Chapter 339
FODDER (5)
A fantastical yet terrifying sight began to form as heat waves subtly rippled outward from the sphere, distorting the air around it. The neon clash of pink and red swirled together within the ball like liquid light, growing brighter with every passing moment until it shone like a small star in the darkness.
The wind shifted.
Leaves rustled and dust lifted from the ground as everything nearby seemed to be subtly pulled toward that glowing sphere.
From this exceedingly beautiful creature, from the glowing ball within its gaping mouth—
A deadly ray of pink and red suddenly shot forward, piercing through the air as a sound that invoked goosebumps echoed across the battlefield.
SCREEEE!
IAM who had been keeping an eye on everything while at the same time switching to the second round, meaning he only had one more round left for KASSARA as he was going to try his best to ration his bullets as he might need it later for a more important battle—for something far more dangerous than the creatures before him.
He had only inserted the new round when he had noticed the bald woman open her mouth wide and his instincts rang as he saw the visual of what was hidden beneath.
The moment the grotesque pillar of flesh emerged and the glowing sphere began to form...
Every sense he possessed flared at once, a sharp spike of foreboding stabbing through his mind as the air itself seemed to change.
He didn't hesitate.
He at that moment warned Natsuki who was moving in to heavily damage the worm!
"PULL BACK NOW!!!"
The shout reached Natsuki just as she was closing in to deliver what should have been a decisive blow to the worm. The command cut through her focus like a blade.
For the first time in this exchange, the dominant girl's expression changed.
Her pupils shrank to pinpoints.
In that instant, her awareness expanded outward, her senses sweeping across the battlefield as she finally noticed the terrifying build-up occurring around her.
She reacted immediately.
Her foot drove against the ground as she pushed herself backward with explosive force, abandoning the forward momentum of her attack while simultaneously calling her sword back toward her.
The opportunity she had carefully created—
She discarded it without hesitation.
... It was at this moment the second thing occurred.
From the point where Natsuki's sword was about to penetrate the massive eyeball at incredible speed that will need to be slowed down for us to observe that no one could have expected occurred!
In this slowed down moment, we can see from the faint indentation forming against the slick grey membrane... The blade had been only a hair's breadth away.
But then—
Something impossible happened.
The grey membrane did not continue sinking inward.
Instead—
It bulged outward.
The surface of the enormous grey eye rippled like disturbed water before bulging directly toward the blade that was now already moving away!
Beneath the thin membrane the many eyeballs packed within suddenly began moving in a frantic frenzy.
The sight was grotesque.
The smaller eyes beneath the surface began to swell and divide at an unnatural speed as if driven into a violent state of mitosis. One became two. Two became four. Four became many more in the span of a breath as soft tissue stretched and tore between them.
The interior of the massive eyeball churned like a nest of living organisms. Bulbous clusters of newly formed eyes shoved and forced their way toward the surface, writhing against one another in a frantic surge, pushing against the membrane as if desperate to escape confinement.
Bulging clusters of them pressed together as veins stretched thin and wet between their forming shapes.
The grey membrane stretched thinner and thinner as the growing mass pressed forward from beneath.
Then it broke through.
Dozens of small, glistening eyeballs forced themselves outward through the surface of the main eye, still connected by twitching cords of raw flesh. They pushed forward like a swarm of living parasites, their slick bodies sliding over one another as they lunged toward the retreating blade.
Each tiny eye rolled wildly within its socket, their pupils dilating and contracting with manic intensity. Some burst forward half formed, others rolling wildly within loose sockets of glistening tissue.
They rushed forward in a writhing mass as the sound they made was nauseating.
A sickening series of squelching pops and tearing slurps as the newly formed eyes multiplied further, splitting again and again, swelling outward like a grotesque bloom of living tissue.
All of them moving toward the sword that should have actually been pushing forward but due to the action of another was pulling away.
It was at this moment we could further see the difference between spawnlings and devils while ignoring the power both held.
The gain of intelligence and cunning was lost on these two creatures.
If they were just slightly smarter and could communicate with each other while working together, this reality where the sword that should have been swallowed up and Natsuki being taken completely by surprise and vulnerable would have occurred.
Especially with the unique and powerful abilities these two were currently displaying.
But alas, fate was progressing in a different direction as the consequences of this action from the bald woman creature were not yet finished.
Natsuki was silent but deep inside she was both disgusted and shocked by the sight of the creature's move that she had not discerned.
The writhing mass of multiplying eyeballs forcing their way out of the worm's membrane was something she had not predicted, the grotesque sight of them stretching and swelling toward her sword lingering in her mind for a brief instant.
Yet that instant was already too long.
She could only pump more mana into the connection with her sword, her Avien straining as she dragged the blade back toward her faster while her body pushed further away from the point of attack.
At the same time the deadly ray of neon pink and red was still moving at a blistering speed.
