As I swallowed the body of the archer, I was rather disappointed. It turns out she knew nothing of that strange magic do further ahead. I have been tracking this party for hours, they were the first Gold Rank adventurer team I have fought. Although I still sensed danger from them it wasn’t as bad as it was on the first day. I could tell that they still could kill but I could kill them too. My next move will be to go looking for that other man that went ahead.
These past few days have been eventful to say the least. I got a few new essences after hunting in the forest. I finished the horned bear essence which had this weird na attached to it. It improved my muscle density and improved my bone strength, which also improved the strength of my spines. The really interesting one was the Spriggan essence I got from these strange tree people. It gave the ability to move through the forest without leaving any tracks at all, my body seed to pass through the branches and the grass would stand back up the mont I went over it. I could turn this off whenever I wanted, which I did earlier to let the adventures know where I was to freak them out. The Spriggan essence also gave sothing very interesting. It gave this ability called [Spriggan Decoy] it essentially makes a copy of myself that I can direct to an extent. It’s basically an illusion, it's attack was much weaker and if it takes any form of damage it disappears.
Still it was useful for a distraction. I just had to make the decoy avoid getting hit and draw my prey’s attention long enough to sneak up on them. There was a glaring problem however, mages could apparently cast a spell to tell which one is real . I learnt this the hard way when I ambushed a silver ranked team two days ago. I found the most problematic individuals to fight were mages due to their spells being able to lock down, giving the rest of the adventurers an opening to attack. The mages also looked to have powerful offensive abilities but these were so slow I could easily dodge them.
That was why I used the decoy so I could take out their healer and the mage first. If I left the healers there any non fatal attacks would be quickly undone through healing. That and their defensive spells made them very problematic to fight. So when I ca up with a plan to kill these ones I made sure I took those two out first.
There is another reason I took out the healer first, after stalking this group for a while I noticed that the priest and rogue were behaving strangely towards each other. More interestingly I could sense the priest and rogue were giving off strange scents when they were together. I figured out it was so kind of mating pheromone. Which ans the rogue would be reaaaaally upset if I took out the healer.
Sothing I found out after dealing with a bronze ranked team was that humans were extrely emotional creatures. I never noticed it much in my past life but now with my new body I have a fresh perspective on the emotional tendencies of humans. Make a human mad and they would do sothing stupid…
That bronze rank team had this idiot who was threatening even as I had him in my hand and about to bite him in half. He was bragging to about how there was this mithril ranked team that would hunt down and kill and make suffer, put down like the beast I am, blah blah blah…
The interesting thing about that little spiel of his was that he said THE mithril team in Averlon. I know there's a higher rank of adventurers being the hero rank. So if he wanted to scare , why use the second best rank? Unless that's the best rank that city has available, not only that the word “the” implies there's only one available. Still, that made them dangerous. I noticed there is a significant spike in power between the ranks.
Honestly if I hadn’t strategized beforehand and I just ran into these guys I would probably have been injured at the very least. I most likely wouldn’t have been able to take them all out, I had to make sure the terrain was favourable. I needed to figure out which targets to take out first and I had to use psychological tricks to get the rogue to basically commit suicide. Lastly I needed to use tricks to get them to defend the wrong direction.
Yet, overall this was well worth the trouble. I was right, the stronger humans were worth much more than their weaker counterparts. I’m already at human geno stage: 6 and I could tell I am much smarter now. My mory is almost picture perfect, I can replay scenes in my head and rember events very clearly. I could morise the path through the forest and I found I could instinctively predict the actions of the humans I faced just by looking at the way their body moved, their movents telegraphing their actions to …
As for my conscience, I figured out what was the problem. My mind is obsessed with one thing, survival. If I kill an innocent person that would pose no threat to and provide no benefit then I would feel bad. But if sothing wants to kill and if letting them go puts in danger, then I have no moral compunctions about killing them. Like that girl from earlier, she had no way to know what I was, all she would know is that the camp got destroyed. Also if my prey is powerful and they would give great benefit then I would also have no pity for them. It seems no matter how intelligent I beco or how human I beco, this overriding internal programming for survival will still supersede all other inclinations.
