Ray – Hairit Langrei's Sly Grin
Hairit Langrei grinned from ear to ear as she said, "Just peel off a bit of your hide. It'd make great arm socks."
I shuddered at the thought. What a terrifying human. She didn't look all that tough, but she was definitely the vicious type.
Her status window wouldn't even show up.
She'd already saved my dad and Wangnuni, and now she was offering to take me to the Silverback Chimpanzee Akimus and kill that monkey for me. From my position, it was hard to say no. But what if she really asked to skin me? Arm socks were out of the question—maybe compromise on one ankle sock? Yeah, that'd work. It was all for the greater good. I steeled myself and waited for her demand.
"Just pull off a few scales. Two, three—no... five?"
'......'
"...Four?"
I relayed my intent through the gorilla lady.
"I'll give you... ten."
Hairit's face lit up.
"That should be enough for a necklace too."
I hurried her along before she changed her mind, letting her yank the scales free. It stung a bit and drew some blood, but it was a small price to pay.
"I've never really thought about making accessories, but this is a nice trick."
She seemed thrilled with my scales. Well, now that I'd evolved into a Crystal Double Horn Python, they weren't all that different from gems in some ways. She'd probably realized she could harvest monster byproducts without killing them this time. All I could hope was that this poacher had a change of heart.
No matter how brutally she'd treated monsters before, she'd helped me out big time. And she was doing it again now.
It was a posture like when I'd hitched a ride on Nanaruk's shoulder, but the ride quality was on another level. Whooooosh—
This was sprinting beyond Olympic levels. And the crazy part? We were dashing through a forest littered with monster corpses, not some pristine track. Yet there wasn't a single jolt—just the rush of wind. Must be killer suspension.
"Hang on tight! We'll be there soon. Whoa, weird—never thought I'd be giving a monster a shoulder ride. Wonders never cease."
She'd seemed like a total nutjob bawling her eyes out earlier, but she was surprisingly laid-back.
"Ugh, crying like that was embarrassing. Forget it happened. No one'll hear about it anyway since you're a monster."
For someone thinking that, she kept mumbling to herself like she wanted to chat.
"What breed are you? Something like a crystal lizard?"
Crystal Double Horn Python.
I played along roughly.
"Your dad's got a seriously cool look. And he talks, so he's gotta be some high-intelligence upper-tier breed. How come you don't talk?"
Level's too low, that's all.
"Evolve a few more times and you'll talk too. If we meet again, tell 'em you're that little snake from before. Better give 'em a heads-up."
Noted.
Evolution changes your appearance. What if I didn't warn her? Plus, evolving didn't guarantee speech. I resolved to avoid running into this woman again, no matter what.
Time to check my status while I recovered some stamina.
Epithet
Ouroboros, Heart-Eater
……
My level was at the cap. That meant I could evolve now. Soon as this was over, it'd be evolution time. What next? Could I finally hit Serpent this time? Honestly, probably not yet. The only serpents I'd seen were Mom and Dad. Dad as a Polaris Serpent went without saying, but even Mom the Medusa Serpent seemed way stronger than me right now. I wanted to be a Serpent by the evolution after next, for sure.
Lost in those thoughts, Hairit reached the roots. Up close, there were definitely a ton of monkeys left. With Riok dead, the spider-faced bugs gone, and the centipede mom bailing, their insect army was wrecked. Looked like the monkeys had scraped out a win against the stragglers. They clustered around the roots like guards.
The monkeys shot wary glances at Hairit and me. Only the Silverback Chimpanzee Akimus had climbed up—probably didn't want his underlings eyeing the fruit. Greedy bastard.
Hairit halted a short distance away.
Shouldn't we charge in?
No answer, of course. Instead, she dropped her backpack.
"No need to bother with those twiggy losers. Gotta climb fast."
She got my message, huh? What she pulled from the bag was a long curved rod. And it kept coming.
Pellelian recognized it.
-Subspace backpack.
Oh.
