Chapter 35

Whoosh!

The arrow flew quickly. Not toward the magical beast, but toward a willow tree growing near the lakeshore.

Thwack! Whoosh-

As the berries inside the cloth burst, the tree instantly caught fire.

'Done.'

The arrow hadn't missed. From the start, Kinaine had aimed at the willow tree, not the magical beast.

He had judged that in the dark night with even moonlight dim, human night vision couldn't handle a magical beast. Though he had to use one of his precious arrows because of this, at least now he could properly see the magical beast's form.

'That's...'

The magical beast's form, hidden in darkness, was clearly revealed in the firelight.

It was Grimtoad.

'Wasn't it dead?'

When magical beasts die, they don't leave corpses but turn to powder and disappear. That was why he hadn't found it strange that Grimtoad's corpse hadn't floated to the lake's surface.

"...?"

Kinaine furrowed his brow. Something was strange.

The Grimtoad's appearance revealed in the firelight was horrific. Its skin had melted and distorted, and its huge eyeballs were covered by melted eyelids, making it seem unable to see properly. Even at a glance, it looked no different from a corpse.

Moreover, Grimtoad wasn't floating or swimming in the lake. Instead, hundreds of tentacles were keeping its body afloat.

Tentacles... Grimtoad didn't have such abilities.

'If this was Grimtoad's original ability, there's no way I wouldn't have seen it before.'

Looking closely, he could see the tentacles bursting through the skin. Black fluid dripped from the torn skin.

'Did they tear out from the inside?'

He felt they couldn't have been there originally.

Just then, Grimtoad moved. Each time it did, its skin bulged and shifted, as if tentacles settled beneath the skin were forcibly moving the muscles.

The moment Grimtoad came onto land with its bizarre movements, Kinaine noticed the number inscribed on its side.

Until then, it had been hard to see properly, mixed with Grimtoad's unique patterns. The angle had also made it impossible to confirm from up in the tree.

But now it was different. A brightly glowing number was visible on the distorted skin covered in burns.

1.

It was the number he had expected. Just as Kinaine was about to relax.

Plop, thud.

A wet leaf that had been stuck to Grimtoad's skin fell off.

Kinaine's gaze moved to another number inscribed next to the 1.

"...?"

Kinaine rubbed his eyes and checked again. However, the number hadn't changed.

10.

'This is insane.'

His face instantly turned pale.

Kinaine had chosen Grimtoad not only because he knew it well, but because he had judged it would be weaker than the other four magical beasts.

But it was the strongest one?

"Wh-what is that!"

It seemed Kinaine wasn't the only one shocked. Turning his head, he saw Ilya collapsed right behind him. The strange shape of his legs suggested he couldn't move as his strength had left him.

"Wh-what is that! You definitely destroyed it!"

And here he was earlier complaining about stealing.

Though such an inappropriate thought briefly crossed his mind, Kinaine quickly dismissed the useless contemplation. This wasn't the time for such things.

'...Come to think of it, when the jar first opened, the smoke split into four streams.'

Only Kinaine, who had known there were five magical beasts sealed in the jar, had found this strange.

He had thought he saw wrong, but if that wasn't the case?

"...Could there have been two from the start?"

Such things existed in nature too. Beings that lived by parasitizing other life forms.

Perhaps Grimtoad had already been devoured by the black tentacle beast inside the jar. From the start, what he had been facing wasn't Grimtoad but the black tentacle beast, and thinking this way, its slower movements compared to his memory made sense.

According to what he had read from the jar, this thing's name was most likely 'Parasite.'

'But why isn't it attacking?'

Though it had gained the upper hand, for some reason the magical beast remained still for a while instead of attacking immediately.

Kinaine suddenly felt it was being wary of something. Though he didn't know what it was being cautious of, what was clear was that it wasn't him.

'What in the world...'

Just as Kinaine tried to look around, the black tentacles flew at him at high speed.

He barely dodged the attack. He had moved relying on instinct rather than what his eyes saw. Though he felt something off about his right ankle, there was no time to check.

"Huk!"

He heard Ilya draw in a sharp breath right behind him. It was a situation where they could neither expect help from the guards nor run away.

'Damn it.'

His judgment was quick.

The moment Kinaine raised his shield to block Ilya, the tentacles struck it.

Crack!

"Ugh!"

Kinaine flew back and only stopped when his back hit a tree.

