"Boom!!!"

Blades of grass flew, and dust swept out in all directions.

The Jackal-Wolf People raised their heads. At some unknown point, a figure radiating a presence that made their very souls tremble had appeared in the sky above.

A dragon!!

Hephaestus lowered his head.

A torrent of blazing Dragon Breath spewed from his mouth.

Ever since he had mastered basic dragon-tongue and could summon natural flames, his innate breath weapon had been greatly enhanced.

Both in temperature and in duration, it had improved significantly.

Very soon, a large number of Jackal-Wolf People died beneath the fiery tongue.

Of course, there were also a few "warriors" among them who quickly organized a counterattack.

No matter how deeply rooted the fear and worship of Giant Dragons in their bloodlines was, at the brink of life and death, the desire to survive could still gain the upper hand—that was the most fundamental instinct of any living being.

Sitting on the dragon’s back, Gauss glanced at the Jackal-Wolf chieftain.

Its robust body had all kinds of bizarre trophies sewn onto its surface with threads piercing through its flesh—Scale Armor, metal fragments, and so on.

On its back, covered with yellowish-brown mane, an evil totem was painted in fresh blood.

That fanged mark suddenly flared with a blinding crimson hue in Gauss’s eyes.

Then the already-tall Jackal-Wolf chieftain’s body swelled, thickening by another circle.

It grabbed the spear on the ground, and as it gathered strength, an ominous black-red energy coiled around the spearhead, then it hurled it at Hephaestus in rage.

Unfortunately, this attack was dodged by Hephaestus after Gauss, who had already been watching for this, warned him in advance.

"Is that the power of a Demon?"

Gauss recalled the origins of the Jackal-Wolf People.

Legend said their origin could be traced back to when the Demon Lord Yenogu attempted to wage war on the Material Plane. Behind Yenogu, there would always trail a pack of hunting beasts responsible for clearing and slaughter; these creatures were soon reshaped by nature into the first generation of Jackal-Wolf People.

After Yenogu was banished back to the Abyss, the Jackal-Wolf People left behind scattered across the world, engaging in frenzied slaughter.

Until the Five-Colored Evil Dragons took a liking to these "weapons of slaughter," using their overwhelming strength to force them into submission and remolding them into servants that followed their commands—only then did these wicked creatures welcome a second new master.

Clearly, this tribe of Jackal-Wolf People had inherited a portion of demonic power.

His gaze slid toward the flat stone altar constructed in the middle of the tribe.

Then he had the Dragon Beast Hephaestus pull up a bit higher.

Although the remaining Jackal-Wolf People were insignificant, anything involving the power of a Demon Lord still required care and caution.

It was just like in Journey to the West—many monsters themselves weren’t that scary; what one had to fear was the powerful patron behind them.

"Fireball Technique!"

Gauss locked eyes with the Jackal-Wolf People below.

Not long after, the Fireball Technique in his mouth was ready.

As Hephaestus slowly descended.

Gauss seized the opportunity and swiftly spat out the fireball.

This was the first time Gauss had combined breath Casting with dragon-tongue to release the Fireball Technique.

A small, incandescent fireball shot from his mouth like a bolt.

During its flight, the fireball expanded rapidly, swelling from fingertip-size into a terrifyingly huge sphere of flame.

Its exterior was orange-red, while its interior presented an almost liquid, blinding-white incandescence that one could hardly bear to look at directly.

"Roar!"

The Jackal-Wolf chieftain below sensed mortal danger. It let out a wild howl as the blood-red totem on its body erupted with an even more dazzling light, trying to gather a stronger demonic power to resist.

But it was too late!

The deep-crimson fireball crashed down like a falling star, unleashing terrifying explosive might at the center of the Jackal-Wolf camp!

A visible, scorching shockwave blasted outward in a perfect sphere, surging madly in all directions!

Crack!

The few black boulders at the center of the camp, regarded as a sanctuary, were covered in web-like cracks the instant they touched the shockwave.

Then they were swallowed by the roaring flames behind it, heated until they glowed red.

As for the Jackal-Wolf bodies of flesh and blood, they were even more fragile.