Some kinda magic item.
Why lug around an uncomfortable backpack? No subspace ring or something?
-Foolish serpent. You think accessories infused with subspace magic are common?
Pellelian sounded half-bragging, half-scolding. Come to think of it, I still needed to grab that gnome's invisibility cloak. But not the time.
-It's a greatbow.
The "rod" was actually a bow. A massive one. Jet-black and shining—probably made from monster horn.
She stabbed it into the ground and pressed down hard. Crackkk! Strung the bowstring. Plucked it to test. Pulled arrows from the pack too—iron arrows that looked like slender spears, iron shafts.
She raised the greatbow skyward. Creak, creak. Pulled the string with a menacing groan. Her strength was no joke.
Twang!
The arrow whistled off. Didn't hit Akimus, but Hairit smirked.
"We'll use this to go up."
With the bow? How? Her method was even more explosive than I'd imagined.
"Roooar!"
The Silverback Chimpanzee Akimus bellowed fiercely. His stark white fangs gleamed sharp. He'd ripped into the enemy—the guardian's throat—with those teeth. Crunch, rip rip! The savage sound of tearing flesh echoed.
No hot blood sprayed. These guardians protecting the radiant fruit were Trents—tree-bodied monsters.
Trees weren't slow or gentle creatures. They came in all shapes and were viciously aggressive. This one was too. Even with its throat torn out, the body kept moving. It hammered Akimus with arms like thorns. Thud, smack!
Akimus spat blood. Climbing the root alone wasn't easy. He yanked out the Trent's arm with desperate strength. Snap! Stomped it flat. Boom, boom. Tore the stem, ripped it open.
"Huff... huff!"
Blood trickled from his mouth. He wiped it with his arm. Akimus was exhausted, injured. But a smile crept across his face.
"It's... done."
His nemesis Riok had gone mad with hunger and never even tried climbing. He'd glimpsed the snake fight that killed it. Dealt with all the root-climbing guardians too.
"Radiant... fruit."
There it was, up top. The radiant fruit resembled an apple—a gleaming golden apple. The scent alone made his head spin. Soon it'd be his. Chew that sweet flesh, and Akimus would grow stronger. To a higher realm. Even if his body couldn't evolve anymore. He'd break that wall, evolve once more.
He knew it instinctively. The World Tree had granted him this chance.
Akimus walked slowly. Not from leisure, but exhaustion. His fur puffed up suddenly. He jerked his head on instinct.
Whiiiistle!
The iron arrow streaked past where his head had been. It tore his earlobe. Clutching the bleeding ear, Akimus whipped around.
An arrow meant a weapon. Who? Fairy? Human here? Or that sneaky gnome?
Didn't matter. The crisis wasn't over. The arrow had flown high into the sky, but killing intent surged from behind. He twisted away, but—
Thwack!
An iron arrow lodged in his right shoulder blade. The arrow returned like it was alive. He tried yanking it, but no dice. Barbs lined the shaft—pure malice from the maker. Forcing it would mean massive bleeding.
Another arrow flew. Akimus braced and dodged, but it sailed past him. Thunk! Buried in an upward root branch. A twisted wire trailed from the shaft.
He couldn't be blamed for not grasping the wire's purpose right away. For a monster to even recognize an arrow was extraordinary.
Soon, a human clambered up the wire. Near-flying speed. But Akimus's eyes locked on the monster on her shoulder.
"Monkey bastard!"
And that snake lunged at Akimus.
Chimp, you thought you'd won? Wrong!
My condition wasn't great either. But the chimp's was way worse.
Predator Leap lv2
I aimed for his right shoulder blade—where the arrow stuck. He swung to block, but flinched and stumbled. Let me sink my fangs in successfully. Shluck.
The neurotoxin left in my venom gland injected in a flash.
"Graaah!"
He roared like he thought he was a tiger. My lethal poison could drop big monsters instantly, but he stayed up. Instead, his good left arm clamped my body.
