“What is that…?”
I arrived at my old nest and was at a loss for words.
There, a monster twice my size was devouring the corpses of humans and slimes.
The red, liquid-like flesh absorbed and melted the human corpses.
Roots that sprang from its body pierced the slime corpses and sucked them dry.
There were no survivors within sight.
Judging by the wounds on the humans, they were all pierced by those roots.
“Sura…”
The only thing moving in this place, a red and hideous monster, was slowly walking around, eating the corpses scattered about.
At first glance, it looked like a slime, but the inside of its reddish-black body was covered with something like plant roots.
Its cry was similar to that of a slime, but its pitch was lower and muffled than ours, giving it a sinister impression.
Its body was also slightly different from the usual mochi-shaped slime, bulging and distorted.
It looked as if it was covered in warts, and it sent chills down my spine.
“Hii…ii…”
As the monster moved, it bumped into a rock.
Only the edge of its body grazed it, but the rock disappeared without a trace, and in its place, a young man appeared. Perhaps he was using some kind of camouflage magic.
The chubby young man who had been discovered looked extremely flustered.
He was trembling and unable to stand up.
“N-no, no, nooo… I-I really didn’t want to come! That guy, Jaskal, said he needed manpower, and that he’d let me take back my spear, so I just came along… Why did it have to turn out like this!?”
“Sura… (Consume)”
The red monster extended a part of its body towards the pitiful young man—
“(—No time to just watch!)”
I had been frozen in shock for a while at the terrible scene, but if there was someone I could save, I had to!
“(Hey, monster, over here! 〖Challenge〗, 〖Bewitching Glimmer〗!)”
I rushed out and used my 〖Skill〗.
The monster stopped moving and extended its body towards me.
‘While I’m keeping it busy, you run!’
“Huh? Wha, eh…?”
‘Hurry!’
I tried to tell him with 〖Telepathy〗, but he didn’t try to run.
I lost my patience and yelled at him, and he finally started to move, but he was slow and wobbly.
“(Is it the effect of some kind of 〖Skill〗…? 〖Replicant Form〗, ‘Compact Slash’! Damn, I can’t fight here.)”
I slashed away the roots that the red monster had extended with my Earth Affinity spear.
Regardless of affinity, this spear was my highest-performance melee weapon.
However, if I stayed here, I might involve the young man, so after swinging my spear a few times, I leaped and fled backwards.
After confirming that the monster was following me, I entered the forest.
“(The closest place from here is… that open space!)”
I ran through the forest, recalling the terrain around the nest.
The monster was chasing me and swinging its roots around, but it couldn’t catch me while 〖Flee〗 was activated.
Soon, my vision opened up.
That open space, where for some reason no plants grew, had always been feared by the slimes as an eerie place.
“(Come on, I’ll take you on.)”
“Sura…”
The monster, which had been advancing while mowing down the trees in the forest, entered the open space and extended several roots in all directions.
“(Heh, no matter how many roots you grow, those attacks won’t hit me!)”
Front, back, left, right, and up and down. I skillfully dodged the roots by leaping and struck with 〖Slash〗 using 〖Cross Counter〗.
Each time they crossed, the roots were cut off, but they quickly healed.
However, unlike the healing of 〖Self-Regeneration〗, it felt more like they were being restored.
It was more like recovering with 〖Stockpile〗.
“(Tch, it’s persistent. Well, its 〖Life〗 should be decreasing, so it’s not a problem.)”
The monster’s main body approached, not wanting to leave it to just the roots, but there was no point in taking risks when I was steadily whittling it down.
I maintained a cycle of evasion and attack, running in a circle around the outer edge of the round open space.
“Sura… (Consume)”
Immediately after the monster’s dark intent was conveyed to me.
Dopan! The warts on the monster’s body burst, and several red streams of water extended from them.
No, they weren’t streams of water. They were the monster’s body transformed into long, whip-like shapes.
The Red Whips writhed complexly as they came towards me, but I dodged them with 〖Leap〗.
“(It’s just like Sura-ta’s 〖Bloodstream Arms〗.)”
I recalled the 〖Skill〗 of my former comrade, and then I noticed something strange.
Or rather, I could no longer ignore the strangeness I had been avoiding.
“(…Its body color, and the fact that it’s so huge, are the same as Sura-ta…)”
Most of the slime corpses in the nest were those of my acquaintances.
They had 〖Evolved〗, but I also saw the remains of Sura-zaemon and Sura-mi.
However, I couldn’t find Sura-ta’s among them.
Maybe he was still out hunting. Maybe he had already been eaten by the monster.
But, maybe—
‘—Hey, are you Sura-ta!?’
“Sura… (Consume)”
‘Why were you eating our comrades…? And some of the dead slimes were killed by those roots! Why did you do that!?’
“Sura… (Consume)”
‘What are those roots in the first place!? I’ve never heard of anyone growing something like that after 〖Evolution〗! If there’s a reason, tell me! I’ll think of a solution with you!’
“Sura… (Consume)”
‘Don’t just say “sura,” answer me!’
No matter how much I asked, there was no meaningful response from the red monster.
Was it really just a Demon Beast and not Sura-ta?
But even so, it was strange.
Demon Beasts were living things. They had feelings and thoughts, and usually, if you asked them something, they would give some kind of response.
It was abnormal that only the same thought was being conveyed.
“(But, I understand.)”
I understood that we couldn’t understand each other.
I understood that persuasion was impossible.
That’s why I—
“(If I leave you alone, you’ll harm both humans and slimes. —I’m going to have to kill you here.)”
—I resolved to kill someone who might have been my former comrade.