My Strange Savior - Chapter 125

Chapter 125

Gia, who had just entered the deep forest, wiped the sweat flowing down her chin roughly. 

She had come deeper to avoid other people.

“Where could it be?” 

Gia’s eyes, searching for the ultimate goal, the satapi, sparkled with greed. The mountain, controlled to keep people out, had no paths, and it was ruggedly challenging. Trees, much taller than a person’s height, stood there for centuries, and even when Gia stretched her neck and looked up, the end was not visible.

“It won’t work.” 

Gia, with a bow slung over her back, swiftly climbed the tree with gloved hands. Gia, quickly reaching the top of the tree, felt the wind blowing and cooled the sweat on her forehead.

“That side looks good.” 

Gia’s eyes, staring at a place that seemed like a broken cliff, narrowed down the location.

She wondered how much the smartwatch updated the map. Gia, skillfully turning the dial, had accepted that this was a world she had lived in before, to some extent.

At first, it wasn’t easy to accept that the world she lived in had perished. However, now, thanks to Kalion, the situation has stabilized.

Turning the dial here and there, when she turned on the map, it was vividly drawn, instructing her to catch satapi.

Should she be grateful for the satellite, repairing itself and absorbing solar heat, for supporting her until now? When Gia received the GPS signal, her location blinked on the map. Without hesitation, Gia, who had decided to use the legacy left by her ancestors wisely, projected the screen into the air.

“The destination is… around here.” 

She enlarged the map with her finger, pinpointing the location of the cliff. Without hesitation, Gia marked the coordinates and quickly descended under the tree.

Gia’s footsteps were firm as if there was no hesitation. Her movements, seemingly fearless, were reminiscent of the top predators. In this mountain, there seemed to be nothing that could harm her. That was the truth.

To find prey, one must silence the sounds, but Gia moved in the opposite direction. Catching those small things didn’t interest Gia. She had to become a predator to truly enjoy the hunt.

As Gia pushed through the bushes toward the coordinates she marked, she suddenly froze. The presence felt behind her was not that of an ordinary predator. 

Predators could make Gia cower with just a gaze. Instinctively, Gia’s body tensed up. In the face of the threat of the top predator, Gia’s hands were sweaty.

Standing still, Gia drew her dagger. Feeling the texture of the ornament on the end of the handle, she closed her eyes slightly.

To locate the source of fear, Gia opened all her sensory organs. Reading the passing wind and the surrounding air sensitively, Gia breathed slowly.

Kwawang.

The echoing roar belonged to a predator. The low roar almost made Gia’s body stiffen. Swiftly, a thick leg, only the size of a human torso, grazed past Gia. The foot, aimed at Gia, missed the target, and the predator stumbled on the uneven ground.

The face of the growling beast with whiskers looked threateningly at Gia. Yellow eyes, narrowing like scanning the opponent, carried an instinctive fear that a human should feel. 

“Tiger, what is it?” 

The appearance was similar to a tiger, but a more distinct difference caught Gia’s eye. The predator, with six legs instead of four, was as large as a small house, and the color of the stripes on its body was closer to green than brown and black.

Between the thick feet touching the ground, sharp claws protruded as if ready to tear Gia apart at any moment. Just unsheathing the sparkling, diamond-like claws made the solid ground crumble.

The threatening predator crouched down, scraping a nearby rock with its hind legs. The marks left behind matched the shape of its claws.

“Amazing.” 

Gia, confidently holding the dagger, exclaimed in admiration. The growling sound of the beast echoed like a death sentence.

As it howled fiercely, muscles around its mouth raised, revealing sharp yellow teeth. Fangs the size of an adult’s palm could crush anything in an instant.

“Interesting.” 

Gia chuckled, lowering her body. She didn’t run away in preparation for the upcoming attack but stared back with determination. The beast’s eyes narrowed even more. It scanned Gia as if exploring what this organism was.

Gia raised her empty hand as if to flick it.

Growl.

The beast, its paws pounding the ground, leaped high with a sharp roar. Gia, lowering her body, rushed forward with vigor.

Looking at the exposed neck of the revealed beast, Gia crouched her body and leaped in an instant. In Gia’s sight, who had jumped to a height that a person could never reach, the beast’s exposed nape came into view.

Holding two daggers in her hands, Gia aimed precisely at the exposed neck, falling with force.

Thud.

The mountain echoed with the falling heavyweight. The dagger, embedded to the hilt, accurately pierced the beast’s neck. The beast, dying instantly without even uttering a final scream, let its tongue hang out.

