Chapter 53 : Predation

Following Invidia’s request, I entered the forest, and due to his unexpected actions, I found myself surrounded by three rabbit-type Master Sarkas.

I wanted to complain a lot, but my life was at stake, so I had no choice but to immediately enter combat mode.

“Kyaooo!”

At the forepaw attack of the Sarkas leading the three, the surrounding trees fell, dropping their leaves.

‘How am I supposed to handle three of them alone? Even one is a tough opponent!’

The rabbit-type Master Sarkas was not a slow species compared to its size, so I was busy rolling around to avoid attacks.

Invidia followed me around and tilted its head.

[Strange. Aren’t you the human who defeated me? Why are you struggling with these mongrels?]

‘Set me on fire before you punch me.’

I was barely keeping up with my speed, so I needed his help.

[It’s no problem to give you a ride on my back. Come on, get on.]

When I got on Invidia’s back, I felt a similar riding sensation to when I rode Daengdaengi. However, it was moving at a speed that was incomparable to Daengdaengi.

‘It’s faster than I thought..?’

Daengdaengi wasn’t a slow-footed Osteon, but there were many faster Osteons. I thought Invidia’s speed would be similar to Daengdaengi’s, but it was much faster than I expected.

I fired the crossbow, circling quickly between the Sarkas. The arrow hit with a ting sound, but since it was a normal arrow, not a bloodstone arrow, nothing happened.

‘..Damn it, bloodstones at a time like this..’

As I was struggling to reload the arrow, Invidia asked, frustrated.

[What are you doing? Why aren’t you attacking?]

‘I don’t have any bloodstones. You ate them all earlier.’

[You humans are so much trouble.. Give me that arrow.]

‘This? What are you going to use it for?’

When I handed him a wooden arrow, he swallowed it whole into his body.

[Long and.. sharp at the end.. Right, it’s done.]

I had no idea what he was trying to do. Then, something long and black emerged from near Invidia’s head.

“Whoa! What is this!”

It was a strangely wriggling black arrow, as if the Sarkas itself had become an arrow.

[I disassembled a part of my tissue and made a similar shape. Try it.]

‘Umm..’

It didn’t look like something I wanted to hold in my hand, but the situation was urgent, so I loaded it into the crossbow and fired it immediately.

‘..Did it shake a little?’

I aimed and fired at the heart, but my hand shook, and it missed slightly.

[No problem. I will correct the error.]

The black arrow sharply bent and changed direction, accurately piercing the Master Sarkas’s core. The Sarkas, hit by a fast and accurate blow, hit the ground without even screaming.

“How did you do that?”

[It detected the Sarkas’s core and destroyed it on its own. Since it was made using a part of me, it’s easy to give orders.]

It was possible because that arrow was also made of Invidia’s body.

‘..If you had such a convenient thing, you should have told me sooner.’

I remembered when I was running around hard with a dagger to catch rabbit Sarkas.

[It’s not worth it to use on small fry. It takes as much energy as 10 rabbit Sarkas to make that arrow. At least the guys we’re dealing with now seem to be worth that much.]

As it was an attack that consumed Invidia’s energy, its performance showed truly outstanding power. In an instant, I fired a second black arrow and brought down another Sarkas, and aimed the arrow at the last remaining Sarkas.

‘I’m sick and tired of rabbits now..!’

The black arrow that was shot flew straight towards the Sarkas, but it bit the arrow with its huge teeth and crushed it.

‘The arrow…?’

The black arrow crushed by its teeth scattered like ashes and disappeared.

[It seems that guy was the leader of the group. Now I understand why the other two followed him.]

Usually, Master Sarkas have the alpha status in the group, so it was hard to imagine them sticking together. However, because of the overwhelming difference in power between that guy and other individuals, other Master Sarkas suppressed their instincts and followed him.

[It seems that the methods used so far will be difficult. I wish you good luck, human.]

‘What!?’

“Kyaooooooo!”

Perhaps because he was very angry at the loss of his subordinates, he began to charge indiscriminately. The huge body that was incomparable to the two guys I fought earlier destroyed everything in its path.

[Aren’t you going to use magic? You’re a Spirit Master.]

‘Wait. I’m thinking.’

In fact, I had been looking for an opportunity since earlier, but there was no opening.

‘Dark-type attack magic all takes too long to prepare. If I use it openly, I’ll be killed..’

Moreover, to properly use Dark Bullet in broad daylight like this, I had to set up a Scotadi spell to block the light. As I kept struggling, Invidia asked for an opinion.

[What about the magic you used to kill me last time? With that, you can surely finish that guy off.]

‘Thanatos?’

The spell he was talking about was the ultimate dark-type spell, Thanatos. It’s a spell that shoots a ray of pure darkness from the fingertips, which can surely kill the target, but it’s a spell that uses a part of the lifespan as a price.

‘There’s no way I’ll use up my lifespan in a place like this!?’

[Don’t worry. I’ll adjust the power of the spell to reduce the burden on your body.]

‘That’s possible..?’

[Of course. I was at the pinnacle of the Sarkas species, you know.]

He seemed to be thinking about something, and then sent a thought.

