Just as Link was deep in thought, trying to make sense of the horrific scene before him, a terrified scream suddenly pierced through the silence.
"What are you standing there for?! Run!"
The voice was strangely familiar.
Link instinctively turned toward it—and what he saw made his heart sink.
The blonde girl, her entire body drenched in blood, was screaming at him as she stumbled forward.
Compared to her earlier attitude and appearance, she was now in a truly pitiful state.
Her arms and legs were riddled with deep bite marks, so mangled and torn that not a single patch of uninjured skin remained.
And behind her were several Lunabbit, relentlessly pursuing her.
She was clearly in no shape to escape anymore.
She had shouted only because she caught sight of Link—that same rookie she had mocked just a short while ago. She had never liked his prideful attitude, but she didn't want to see him die like this.
"You idiot! What are you spacing out for?! Get out of here, now!"
But before she could even finish shouting, the Lunabbit closed in.
They pounced on her, and in the next moment, she was dragged to the ground and torn apart.
Her screams were filled with agony, piercing the forest air like knives.
Link's expression twisted with fury.
"Damn you Moonfolk…"
"Bastards!!"
With a furious roar, he instantly summoned several Shadow Arrows, firing them all toward the group of Lunabbit feasting on the girl.
Empowered by his rage, the arrows streaked through the air like bolts of wrath.
The Lunabbit didn't even have time to react before they were pierced through and killed instantly.
Link rushed over to the blonde girl's side—but it was already too late.
She was barely alive, breathing in painful, ragged gasps.
Her eyes widened slightly as she looked up at Link.
She had never imagined that the rookie she'd scorned could be this powerful.
But just as that surprise flashed in her eyes, she remembered something, and her face turned to panic.
"Get… out of here…"
"There's a Moonfolk with a mental-type talent nearby…!"
"Warn the training center… go… now…"
With those final words, her eyes slowly closed.
Link stood there frozen, shocked by what she said.
Wait a second—based on the intelligence he had gathered, the Moonfolk with mental talents were supposed to be near the outer edges of the Wilderness Battlefield.
But right now… they were still relatively close to the main camp.
How could one of them show up here?
Still… this wasn't necessarily bad news.
In fact, it was exactly what Link had come for.
He had deliberately come to die, seeking out a Moonfolk with mental talents to trigger Death Rewind and acquire a new skill.
In that sense, his luck couldn't be better.
But just as that thought crossed his mind, a shrill cry echoed from the nearby forest.
Link's vision suddenly went white.
His brain felt like it had been hammered—he staggered under an intense wave of dizziness.
And at that very moment, the remaining Lunabbit—who had just been feasting—suddenly turned their attention to Link.
Like they had received some sort of command, they charged at him simultaneously!
Fortunately, Link's recent improvements—particularly his progress with meditation—had strengthened his resistance.
Even though he hadn't meditated for long, he had still successfully entered the state, which was something many Espers couldn't even do.
Because of this, he managed to recover quickly from the mental shock.
The moment he regained clarity, he saw the Lunabbit rushing him.
Without hesitation, Link unleashed a flurry of Shadow Arrows, cutting the creatures down before they could reach him.
With each successful kill, his movements became more fluid, more practiced.
His skills were improving rapidly.
Soon, the ground was littered with Lunabbit corpses, creating a grim trail of fluffy bodies behind him.
In just a few minutes, Link had slain dozens.
But suddenly, his eyes caught something… unusual.
Not far away, there was one particularly large Lunabbit, crouched low over a corpse as it feasted.
Calling it a Lunabbit didn't even feel right anymore—it was as large as an elephant.
Its sheer size was unnatural.
And then, Link's eyes went wide in horror.
The corpse it was devouring had a very familiar face.
A long, deep scar ran down the cheek—
It was the scar-faced man, the kind uncle who had tried to recruit him earlier.
But now, he was clearly, undeniably dead.
Half of his head had been chewed off, and the ground was splattered with brains and blood, creating a gruesome canvas of red and white.
Link clutched his mouth, a wave of nausea rising in his throat.
And then—at that exact moment—the giant Lunabbit turned to look at him.
Its bloodshot eyes glowed with a strange curiosity.
Then, with a shrill "screee!", it suddenly charged.
As its voice rang out, the other Lunabbit in the area also began swarming toward Link, as if driven mad by the cry.
And almost instantly, Lib projected new information before Link's eyes:
[Species: Lunabbit (Mutated)]
[Power Values: 985]
[Talent: Mutant S-Class – Mind Deception]
[Traits: Cave-dwelling herbivore species. Extremely high reproductive rate. Individual mutation resulted in massive size increase and developed carnivorous habits.]
[Weakness: Unknown]
It can mutate??
Link's heart filled with dread.
The lesser Lunabbit rushing him weren't a concern anymore. He could take them down with ease.
The real threat was the mutated Lunabbit.
Its Power Values were close to those of a Tier 1 Esper—and far beyond Link's current level.
Fighting it head-on would be suicide.
So, he chose to dodge and retreat, but just as he was about to avoid the oncoming attack, the mutant Lunabbit let out another mental screech.
It completely disoriented Link, breaking his concentration.
Before he could react, the creature leapt high into the air, displaying terrifying agility for something so massive.
It slammed down on him, pinning him beneath its bulk.
And then—it began tearing into his neck with its fanged maw.
The last thing Link saw before his consciousness faded was the blood-slick fur of the monster grinding against his skin…
A wave of intense pain.
Then darkness.
And then… clarity.
Link's eyes snapped open.
He had returned.
Once again, Death Rewind had pulled him back from the grave.
But this time, something had changed.
A new presence stirred in his mind—an unfamiliar power.
A new talent had been etched into his soul.
[Mutant S-Class Talent: Mind Deception]
[Your mind power now carries a deceptive influence. You can manipulate others at will. Effectiveness depends on your mind power.]
Still gasping from the lingering pain in his neck, Link clutched his throat.
But his thoughts weren't on himself.
The image of the scar-faced man and the blonde girl flashed in his mind, their mangled bodies imprinted into his memory.
He had seen documentaries and read reports. He had known that the war between humans and Moonfolk was brutal.
But nothing he had watched, no footage or text, could prepare him for the reality of it.
Seeing it with your own eyes was something else entirely.