Chapter 338
FODDER (4)
Seeing the pace and the certain approach from Natsuki, the high spawnling worm stopped as it raised its head—though calling it a head was questionable, as it was really nothing but a massive eyeball—turning it directly toward her.
Remembering IAM's words, Natsuki suddenly flung her sword into the air. Once again it defied gravity, floating for the briefest moment before shooting forward toward its target.
Meanwhile, her eyes flashed with gold before, for just an instant, they took on the shade of indigo as she attempted peered directly into the worm's weakness.
In her mind, the words of the special method she was using ran through her thoughts.
Special method: Eye of Truth!
Eyes that allowed her to peer into the truth of whoever her gaze landed on. When she gazed at something, her eyes could see more than anyone else, even when one wished to hide their secrets.
Not only was this something only a master could possibly begin to do—placing her alongside people like Henry and Reuel who were already utilising such insane abilities—it also begged the question of what her main path and sub paths were, or even the concept that had allowed such a ridiculous ability to be created.
And was this the only one she possessed?
The possibilities were endless.
And when she actually entered the level of master… what would she be able to do then?
It painted a terrible future for her enemies.
Even so, she could only use it for barely a second. She was about to face too many beings and could not recklessly burn through her mana like before, especially under these circumstances.
One could only imagine the amount of mana required to perform such a mind-bending act.
Her eyes turned back to gold before dimming to normal as she wore a slightly dissatisfied expression… she hadn't gained a clear answer. The time had been too short. Still, a few possibilities had opened up in her mind, and she acted on them immediately while keeping an eye on the other high spawnlings.
She controlled her sword with confidence as it shot forward, accurately attempting to pierce through a small gap in the worm's pink flesh.
The creature noticed her intent.
Its long body suddenly coiled in on itself with a disturbing, writhing motion, thick rings of flesh tightening like a twisted spring. The moment the blade reached its target, a sharp—
Clang!
—rang through the air.
The sword struck against a suddenly hardened section of its coiled body, sparks briefly flickering as metal scraped against the toughened flesh. The impact forced the creature's massive body to shift backward slightly, its enormous eye twitching as it absorbed the force of the blow.
It may not have been able to dodge… but at the very least, it had the means to defend itself.
Natsuki remained silent and unfettered. With a smooth, practiced motion she grasped at the air, her fingers tightening as if pulling invisible strings. Her sword responded instantly, spinning sharply before shooting toward the creature's tail—another area of potential weakness she had noticed.
Along the worm's body were small bumps running through its length in uneven rows. Some bulged outward like swollen blisters while others had hardened into short spikes that jutted from its pink flesh.
The short spikes immediately drew attention.
Six of them suddenly shot outward.
TUK! TUK! TUK!
The sounds rang out as they struck the blade in rapid succession, interrupting the speed and accuracy of her sword.
Even now, Natsuki remained calm, as if everything was resting in the palm of her hand. She flexed her fingers once again, subtly adjusting the invisible control she held over the weapon as she drew closer to the creature, making it easier to guide the sword with far greater precision.
The sword quite suddenly shot out in an entirely and utterly different direction, brimming with her intent as she did something that even IAM had not expected.
He had advised aiming for the soft flesh.
Instead, she was now directly aiming for the grey, massive eyeball that hid the many smaller eyes beneath its surface!
The creature could barely react to the suddenness and speed as the sword tore through the air at least twice as fast as before. Natsuki's Avien screamed within her as she forced more mana through it, pumping even more power into the attack in an attempt to kill the creature before it could even reveal its true ability.
The sword crossed the already short distance with frightening ease as it neared the slimy eyeball. The tip of her blade just touched the surface—
A faint indentation forming against the slick grey membrane.
And in that moment… a change occurred.
Two things happened at the same time.
Everything that had occurred so far had only taken seconds. The other creatures had begun to react, but no matter how fast they moved, there was still a considerable distance between them and the worm.
The closest were two mid spawnlings that were rushing forward to aid it.
There should have been no way for the other high spawnlings to reach in time.
Right?
Wrong.
The change did not come from the butterfly-lizard.
Nor from the nightmarish vision of the abominable snowman.
It came from the beautiful visage of the bald female-looking creature.
The unnatural clash of red and pink across its face began to glow, the colors intensifying as if something beneath its skin had suddenly awakened. Its eyes—like faceted crystals—lit up as well, refracting that same red and pink light in countless sharp angles, causing the glow to scatter in eerie patterns across its smooth features.
The lines running across its body shimmered faintly, each one pulsing as though energy was flowing through them like veins of light. The contrast of colors grew brighter and brighter, the beautiful yet wrong mixture of red and pink making the creature look less like a living being and more like some strange living gem that had come to life.
An ominous feeling began to permeate the air.
Its thick and unnaturally large lips… began to open.
Its mouth stretched wider and wider, far beyond what any human jaw could possibly allow. The skin around its cheeks pulled and warped as the opening continued to widen until its head tilted vertically, its jaw stretching so far that the entire structure of its face seemed to split apart.
What it revealed was not a tongue.
Nor anything resembling a normal human feature.
Instead, from deep within its throat, a thin yet hardened piece of pulsating flesh slowly extended upward like some grotesque pillar. The surface of it throbbed rhythmically, each pulse sending faint ripples along its length.
At its tip was a red and pink sphere.
The ball looked disturbingly organic, its surface slick and stretched thin as countless visceral veins crawled across it, twitching and pulsing with life. The same glow that ran across the creature's body began to gather there, the sphere shining brighter and brighter.
As its body glowed, so did the ball.
A fantastical yet terrifying sight began to form as heat waves subtly rippled outward from the sphere, distorting the air around it. The neon clash of pink and red swirled together within the ball like liquid light, growing brighter with every passing moment until it shone like a small star in the darkness.
The wind shifted.
Leaves rustled and low hanging fog lifted from the ground as everything nearby seemed to be subtly pulled toward that glowing sphere.
And suddenly, a scene that would disappoint the dirty-minded few occurred.
From this exceedingly beautiful creature, from the glowing ball within its gaping mouth—
A deadly ray of pink and red suddenly shot forward, piercing through the air as a sound that invoked goosebumps echoed across the battlefield.
SCREEEE!