[Let’s see.. How about 1/10th of the original power.]

The lifespan consumed by Thanatos is generally 5 years, so 1/10th of that means half a year. I didn’t want to use a technique that would fly away for half a year every time I shot, even though I had a shorter lifespan than others.

‘Absolutely not!’

[..I don’t understand why humans are so obsessed with longevity. All right. Let’s compromise at 1/100th.]

I roughly calculated, and it came out that I would use about 18 days of lifespan per shot. If I used it only very occasionally, it wasn’t a price I couldn’t bear.

‘Well.. that much is fine..’

[Good. The contract is established.]

Invidia suddenly slowed down, dispelled the summon on his own, and entered my body. Because of that, I was dropped to the bare ground, and I barely managed to keep my balance.

“What are you doing!?”

[To reduce the power of magic, I have to directly interfere with your mind. It’s impossible while I’m outside. Now concentrate! It will rush at us.]

It felt like something was strongly constricting my head. I thought it was Invidia trying to forcibly suppress the power of magic.

[The speed will increase as the power decreases, but it won’t die unless you hit the core accurately. Aim carefully.]

‘Saying that makes me nervous..’

Although the power was reduced to 1/100th of the original, it was still not a technique to be used lightly.

I quickly recited the spell, made a gun shape with my hand, and aimed at the Sarkas running from the other side.

‘Where the hell should I shoot..’

I couldn’t figure out where the core was.

[Oh, right. You humans can’t see it.]

After his thought was delivered, my vision suddenly felt dark.

‘Light..?’

In the dull-looking vision, strangely, only a specific part of the Sarkas’s body glowed red.

[I shared my vision for a moment. Now you can see the location of the core, right?]

I aimed my fingertip at the red dot and concentrated.

‘Thanatos…!’

It’s not as powerful as the one I shot at Invidia, but a ray of light that is sure to pierce any living creature stretched out.

The ray accurately hit the Sarkas’ core and pierced through, and the corpse of the Sarkas, which lost its life, slid on the ground and stopped right in front of me.

“…Phew, I lost 10 years.”

At my words, which I said as I brushed my chest, Invidia answered with a thought.

[10 years? The lifespan that has been reduced is only 18 days.]

At Invidia’s answer, I made an absurd expression.

‘It’s just an expression. Invidia.’

[..I still don’t understand. Human expressions.]

Invidia is overly direct and selfish, but he certainly has the power to be called an ancient species.

The fact that I quickly defeated three Master Sarkas, which I had struggled so much with in the past, with his help, was proof of that.

[Then, shall we have a meal? It’s inconvenient that Sarkas disappear over time.]

He opened his mouth grotesquely wide and began to swallow the remaining corpses of the Master Sarkas whole.

Looking at that scene, it wouldn’t be strange to call him Invidia of Gluttony, not Envy.

[Ooh…]

After he finished his meal, he wriggled his body and fell into admiration.

“I have completely analyzed the components of the rabbit Sarkas. It was worth the effort.”

“Then, can you find out the identity of Violet now?”

Invidia shook his head and said firmly.

[No. What I did today was just the first step to regaining my strength. There is still a long way to go.]

He said that he had poured out almost all his power to combine his body with Daengdaengi, so he would never be able to regain his former strength.

‘…I see.’

[Human. Don’t be disappointed yet. Look at this.]

Invidia’s hind legs swelled strangely, and then transformed into the shape of a rabbit Sarkas’s hind legs. He, who had the same body shape as Daengdaengi, had only his hind legs changed.

“Your hind legs.. look muscular?”

The hind legs, which had changed into a shape suitable for kicking off the ground, looked strong enough to be believed to be those of a Master Sarkas.

[It seems that if you collect a lot of genes of a specific species, you can imitate even the function like this. Would you like to try riding on my back?]

When I got on his back, Invidia lowered his posture and began to gather strength in his hind legs. And, with a fierce sound of kicking off the ground, he jumped into the air.

‘omg..! ’

He jumped so high that the forest could be seen below. The forest, which seemed only wide, could be seen at a glance.

Invidia landed on the ground with a violent movement.

[I thought rabbit-type Sarkas were uncivilized, but these hind legs seem to be quite useful. What do you think, human? How does it feel to fly high for the first time?]

“…”

[…Human? Why aren’t you answering?]

I looked down at the ground the moment Invidia jumped high, and I think I fainted.

At the same time, I realized that I had forgotten something important in my past life memories.

I had a serious fear of heights.

After that day, Invidia and I went out to the forest every day to collect genes. Invidia also got used to his body, and now he was able to catch small Sarkas without my help.

About a week after that life continued, a summons order was issued by Instructor Cled.

“Okay. This is everyone.”

“What’s up, Cled. Is it another errand for alcohol?”

“What do you think of me? Of course, I’ll ask you to do that too.”

This time, Cled called not only me, but our entire team. Yuri, Carne, and Luna were all gathered together.

“The commander knows better than anyone the achievements of your team in the last battle. Therefore, he said he wanted to entrust your team with a mission.”

Cled handed over the documents and said to us.

“It seems he wants you to be in charge of defeating the bandits.”

“…Yes?”