The Beast (1)
It was a suffocating feeling.
The flesh on her left arm had been torn away, exposing the bone. The sensation of blood spraying with each heartbeat was horrifying.
'I have to stop the bleeding first...' The heart was too close. Since Sugar hadn't mastered blood manipulation yet, she imagined binding the muscles with internal magic power. The bleeding had decreased a lot compared to before. Looking at that, Sugar took a deep breath and immediately aimed her staff.
“Delicious. Saintess. It's delicious.”
Yet the beast girl calmly swallowed the flesh and left a good review.
“Biting Wind.”
“Biting Wind.”
Sugar responded to that. An invisible, sharp wind blade was directed at the beast girl. The girl stood still for a moment, then just before being hit, she quickly sidestepped and leaped toward Sugar. Immediately, she lunged from the bloody maw filled with the scent of blood. The teeth were so sharp they couldn't be described as human.
“Gust.”
“Gust.”
Just before they clashed, Sugar barely finished the next chant. Powerful wind poured toward the beast girl. The wind blocked her movement, but the beast girl extended her hand with a blank expression. Long, curved claws like those of a carnivore tore through the wind and approached. The moment those claws touched Sugar's clothes, Sugar exploded the power at her feet to evade, simultaneously kicked off the ground and twisted her direction to deliver a kick to the beast girl's side. The beast girl hit the wall. She made a sound like 'wang!' and expressed that it hurt in her own way, but it didn't look painful at all. She immediately stood up and stared at Sugar. Her eyes burned with intense greed. She licked her lips and exhaled a breath mixed with the stench of blood. Her childish face sparkled purely with gluttony and greed. The tail stood straight up, and it didn't take its eyes off Sugar while slowly moving to the side. Sugar didn't take her eyes off it either. This was the first time. Not eyes full of malice, but just hungry eyes. She didn't feel like confronting a person. She understood why the disciples called them beasts. What was the reason this was here? What was this one's true identity? Why was it trying to eat people? There were more than a few questions. To find out those things, and to escape from here, she had to win first. '... I have to do this alone.' She couldn't get help from the disciples. Her condition wasn't good either, and they were all trapped. There was no way there were weapons. She had to fight alone. She missed that blond man too much, but she couldn't. She had to stop relying on him. Since he said he wouldn't hold her back like that. He had promised to throw away his weakness. While chanting, Sugar raised her head and opened her eyes wide. Her body was tense with muscles aching, and she exhaled slightly. At that moment, the beast girl lunged. Simultaneously, Sugar's chant.
“Whirlwind.”
“Whirlwind.”
The disciples behind her would naturally dodge. The air in the room gathered and a whirlwind raged. That wind grew around the center of the beast girl. Even if she thrashed to escape, the four directions were blocked by wind. Her struggles were in vain as the wall of wind tightened around her more. Sharp wind tore at the girl, cutting off oxygen. Soon, a pained scream began. Sugar frowned, aiming her staff, and added even more power. The sound of keening cries was annoying. However, that too ended soon. The screams gradually faded and were buried in the wind.
“ ... ” Sugar exhaled and released the magic. Keeping her staff aimed, she didn't lower her guard. If this was the end, the disciples wouldn't have feared like that. The wind subsided, and the inside began to come into view. The girl crouched down, panting. Her body was torn by the wind, bloody everywhere. Nevertheless, her gaze was the same. With pupils sharp and clear without any haze, she stared straight at Sugar.
“ Wang. ” At the moment she uttered that, changes began. Flesh regenerated. New flesh sprouted, and the wounds closed. She knew this would happen.
“Biting Wind.”
“Biting Wind.”
If she just watched, she was dumb. Sugar immediately chanted the wind-attribute magic. She liked fast attributes. The sharp and fierce wind blade flew in an instant and cut the beast girl. However, the beast that even recovered like that clapped twice as if it was funny. The figure disappeared. 'What is this...' Sugar narrowed her eyes and looked around. At the sharp aura felt from behind suddenly, she immediately rolled her body. A few strands of white hair fluttered in the air. There, a few strands were caught by the beast's claws.
“ Wang. ” The beast girl suddenly appeared from behind. The thought that the back of the neck was targeted sent a chill down her spine. Seeing her put the white hair in her mouth made her feel even more disgusted. When Sugar aimed her staff, the beast clapped twice and disappeared. Where would the attack come from next? If she focused, this time from the right below. It emerged from the floor. Bent over, sharp claws scratched past Sugar's leg. She reacted quickly but was a bit late. The stocking tore, and the skin inside split, blood flowing out. Ignoring the pain, if she attacked, it would disappear immediately. Sugar clicked her tongue and chanted the protective magic. It wrapped the entire body in a round shape. So, waiting like that, this time a sound came from behind.
“ Aaaak! ” When she turned around, the beast girl that had emerged from somewhere was biting the arm of one of the disciples.
“ Tasty. ” Sugar aimed her staff, but inexplicably muttered something and disappeared. Sugar clicked her tongue and stood in front of them.
