A hundred years after the end of the war, people had gradually forgotten the pain of war and the immense disaster that magical beasts had brought upon humanity. The wealthy and powerful had once again begun to keep clever and nimble magical beasts, though they no longer called them magical beasts, but rather spirit beasts. Thus, the business of breeding and smuggling these cunning little magical beasts had become a new trade, yet the crisis hidden beneath it went unnoticed by all.

Chapter Two: Parasite

On an ordinary night in the 127th year of the New Era, this was one of the hundreds of outposts set up on the edge of the magical beast forest. These hundreds of outposts formed a long chain, tightly encircling the entire magical beast forest in this distant, frigid northern land.

The ground was covered in a blanket of white snow, the cold moon hung high in the sky. Looking out, aside from the twinkling outposts, there was not a sound to be heard, a scene of utter tranquility and chill. The magical beast forest lay quietly in this serene silence, like a giant monster crouched there, waiting soundlessly and motionlessly for its prey to come to it.

For a hundred years, this boundless magical beast forest had remained peaceful. Occasionally, a few reckless magical beasts would emerge, but they would be swiftly wiped out by the army. However, in recent days, the magical beast forest seemed to have become lively, with earth-shaking roars echoing from time to time—many of them, in fact. Yet humans could not tell whether these roars were of excitement or of wailing; to them, it was all the same. The garrison stationed here had already changed hands countless times.

But the people guarding the tribes were different, for they understood that those were the roars of magical beasts, filled with panic and terror—reactions that only occurred when their lives were threatened or when they were startled, something extremely rare among magical beasts. Unless, of course, some terrifying new monster had been born in the magical beast forest.

Deep within the magical beast forest, if a human were to witness the scene, they would be utterly shocked. In the minds of humans, these magical beasts must still be in their primitive, beastly state, crawling chaotically through the forest, devouring each other. But in reality, it was quite the opposite. In this harsh environment, at the very heart of the forest, there stood a perfect city—a green city that any human would envy.

The city was magnificent, with all kinds of strange flowers, plants, and trees perfectly intertwined. The entire city was constructed from a myriad of plants. Although humans had their own plant warriors, compared to the plant warriors that had truly evolved from magical beasts, they were nothing. Only these beings could create such a miracle.

In the most majestic and splendid temple at the center of the city, the atmosphere was extremely tense. Upon the high throne sat a woman—no matter what kind of human you were, you could not find fault with her perfection. Her curves were devilish, capable of corrupting a person's soul; her wild beauty could make one's blood boil, and her enchanting eyes seemed to tell legends. Unintentionally, she exuded a delicate frailty that stirred a desire to protect her. But this was all an illusion, for the two rows of high-ranking magical beasts of various races standing below the throne were all trembling.

How could a human appear in the magical beast forest?

Of course, there were no humans here. If you looked closely, you would see that this beautiful woman's ears were slightly pointed, her hair was flame-red, and her body seemed shrouded in a faint mist—an innate radiance, a kind of brilliance that could never be artificially altered.

She was the The Queen of the magical beast forest, the supreme existence among magical beasts. If she wished someone to live, then they could not die.

Perhaps, deep within the souls of these magical beasts, there still lingered a reverence for humans, their former masters. Their evolved forms had become ever more human-like. Those with higher levels of evolution or greater talent looked almost indistinguishable from humans after their transformation. Ironically, in their quest for power, humans, upon transforming, became ever more like magical beasts. Perhaps this was the cycle of fate.

“Grace, what is going on!”

The The Queen's voice, frail yet furious, nearly caused a burly magical beast to collapse in fear. This was a terrifying magical beast evolved from a berserk bear—just this one beast could wipe out hundreds of human semi-mechanical warriors. Yet now, it was trembling before this seemingly delicate woman.

It was responsible for guarding the beast king, a creature that the magical beast race had spent nearly a century and immense effort to create. The beast king was the ultimate weapon for the magical beasts' counterattack against humanity. But now, it had let the beast king escape!

“Your, Your Majesty The Queen, for some unknown reason, the beast king suddenly entered an early feeding phase, devoured the guard warriors, and broke out. This…”

Its stammering tone allowed all the magical beasts present to sense the panic and fear in its heart.

“Your Majesty The Queen.”