Yes the humans figured out really quickly that there's so new creature prowling the forest but they obviously have no idea what I am. Afterall, sending scouts into the forest to gather information is a good idea, unless… the scouts you lose end up making your enemy stronger…
If they just sent in a bunch of gold ranked teams into the forest from the start I would most likely have to flee this forest and go sowhere else. But now after sending al after al to on a silver plate, I can deal with gold ranked adventurers now. I just needed to get strong enough to kill that Mithril team, after that there is nothing in this forest that can contest my power…
Well I may get a power up soon, that magic do looked very interesting. Sothing in there is important and if I can use whatever is in there… then who knows how much that will power up…
With that thought in mind and a smile on my face I reactivated my invisibility and forest walking ability. I headed deeper into the forest following the trail of the human that left the group. I left him alone because I was hoping he would have so insight into how to get into that do. I tried touching it earlier and I ended up getting nasty shock from it. So I need to figure out how to get in…
I followed the trail of the man and to my delight I saw the trail led towards that strange magic do. When I reached the edge of the treeline and I once again beheld the massive magic do. It was translucent and blue, crackling with energy. On the inside of the do was what looked to be a mansion. This ti I saw a woman standing inside, she had red hair, pale skin and ruby like eyes. The man was on the outside speaking to her, I focused my senses on them and began to eavesdrop…
“Save your false courtesy welp, is my father too cowardly to even face now?” the woman spat in contempt.
“There has been a complication Princess, he wished to be here but the circumstances did not allow it.” the man replied courteously.
“So he is a coward, he can lock in here but he doesn’t have the courage to see it through.” the woman hissed in response.
“The circumstances are... severe princess.” the man replied with another.
“Then what are these circumstances then? The prophecy is supposed to comnce in under an hour and he isn’t even here… is he really so confident in this little cage?” the woman said coldly.
“Under an hour? Princess, midnight has passed, you are of age now.” the man said quizzically.
“Fool, did you think I was born when the clock struck midnight. I will be truly a woman in under an hour and if the prophecy cos to pass you will be right here to see it happen…” the woman said with a cold smile.
I sensed the man fidget slightly at her words, I could sll his fear. Sothing about this whole situation terrified him…
“Out with it! What are the circumstances.” the woman demanded.
“A new monster has appeared princess. It is dangerous and we know next to nothing about it, that is why your father could not risk coming here.” the man said apologetically.
“A monster you say? Now that is interesting…” the woman said with a sly smile.
The man paused at her reaction, when I ca here earlier I didn’t see her or sense her. To be fair I couldn’t sense anything beyond this barrier. My best guess was that this barrier sealed off everything on the other side.
“You see, welp, yesterday sothing interesting happened. Sothing tried to break in…” the woman said with a smile.
“What?” the man stamred in reply as he turned and looked around.
“Oh yes, you are not as alone as you think fool…” the woman said as she placed her hands on the barrier. The barrier crackled and I could see blue arcs of electricity course up her body singing her flesh and destroying bits of her dress.
“Princess, what are you doing…” the man stamred as he took a step back in shock.
“YOU THINK THIS CAGE CAN HOLD FOREVER? ONE DAY I WILL BE FREE AND ALL OF YOU WILL KNOW MY WRATH!” the woman scread as she withdrew her arms and her eyes glowed blue.
Elbow length gloves made of swirling runes covered her arms. She thrust her arms at the barrier and began to pry it apart. A hole began to appear and the barrier crackled and arcs of energy flew out scorching the ground. Her dress was now a ss of burned fabric and I could see burns all over her body. Then with a loud bang the hole in the barrier slamd shut and threw her onto her back.
“When I get out… I will take back my birthright… and I will repay this injustice a thousand tis over…” the woman said as he panted and stood up shakily.
“How…” the man said shakily.
