Chapter Forty-Three

Stupid disgusting fake elementals. They killed all her snacks. Her mother didn’t want to kill them, but to her they committed a grave offense to her glorious self. No one was allowed to steal her meals. Well, aside from her mother but she wouldn’t consider that stealing.

Far faster than any meal stealer could follow, Ione shot through the jungle, always finding the path of least resistance despite her increased size.

Suddenly she dug her claws into the ground, stopping on a dime, then she lowered herself to the ground trying to hide her beautiful but camouflage challenged fur.

Her eyes zeroed in on a large group of fake elementals, however something was different with them, but she couldn’t put her claw on it. They felt much stronger than most, but at the same time less disgusting. Stronger should mean more disgust like the other groups.

Curious, she stalked after them, always keeping several trees between them and her. Another oddity presented itself soon after. The other groups who while had inferior senses to her or her mother they at least appeared alert of their surroundings ready to react to an attack. While these disgusting fake elementals seemed completely at ease.

Maybe they thought they were the top predator on the island. Of course they were wrong, but they were disgusting fake elementals, so she couldn’t blame them for their mental deficiencies.

Hopefully, she and her mother would prove how wrong they were soon. As fun as it was to hunt the watches, it was growing boring. They needed a better challenge, which hopefully turned into a meal. Not that these things would provide a tasty snack. Just the thought made her want to throw up.

Though they at least didn’t repel her from the stench alone. Maybe they were trying to improve themselves. If she were them, she would try her best to shake off the disgustingness. Despite their efforts, they had a long way to go.

As she followed them, her superior senses pinpointed the direction they were going. These must be the elite group her mother mentioned. They were probably scouting the nearby territory, though based on their relaxed, almost lazy demeanor, they weren’t doing a good job. Not that they would have found her glorious self, even if they were trying.

Even by some miracle they spotted her, she could always escape. No way could they match her speed if she wanted to perform what her mother called a tactical retreat. Of course, they would never truly run away. They were the Queens of this island, after all. The system even confirmed it with their ranking.

Pride radiating through her, some of which she sent through her bond with her mother as was her habit. She had to keep morale up. Ever since the disgusting fake elementals showed up, her mother appeared troubled. She kept glancing to the west as if she wanted to find something in that direction.

Of course, as a good daughter, she knew why. Her mother wanted to reunite with her sister, and she would do her best to make sure it happened. Even she felt a faint connection somewhere to the west. Which made sense since her mother’s twin was family, too. She would protect her family, as was her duty.

The faster they conquered the disgusting fake elementals, the sooner they could reunite.

Determined to make her mother happy, Ione picked up the pace, hoping to reach her target faster. With her superior senses, she no longer needed to follow the group as she sensed a large clearing a couple of kilometers to the south.

Before she left them, her desire to prove her superiority got the best of her. She dug her claws into the packed ground then shot toward them so fast she was nothing but a blur to them as she swiped her claw at the watch adorning a middle-aged woman’s wrist before pivoting on a dime to do the same to another watch. Even before the watches exploded and flared up into the sky, she made her escape.

More points for her family.

Ione skidded to a stop a kilometer from her target as another thought came to her. Why not target every watch? It would provide a delightful challenge and distraction. Maybe it would even scare them away so she and her mother had the island to their selves.

Even if it didn’t scare them away, she would earn her family a ton more points. Just that strike raised their point total by almost a hundred. She wasn’t sure they were worth that much, but she couldn’t complain about easy gains. Still, she’d like a more challenging hunt.

Before she enacted her plan, she checked her bond to find her mother remained in the tree where she had left her. A pang of guilt hit her a moment later. She wished she could bring her mother on this glorious hunt, but if she triggered the watches while her mother remained in the tree, it would sow more confusion.

Despite their deficiencies, they probably figured out her mother was the source of the flares, but if her glorious self triggered a bunch, it might throw a wrench in their plans. They were tracking her mother, but not her, after all. They dared to track her mother. Now they must pay the price.

If only they weren’t so disgusting, she would kill them all. Sometimes she envied her mother’s ability to kill without dirtying her hands, but the more she fought with her unparalleled claws and teeth the more she preferred a more paws on fighting style.

In this case, a ranged attack would be preferable, but she could only use the tools available to her. Fortunately, all it took was a swipe of her claw at the watch without touching the disgusting fake elementals to trigger the flare.

She shot off to the north, deciding to hit the furthest groups from the camp near the southern shore first.

Within minutes, she reached her first target, which she dispatched with a quick claw to the two watches in the group of a dozen. Before they knew what happened, she moved on, doing the same to several more groups until she spotted something curious.

About a kilometer to the west, over fifty Changed gathered in a clearing surrounding something especially tasty. For a moment she thought of fetching her mother, but in fear of losing out on the meal, she ventured forth.

An ear rattling roar flattened her ears as she stalked toward her next targets.