It tore through the air toward the space she had occupied only a moment ago.
Toward the exact point where the swollen mass of newly formed eyeballs were pushing forward in their desperate attempt to capture her blade, their surprise attack having already failed.
And the consequences would not be light.
The point of contact was made... and it wasn't with the body of Natsuki and the ray as intended... but a mass of eyeballs and neon ray as noises sounding eerily similar to the sound of popcorn popping could be heard.
Pop!
Pop!
Pop!
Pop!
Pop!
The ray was undeniable as it tore straight through the mass of eyes with ease and straight into a corner of the worm's grey eye. The creature had already begun to writhe and move out of the way in pain, its massive body twisting as the beam carved into it.
The cluster of freshly formed eyeballs burst one after another beneath the ray's passage. They split open like overripe fruit, their slick surfaces rupturing under the unbearable heat and force as pale fluids sprayed outward in thin streaks. Some of the smaller eyes simply collapsed inward while others detonated violently, their fragile membranes popping apart the instant the neon light touched them.
The popping sounds multiplied rapidly as the beam continued forward, each tiny eye lasting no more than a fraction of a second before bursting apart.
Yet the ray did not slow.
It punched into the corner of the massive grey eye itself, burning through the slick membrane as the surface shriveled and blackened around the point of impact. The worm's enormous body spasmed violently as the beam tore through its flesh.
It was unable to let out a scream of pain as it lacked a mouth, but one could only imagine the world of hurt it was experiencing.
The ray carved out a massive chunk, leaving behind a glowing pink and red wound that smoldered against the grey surface of the eye. The energy continued forward immediately after, striking a tree behind the creature and punching clean through the trunk as if the wood offered no resistance at all.
A perfectly circular hole remained where the beam had passed.
The ray itself continued in a straight line beyond that point, the pillar of neon pink and red remaining constant as it stretched deeper into the forest.
It was at this point IAM noticed something strange.
The creature had not moved its head to aim for Natsuki, who had already dodged out of the way.
Instead it remained completely fixed in place, its head locked forward even though the attack had clearly missed its intended target.
Almost as if...
It couldn't move while using this ability.
IAM watched carefully as the pillar of pink and red continued to pour from the creature's mouth. Despite being completely unarmed, this bald creature was without a doubt the one with the deadliest ability on the battlefield.
After a few tense seconds the pillar of neon light finally began to shrink.
The once blinding beam slowly thinned as the energy feeding it weakened, the glow flickering unevenly before gradually fading. The pillar of flesh inside the creature's mouth shrank back slightly as the light sputtered and died out.
The last traces of pink and red vanished into the air.
And silence resumed.
But IAM's mind was still racing as he noticed something else. The colourful patterns and clash of pink and red on the body of the creature… seemed dimmer than before, as the aura it was radiating felt weaker.
But that wasn't all.
IAM noticed that its face… well… its face could now be seen clearly as it closed its mouth once again, and what looked like a smile appeared on it as—
Ahem…
There really was no other way to say this but…
It looked… uglier than before.
It wasn't a massive difference, but it was definitely noticeable. Its features were just a bit less pleasant to look at, the strange harmony that had made its appearance almost mesmerizing before now slightly disturbed, as if something subtle had been taken away from it.
It seemed that there were debts to be paid while using its ability.
Trading its beauty in exchange for power.
IAM was sure there was some deeper meaning and things to ponder about. The more it seemed to utilise its power, the less radiant and beautiful it became—something more philosophical minds might stop to contemplate.
But that wasn't what was on IAM's mind.
Possibilities raged through his thoughts.
One had to wonder—if it became uglier with each use, then how beautiful were they at the beginning?
What happened when they became truly ugly?
Could they still use the ability?
Questions upon questions.
But the one currently on Natsuki's mind was far simpler.
How often could it use that attack?
Because if the answer was "many times"… then the situation was looking grim.
She looked in IAM's direction and, to her surprise, his face was covered with a devilish smile, his eyes deep and dark.
In such a situation… he was actually smiling.
Like everything was in control.
He spoke calmly, his intent made known. "Maybe for others this might cause them to falter… The situation is far more dangerous now… but I can only accept it… and deny it. This… can actually work in our favour."
His words were filled with confidence and assurance.
IAM had seen the pathway to victory.
And he didn't need eyes like Natsuki's to grasp it!
"Maybe you are right, Natsuki… and slightly wrong…" his words continued as Natsuki squinted in his direction.
"Those low spawnlings… not just them… but the mid spawnlings and even the high spawnlings… all of them…"
He paused for a brief moment before finishing his words.
"In my eyes, they are nothing but fodder! "
At this juncture, IAM had actually stolen Natsuki's words as he spoke his own domineering declaration.
He had just declared all the deadline creatures here…
FODDER!!!