"Look out!" Thankfully, Onean was able to react very quickly, and she abruptly pushed Erwin away while also rapidly retreating herself.

In the next instant, a set of leopard paws swiped through the air right where they had been standing just a moment ago. As a result of Onean's quick reactions, the claws missed their target, but they struck the tree that Erwin and Onean had been hiding behind, gouging a set of deep claw marks into the trunk of the tree.

Erwin cast a cold gaze toward the wereleopard, which had already spread its wings open. Being thrust into battle all of a sudden like this was a rather jarring experience for Erwin, but having fought against someone as incredibly fast as Aiden in the past, these magic beasts weren't enough to break his composure.

Onean made a subtle gesture of pointing downward, telling Erwin through her actions that they were facing more than just a single assailant. There were at least seven or eight wereleopards prowling down below. As it turned out, there were quite a few wereleopards hidden in the forest outside of the ones gathered around the makeshift altar.

Erwin nodded in response, then raised his staff before unleashing a barrage of instant-release spells toward the wereleopard before him. At the same time, Onean swept her silver staff through the air, and bolts of lightning came crashing down from the sky before exploding upon the trees in the forest. All of a sudden, a raucous commotion had broken out in the peaceful forest.

In response to Erwin's attacks, the wereleopard immediately shielded itself with its own wings. All of the oncoming instant-release spells exploded upon its wings, but were unable to cause any substantial damage. Right as the wereleopard was about to gloat at Erwin for his ineffective attacks, it discovered that Erwin had suddenly vanished into thin air. In the next instant, Erwin emerged from his space split technique, arriving directly behind the wereleopard before sending a Magic Explosion erupting directly into its back. Purple magic energy surged rapidly into the wereleopard's body, and it threw its head back before letting loose an anguished cry, then fell to the ground in an unconscious state.

Meanwhile, the storm of golden lightning that Onean had summoned was blasting a series of smoldering craters onto the ground, and as a result, the wereleopards down below didn't dare to charge toward Onean and Erwin. Thankfully for them, Onean had no intention of taking their lives. Otherwise, they would've already been reduced to ashes.

The loud commotion ringing out in the forest naturally alerted the dozen or so wereleopards gathered around the dragon's heart, and they immediately stopped what they were doing before charging toward Erwin's duo, roaring with rage as they spread their wings open.

A ruthless grin appeared on Erwin's face upon seeing this, and he picked up the unconscious wereleopard with one hand, holding onto one of its wings as he swung the wereleopard above his own head like a lasso, then hurled it toward the oncoming group of wereleopards. In contrast with Onean, Erwin had no intention of holding back against these magic beasts. The wing of the wereleopard was still in his hand, but its body was already flying through the air. The wing had been torn off the wereleopard's back, resulting in a wound that was extremely terrifying and horrific to behold. A section of the wing bone was still jutting out of the wound in a gruesome fashion.

Seeing the horrific injury that had been inflicted upon their companion, the oncoming wereleopards let loose a string of anguished howls, and they were glowering at Erwin as if they were looking at a demon. Meanwhile, the wereleopards down below were also beginning to inch closer, clearly having been completely enraged by Erwin's cruel actions.

Erwin remained completely unfazed by this, and a flame was ignited from his palm, instantly reducing the wing in his hand to ashes.

As Erwin was doing all of this, Onean was looking on from the side with furrowed brows, but she didn't say anything in the end.

The blatant provocation from Erwin finally tipped the wereleopards down below over the edge, and they roared with fury as they rushed up toward Erwin's duo, forcing their way through the storm of golden lightning that was crashing down from above.

Some of them had their wings set alight, while others had their limbs burst into flames. However, they were extremely fierce and refused to back down, springing up along the tree trunk with unwavering resolve.

Onean shook her head with a resigned expression, then tightened her grip around her silver staff before thrusting her other palm toward the top of the staff. A burst of golden magic energy immediately surged out of the bottom of the staff, transforming into three golden fiery phoenixes. The phoenixes let loose a collective cry, then swooped directly downward while circling around the thick tree trunk.

