The wild is harsh. And savage.

Expecting animals in the wild to be “rational” is foolish. The strong prey on the weak, taking everything from them. At the same time, it is a world where those who survive are the strong.

I might want to reason with them, but beasts aren't rational. Instinct comes before reason, and greater intelligence doesn't change that.

Anyone who invades their territory is an enemy. Anyone who steals their food is an enemy. Anyone who goes beyond stealing it and eats it is an enemy too.

Either you kill your enemy, or your enemy kills you.

That is the way of the wild, the law of nature.

WHOOOSH!

The gorilla head the leader had punched shot toward the speed-sloth like a cannonball. But this was the speed-sloth we were talking about. It could easily dodge an arrow fired right in front of its nose. Evading a mere head launched by a punch was child's play.

'But it sent that flying with a punch?'

That aside, the leader's punch had stunned me. Raw strength was one thing, but the perfect control it had displayed made it all the more astonishing.

If it had simply relied on brute force, that head would have burst. Yet whatever trick it had used, the head had merely shot off like a cannonball without bursting.

“Ooh-ooh-ooh! Ooh-ooh-ooh!”

“Ooh-ooh-ooh! Ooh-ooh-ooh!”

The speed-sloth's provocation had been followed by the leader's attack. When the leader beat its chest, the other gorillas followed suit.

A gorilla beating its chest was unmistakably a threat. In other words, a declaration of war.

“Hah...”

“...”

“Grrrr...!”

Unlike me, sighing away, the speed-sloth looked as relaxed as ever. Roundfur seemed to have picked up on the mood too, bristling and going on guard.

'They are the ones in the wrong, after all.'

If the gorillas had poured out the fuel, the speed-sloth had tossed a match onto it. The problem was that my home was going up in flames. What a shitty situation.

Unless I dealt with those gorillas, there would be no putting out the fire. I steeled myself and prepared for an attack that could come at any moment.

'They'll be on a completely different level from the otters.'

These weren't just any animals. They were gorillas, the physically strongest of all primates. And as the clubs in their hands showed, they even used tools.

This certainly wouldn't be an easy fight. Most troubling of all was their leader.

'What's with that one? Why isn't it carrying anything?'

It had no weapon at all, yet I felt it would be stronger. A strange hunch.

As I narrowed my eyes at the leader, the other gorillas began to charge. Like gorillas do, they planted their long arms against the ground as they rushed forward.

Even then, the leader stayed back and watched without joining in.

“Speedy, get on Roundfur's back.”

“...”

“Roundfur, don't run out yet. Stay right behind me.”

After giving the speed-sloth and Roundfur their orders, I slowly backed away. Charging the gorillas like this would leave us little chance of winning.

I'd beaten the otters because they were small and their tactics were simple. But look at these guys. They weren't just rushing us.

'They're surrounding us.'

Instead of coming straight at us, they spread out in every direction. Front and back, and both sides too. They had formed an encirclement.

They must have done this plenty of times, because they put it into practice the moment the fight began.

'They really do know how to use their heads.'

That made them even more dangerous. Intelligence was what had put humans at the top of the food chain. Even if these creatures fell far short of that, they were still a threat.

“Raaaagh!”

Once the encirclement was complete, the gorilla facing me swung its bludgeon down. Of the ones carrying bones, stone axes, and wooden clubs, this one wielded a stone axe.

I hastily raised my shield to block it. I even used mana, just in case.

CLAAANG!!

The stone axe collided with my shield with a deafening clang. The blow was heavy, befitting a gorilla's reputation as the strongest primate.

Before I'd eaten the eel, every one of those attacks would have been potentially fatal.

But I had no time to dwell on the noise. Another gorilla, this one wielding a wooden club rather than a stone axe, was coming at me.

Without even considering a counterattack, I hastily pulled back my shield.

WHOOSH!

The club swept past right in front of my eyes. At the same time, the axe-wielding gorilla roared and charged.

Its vicious teeth scared me a little, but I forced that fear aside.

CLANG!

The stone axe struck my shield again. But a counterattack was difficult. Just as before, the gorilla with the club followed up with an attack.

Their swings were wild, but that actually helped them cover each other's openings.

'At this rate, I'm at a disadvantage.'

I couldn't even spare a moment to check on Roundfur and the speed-sloth. The skills I'd honed so far let me just about block and dodge, but I was outnumbered.

Unless I went on the offensive, I would never escape their endless barrage.

'The attacks themselves are simple.'

After a few exchanges, I figured out their pattern. Actually, “pattern” might not be the right word. Their attacks were more or less random.

But they were using “tools.” They were hitting me with “tools.” I was looking for the opening, the moment of carelessness, that inevitably came with using one.

How ironic. They'd picked up weapons to make themselves stronger, only for those weapons to create openings.

WHOOSH!

The stone axe narrowly swept past me. I'd watched for the moment it began its downward swing and stepped back.

'Now the club should be coming.'

I glanced to the side. Just as expected, the gorilla was about to swing its club. It was coming down diagonally rather than straight from above.

With a rough idea of the attack's trajectory, I raised my shield. As for the sword in my right hand...

SHUNK!