If he hadn't quickly blocked with the shield, his ribs might have been crushed, killing him instantly.

'Wait, wasn't there a breaking sound?'

Kinaine hurriedly checked his shield. The shield that had performed its role admirably was half cracked. It looked too damaged to use again.

"Oh no..."

The shield wasn't the only thing that hadn't escaped unharmed. Perhaps from gripping wrong while hastily raising the shield, his right index finger was bent backward. It hadn't been able to withstand the impact.

It looked painful just to see, but fortunately Kinaine didn't feel much pain.

"You...!"

Ilya, surprised that Kinaine had helped him, couldn't continue speaking and just opened his eyes wide.

"I didn't help you because you're pretty."

"What?"

Kinaine asked as he staggered to his feet.

"I heard the winged tribe can use wind techniques. What can the tailed tribe do?"

This magical beast wasn't something he could defeat alone. It would be better to face it together than alone.

"...I can talk to plants, but it's not the kind of ability that helps in combat."

Talking to plants. Though it was an amazing ability, as Ilya objectively assessed, it wasn't an ability that would help in the current situation.

Perhaps the only fortunate thing now was that there seemed to be hesitation in the magical beast's attacks.

The magical beast seemed to be wary of something unseen rather than Kinaine. If not for that, Kinaine and Ilya would have become cold corpses long ago.

"Let's run away for now."

"Sorry I can't be of help after you saved me!"

"If you have energy to chatter, get up."

"...Hmph!"

Fortunately, perhaps having regained his strength while talking, Ilya snorted but put strength in his legs to stand up.

"–"

When Ilya muttered something in a mysterious language, tree roots moved to cover the fallen guards with earth. This would keep them from catching the magical beast's eye.

That wasn't all. The forest trees all shook at once. Swish, leaves fell like heavy rain, blocking the magical beast's vision.

Kinaine asked with surprised eyes.

"Did you do that?"

"Yes, let's escape while we can."

"Can't you ask them to attack the magical beast?"

"They don't like fighting, so it's hard to persuade them."

If that was the case, nothing could be done. Kinaine quickly accepted this. Getting away from here was the priority for now.

However, the next moment, Kinaine realized he had a problem.

"What are you doing? Why aren't you moving?"

Having finished preparing to flee, Ilya looked questioningly at Kinaine who wasn't budging. Kinaine didn't answer, but Ilya quickly identified the cause.

His eyes shook greatly.

"Your leg..."

Kinaine's right ankle, which had been caught by the tentacles, was bent at a strange angle.

"Your leg's in that state and you didn't know?!"

Not knowing what medicine Kinaine had taken, Ilya looked dumbfounded. Well, normally one would have fainted long ago in this condition.

"How can you escape with that leg... The orb!"

Ilya shouted.

"You have the orb. Use it!"

Of course, using the orb meant forfeiting, but what was more precious than life?

Kinaine had been thinking similarly. Though he didn't like it... wouldn't it be better than dying meaninglessly here? He had to live to be able to do anything.

Intending just to check first, Kinaine searched the pocket where he had put the orb. However.

"Huh?"

No matter how much he searched, he couldn't find anything.

"Where did it go...?"

"It's not there?!"

Though he checked if he might have put it in another pocket, it wasn't there either. Kinaine belatedly noticed a hole in his pocket. The orb must have fallen out through this hole.

Such a stupid... his head throbbed at the unbelievable mistake. Normally he would have noticed, but with his senses numbed by the strong medicine, he hadn't even noticed when his clothes had caught and torn somewhere.

When Kinaine shook his head, Ilya panicked as if he had lost his own orb.

"You idiot! What are you going to do after losing that! ...No choice. I'll give you my orb for now, aak!"

His words weren't finished. Because a tentacle flew in and struck Ilya. Fortunately, the trees moved to catch him before he fell, but he showed no response as if unconscious.

Now Kinaine had two options left.

Fight and win against the magical beast, or try to escape with his injured leg.

The chances of success were close to zero with either choice.

But thinking about it, Kinaine had always been unlucky since switching bodies with Hasan. If he had fallen into despair and done nothing each time, he couldn't have come this far.

So he would simply do what he could do right now.

Having finished his thoughts, he drew his dagger. His gaze as he faced the enemy was beyond calm, it was serene.

* * *

At that moment.

The dragon watching the situation from a tree furrowed his brow.

'What is wrong with that one's head?'