CHAPTER 36
'Crap, Megumi! When the hell did you suddenly become greedy?'
The boy's heart was racing as he lay under the shade of the tree, the thought of his very own words repeating in his mind. He clenched his fists and tried to remain as calm as he could in front of Yuki.
He wasn't worried about their ability to take out one of the giant beasts in the distance—or even both of them if need be; this was what they had always trained for, after all.
What he was most afraid of right now was the effect his words would have on Yuki. No matter how he tried to look at it—even if he tried so hard to convince himself that they were genuine friends—he was selfish.
Every relationship he had at this point either benefited both him and the other party or one person alone: him. And his words just now, though intended with a little selfishness, were bound to be misinterpreted at any moment.
And even if that wasn't a problem enough, none of them—even though they had both trained rigorously for the past week—possessed the experience for a fight like this one. Things could go wrong at any moment, and if that beast was just as greedy as he was, then chances were it wouldn't just let them and the other creatures roaming the woods currently leave alive, though he doubted it.
Earlier, he had moved ahead of Yuki so he could discern what the source of the annoying vines was, dancing through the vines and trees as fast as he could. He ended up having to tear up a few, and it wasn't long before he encountered his first troubles.
After running through the woods for at least a minute, he stood atop one of the inclined trees, peering into the distance in an attempt to discover the dark beast causing their current problems, and it wasn't long before he managed to discover a single hulking silhouette viciously devouring some of its unlucky prey.
… Well, he was only able to discover what the beast's strange actions were after he had gotten close.
But before he could get close, though, he caught sight of a vine slithering past him, and at its end, a monstrous wolf-like beast was helplessly ensnared. The creature was nothing short of a twisted parody, a grotesque exaggeration standing at a height of over 2 meters.
Its dark fur was matted and mangled, barely covering the massive muscles rippling beneath, and from its paws, claws like curved daggers protruded, each nail as long as the palm of his hand.
The creature was in a sorry state, bruised and beaten.
Its head—if it could be called that—hung at an unnatural angle, more bruised than the rest of its body. Crimson eyes, dull and sunken, stared at him emptily, and its snout was nothing short of a twisted snarl.
Its jaw gaped wide open, revealing a set of razor-sharp hooked teeth, like well-sharpened stalactites. It was like the manifestation of a nightmare.
He stared at the helpless thing for a while; his gaze slowly twisted as his mind wandered.
'It wouldn't hurt to kill it, right?'
However, the vine wasn't going to give him time to think; it was tenaciously wrapped around the wolf-beast, dragging it further into the woods toward the hulking figure in the distance.
Not hesitating for a moment, he jumped down from the tree and quickly dashed toward the dying beast. Upon getting close, his hand shot forward towards its terrifying jaws. He held it open, pulling against the creature with the vile vines, and then he pulled with all his might.
Grimacing as he strained, he pulled and pulled, slowly tearing the beast's mouth apart. It was definitely harder than trying to bend a rod, but little by little, he watched as its mouth continued to tear open.
The creature didn't make a sound, too tired to even resist, and after an arduous struggle, the vile vines tearing off the creature's tough skin, and at the same time, he broke off the creature's upper jaw, now leaving nothing but a massive corpse before him.
He leaned forward, drawing raspy breaths, and went straight for one of the creature's claws. After twisting and turning it for a while, he was finally able to break it off, and with it, he quickly began carving into its dead body.
Tearing into the beast's hide was quite difficult, but after inflicting a smaller cut, he was able to further tear it open with his hands, and this time, with a bit of hesitation, he dunked his fists into the creature's insides.
He wanted to gulp as his hand continuously moved through viscera, tearing the wound further open, and after searching for a few seconds, he was finally able to find it and slowly pull it out: a dimly shimmering white crystal.
His eyes glowed as he stared intently at the glowing crystal; he held it close, standing up from the ground, and then he looked forward into the distance, the silhouette he had seen disappearing out of sight with his view obstructed by the trees.
He heaved and continued forward, and it was at that moment that a familiar voice rang in his head. The system sounded just like it always had, a soothing melody, its message loud and clear.
[You have slain a dark beast.]
[Rank: Dormant]
[Grade: None]
And after a few moments, a new set of runes shimmered before him.
[You have grown stronger.]
[Dark essence: 1/10000]
For a while, he stood still, his eyes widening as a wide smile slowly began to appear on his face, and then his gaze slowly moved to the side, away from the path he was supposed to follow.
Quickly, he dashed away, moving through the trees until he arrived at the next beast, one in as much of a sorry state as the first one. He finished it off, the same runic message the system showed him appearing once again, faster than it had the last time.
[You have grown stronger.]
[Dark essence: 2/10000]
He went around the woods, quickly finishing off more of the dark beasts scattered around. A few were roaming around, a few awakened ones among them, but he was smart enough to avoid them.
But seeing the dying beasts recovering and moving around the forest was enough to make him cautious as he quickly leapt onto a tree once more. And that was when he was able to see the vile vines desperately retreating, and in the distance, another hulking shadow appeared.
In the next second, the two massive creatures clashed, trees were demolished, and the earth trembled as they quickly engaged in a ferocious tango.
He slowly backed away, planning to rendezvous with Yuki, who was supposedly heading toward him. It was along the way that he grabbed her and brought her behind one of the trees.
… And, as they slowly peeked at the shadows from their hiding spots, he couldn't help but tremble, slightly growing impatient.
Who knew how much essence he would gain from slaying an awakened dark beast and how much stronger he could get.
One of the beasts was down but not out, and its foe was quickly inching forward, towering above it. They continued to tangle, and after a few more treacherous minutes, a loud screech echoed throughout the winding woods.
Immediately, he sprang up with Yuki, leaping onto one of the trees and advancing toward the shadows in the distance.
Megumi grinned, the thought of killing an awakened beast filling him with great ecstasy.
'Who am I kidding? I am a bit greedy.'
However, his enthusiasm quickly waned as another loud screech called to his attention, but it wasn't from the distance where the hulking silhouettes stood.
'No… No, no!'
He cursed under his breath, coming to a quick halt as he watched the once-peaceful woods turn into a horde of chaos.
… He and Yuki weren't the only ones heading toward the scene.