“Don’t you know? I’m the most talented mage the academy has ever seen. My lord father, the fool that he is, took pity on and gave arcane books for my leisure. I have been making a spell that would allow to escape. It is still incomplete but soon I will be free…” the woman said as she shifted her gaze up and looked straight at …
She could see ? Well the mages could also see when invisible but they had to activate a spell to do so. I eventually figured out it would be best to kill the mages first, after all why would they even know to look for out of the blue?
“Why are you telling this…” the man said as he looked around again, I could tell he was starting to figure out sothing was very wrong.
“Because I don’t expect you to see dawn…” the woman said with a twisted smile and I saw her eyes were consud by madness and hate.
Well the jig is up, might as well have a chat with this woman… With that thought in mind I began moving closer to the pair. I saw the woman’s eyes widened as she saw approach. The man still oblivious to my presence started to realise the woman was not in fact looking longingly at the freedom on the outside of the barrier but was in fact looking at …
The man’s body twitched as the woman’s gaze shifted upwards to look up at . The man turned and I materialised in front of him. His face went pale and I snatched him up in one of my arms. He scread in fear as I held him in hands.
“There is no need for him. If you want to know how to get out I can tell you. If you want to know anything else I can tell you more than he ever can. He is a pawn, a disposable piece on the board. Why do think he was sent here on this suicide mission?” the woman said with a smile.
What she said made sense… and the funny thing about my body is that I can sense when soone is lying. I can pick up all the bodily functions that occur when soone lies and as far as I can tell this woman is telling the truth.
As I look down at the screaming man in my hand. He didn’t look like the I'm going to threaten you and give you information without knowing it type. He seems more of the scream and piss himself until he passes out type…
Sure enough after a solid minute of none stop screaming. His eyes rolled up and he passed out in my hand.
“He even slls like a coward…” I mutter as I flip him upside down and give him a shake to see if he wakes up.
“I think that’s urine my friend.” the woman said calmly.
I lifted my hand and I saw so yellow liquid dripping down from the bottom of my hand.
“Well that’s disgusting…” I mutter as I drop the man on the ground before burying a blade into the back of his head.
Well I have no intention of sitting around and waiting for him to wake up…
“So I assu you want to talk?” I say as I turn my head to look at the smiling woman.
“Why yes, I do.” the woman replied she didn’t seem at all bothered by the burns all over her arms…
“Who are you? Why are you in there?” I asked as I peered at the woman.
“I am Cecilia Averlon, Crown Princess of the city state of Averlon.” the woman said as she did a graceful curtsey.
“As for why I am in here, well you see there is this prophecy that predicted that I would destroy the precious order of this world.” Cecilia replied.
“Prophecy?” I asked.
“Yes, a prophecy, you see this world of Terra is inhabited by the mortal races but we are ruled by Heaven. The Seraphim and their Divine Council hold sway over this world. They tell us how to live, how to behave, anything that goes against this order that they have set is considered heresy. The feeble minded sheep in this world view the Seraphim as gods, but I know they are not. Gods cannot be killed and I assure you my friend the Seraphim can most definitely be killed.” the woman said.
“Tell about Heaven…” I ask as I realise this woman might be a wealth of information. If I could get her to tell everything I would be much more inford on the workings of this world…
“Would you like to bargain, friend?” Cecilia asked.
“You want to let you out and if I do you’ll tell whatever I want to know.” I state, the train of thought is honestly quite obvious… the thing is. If I let her go and she goes back to that city, she might tell everyone about …
“Don’t worry friend, I won’t tell a soul about who and what you are. Although first, may I request you entertain a little question of mine? What are you?” the woman asked curiously.
“If I tell you what I am, I’ll have to kill you.” I reply with a laugh.
“Oh? Now that is interesting… you know your blades look very familiar… that and the way you materialised from invisibility. Did you know friend, that different species have different kinds of invisibility and the way they rematerialise is different.