As the dead beast’s pupils lost their strength, they gradually shrank.

“I wonder how many points this is.”

Gia, who hadn’t thought she would win so easily, withdrew the dagger from behind the beast’s neck. Wiping the dripping blood on her leather, Gia sat on the beast’s body and raised its thick front paw onto her knee.

Thunk.

Just the weight alone must be equivalent to that of an average adult woman. Feeling the weight, Gia raised her eyebrows.

“Don’t feel too unjust about it.” 

Gia, already comforting the dead beast, pressed her foot. Then, as before, the sparkling claws were revealed without any filtering.

The diamond-like shining claws were only six in total. Gia pulled out the most expensive-looking claw and put it in her pocket at her waist.

With a clear hand, Gia stood up, loaded the bow towards the sky, and pulled the trigger. The arrow, with something blunt inside, was far from hunting use. Without hesitation, Gia shot the arrow to leave a mark that she had caught the prey.

Bang. Bang.

The arrows burst in succession, similar to signal flares. However, the color that Gia detonated was the red emblem of the Bowers, perhaps distributed differently among families.

Gia, carefully wrapping a cloth with the Bowers family emblem around the beast’s ankle, urged her steps again. The remaining carcass would be handled by the hunting officials after confirming the family symbol.

Having taken care of the beast, for Gia, it was just a byproduct. Her goal was not yet fulfilled. When Gia turned the smartwatch, the target location blinked.

As she moved inward, the bushes became denser. Gia, creating a path as she walked, estimated the time as she advanced. Since the hunting competition started in the morning, by the time she reached the cliff, it would be past sunset.

After walking for who knows how long, breaking through the bushes in front of her, Gia crouched down when she reached the planned destination.

“I hope it’s not in vain.”

There was no certainty that it would be here, so she fervently prayed for its presence. She wanted to gift the bracelet made from the magical stone of the satapi she’d caught to Kalion. It would match perfectly with Kalion’s eyes, like a set. It was obvious even without seeing it.

Swallowing the hum she was about to hum, Gia lowered her body. 

When she had seen it from the high mountain earlier, this place seemed suitable.

Audrey mentioned that satapi likes high places. Audrey handed over a lot of information without thinking that Gia might try to catch the satapi, an animal that appears in legends. 

Based on that clue, the only plausible place for the satapi to be was there.

Gia took out a water bag, rinsed her mouth, and stared intently at the targeted cliff. She wished she had a telescope. Gia, who had lost all her belongings, tasted regret.

Gia recalled the appearance of the satapi that Audrey described. It had the torso of an adult man, and its tail shone in various colors. Audrey also mentioned that the feathers on its tail were quite valuable. In short, catching it would be like winning the lottery.

“I will catch it.”

After a long time, Gia, gazing at the cliff with eyes wet with greed, swallowed hard. Since it was said to be nocturnal, she would have to wait until the nightfall.

Gia’s eyes, comfortably positioned in the place where the cliff was most visible, shone fiercely. The determination to catch it seemed to flicker like a flame behind Gia.

How much time did she spend there? Massaging her stiff neck, Gia opened and closed her sleepy eyes.

“Am I getting old?”

It wasn’t likely, but Gia grumbled and leaned her neck backward.

Thunk.

With the sound of bones reconnecting, Gia’s shoulders lifted as if refreshed.

“I used to stand for four days and nights straight without a problem. Oh well.”

Gia involuntarily made a sound of discomfort. However, despite the groaning sound, Gia’s eyes, hidden for the gift to her lover, remained fixed on the cliff.

Even after the sun set and the moon took its place, not a single feather of the satapi was in sight.

Audrey said that the place where the satapi flew flamboyantly left behind a red powder. Of course, Gia couldn’t fully believe Audrey’s words, who had never seen the satapi, but for Gia with limited information, Audrey’s words were the only trustworthy thing.

If she knew this would happen, she should have done more than just practice archery. Swallowing the belated regret, Gia’s eyes sparkled with determination.

Well, it’s not just archery practice. After hitting the mark once, Gia became more proficient with each subsequent attempt. The two people, who became secret lovers, burned with even more passion than before. Their clandestine relationship seemed like the love of naive children, oblivious to the dangers of a late romance, but Gia didn’t mind at all.

When Kalion’s hot tongue parted her lips, the energy from her lower abdomen surged like boiling lava, and her limbs tingled as if electric currents were flowing.

To have endured this goodness until now. Unnecessary anger swept over Gia. If only they had kissed a day earlier.

With a sound of regret, Gia quickly took a deep breath.