The Demon Bear continued walking through the darkening woods, following the scent of blood, sweat, and fear. It had heard the dying roar of one of its kin and had hoped to scavenge whatever was left but was astonished to see that the entire carcass had disappeared by the time it arrived at the scene of the battle. There wasn't even any sign of what had killed the bear, just blood stains and broken trees.

It wasn't impossible for a Demon Bear to be killed, but they were apex predators. Even when they were killed they were guaranteed to take at least a few of their killers with them. For a Demon Bear to be killed so one-sidedly and then devoured so completely...

The beast wasn't sure why it followed the trail of the bear's killer, but follow it did. It traveled farther east than it ever had before, feeding on the pathetically weak creatures of the central woods as it went. After a few days of travel, the bear saw something new.

A group of players was walking and chatting, barely paying attention to their surroundings as they carried several Green Rabbits home after a casual day of hunting.

The Demon Bear didn't recognize these creatures, but the scent they gave off was very similar to the smell of whatever had killed its kin. The bear could feel its aggression rising.

It could tell that the players were stronger than most of what could be found in the central woods, but it knew instinctually that anything that made a home here was ultimately weak as well. How could such creatures kill a Demon Bear?

As hungry as it was angry, the Demon Bear let out a bellowing roar that caused the players to freeze up in fear.

