Twisted Dreams-Chapter 320 - 389: Diabolos (Part 1)

This is Kenny Prairie in Huaqi Territory.

Night falls, and the prairie is shrouded in darkness, like a sleeping giant beast, exuding a mysterious and wild aura.

A wild horse corpse hangs on a large tree.

The pride of lions is attracted by the smell of blood.

A few hungry lion cubs tear at the wild horse.

Several lionesses plan to get the wild horse down from the tree and take it back to the nest.

At this moment, dense gunfire rang out.

The lions fell into puddles of blood without even having time to howl.

Poachers emerged from the hidden bushes with firearms.

One poacher picked up a young lion that wasn’t fully dead yet and said joyfully:

"Hahaha, so many beasts, can sell for a good price."

Living lions are not necessarily precious.

According to local safety ordinances, raising these wild animals is also against the rules.

What they want are bones and skins.

These items are popular among the powerful and the wealthy.

The Big Beard said:"Hurry up and work, we have to sell the goods by tomorrow.Samba, go around nearby and see if there’s anything that slipped through."

The poachers lifted the lion corpses onto a modified pickup truck.

The poacher called Samba patrolled around holding firearms and checked.

Just as the lion corpses were being loaded onto the truck, a scream erupted from not far away.

The Big Beard immediately became alert and shouted:"Samba! Samba!"

The prairie faces threats beyond the Anti-Poaching Alliance and must be wary of the fundamental wildness of nature.

Some carnivorous beasts will include humans in their diet.

This is ultimately the territory of beasts.

Two poachers walked cautiously toward the direction of the scream with guns.

Soon after, there was another scream.

A bloodied poacher crawled out from the distant bushes, his gun nowhere to be seen.

He screamed in terror:"It’s Diabolos!"

Diabolos, in the local language, means a demon.

The Big Beard showed a hint of panic in his fierce eyes when he heard the name "Diabolos."

On this prairie, there is a lion bigger than usual, known as Diabolos.

It is a nightmare for poachers on this prairie.

That beast understands human habits, even distinguishing which guns are loaded with bullets and which are loaded with tranquilizer darts.

Its most ’glorious’ achievement is wiping out an infamously large hunting crew on the prairie.

It knows how to disable a car and use injured humans as bait to hunt more humans.

The Big Beard knows that killing Diabolos, the Legendary Lion King, would bring immense wealth and status.

However, he knew he didn’t have that kind of skill.

"Go! Drive!"

The Big Beard immediately ordered.

The poachers, regardless of their companions’ lives, frantically got into the car.

The car lights up, fleeing madly on the prairie.

"Did we shake it off?"

One poacher asked uncertainly.

"What is that?!"

One poacher pointed into the distance, eyes filled with terror.

The driver turned to look.

The lion was much larger than ordinary male lions.

It ran wildly in the darkness, its muscles barely visible under golden fur, full of wild strength.

Its body covered with scars, marks left from countless battles with beasts and humans.

A long scar slashed down from the corner of its eye, passing over its eye, although not damaging the eye, it made its gaze more fierce and sharp.

"Roar!"

The male lion let out an angry roar, suddenly ramming the pickup truck.

The pickup truck was flipped over, with lion corpses tumbling off it.

The people inside the truck exclaimed, scrambling to climb out.

The lion known as Diabolos stepped forward, enveloped in the night like a ruler emerging from the abyss, emitting an intimidating aura.

The poachers shrank back into the car.

The lion licked at its kind’s corpses, eyes showing a human-like compassion.

"Bang!"

A gunshot echoed in the night.

The lion quickly dodged, then frantically charged at the truck, its claws constantly reaching inside.

The bullets were either dodged by the lion, or gave the lion new wounds, yet the lion attacked with a madness unseen before.

The truck was damaged, most poachers inside either dead or injured.

The Big Beard scrambled and crawled out of the car, the lion following behind.

In the fear of death, the Big Beard’s adrenaline surged, his brain raced:

"Diabolos!"

The Big Beard shot the car’s fuel tank.

’Boom!’

After the searing flame, a deafening explosion followed.

At the moment the Big Beard shot the fuel tank, Diabolos’ muscles tensed all over, and with its reflexes it certainly could have escaped.

However, it saw something, and astonishingly stuck its head into the car.

A few minutes later, a lion with many burned patches on its body emerged from the flames.

The lion’s mane was mostly burned off, looking very wretched.

It carried a lion cub in its mouth, placing it on the ground.

The lion lost its strength, fell to the ground, tried to struggle but its heavily injured and dying self had lost its past grandeur.

It gazed at the prairie, with endless nostalgia.

The cub whimpered, pushing the lion’s body with its mouth.

Then, the unexpected happened.

The earth cracked open, and a gigantic, strange, menacing peach tree appeared before the lion.

On the tree were countless bright red peaches, and the tree body had hundreds of faces.

Those faces included old women, young women, children, men, and old men.

Two undead climbed up the tree trunk like monkeys, picked a peach, and placed it near the lion’s mouth.

The lion sniffed, then gulped down.

Its instincts told it, eating this peach would allow it to survive.

The moment it consumed the peach, the lion’s wounds healed, burned mane returned its old luster.

The previously dying Legendary Lion King, under the healing of the Tree of Human Essence, regained its vitality, majestic as ever.

Due to the extraordinary fruit of the Tree of Human Essence, the lion opened up a Sea of Spirit, also gained wisdom.

During its muddled period it already had intelligence far beyond ordinary beasts, after gaining wisdom, its eyes became profound and full of intellect.

The lion crouched on the ground, was able to speak:"Thank you, esteemed Death God."

Like the Demon Race of Xia Country, the lion spoke in the language of Xia Country.

The lion thought, the Tree of Human Essence that saved its life was the Death God who governs life and death.

The Tree of Human Essence spoke with all its mouths simultaneously:"I am not the Death God, I am the Apostle of the Death God, Bodhi.I sense your loathing for life, your nostalgia for this prairie.The great Death God guided me here, offering you a chance to be reborn."

The lion’s proud head touched the ground in a bowing gesture:"Thank the great Death God, thank the esteemed Attendant."

The Tree of Human Essence continued:"The great Death God wishes to give you a gift of rebirth."