∼ Prey and Predators ∼

Chapter - 067

Stalking along the underbrush of the forest, Nyx took lead as Ignatius shadowed his movements. The human had his saber drawn as his gaze scanned the surroundings. They were hunting the druggle, Nyx following the scent trails with his keen nose. Nyx could've of course summoned his familiar as it was a naturally better-suited tracker than him. But it was not needed.

Nyx's senses and experience were more than enough to hunt this beast. Compared to the Netherworld, this place was nothing. And the beasts within were critters in contrast to what Nyx had been used to seeing wandering about.

It was with great ease that he had caught the scent of their prey the moment they entered the forest from the edge of the pastures. Iggy had described the druggle as a big, lumbering beast. So then again, it wasn't a surprise with how effortlessly the demon caught the odor of its musk. Since larger animals usually always had a strong scent about them. Not having to hide or mask it in fear of stronger predators.

Nyx was having a great time, though. So he was happy he had decided against bringing the thrasher into this. Besides, if he really were to summon her, he would be sacrificing a large part of his mana pool as keeping familiars in this plane reserved a portion of his mana. The same cost of her summoning, a whole five points. So while she was out and about, he only had four points of mana to do with since his trait [Demonhide] also reserved an additional ten percent of the poll as a whole. What he ended up with definitely wasn't a lot considering the costs of his latest new spells.

Even if Nyx were to de-summon her, he wouldn't get the reserved five points of mana refunded. It would have to recover on itself. A long and tedious process. So unless the situation specifically demanded it, he would wait with summoning the familiar prematurely until his mana pool had grown some more. He remembered Aria warning him about the fact that as the thrasher grows in levels, so would her cost for summoning her. Which was something to consider. As she was already above what he should've been able to summon, she was quite expensive to sustain, to begin with.

Coming back to himself as the scent of his prey became suddenly much more intense, Nyx picked up the pace. So far, they hadn't been met with any sign of remains from the farm animals taken or the serfs who had gone missing. It posed the questions of; just how had the monster made such a clean getaway? It didn't quite make a whole lot of sense since the beast was not eating its prey back in the pastures. Which had to mean it was somehow taking them back into the forest, without leaving any tracks at that.

Those questions were put in the back of their minds when they finally came upon their quarry, drinking from a river without a care in the world. Ignatius got low to the ground, crouching by a fallen log covered in moss leaning against another tree. Getting onto his stomach just in the nook of the mossy log, he extracted his handbook and flipped through a few pages until he found the description and notes of this particular beast.

Heavy-set, broad and muscular, with the head of a boar, its torso hang low to the ground with its stubby little legs. Even so, it still reached a grown man to their waist. It was a rather large beast, and despite its awkward build, Ignatius knew from his notes that this particular beast was very fast for its weight and size. So it was important he remembered that it wasn't to be underestimated lest he get run over. It was known to practically glide across the ground, gathering a lot of momentum before it would pierce its prey with either its strong tusks or long claws that were so long that they tilled the ground as they ran.

It was a menacing beast to be sure.

When Ignatius was just about to discuss with Nyx just how they were going to go about taking down this dangerous beast, a roar of fire whistled right past his head, flying right in the direction of the druggle. Ignatius was staggered as he watched the ball of orange fire arch towards the beast to then suddenly explode with a rain of liquidy fire all over the beast's leathery hide. It squealed like a pig, the beast thrashing about as the flame scorched its flesh. The massive monster had turned into a bonfire on legs.

Ignatius was too stunned to say anything or even react, but when the bucking monster suddenly began charging blindly in a direction, which coincidently put them exactly in its path, he scrambled to get up. A beast the size and weight of two whole stallions set on fire was charging right at them. Yet, when he saw Nyx just standing there, cackling maniacally he could only curse.

"Damn warlock!" He stumbled as he jumped to the side.

The human's panic was for naught though, as the raging beast came suddenly crashing to the ground, digging long furrows in the underbrush-covered dirt with its tusks. A single [Demonbolt] to its head had set a stopper to the still sizzling monster, the [Impfire] still burning away at the charred corpse.

[LVL: 12 - Moravian Druggle has been slain]

[You receive 105 points of experience for the kill]

Turning around to face the dead beast, Ignatius gulped, looking askance at the warlock. Even though the druggle was a monster that he himself could have killed easily, being a Silver Rookie and experienced in hunting monsters. But to kill it with so little effort... This display was just a testament to how powerful magic could be.

And to think this power had ended up in the hands of... him.

Nyx burst into laughter seeing Iggy's stricken expression. "What are you so afraid of - human?"

The world is doomed; Ignatius thought soberly.