It was time to hunt.

~~~~~

Yang had just caught up to Soze when she heard the roar. She could tell it was far away, but just close enough to be heard over the sounds of the village. She couldn't tell where it came from, but Soze's head snapped towards the West Gate. When the roar stopped, the whole village was silent and still.

A moment later, the village was filled with movement and shouting as countless players were either asking questions or preparing for combat.

"You have your gear?" Soze asked her as he used a Skill to equip his armor.

"Always. Let's move." A part of Yang wanted to group up with her sister first, but she knew that whatever this beast was it was best to respond as quickly as possible. 'Besides, there's no way Yin isn't already racing towards it herself.'

The two began dashing through the village, dodging around shelters and frantic players alike.

"You think it's a Demon Bear?" Yang asked.

"Has to be," Soze said with no hesitation. "That definitely sounded like a bear's roar, and Loran probably left a scent trail leading from Demon Bear territory all the way to here." Soze paused for a moment as they reached the West Gate. "...Do you think we can take this thing?"

Yang glanced at him, amused by his question. "You think we can't?"

Soze shrugged. "Loran's made it pretty clear these things aren't pushovers, and frankly, my real-life survival knowledge is telling me to never mess with a bear."

A grin spread across Yang's face. "It might be tough, but we've handled worse. And besides..." she glanced behind her. "We've got the whole village backing us up this time." Her smile dropped. "I'm just worried it might have ambushed anyone out there already."

Soze's face paled slightly as he considered the possibility before shaking his head. "Then let's get out there."

The two quickly passed through the western fields, hearing the sound of battle once they reached the treeline. It was just getting dark enough for Yang to start having trouble seeing in the dark woods, but she still had no difficulty finding the Demon Bear.

Poking out from behind a tree about thirty feet away and floating about thirteen feet in the air, was a big glowing description.

[DEMON BEAR] [Lv. 40]

[HP] {99%}

[SP] {100%}

'I know they said this Skill was good, but damn is that helpful,' Yang thought as she equipped her armor.

The Skill Yang was referring to was called [SIXTH SENSE], which created an information display above hostile targets. It had been created by Maxie while Yang was at Ziege Basin and had quickly spread throughout the village. Not only did it passively tell you how much HP a target had, a huge improvement over [ANALYSE] which needed 10 SP per use, but it could create the display even before you actually saw the target as long as it wasn't too skilled at hiding.

And the Demon Bear was definitely not trying to hide. As the two got closer, Yang was able to make out the figure of the bear amidst the darkness, looming over a group of players at its full height of twelve feet.

A handful of players were running around and firing arrows at the beast, but every single shot bounced harmlessly off of its body. A pair of melee fighters were keeping it distracted from close range, but it was clear that their attacks were barely clearing the damage threshold as the stone axes only left scratches in the massive beast.

And that was when they had the opportunity to attack. The Demon Bear was fast, although slowed by its own bulk, its paws were practically blurs as they bore down on the close-range players. One of them had enough Agility to just barely keep dodging, but the other was heavily armored and was being knocked around as he took each attack on his shield.

A shield that was riddled with gashes, and was clearly about to break.

As if sensing what was about to happen, Yang readied her War Pick and ran forward at full speed. She watched as the Demon Bear struck the armored player again, finally reducing his shield to useless splinters and knocking him to the ground.

The bear raised a paw to strike again as Yang shouted out, "GET AWAY FROM HIM FUCKHEAD!" The bear's eyes dilated as the [TAUNT] took effect. Surprisingly, a small image of an angry face appeared alongside the information provided by [SIXTH SENSE].

With the Demon Bear's attention drawn by the [TAUNT] infused insult, the attack meant for the downed player changed course to lash out at Yang. Slowing her movements for half a step, the bear's claws came inches from her face before she moved in to attack.

Yang had learned her lesson from fighting the Iron Ant Guardian. She could no longer afford to neglect her offensive abilities. With that in mind she had picked up both [POWER ATTACK] and [CRITICAL STRIKE], and activating both Skills she swung the enormous stone spike of her War Pick right into the Demon Bear's side.

*ROOOOOAAAARRR!*

The Demon Bear let out a roar of pain as the foot-long piece of stone buried itself in its body, never having received such a grievous wound in its entire life.

Unfortunately, Yang was in no position to defend herself as the enraged beast retaliated. The bear's powerful arm came down and struck her, hitting her entire left side from the sheer size difference between the two of them. The attack would have sent her flying had her weapon not been so buried in the beast's body, or if she failed to keep her grip.

Fortunately, Yang was able to grit her teeth through the pain and maintained her hold on the War Pick.

"Soze! Get these guys out of here!"

"On it!"

Grabbing the downed player and shouting something at the other, more agile one, Soze quickly retreated from the battle.

With only Yang in a position to damage the Demon Bear, she pulled the War Pick from its side and assessed their damage.

{HP}: 1090.4/1125

{SP}: 330/375

[HP] {87%}

'Is that all you've got?' Yang thought as a menacing grin spread across her face. The bear's damage was certainly impressive, but her own attacks would take it out in just nine more hits. It may even be less than that, with the beast's HP continuing to drop as blood gushed from its gaping wound, and a bloody icon appeared on the display above its head. 'I might just take it out before backup even gets here,' she thought as she swung her War Pick again, aiming for a leg this time as she activated her Skills.

Suddenly the Demon Bear fell forward in an attempt to immobilize her with its immense weight. Yang tried to leap back, but the bear's paw had reached her chest, pushing her down and pinning her.

She gasped as the air was forced from her lungs, hundreds of pounds of muscle and bone preventing her from taking a breath. Yang's eyes widened as the bear's jaws opened, exposing dozens of glistening white teeth as it aimed to bite her head off.

Struggling as much as she could from the awkward position, Yang shoved the side of her War Pick against the bear's face. With the weapon still enhanced from her Skills, the blow was enough to push the beast's head aside, and even knock a few teeth loose, but the actual damage was minimal.

Still, the bear was distracted, and that was enough for Yang to get out from under its paw and roll away. Just as she turned to face it the Demon Bear was on her again. She tried to dodge but the bear was too fast, and its claws left four deep gashes in the front of her armor and just barely cutting across her face.

In just a few seconds, the situation spiraled out of control.

Blinded by the blood pouring down her face, Yang dropped her weapon and went on the defensive, using [DANGER SENSE] to avoid the Demon Bear's attacks as much as possible. Even so, the beast was too fast to be evaded like this, and she was easily knocked around while protecting her head and trying to reach into her inventory for some Wolf's Boon.

"Yang!"

"Holy shit!"

"Keep firing!"

As Yang struggled to keep her feet under her, she heard shouts of distress as others arrived. Raising her head, enough blood had cleared out of her eye just in time for her to see Alexx drop-kick the Demon Bear right in the chest, knocking the enormous beast back and taking out a sizeable chunk of its HP.

Yin, Bates, and the other ranged players from his team had surrounded the area and fired volley after volley of arrows. The majority of their shots did no damage, but every so often the bonus from [DAMAGE BURST] was enough to overcome the Demon Bear's armor.

More armored melee players were appearing, clearly nervous but determined nonetheless.

Finally catching her breath, Yang retrieved the healing moss from her inventory and smeared it across her face, wincing as the burning sensation was especially intense on the sensitive skin. When the wounds were closed, she glared menacingly at the bear.

Yang realized she had been mistaken to write off the beast so easily, but with this many players, nothing would change.

The Demon Bear would die today.