Some survivors who had evaded Hephaestus’s Dragon Breath hadn’t even had time to catch their breath before they were instantly dissolved and vaporized by the horrific temperatures and shock forces comparable to a battering ram.

Hephaestus lifted his altitude slightly.

He avoided the impact of the Fireball Technique’s explosion.

Once Hephaestus stabilized in the air, Gauss looked down. The once-bustling Jackal-Wolf camp had turned into a charred sea of flames.

There wasn’t a single upright figure to be seen.

The Monster Atlas count was soaring. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Total monster kills: 9815."

Among them, that Jackal-Wolf chieftain had been an Elite Jackal Wolfman.

But under a 3rd-level Spell, the Fireball Technique, stacked with numerous bonuses, it wasn’t much different from an ordinary Jackal-Wolf.

The sliver of demonic power left behind by its master, the Demon Lord, Bloodthirsty Evil Beast Yenogu, was nowhere near enough to let it survive such a vast gap in strength.

Even that altar itself had vanished without a trace under the explosive art of the Fireball Technique.

After briefly confirming that no other Jackal-Wolf People had survived, Gauss uttered a short dragon-tongue phrase to call down clean water and extinguish the remaining flames, then rode the dragon away from the Jackal-Wolf camp.

"..."

"Gauss, you’re back!" Aaliyah waved at the slowly descending Gauss. "You came back at just the right time, we’re about to eat."

"That’s because I came back by the clock," Gauss smiled.

"We might have to stay around here for a bit today."

"Captain, did you find something new on this trip?" Serdur asked.

"Yeah. I found several Jackal-Wolf camps nearby. It feels a bit off, so I plan to investigate."

Of course, that was only part of the reason.

More importantly, his monster kill count had reached 9815. He was only a bit over a hundred away from hitting the ten-thousand-kill milestone achievement.

He’d just gotten information about quite a few monsters living nearby, so naturally he wasn’t going to pass up the chance to push the numbers in one go.

"Alright."

The others voiced their agreement.

Unlike a regular adventuring party, thanks to Gauss, simply killing monsters was already the greatest reward for their team.

So even if they ran into wild monsters on the road without a commission, everyone was willing to wipe them out.

After acquiring the Magic Pot, the happiness of Gauss’s team at mealtime had greatly increased.

Ying had also hunted down a rather uncommon turkey.

The turkeys in this world were different from those in Gauss’s previous life—they were a type of Demon that could actually breathe fire.

When the Magic Pot cooked a creature imbued with Magic Power, it fully drew out the Magic Power in its flesh, making the texture and flavor even more delicious.

"Ah~"

"I feel like after eating, I’ve got more strength."

"That’s the Magic Pot at work, right? Didn’t Gauss say that Magic dishes cooked by it have special effects?"

After everyone had eaten their fill, they rested in place for a bit, then began their afternoon hunt.

Gauss had already scouted the area around noon and had a rough understanding of the Demon distribution on this boundless wasteland.

The Demons living here were mainly Jackal-Wolf People. Occasionally, one could find a few other monsters, but none in any real numbers.

Moreover, these Jackal-Wolf tribes were all of considerable size, each with at least dozens of individuals, and practically all of them were adults; it was rare to see any younglings.

This was one of the things Gauss found abnormal.

The Jackal-Wolf density was too high, practically like some kind of Jackal-Wolf "spawn point" or "birthplace."

Combined with the altar structure in the Jackal-Wolf tribe he had just wiped out.

He had a reasonable suspicion that demonic power might be involved.

However, for now he didn’t intend to overthink it.

The most pressing matter in front of him was racking up the last hundred or so kills.

Gauss’s gaze locked onto an open area in the distance.

There were about fifty Jackal-Wolf People and more than a dozen worgs roaming about there.

And there were quite a few Jackal-Wolf tribes of this scale within ten or twenty kilometers around.

If they cleared out three more, he’d be able to reach the target count.

"Listen up, we’re going to drive them inward from the outside. Don’t get too close to that altar’s direction."

"Any Jackal-Wolf with special marks, leave them to me."

"If the enemy bunches up enough, I’ll use the Fireball Technique to wipe them out."

Gauss instructed.