When I look at your blades and the way you exit invisibility it reminds of sothing… a Stalker Chaleon…” the woman said with a smile and I felt a chill go down my spine. This woman was smart… a little too smart…
“You are mimicking the abilities of another creature and I know only of one species that can do that… are you a Primordial Devourer?” Cecilia asked as her smile widened.
I stood in silence as I saw the mirth in her eyes, I could tell she had her answer from my silence alone.
“I guess you’ll have to kill now… co and get .” the woman said with a laugh. I growl as I look at the massive barrier, I know I can’t break through this thing…
“Now then back to my proposition, I would like to make you an offer. Free and help take back my rightful throne. In exchange I will give you sothing only I can give… protection…” Cecilia said.
“Protection? How exactly are you going to protect ?” I asked as I lowered my head closer to her.
“If anyone finds out you are a Devourer the news will go straight to heaven, then you will have to deal with the Seraphim. Let tell you friend, you will one day be able to defeat the Angels but not as you are now. If the forces of Heaven find you as you are now, you will be turned to ash.” the woman said.
I’m starting to see where this is going…
“So if I help you do all of that, you will carve out a place for to live. You will keep my existence a secret, if soone finds out for you will silence them. Is that your offer?” I ask.
“Exactly.” Cecilia replied.
“My only problem with your proposal is that in that situation you could threaten to report to Heaven. You will have on a leash…” I say with a growl.
“Of course not, I could report you in that situation… if I have a death wish that is… do you know why I’m locked away all the way out here?” Cecilia asked.
“Why?” I asked as I brought my head an inch away from the barrier.
“Because that prophecy was made by a great seer, the seer once served the Divine Council. The seer appeared on the day of my birth and told my father the prophecy. She told him that this would be her last prophecy and she was right… My father killed her to keep the secret…
You see friend, I was always different, too smart for my own good, too magically powerful for my own good, my parents saw all of my potential and instead of being proud they grew to fear . My whole life I lived in the shadow of that prophecy. So they isolated from the rest of the world, they called sickly to the court, they said I couldn’t leave bed most days.
Back then I was just a girl. I listened to my parents who told of the dangers of the outside world. But as I grew older I saw my siblings free and happy while I alone remained sealed in my room.
Then as I had my first blood I found out that I preferred won to n. After that I t a servant girl, she was pretty and I grew to care for her and so she did for as well. One day we decided to escape together, to go sowhere far away. No prophecy, no judgents…” Cecilia said as she lowered her head and I could sense a deep sorrow start to leak out of her.
“We failed, in the end they tortured her and she revealed how we loved each other, how we layed with each other…” Cecilia said then her voice started to change to one of anger.
“To heaven a man must never lay with another man and a woman must never lay with another woman. Unnatural they called it…” Cecilia spat as I saw her eyes once again filled with hate and rage.
“So they hung her and then they sent here. Away from everything. Four years I rotted in this prison, four years I waited here alone as a bird in a cage and I have had four years to learn to hate everyone that wronged .” Cecilia said as she once again reached forward to grasp the cage as the cage crackled at the touch.
“If I am free I will not betray you, we are both monsters friend. I just happened to be born with human skin. All in creation despise the likes of us, I intend to carve out a life for myself… and I could use so help. I have no loyalty, no love for any of my kind, what I want is for Heaven to fall, I will shatter their precious order. I will break this cage they call a world.
Help and you will be my ally, my friend. I will do everything in my power to help you, maps to better hunting grounds, I can tell you where to find the likes of Phoenixes, Dragons, Mountain Trolls, your power will soar until even the Heavens can no longer challenge you.
What do you say? Friend…” Cecilia said.
Throughout this entire thing she hasn’t lied once and I know that she ans every word that cos out of her mouth. Even if she’s a liar, I did hear from another source that other races exterminated the Devourers. So chances are she’s right, it’s only a matter of ti before I ss up and soone finds . If I had help from an entire nation, a knowing collaborator with power, that improves my chances significantly.
So with that thought in my mind I made my reply…
Take your hands off the barrier friend
I will need you fully functional when I get you out of there…
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