I thrust it at the collarbone of the gorilla holding the stone axe. With aura rippling over Heavenly Demon's sword, the blade pierced it easily.

Besides, the gorilla's posture made its shoulder a very easy target.

“Roooaaaar!!”

BANG!

The gorilla backed away, clutching its wound. Meanwhile, my shield stopped the club. This was my chance.

I decided to deal with the other gorilla while the wounded one was still reeling.

'Just one, I can handle...'

The other one kept attacking even after its companion was wounded. That would be its downfall. It might be strong, but it was slow.

Besides, its weapon wasn't a stone axe. It was a wooden club.

CRACK!

No matter how hard the wood, it would break against an iron shield. The instant I heard the club snap, I swung my sword diagonally.

SLASH!

Rather than trying to cleave through everything, I aimed to cut what I could. That was Sword Masta's teaching.

Cutting an entire body in two inevitably required putting more “force” into the swing. That drastically reduced stability. With a sword, stability mattered more than strength.

Sword Masta had even advised me to use an axe instead if I wanted to rely on power.

'Apparently, hitting something hard could even wreck my shoulder.'

I'd adjusted my fighting style a little based on that advice. Even when a perfect opening presented itself, I wouldn't put too much force into the attack.

Heavenly Demon's sword was so exceptional that I had nothing to worry about for the time being.

“Raaaaargh!!!”

A diagonal wound opened across the gorilla's torso, and it fell backward. No blood sprayed, but the wound was certainly quite deep.

“Raaaagh! Ragh! Raaaagh!”

The gorilla thrashed and rolled on the ground. Blood began gushing from the sword wound. Not just blood, either. Organs spilled out of its split abdomen.

Even though I'd only made a light cut, the attack's sheer power had apparently sliced more than halfway through its belly.

That took care of one. The other was still clutching its shoulder. When its eyes met mine, its face filled with terror.

Perhaps the more intelligent a creature became, the more inevitable its fear of death.

SHUNK!

“Kh... khhh...”

Without delay, I finished it with a thrust through the heart. Cutting off heads wasn't my style, and more importantly, the cleanup was a pain.

With both of them dead, I turned to check on Roundfur and the speed-sloth.

“Kyuuu... kyu...”

“Roundfur?”

As expected, their two gorillas had become cold corpses. But Roundfur was whimpering as though he'd been hurt.

I glanced at the leader, then approached Roundfur.

“Kyuuu...”

“You broke a claw.”

Roundfur had a broken claw. Thankfully, it wasn't a serious injury. It didn't look like a gorilla had hit him; he seemed to have made a mistake himself.

I stroked his head and spoke to the speed-sloth riding on him.

“Go into the cave and give Roundfur some Elixir. You can do that, right?”

“...”

The speed-sloth nodded, then tapped Roundfur's back. Roundfur glanced at me once before lumbering into the cave.

'Now all that's left...'

Was the leader. I turned to face it. It had stubbornly stayed back and watched even as its companions died.

Was that confidence, or was there some other reason?

'The lack of a weapon bothers me most.'

Unlike the other gorillas, it was completely bare-handed. What did it have up its sleeve that let it go without a weapon? I couldn't help wondering.

Still, it was my enemy. That hadn't changed. I spoke to it.

“Want to keep going?”

“...”

The leader gave no reply. Its only answer was to slowly rise. As it straightened its back, both hands lifted off the ground.

Like a sloth's, its legs were short compared to its arms. But they were as thick as logs.

'So it wants to fight...'

Just as I was thinking that this was no surprise, the gorilla slowly moved.

It advanced its left foot and drew its right foot back. It extended its left hand with the palm facing forward and brought its right hand to its waist.

Finally... it even turned its body slightly.

All those movements came together to form a “stance.”

“...”

Fuck. What was I looking at?

No matter how I looked at it, that was a martial arts stance, wasn't it? And a gorilla was showing it to me?

Martial arts, which were impossible to learn without a teacher?

I wanted to deny everything I was seeing. Even for the Forest of Four Seasons, this was... this was going too far.

“... Who taught you?”

“...”

“Who taught you—!”

Just as my voice began to rise without my realizing it, the leader leaned forward as though my question wasn't worth answering.

It was an unmistakable signal that it was about to charge. I calmed myself and took my stance.

SWISH!

It moved differently from the other gorillas. They had literally run at me. The leader, however, approached as though “gliding.”

WHOOOSH!!

And that wasn't all. The moment it reached me, it attacked.

An enormous palm came straight for my face. If that blow landed squarely, my head would burst like a watermelon.

WHAM!!

I barely turned my head in time to evade the palm strike. But I hadn't avoided it entirely. It grazed my cheek.

A sharp sting told me it might have torn the skin.

'Th-this...'

In that moment, when time seemed to slow, I got a clear look at the leader. Its eyes were utterly calm, yet a faint anger lurked within them. Even so, it maintained its composure.

The sight brought back the handprints I'd discovered while exploring today. One I'd suspected belonged to a gorilla. Beside it, another I'd suspected belonged to a human.

'Who the hell...!'

That could mean only one thing.

'Who the hell taught it...?!'

Someone had taught this gorilla “martial arts.”