Apocalypse Beast Supplier: Only I Sell God-Tier Beasts

[Your S-Rank Mutated Iron Shadow Hound grew stronger.]

[Next mutation or rank: 2%]

’I still have a bunch of C-Rank beast cores set aside for tomorrow,’ Terrence thought, huffing softly as he sat down on a massive, ice-coated rock.

’At least this is a blessing in disguise. I can accumulate more beast cores and even have them stored in the Beast Sanctuary. The last batch I put inside was already consumed today.’

Having no worries about evolving his Shadow Hound, Terrence planned ahead for what to do inside this vast snowy biome. There was plenty to accomplish here, and the map was noticeably wider than other typical dungeon rifts. He could easily harvest more beast cores in this region and store them away for the future.

”Why didn’t you summon your beast? Do you usually rely on Skill Share like that?” Noli asked, collecting the last beast core from the snow.

Terrence shook his head, his eyes remaining entirely indifferent. ”No. I was just training my physical control. Why do you ask?”

”Your movements were unnatural,” Noli said with a short, amused chuckle. ”It seems like you really still need a lot of practice. But, well... you were at least somewhat efficient.”

Terrence gave a brief nod, quietly taking mental note of Noli’s assessment. The kid actually knew what he was talking about. Even though Noli was younger, he possessed a far better natural affinity with his awakening talent. Rumors had circulated back when he first awakened that he could instantly activate Skill Share with his newly acquired beast without any backlash. It was likely because his soul was dominant enough to seamlessly control their bond.

Terrence felt a faint prickle of envy—Noli was just too natural at this. But then again, Terrence had acquired an equivalent power of his own. In fact, it was probably far more powerful.

Without lingering any longer, the two of them continued to dive deeper into the snow biome, hunting for more beast cores.

***

”Hey... where are those other two?” Hubertzin asked, turning around to face the rest of the temporary squad.

The other members looked back over their shoulders, briefly scanning the empty white trail before simply shrugging. They couldn’t care less about two missing teammates anyway.

Hubertzin slapped his hand against his forehead, letting out a harsh, irritated grunt. His eyes darkened instantly, his jaw clenching hard enough to pop as frustration boiled over inside him.

”Fucking shit,” he muttered under his breath. ”I lost an eye on that kid.”

Ikal stepped forward, keeping his heavy boots moving as he trekked steadily through the deep snowy path.

”What kid? Were you assigned an escort mission or something?”

Hubertzin glared at the old man in total silence, then slowly shook his head. In truth, he didn’t even know if he should bother answering. Pure frustration was eating up his entire mind.

The busty female tamer hurried up behind him, immediately clinging onto Hubertzin’s arm. ”Hey... why are you acting so tireless? We’re here for the hidden treasure, right?”

Hubertzin didn’t reply to her. Instead, he mentally reviewed the secret parameters of the mission he had received prior to stepping into this dungeon rift. Apart from securing the hidden treasure, his primary target was to tail and eliminate the two younglings originating from the Lee Family.

Right from the start, Hubertzin knew exactly who Terrence and Noli were—because he was a hired assassin.

He exhaled a long, heavy breath, forcing his facial muscles to relax as he stabilized his composure.

”Let’s just focus on the treasure for now,” Hubertzin said smoothly. ”Once we clear this dungeon...”

’I can just track down and kill those two later,’ he finished the thought silently.

Hubertzin shifted his focus back onto the path ahead, following a mental map he had received prior to this run. It was a layout map given directly to his contractor, completely different from the details reported to the Contribution Agency.

However, before the group could take another step forward, Ikal abruptly halted in his tracks.

The old man raised one calloused hand into the air, stopping the party as a few stray snow flurries slapped against his wrinkled face.

”What now?” the busty woman asked, her tone laced with impatience.

Ikal remained completely silent, but Hubertzin instantly recognized the body language. It meant an immediate threat.

Hubertzin reached toward his Pocket Sanctuary to draw his weapon, but before his fingers could touch the spatial trigger, he was forced to stop dead in his tracks.

A violent spray of crimson blood erupted into the freezing air.

It came directly from Ikal’s severed neck—his head was already completely gone.

Everyone’s eyes widened in absolute horror. Their mouths opened wide to scream, but no sound came out before their own heads were cleanly severed from their shoulders.

One by one.

With every fragment of a second that passed, the pristine white snow painted itself thick with hot, crimson blood. Their headless bodies collapsed under their own weight, echoing a series of faint, heavy thuds against the freezing ground.

”Ah...”

A slender silhouette materialized from the dense fog a short distance away. It was a dark, pitch-black figure sharing the same general features as a humanoid creature. Its physical build was remarkably close to a human, except its ears were long, sharp, and pointed.

”I am getting rusty with this, huh,” the creature murmured softly.

Under the faint, sickly skylight of the rift, a few subtle glints of razor-sharp thread reflected off the snow, bouncing tiny flashes of light back up toward the frozen sky.