Chapter 30
“Shaman, what exactly is going on? Did we do something wrong and anger the Beast God p>
“Yes, Shaman—has the Beast God truly grown angry? Are we going to be punished p>
Below the altar, anxious beastfolk began calling out.
“No,” the shaman said, raising his hand to calm them. “Don’t panic. There was nothing wrong with the ritual itself. Let me see where the problem lies p>
One of Dora’s beast husbands leaned close and whispered something to her. Dora immediately stepped forward and said, “Shaman, could it be that someone who shouldn’t be here has come among us? The Beast God despises her and refuses to shelter her, which is why he’s angry p>
As she spoke, her gaze fixed squarely on Nina.
The surrounding beastfolk followed her line of sight and all turned to look at Nina.
Nina:… This blame came out of nowhere.
So Dora had been holding a grudge all along—and clearly came prepared.
The shaman also looked at Nina. “You mean her? Why do you say that p>
To him, Nina didn’t seem particularly strange—she was just wearing a face covering, which proved nothing on its own.
“Yes,” Dora said firmly. “All our previous ceremonies went smoothly, and today’s ritual process was flawless as well. The only problem is her p>
She raised her hand and pointed directly at Nina.
Mino immediately stepped in front of Nina protectively, his attention sharp on the surrounding beastfolk. He glared at Dora. “On what grounds do you say Nina is a problem? I could just as easily say you’re the problem p>
“Mino, stop protecting Nina,” Dora said coldly. “She’s an ill-omened beastfolk p>
Holding her belly, Dora took a few steps toward Mino. “Ever since she came to our tribe, nothing has gone smoothly. Our hunts have yielded less prey, and we’ve even been hit by multiple demon-beast tides p>
“Our hunts yielding less prey means your people are incompetent,” Mino snapped. “Running into demon-beast tides is just bad luck. What does that have to do with Nina p>
Aji also looked at Dora with anger in his eyes—this was clearly a deliberate attack on Nina.
Nearby beastfolk looked at Dora with puzzled expressions as well. On the surface, it really didn’t seem related.
Dora snorted. “How is it not related? I’ve heard that ill-omened beastfolk show abnormalities in their appearance—that’s the Beast God’s punishment. Then tell me, why do you think she wears a face covering p>
Such rumors had indeed circulated in the beast world before. When Nina’s appearance changed in the past, Drago had distanced himself from her partly because of this—he’d suspected she might be ill-omened.
The beastfolk’s gazes all shifted back to Nina, curiosity and suspicion mingling as they wondered what abnormalities her face might hide.
Dora let out a mocking laugh. “Because she’s hideously ugly. Her face is covered in disgusting black blotches—that’s the Beast God’s punishment for ill-omened beastfolk. Demon-beast tides aren’t easy to encounter, yet our tribe has faced them again and again recently. Those disasters were brought by her p>
Mino looked at Dora as if she were a clown.
Sal’s gaze turned icy as he stared at Dora.
How dare she call his little female ugly—she should look at herself first.
If anyone dared to hurt his little female or his cub today, he would slaughter these tribes without mercy.
After hearing Dora’s words, some beastfolk began to look at Nina differently, though many still hesitated.
A few males showed regret—such a sweet scent, what a pity she was ugly.
In the beast world, a pleasant scent alone was enough to attract males.
But some faces grew hostile. Dora’s words seemed plausible to them, and they were eager to pin the damage to the god statue on Nina.
After all, they really had encountered demon-beast tides twice while hunting these past few days, something that rarely happened before.
Nina let out a cold laugh. So this was the excuse they’d chosen. But was it really that simple?
Before Nina could respond, a beastfolk suddenly screamed, “Ah! Demon beasts—so many demon beasts p>
More voices rose in panic. “There are demon beasts coming out of the forest! Quickly, get the females and cubs away p>
The crowd erupted into chaos. Before they could even retreat, several demon beasts charged straight into the gathering.
Yet they didn’t attack indiscriminately. Instead, they sniffed the air—and then rushed straight toward Nina.
Mino immediately pulled Nina behind him. Nina lowered her head, searching for Sal, wanting to pick him up.
Sal refused. He darted behind Nina instead, watching her back closely—ready to leap forward at the first sign of danger.
Ice blades formed all around Mino, shooting toward the onrushing demon beasts. In an instant, several that tried to attack Nina were killed.
More demon beasts quickly surrounded them.
Aji rushed over to help, specifically striking at the demon beasts attacking from behind.
Mino raised several thick ice walls, sealing Nina in on all sides, then began counterattacking the encroaching demon beasts.
Trapped within the ice barrier, Nina and Sal couldn’t see what was happening outside. She anxiously looked around, deeply worried about Mino.
Sal, on the other hand, wasn’t worried at all. He had already assessed Mino’s strength—these low-rank demon beasts were no threat to him.
Before long, all the demon beasts surrounding them were slain by Mino.
More reckless demon beasts charged in, but after several waves, the forest was largely cleared.
Though it had looked like many at first, there were only a few dozen in total. Most were effortlessly dealt with by Mino; the rest were taken down by other beastfolk working together.
Mino emerged unscathed, though some males in the tribe were injured. The females were all safe, though badly shaken.
Seeing Mino dispatch so many demon beasts with ease, beastfolk from several tribes looked at him with admiration.
The females especially—once they realized Mino was still unbonded, their gazes grew fervent.
Even though none of the demon beasts were particularly high-ranked, several were fourth- or fifth-tier. Handling them alone would have cost many injuries, and it was Mino who had slain most of the stronger ones.
Everyone could see that Mino’s strength utterly surpassed theirs.
Demon beasts and mutated beasts also had ranks. Demon-beast strength roughly corresponded to beastfolk tiers, while mutated beasts were even stronger—the source of beast crystals.
Seeing the demon beasts dealt with, Dora immediately seized the moment. “You all saw it just now—the demon beasts were all attacking Nina. That proves the previous demon-beast tides were brought by her p>
“Yes, I saw it too. They all rushed toward Nina—she must have drawn them here p>
“Looks like Dora was right. The recent demon-beast tides were caused by her p>
“No wonder she came here alone to seek refuge. She must have been abandoned by her original tribe for being ill-omened. She didn’t just get separated p>
“And the Beast God must have grown angry because of her as well p>
Several beastfolk began echoing Dora’s claims.
Now, most of the gazes directed at Nina were filled with anger. They believed she was the source of the disasters—that the damage to the god statue was her fault, that she had angered the Beast God.
Even Chief Tali and the shaman looked at Nina with noticeably colder expressions.