She poked her snout out of the dense jungle, eyes practically sparkling upon sighting the Changed’s adversary. Towering over everyone on two legs, a monster with a far too big mouth and too short arms stood against the combined effort of over fifty Changed.

Elements bounced off its sturdy scales as it whipped its tail with vicious intent. Several unlucky Changed earned themselves a hit to their torso, sending them flying several meters in unmoving piles.

The creature wasn’t tanking the combined effort without some damage, however. With each volley, its scales dulled a little, some scorched or frosted over, but it did little to slow its counterattacks.

Every whip of its tail incapacitated or killed a handful of Changed as they were too slow to react or unwilling to retreat.

Stupid disgusting fake elementals. This was no hunt. What was the point in throwing numbers at an obviously superior foe? Sure, they may kill it in the end, but she doubted even a quarter of them would survive. If they even managed to kill it at all. At the current rate, if they didn’t kill it within the next minute, they wouldn’t have enough left.

Unfortunately, a few seconds later her hopes the superior delicious hunter would survive took a turn for the worst. While it violently dispatched Changed with its tail seemingly just as disgusted as her glorious self going by its lack of biting, at least another fifty Changed appeared at the edge of her senses.

Disgusting in both body and mind. Not only were they willing to sacrifice their own in the initial confrontation, they planned to throw even more numbers at the superior, delicious hunter.

She couldn’t allow that to happen. Her mother didn’t want to kill the disgusting fake elementals, but even she had to admit they earned their fate. Especially after all the meals they stole from her. As the superior being, she claimed the delicious hunter for herself.

Still, did she really want to dirty her claws on these disgusting creatures? There wasn’t even any honor in the hunt. They were so far below her they had no chance, even if they knew where she was. Sometimes she had to make sacrifices, though. Her lightning should burn off any bits of disgusting fake elementals she got on her unparalleled claws. At least, she hoped.

Decision made Ione blurred forth. Far faster than anyone could react, she slashed through the throats of the dozen remaining Changed, scoring quick kills.

A golf ball sized eyes looking comically small on its massive head followed her as she retreated back into the jungle. To give the delicious hunter a chance to make their hunt interesting, Ione shot off toward the pursuing Changed, now numbered in the hundreds.

If they were willing to sacrifice so many to the delicious hunter, she doubted the leaders would miss them. If they did, oh well. This was their punishment for ruining her meals and hunts.

She even had a route planned out with the tastiest dungeons ready for when her mother finally left the scaled treats. Now they had to dodge these stupid pests. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t track her like her mother and would pay the ultimate price for their mistakes.

Like slaughtering livestock, Ione dispatched groups by the dozen with lightning fast slashes to their necks before any of them could react. Disgust grew with each successive kill, but she pushed it down, knowing it was for the greater good.

Unfortunately, her plans took a turn when she realized the numbers converging on her location kept growing. The previous hundred more than tripled, attracted by the growing number of flares in the sky.

Still, she kept killing, reaching a hundred kills within minutes. In the fog of the slaughter, she failed to notice several stronger presences converging on her location until it was almost too late.

Lightning sparked off her now red fur as she stood panting in a clearing surrounded by bodies and dozens of flares high in the sky, broadcasting her location to everyone.

Almost a minute passed with no further attacks returning lucid thought to her mind and with it a deep sense of disgust. A shiver ran through her body as she shook, trying to dislodge the coating of red on her glorious fur, but the sticky substance refused to go away.

Overwhelmed, she almost missed several much stronger presences converging from the south, far faster than the usual disgusting fake elemental swarm. One of them even felt extra tasty, tempting her to attack, but something deep within her told her it would be a bad idea. Instead, she turned to the north and took off in a sprint.

Her pursuers somehow kept pace as she reached the beach and dove into the water. Despite her situation, relief coursed through her as the blood of disgust of the disgusting fake elementals washed away.

However, her relief turned into worry upon reaching an invisible barrier only a dozen meters from shore. Upon sensing her pursuers near the shore, Ione shot through the water following the invisible barrier, hoping to elude them in the water, but they easily kept pace with her on the shore.

Soon she realized her mistake upon reaching the southern end of the island. Thousands of changed stood on the shore as earth Changed erected a wall blocking her path. On a dime, she turned to swim the back the way she came, only for another wall to ascend, boxing her in.

She poked her head above the surface, slitted violet eyes taking in the army of disgust surrounding her. As soon as she glanced at the walls tempted to jump over them, razor-sharp spikes speared upward along each of them.

A moment later, the one bastion of tastiness in the sea of disgust reached the southern shore. The sea of disgust parted, revealing a green-haired man writhed in emerald lightning.

Almost instantly her danger sense spiked, causing her to back against the invisible wall, tail puffed even underwater.

At least her mother wasn’t with her. As long as her mother remained safe, it didn’t matter what happened to her.

She would take as many of these disgusting fake elementals down with her to give her mother a chance.