"Are you sure these are all locals from Borudoana Island?!"

Garling turned to the other Celestial Dragons beside him, his voice laced with suspicion.

The Celestial Dragon who had been following him also looked uneasy.

"They don't seem like locals, Garling-sama. These men look more like pirates—and they're covered in scars, almost as if they're prisoners?!"

Hearing this, Garling fury reached its peak.

Not only had the Marines openly defied the Celestial Dragons, but they'd even resorted to such underhanded tactics to humiliate them!

Did they not understand that this triennial Hunting Season was a sacred and noble tradition of the Celestial Dragons?!

Those lowly commoners chosen as prey should feel honored and grateful.

Now the Marines have replaced them with filthy prisoners!

This is nothing short of an insult to the noble bloodline of the Celestial Dragons!

Garling face darkened with terrifying fury.

With a swing of his sword, he sliced several World Government officials who had been attending to him - serving tea and water - into multiple pieces.

Then he turned to his pale-faced Celestial Dragon companions, who were already terrified and said coldly.

"Follow me. I want to see what those Marines are up to now!"

"Yes, Garling-sama!"

...

An hour later, Saint Garling stared at the injured and maimed Celestial Dragons, feeling dizzy.

Previously, they had chosen civilians as their shooting targets for a very important reason: these commoners had no weapons or ability to resist.

Against Celestial Dragons armed with exquisite weapons, the villagers posed no threat whatsoever.

In fact, the villagers' feeble attempts at resistance only fueled the Celestial Dragons' bloodlust.

But this time was different—these were not ordinary villagers of Borudoana, but a group of vicious criminals!

They were likely death-row convicts who had nothing left to lose.

Even trading one-for-one with a Celestial Dragon would give them a perverse sense of satisfaction and excitement.

What was more terrifying was that these criminals not only had the resolve to face death without fear, but also possessed killing skills and abilities far beyond those of ordinary civilians.

Moreover, they employed even more ruthless tactics and teamwork.

Despite having been drugged by Jake and his men beforehand, they still managed to inflict heavy losses on the Celestial Dragons who came to hunt them, relying on their experience.

Three Celestial Dragons had already been killed in this hunt.

Two of them had fallen into traps—sharpened bamboo stakes—that the prisoners had prepared in advance, impaling them like hedgehogs.

For obvious traps like these, sometimes the prisoners didn't even expect them to kill, but the Celestial Dragons never considered such dangers.

In the past, their hunting season followed a simple script: spot the prey, hear the screams, watch them flee, then gun them down.

That was the entire routine.

Occasionally, if they came across attractive women, the Celestial Dragons would break their legs to immobilize them before taking them back as slaves.

But this time, to their horror, when the Celestial Dragons approached the "villagers" who should have long been dead—when they moved to sever their heads as trophies—the supposedly lifeless corpses suddenly sprang up, viciously tearing at the flesh on their necks!

Amid the Celestial Dragons' screams, chunks of flesh were ripped away by these fiends.

Even when their comrades opened fire, the attackers refused to let go, clinging stubbornly until their jaws were pried apart with blades.

Only then did the Celestial Dragon manage to survive.

Another Celestial Dragon who died had preferred to hunt alone.

He was lured into a corner of a house by what appeared to be the corpse of a filthy vagrant.

To avoid alarming his nearby companions, the Celestial Dragon set aside his ranged weapon and drew a small knife, intending to kill the vagrant and use his head to earn more points.

But this very decision cost the Celestial Dragon his life.

The moment he approached the old vagrant, the man spat out a blade no longer than a little finger from his mouth.

Before the Celestial Dragon could react, the sharp dagger had already slit his throat.

...

Due to his unique physiology, the drugs Jake had fed him weren't as effective as they should have been.

But this was intentional.

When administering the drugs, Jake had sensed the man's excitement and joy, suspecting he might have some resistance.

Yet, far from being annoyed, Jake was delighted—because it meant this man could deliver even greater surprises to the Celestial Dragons during the Hunting Season.

And sure enough, the man didn't disappoint.

Of the three Celestial Dragons who died this time, one was killed by him alone, while the other two fell into traps he and the other prisoners had dug.

Watching the warm, crimson blood gush from the Celestial Dragon's neck, his face twisted with indescribable excitement and pleasure.

He clamped a hand over the Celestial Dragon's mouth to stifle any cries, his voice low but trembling with exhilaration.

"Aren't you descendants of gods? Do gods bleed too? Do their descendants really have the same red blood as us?!"

The Celestial Dragon struggled desperately, but after only a few feeble attempts, he lost consciousness from blood loss.

Seizing the moment, the prisoner used his knife to sever the Celestial Dragon's head entirely.

He would take it back to show the others—these Celestial Dragons weren't divine beings at all, but weaker, more useless trash than they were!

Meanwhile, when the three corpses were brought before Saint Garling, the leader of the God Knights completely lost control of his temper.

"Tell everyone to return immediately. The Hunting Season ends now! If any more of them die at the hands of those wretches, it will be a disgrace to the Celestial Dragons!"