Animal Realm

Stein's words startled me. What hell? What Animal Realm? These were terms found only in legends.

But as I looked at those animal-headed monsters, I couldn't help but tremble. These things—truly the stuff of hell—were worse than mere monsters.

Call them demons, yet they weren't quite demons. Call them human, yet they bore no resemblance. Call them ghosts, yet they weren't even close. They were just… complete and utter abominations.

"Stein, what do you mean by that?" Antonio couldn't help but ask.

Stein swallowed hard, his face pale, his body tense—as if gripped by fear. He explained that one of the Six Paths of Reincarnation was the Animal Realm. Those who committed grave sins would be cast into it, reborn as animals in their next life.

But some spirits, heavy with resentment, refused reincarnation. They suffered in the Animal Realm until they relented. Yet certain earthly rituals could forge a connection to its hells, summoning those horrors into the world—if only briefly.

Hearing this, I was stunned. Who would summon such things? Wasn't this just inviting chaos upon the earth?

Could it be them? My gaze flicked toward Zabaleta. His wife, Yuzmv, still hadn't appeared.

As Stein spoke, the bull-headed wraith had already seized the cat wraith and the little fox in a crushing embrace. The fox had been determined to kill the cat, but now her plan had failed.

"Meow… meow… meow…" The cat wraith let out three soft cries. The bull wraith nodded, as though it understood, then flexed its arms—muscles bulging unnaturally—before hurling both the fox and the cat against the wall.

The impact broke the fox's grip. Within seconds, the cat writhed free. With a vicious swipe of its paw, it struck the fox's jaw, sending her flying backward. Her body slammed into the wall, leaving a bloody smear as she slumped to the ground.

"Shit! Antonio, do something!" I shouted.

The cat's stance made its intent clear—it would kill the fox. After nearly dying at her claws, its vengeance was inevitable. I'd said it before: a cat's spite was second only to a snake's. This time, it wouldn't stop until the fox was skinned alive.

But just as Antonio braced himself, the bull wraith's fist came crashing down. That fist—big as a casserole—carried enough force to send him flying even through his guard. He smashed through the fence, leaving a gaping, man-sized hole in his wake.

This power… It was beyond human strength. Only Taoist arts or Yin-based sorcery could counter it. If Stein was right—if this thing truly was a denizen of hell's Animal Realm—then it was far deadlier than any ordinary evil spirit.

After blasting Antonio away, the bull-headed wraith turned its gaze back to me, its scarlet eyes burning with murderous intent. It looked like it wanted to kill us all.

"Fuck you! Who cares where you crawled out from? You're still just an animal-headed freak!" I bit the tip of my finger and smeared the blood onto the Copper Coin Sword.

The bull wraith charged at me with another punch. I wasn't stupid enough to take the blow head-on—this thing had monstrous strength but poor speed, the complete opposite of the cat wraith. I dodged and leapt into the air.

Before it could react, I swung my sword in a sharp slash. Its body shuddered violently, and one of its horns fell to the ground with a dull thud.

The severed horn twitched, emitting a puff of acrid white smoke before dissolving into vapor.

Though the bull wraith made no sound, its expression told me everything—it was furious. It touched the stump where its horn had been, trembling with rage. As its muscles flexed, they swelled grotesquely, making it even more terrifying than a minotaur from some fantasy game.

It lunged at me again, fist cutting through the air with enough force to whip my hair and clothes backward. Wind rushed into my open mouth as the punch hurtled toward me.

This time, I couldn't dodge. I had no choice but to raise the Copper Coin Sword and slash straight at its fist.

BOOM—

The clash sent sparks flying, like a duel between darkness and light. After ten seconds, the impact hurled me backward. My hand, gripping the sword, was numb, the tiger's mouth split open, and my entire arm throbbed.

The bull wraith's fist, meanwhile, dripped with thick black blood—proof that it had been wounded. The Copper Coin Sword still held power. If I'd been fully prepared, I might have severed its hand entirely.

Frustrated by its failure to kill me, the bull wraith turned its fury toward Stein, who stood nearby.

"What the hell?! Big Bro Bull, he's the one you want—why come after me?!" Stein panicked, immediately pointing at Zabaleta. He didn't know the man, but survival came first.

But Stein was the smallest and weakest here—an easy target. Its next move was obvious.

I was still recovering from the shock of the blow, unable to get up fast enough to help. All I could do was yell at him to run.

Stein stammered that he wanted to run, but his legs had gone numb with fear.

Goddammit. When things were fine, he talked big—but now? This was just asking for death.

Not giving Stein a chance to catch his breath, the bull-headed wraith raised its fist and smashed it into Stein's chest.

With a loud bang, Stein went flying into the air like a balloon before his body landed as lightly as a sheet of paper.

"Stein...!" My head buzzed, my thoughts completely scattered. How terrifying was the power of that punch? And it had hit him directly in the chest - even Antonio would have died from that!

"Pfft..." Stein spat out a mouthful of blood as he hit the ground. His face was white as a sheet, but surprisingly, he didn't seem to be dead.

If his heart had been shattered, he would have died instantly. Yet Stein appeared only lightly injured, not even seriously hurt.

"Bastard! Hahaha! Still trying to kill me? A stinking cow like you think you can kill me?" Stein cursed while pulling out the Stone Gander with a Lion Biting Sword in the shape of an eight trigrams - the artifact I'd given him earlier.

Unfortunately, the piece was broken, but it was worth a few hundred bucks to have saved Stein's life!

I couldn't believe it. That thing was so durable. The bull wraith's punch just now - no matter what Stein had stuffed there - should have shocked his heart to pieces. That punch was too horrible. Yet the artifact had only cracked, saving Stein's life.

The bull wraith seemed surprised to see Stein still alive, but it didn't hesitate or pause before launching its second punch!

"Shit! Run! It's coming again! Run!" Zabaleta was jumping up and down, but didn't dare to actually help Stein, just standing there uselessly.

"I'll use your own words - I can't run! I've been hit in the chest and it's hard to get up," Stein shot back.

But the bull wraith wouldn't wait for him. Another punch came crashing toward Stein's head.