The wereleopards were extremely determined to get to the top, but their determination couldn't help them bridge the massive gap in power between them and the three fiery phoenixes, and it didn't take long before they were sent tumbling down from the tree amid anguished howls. By the time they landed on the ground down below, they were all either dead or unconscious.

Meanwhile, purple light was surging along the length of Erwin's staff, and a storm of swords appeared under the afternoon sun, directly above the heads of the oncoming wereleopards.

Right as Erwin was about to exterminate all of these wereleopards in one fell swoop, an authoritative roar suddenly rang out from the altar. All of the wereleopards immediately stopped cold in their tracks upon hearing this roar, and even though they were dying to sink their fangs into Erwin, they didn't advance any further. Instead, they glowered at Erwin with resentful looks in their eyes before retreating the same way they had come.

However, Erwin wasn't about to let them off the hook so easily. He immediately unleashed a space split technique to pursue the wereleopards, and the storm of swords in the sky manifested by magic energy followed along behind him.

Onean was worried that he would place himself in harm's way by charging in recklessly like this, so she immediately leaped onto the back of one of the fiery phoenixes before flying along behind him.

Up ahead was an elderly female wereleopard who appeared to be the leader of the group. She had a head of white hair, and she was standing in a hunch-backed posture with a long staff in her hand. She was facing Erwin alone while the younger and stronger wereleopards were gathered behind her. Her attire was also different from that of the other wereleopards. Everyone else was wearing crude beasthide clothing, but her beasthide attire was adorned with agate gemstones of different colors, and she was also wearing an amber necklace.

Erwin was rather impressed by the female wereleopard's courage, so he watched her with an intrigued expression and didn't immediately attack.

The elderly female wereleopard strode forward as she looked at Erwin with a stern expression, then said something in wereleopard language.

Naturally, Erwin had no idea what she was saying. However, he was becoming more and more convinced that Onean was correct in that civilizations really were beginning to arise among magic beasts in this era.

If these wereleopards have their own language, could it be that the other magic beasts in the Terarody Mountain Ranges also have their own language?  he wondered to himself.

Even though he couldn't understand what she was saying, it was clear from her expression and demeanor that she was denouncing him for hurting her brethren.

He wanted to tell her that they were the ones who started the altercation, but it wasn't like the wereleopards would understand him anyway. With that in mind, he pointed at the wereleopard, which was missing a wing thanks to Erwin, then pointed at himself.

The female wereleopard immediately understood what Erwin was trying to convey, and she pointed at the makeshift altar behind her, then pointed at Erwin and Onean before making a forbidding gesture. All the while, she was mumbling what appeared to be a string of unintelligible gibberish as far as Erwin and Onean were concerned.

Erwin was roughly able to understand what she was saying. It seemed that while they were performing this ritual, other races weren't allowed to approach them.

Erwin was not very pleased to hear this. He pointed at the dragon's heart, then pointed at himself, expressing to the female wereleopard that the heart was his.

Unfortunately, conveying one's intentions through body language was very unreliable and could often cause misunderstandings, as was the case in this situation, where the female wereleopard was led to the incorrect conclusion that Erwin was threatening to take the dragon's heart away.

A furious look appeared on her face as she gave a long-winded speech in a righteous manner, attempting to talk Erwin into submission. The emotions of the wereleopards behind her were also stirred up by her rousing speech, and they looked as if they were about to pounce on Erwin at any moment.

Seeing as the situation was about to escalate, Onean strode forward with the goal of mediation before giving the female wereleopard a reassuring smile. She then pointed a finger at the dragon's heart, sending a beam of blue light surging directly toward it. The wereleopards in the path of the beam of blue light were instantly forced to part down the middle, thereby opening up a path. Upon being struck by the beam of light, the dragon's heart began to slowly rise up from the ground, gradually levitating into mid-air.

