been magically created using five separate parts. Two claws, a fang, a body, and a tail.

And right now, one of the claw markings had disappeared. There was only one explanation for this.

"Impossible... Pearl is dead? Who the hell did she fight?" A worried expression immediately appeared on Clint’s face.

Pearl was the strongest melee fighter among them. Which meant someone even stronger than her had already defeated her.

"I need to contact the others."

Clint immediately turned around and started moving.