Later, as Ignatius's large hunting knife tugged at the charred beast's thick hide, he cut into its insides with practiced ease. As Nyx kicked the scorched corpse with a scowl on his face, it sent a small splatter of boiled monster blood at the human. "Ey, watch it!"

"But it was so weak!" Nyx sneered, the jubilation of killing their prey gone as the demon was all but sated. They had ridden an entire day atop those accursed creatures called horses, just to have all of this over in less than the time it took to blink.

"What were you expecting? This commission was only of Iron-level difficulty. This beast only really needs around three to four Iron Rookies to take down."

Nyx whipped around on Ignatius. "Why did you pick such a weak monster then!?" He yelled in an accusatory voice, blaming the human for this utterly wasted trip.

Grunting as he stuck his knife further into the beast's guts, trying to ignore the smell of burnt flesh and bile, he gave Nyx a roll of his eyes. "Because you're an Iron mercenary. This commission wasn't meant for you to test your abilities, but to help you learn of the process. How you should go about being a mercenary. And this is the way of the monster hunter. My job was just to teach you. Not to risk my life for you. So shut it."

He pulled out the bloody knife, a smear of red blood coating it and his hand as he tried to peer into the beast as he continued. "But obviously, this was a waste of our time both. You clearly don't need my help. Especially when you can just charge headlong in without preparation." There was a certain note of self-deprecation in his voice.

Nyx just huffed. "Fine! Let us leave then, useless human." He turned on his heels and began stalking back to the homestead.

However, Ignatius's call stopped him. "Wait - something's wrong..."

"What?" Nyx asked curtly.

Scooping out some of the contents in the beast's stomach, a deep frown came onto the human's face. "They're no human remains here. Nor any of the missing animals. There are only what appears to be forest creatures here."

"So what?" Nyx asked, not quite understanding what the human was getting at.

"It means that in at least a week, this monster hasn't eaten any farm animals or humans." He rose back to his feet. "This not the monster we're looking for."

Now intrigued at the mystery unfolding, Nyx turned to come back. "Then wha-" However, before he even managed to pose the question, like an answer from the heavens themselves, an avian cry tore at the sky above. Barely having time to react as a shadow quickly blotted out the sun, Nyx's agile body and small frame allowed him to dodge the massive claws that raked viciously into the ground where he had been standing only moments before.

On instinct, Nyx had thrown a [Demonbolt] towards his ambusher the instant he regained his footing, eliciting an ear-splitting shriek from the creature at he appeared to hit home. Creating some distance, Nyx finally laid eyes upon the massive monster.

Huge, taller than three adult men stacked atop one another, the malformed beast reared up to its full imposing height, letting out an inhuman screech from a pitch-black beak. The thing was horrible to gaze upon. With its raven head, empty grey eyes, and pale white skin wherever it wasn't covered by spots of black feathers.

The massive wings beat at the wind, set upon its muscular frame that almost resembled that of a human figure, with hunched double-jointed hind legs, wiry muscle that strained against its pale skin, and more than just two sets of limbs. Hind legs, arms that it used as crotches to support its huge body, and a secondary set of arms tucked in between the first.

"Oh, shit..." Ignatius muttered, eyes wide as he slowly stumbled back in horror. "Fuck! Run! It's a raith!" He finally yelled, wrenching Nyx's attention back to reality.

Knowing what a raith was or not, he didn't need to tell Nyx twice as the little demon was already scrambling for its life, the raven-like creature fixing its pained anguish from the demonic fire burning on its side onto the small form of Nyx. Unfortunately for him, the beast was not only big, but it was fast too.

[You have taken 3 damage]

Its massive wing stretched out and whipped against Nyx. It was only a glancing blow but still more than enough to send him sprawling across the ground, tumbling as dirt and mud smeared his robes.

As he came to a halt, it was only just in time to see the beast charging at him, its clawed limbs tearing up the ground. A sudden shriek erupted from the raith's beaked mouth as its charge led into a sliding stumble. Nyx's second [Demonbolt], in a life-saving manner, scored a hit directly onto one of its elongated arms, effectively putting it off balance as it went limp and the rest of the body crashed into the ground.

He hurried back to his feet, noting that he was already down to five points of mana, only a single point having regenerated since the killing of the druggle. It was just enough to summon his familiar. He only needed a couple of seconds to summon the demon, so he looked to Iggy , hoping the human could stall for just a brief moment for him.

However, as he turned to look for the human, he was... nowhere to be seen. That was until Nyx just barely managed to glimpse the retreating form of the human sprinting, already far into the forest. Iggy had left Nyx for dead.

He looked back to the raith that had also gotten back up, at that moment realizing, even if he himself ran, he'd never outrun a monster who was not only this fast - but could also fly...

Nyx was fucked.