Upon rising up from the ground, the magic energy from the beam of blue light gradually began to spread outward, slowly creating a three-dimensional image, and it didn't take long before the magic energy took on the appearance of the ice dragon. Of course, it was only a projection, and only the dragon's heart was from the actual ice dragon.

Onean took a glance at the female wereleopard, then pointed at the "ice dragon" before pointing at Erwin, telling her Erwin was the one who had slain the ice dragon.

Erwin thought that the female wereleopard would continue to argue. For example, they could say that Erwin wasn't present on the scene when they discovered the dragon's heart, or they could simply refuse to believe what Onean was saying.

However, to his surprise, after a brief moment of astonishment, the female wereleopard brought her palms together, then bent down with difficulty to extend a bow toward Erwin and Onean, seemingly apologizing on behalf of her brethren for their reckless actions.

The young wereleopards behind her clearly held a lot of respect for her, and they immediately followed her lead, extending apologetic bows toward Erwin and Onean as well.

Erwin was rather taken aback by this abrupt development, and to him, it felt like these wereleopards were far more genuine and straightforward than humans. If they believed something, then they believed it wholeheartedly, and no attempts were made on their part to discredit Erwin and Onean.

The scene that unfolded next came as even more of a surprise to Erwin and Onean.

After grappling with an internal conflict for a brief moment, the female wereleopard knelt down in front of Erwin and Onean in the presence of her younger brethren. Pained looks appeared on the faces of all of the wereleopards behind her, and they were clearly saddened by the fact that their leader was doing something so degrading.

From her kneeling position, she looked up at Erwin with a genuine expression while saying something in a deeply emotional voice. After that, she joined her palms together and closed her eyes in prayer.

Erwin didn't know what to make of this, and he cast an inquisitive glance toward Onean.

"I think she's begging you to give the dragon's heart to them," Onean said.

"Is the dragon's heart that important to them?" Erwin murmured in a low voice.

All of a sudden, several young wereleopard women emerged from the dense forest, carrying several wooden stretchers between them. They then set down the wooden stretchers behind the elderly female wereleopard so that Erwin and Onean could get a clear view.

There were about eight or night stretchers in total, and Erwin took a glance at them to find that they were carrying a group of very strange-looking wereleopards that were wrapped up in pieces of coarse cloth.

The reason Erwin referred to them as strange-looking was that their faces, foreheads, and even their eyelids were riddled with tightly packed clusters of thin green rods. The thin meat rods resembled bunches of coral and anemones lined up in an orderly fashion, extending all the way down their necks to their chests and backs. As the wind blew over their bodies, those irregular growths began to sway in the wind, presenting a harrowing sight to behold.

Their faces were completely devoid of color, and they didn't even have the energy to open their eyes, so it was clear that their condition was very dire.

"What kind of disease is this? I'm getting goosebumps just from looking at them." Erwin shuddered as he took a couple of steps backward, then turned to Onean with an inquisitive expression.

"I'm not sure," Onean replied with furrowed brows. She was a lot more courageous than Erwin, approaching the sickly wereleopards to take a closer look, but even after some close inspection, she could only shake her head with a resigned expression.

The elderly female wereleopard began to speak again, and even though Erwin couldn't understand what she was saying, he could see tears swimming in her eyes, so he assumed that she was still imploring him and Onean to gift them the dragon's heart.

"She seems to be saying that these are all warriors of her race, and that they were afflicted by a curse from the enemy," Onean extrapolated.

"How did you manage to understand her?" Erwin asked with a surprised expression.

"I'm assuming that's what she's trying to convey judging from the movement of her hands."

"Why does it look to me like she's telling us that this disease is contagious?" Erwin asked as he shuddered involuntarily once again.

"That could be true as well," Onean replied with a nod.

The thought of those hideous growths appearing on his own body immediately struck a sense of fear and disgust into Erwin's heart, and his face became deathly pale.

Onean faltered slightly upon seeing this, then burst into amused laughter.