It did not take long—just about ten seconds—before Andrew spotted Chantelle. He also saw a massive black Dire Tiger, and the beast currently had someone clamped in its enormous jaws—it was Ralph.

Ralph was still gripping his curved blade, which had carved two gashes across the black tiger's head, causing blood to stream down. However, it had no effect whatsoever. If anything, the attack had only enraged it more.

The giant jaws crushed down harder on Ralph's shoulder, and in two powerful leaps, the Dire Tiger landed on the rooftop of a nearby stone building. At such close range, and now in broad daylight, Andrew could see just how incredibly massive this beast truly was.

From an ecological standpoint, it made no sense. There was no way a beast of this size could naturally exist in these mountain forests as it would need to devour a whole ridge's worth of prey just to survive.

However, this was not the time to question how a place like Gallow's End could produce such a monster.