He raised it to smash me into the ground. I'd predicted this far.
Thunder Command lv1
Thunder Command's big pro: instant activation. Con: I take damage too. But even this monster chimp had less heat and lightning resistance than me.
Crackle-crack!
The chimp's eyes rolled back white. Now just slip his grip.
But I'd overlooked something. Electrocution contracts muscles. His grip tightened viciously. The pain made me want to scream.
"Grrk."
And Akimus snapped back to his senses. Just as he reared like Hulk to pound me—
Slash!
His wrist—still clutching me—severed clean. Hairit joined, curved sword in hand.
"Raaagh!"
Blood fountained from Akimus's stump. Tough bastard—he charged Hairit despite it, aiming a kick. His fur sharpened like spines; metal clanged on impact with her blade and foot.
"Die already!"
But Hairit didn't budge. She wielded the curved blade like an extension of her limbs.
I moved to help her, then turned. The wire we'd climbed—monkeys swarming up it.
"Eek! Eek!"
"Keeek!"
Coming to aid their boss. Couldn't let that slide. I slithered up the root to the iron arrow anchoring the wire.
Severing Strike lv3
Couldn't cut the iron arrow, but—Clang! I yanked it free. It was already bearing weight.
"Eeeeeek!"
The monkeys, nearly at the top, plummeted en masse. Tangled heaps crashing to the ground, of course.
Demonic essence absorbed.
Demonic essence shared.
No level up, but plenty of demonic essence rolled in. Dropping those primates in a pile might've helped Hairit a bit.
"Gwaaaah!"
Meanwhile, Akimus lost both hands. He'd body-slammed Hairit in that moment. She flew off like her earlier bravery was a joke, tumbling across the root.
Akimus seemed to seize momentum, then bolted. No—fled. Leaping down the root.
"N-nooo!"
Hairit screamed. She'd ditched the snake idea to chase silver monkey hide. But her prey slipped away right under her nose.
I hurried over and peered down.
He's alive!
Incredible durability. He'd used the monkey corpse pile as a cushion too. Limping on a twisted leg, fleeing.
Shoot him, idiot!
I pointed at the arrow with my tail, urging her. She grabbed the bow to restring, but her face paled as she muttered,
"Ah... my arm's broken..."
Her wrist was swollen huge. From the collision with Akimus, probably. Humans were such fragile creatures. I'd thought she was hero-tier like Gunter. Guess not.
-Can't let him escape here.
Akimus limped fast. No way—we couldn't lose him. That sly monkey would pester me like a hemorrhoid to the end.
My ranged options...? None. Magic wouldn't reach.
"I'll go down."
Hairit started descending the root. But monkeys still waited below. Whatever Akimus ordered, they weren't fleeing—they held position to block her.
I kept glaring at Akimus.
-What're you doing? Mouth hanging open.
Quiet. Concentrating.
Yeah. There was a skill Dad hadn't fully taught me. But one I could definitely learn. He had it too, after all.
-Y-you're trying that?!
Pellelian started to freak but shut up. Consideration for my focus.
So I did it. Gathered mana in my mouth, like spitting it out. Scraped together every last bit. Focused it at one point ahead, like forming the transparent hand. More. Stronger.
-Oooh...!
Pellelian gasped. A glow gathered at my mouth.
Diligence: No restrictions on skill acquisition.
Was it working? Keep concentrating. Yeah, like vomiting mana...
"Urk."
The moment nausea hit, a ray shot from my mouth.
Pew—!
It nailed Akimus's thigh. Didn't pierce his tough flesh, but the wound looked like a full-power baseball bat smash. He screamed and collapsed.
Hairit, chasing him, flashed me a thumbs-up.
-Success!
Yeah, amazingly true. I'd solo-learned it like a genius. The essential skill for any great monster.
Destruction Beam.
Ray lv1
...Just Ray!
Finally, Hairit Langrei closed in and beheaded Akimus in one stroke.
Anyway. The radiant fruit was ours now.