“ Do you know what that ability is? ” “ We don't know well...! Probably a kind of instantaneous movement... uwaaa! ” This time, the girl appeared right in the middle of the disciples and bit and tore, then disappeared. Since she recovered, is food supply needed? No matter what, it seems she's going on a draining tactic. Very bad direction. The disciples looked up at Sugar with eyes hoping for salvation. The disciples who were abandoned after the leader disappeared and thrown to the same disciples. The Saint appearing before such people was truly a miracle. However, she could only use the power to handle the dark god's magic. Just the power to kill people, corrode the surroundings, and swallow them. The essence was like that. If used carelessly, the disciples here would be exterminated too. No matter how heretical, considering Rubshi, they had been using only general magic on purpose to save them. Even if it was going to the heretic interrogation room, anyway. 'Moreover, I have to capture the beast...' She had tried to save them as much as possible for information. Probably. It didn't seem like the time to hide such things now.
“ Everyone, scatter. Don't stand in front of me. Dodge naturally. ” She couldn't meet expectations, but she wanted to save as many as possible. To escape from the elusive beast, it was better to scatter. Especially now, thinking about what Sugar could do, it was even more so. First, that beast-like thing could go outside this room. Using instantaneous movement, it hid its body outside the wall and came back to hunt. She thought of things like transparency, but it wasn't that. No matter how much Sugar couldn't detect, she could sense things like magic appearing and disappearing. 'Claps twice... The trigger is too simple. The movement distance won't be far.' Even with chant and incantation, teleportation magic has a limit of about 50 meters. Now this girl probably can't move even 10 meters. Then, where exactly was her body hidden? Would all the outside of the walls really be safe? Sugar recalled the words she heard a few days ago. The space without entrance discovered from the map of the underground prison. The answer to that. 'What? That was... what was it. First, it was probably a space necessary in the design. Since Stille has overlapping spaces. It was probably left as surplus.' Then, she looked at one side of the wall. The whole thing was made of ash-gray stone, but there was a particularly white part. Looking closely at the wall, there was something wrapping a transparent membrane, but the white part was exposed without such a membrane. The transparent membrane was probably the gem dragon's crystal. It wasn't affected by the dark god's magic power, so the color remained ash gray. Then, that white part was the surplus space. If all spaces were blocked with 'crystals that cut magic power', wouldn't there be a problem with the structure? In such multi-dimensional spaces, there must be gaps for magic to flow smoothly. If that flow was twisted, spatial entanglement would occur. Just like the male dormitory in Stille. Haha, Sugar let out a laugh, reached her hand toward the white wall. She struck the black magic-protected wall once. Cleanly, she squeezed between the corroded walls and saw a girl with wide-open eyes. The beast hiding in the mysterious surplus space of overlapping dimensions, recovering her body. It immediately raised its claws and opened its mouth, but Sugar was faster. By wrapping the space inside with the dark god's magic power, the body flinched and grabbed its own neck. Right. It wouldn't be able to breathe easily. There, finish.
“Explosion.”
“Explosion.”
No place to escape. With a bang, the space collapsed. . . . Coughing, coughing— Surrounded by black magic, caught in the explosion, she sat on the floor with a thud, coughing repeatedly, and opened her eyes. When she came to her senses, it was a familiar place. The strange forest that was there just a moment ago. In front of her, the gem tower stood tall.
“ I... escaped... ” Haa. The tension released, her body felt limp. It was fortunate that the prediction was correct. The fresh air in the forest was too sweet. After breathing a sigh of relief, she sensed a presence and looked up. It was Ryly. He was approaching with a serious expression.
“ You... your appearance... your arm... what... ” Glad to meet again, but that expression was eerie. Sugar briefly looked around her body. The arm was tattered to the point where bone and nerves were visible. The thigh with torn skin and bleeding. The overall appearance dirty from rolling on the ground and being caught in the explosion. The delicate body looked even more pitiful.
“ This is nothing... I'm fine, Ryly. Anyway, I escaped alone. There was space inside that gem tower, um, I'll tell you the details later. First, is it okay? I tried hard alone. ” “ ... ” The pain awareness made it slowly ache, but it was bearable. I'm not a bothersome woman. I'm not weak. Pretending to tell her heart, saying earnestly, but soon snapped out and looked around.
“ Ah, that! Catch that! ” The beast girl staggering up. She came along from the exploding space. But her condition was a bit weird. Her body had turned completely white from the dark god's magic power and corroded in places, but scales were growing over it. Her eyes were still shining brightly, and her teeth and claws had become sharper and larger. Small horns had grown beside the beast ears on her head, and the number was not one pair but multiple pairs. It gave a non-normal feeling. She was clearly changing into a beast form. A monster. Sugar hurriedly grabbed her staff and stood up. However, Ryly hugged Sugar's body as is, stopped her, and handed her over to Cedric. Because he hugged her, she couldn't see his face.
“ Ryly? ” Cedric moved Sugar to the corner without replying and started emergency treatment.
“ Uncle... Cedric knight. What if Ryly fights alone. I'm okay, so go help. ” “ Stay still. ” In response to the too indifferent reaction, Sugar blinked in confusion.
“ ...! ” It was choking her. A dense magic feast. Her skin was tingling. The wind was bitterly cold. Startled by the sudden change in air, she looked at the source and saw Ryly standing there. The back view of him fluttering his cape embroidered with Stille patterns. Around him, strange magic currents were fierce, whether Ryly's or not. In his hand, he held a book. Dark clouds began to gather in the sky with rumbling thunder.