Fried Chicken Feast
I instructed Azeras to hold back for now against the chicken. It wasn't because she was weaker than those guys. Azeras was SS-grade. The orangutan and chicken were S-grade. It was a gap she couldn't lose even if she got careless.
The reason I gave that order was simple. No need to waste energy. It's always better to take the easy route, right? If she just waited a bit, she'd only have to deal with one exhausted survivor. No point jumping in now to face two fresh monsters. So let them beat each other up. Once one lost, ambush and finish off the winner.
Oh, and by the way. Azeras and all the monsters with her weren't nerfed. I hadn't lent her my arm.
—"I'll... wait a little."
Azeras plopped down in midair. She tilted her head up to watch the monsters' fight.
—［ROAR! ROOOAR!!!］
The orangutan spewed blood from its thin tail.
—［COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!］
The chicken flapped its wings, whipping up a powerful gust.
I named the orangutan monster Blood Orangutan. The chicken was just Chicken. While working on their codex entries, I leisurely spectated the battle.
—［ROOOAR!］
The Blood Orangutan swung its arm. The red blood it conjured sliced through the air.
—［COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!］
The Chicken let out a shrill cry and twisted its body. One flap of its wings birthed a blade-like wind. Bang! Blood waves clashed with wind blades. The gale died in an instant, and the red waves scattered like petals.
Soon, the Blood Orangutan extended both arms into a strange pose. It muttered something softly. In that moment, the space around it turned entirely red. A blood-drenched domain formed.
The space was completely dominated by the Blood Orangutan. It swam freely through the blood-soaked domain, swinging its arms to manipulate blood from all directions and hurl it at the Chicken.
Not to be outdone, the Chicken spun rapidly in midair, morphing into a drill-like form. The blood lunging at it was flung away by the rotation.
The back-and-forth continued endlessly. But neither gained the upper hand. Even same-grade fights have skill gaps, yet these two were perfectly matched. Dead even.
Ten minutes passed like that.
—"Won't... end anytime soon..."
Azeras yawned and lay back in midair.
—"Boring..."
Another ten minutes dragged on. Still, the Blood Orangutan and Chicken kept fighting.
"Didn't expect it'd take this long."
—"To me... looks like they'll fight forever..."
Azeras stretched and stood.
She stared at Iris and said,
—"I'll... just end it."
Not an announcement—she wasn't moving without my say-so.
"...Yeah. Jump in and take both."
Azeras smirked and nodded. She kicked off the air—boom!—with a sharp sonic burst, rocketing upward.
—［ROAR?］
—［COCK?］
Azeras wedged between them. The monsters hesitated, faces confused. But only briefly. They roared and attacked her simultaneously.
Azeras casually swung her arm. Swish swish. The lazy motion canceled the orangutan's blood and the chicken's gusts.
Azeras turned her head left, locking eyes with the Blood Orangutan. Then—
She vanished from sight.
Moments later, Azeras reappeared in her original spot—holding the Blood Orangutan's severed head.
I checked where the orangutan had been floating. Its headless body was plummeting.
—"One down."
Azeras tossed the head aside like trash. Vanished again. Reappeared in one second—now holding the Chicken's head.
—"Two. Done."
Once Azeras intervened, the fight ended anticlimactically in under twenty seconds. Should've done this from the start. Oh well, at least I got time to draw.
Actual Threat Level: S-grade
Ability: Blood Manipulation
*** Mealtime.
The exploration teams trickled back to the shelter one by one.
［Map-making... tough. Kiririk.］
［Beep, beep.］
Team 1: Psycho Clown and Medical Mushroom returned empty-handed.
［Siii, siii!］
［Today's meal is sweet-and-sour apples-yot!］
Team 2: Dog Spider and Hedgehog Summoner God captured a live Poison Apple. Dancing goofily.
A bit later, Team 3 returned.
［Back, Explorer sir!］
［Pii!］
Centaurides and Jellyfish-002 brought a Pigking. Centaurides grinned around at the others.
［Heh heh. Ours is the biggest catch.］
Her smile didn't last. Behind her, Team 4—Azeras—hauled in the Blood Orangutan and Chicken corpses.
Centaurides's jaw dropped.
［N-No way! Two of them...!］
She gnashed her teeth, frustrated. Frowning, she approached Azeras, lowering her voice in warning.
［Azeras. I know you're superior to me.］
"...?"
［But I bonded with the Explorer first. That makes me your senior. So I'll mate first. Remember that.］
"......"
Azeras turned away, ignoring her. Good call. Dealing with that crap just gives headaches.
Azeras dragged her catches to me.
"What... to eat first...?"
"Chicken, obviously. Oh yeah, didn't hear back earlier— you like chicken?"
Azeras nodded slightly at my question.
"Like it."
"Good."
"But... this one."
Her finger pointed at the Chicken, face full of regret.
"Small... disappointing. Original size... huge."
"You seen a full-size one?"
"Before labyrinth... yes. Hundreds of times bigger. Probably."
"Eh, can't help it. Labyrinth nerfs big monsters' sizes. But the ones outside as strong as this?"
Azeras nodded.
"About... same as this. Same level as me back then."
Before the labyrinth, Azeras was around S-grade, huh.
Anyway. Chicken meat secured—time to cook.
"Oh. Second time Mishi's typed, right?"
Mishi shut her mouth again.
"Anyway. Emoji-only Mishi typed to beg for fried, so fried chicken it is."
Was planning that anyway.
***
While monsters deboned the chicken, I got supplies from the helpers.
Rise sent a huge cauldron.
Yumi: cooking oil, eggs, milk.
Mishi: flour.
Pruru: disposable vinyl gloves.
"...Gloves are useless."
She sends crap on her own and gets pissy.
I placed the massive cauldron on the spread-out Black Magma Slime.
［Srung, srung~］
Poured all the oil into the cauldron. Mixed flour, eggs, milk in a basin for batter. Drained blood from the deboned chicken, coated it well.
Finally, dumped it all into the bubbling oil.
Didn't just wait. Used a bone from the orangutan wing as chopsticks to flip and even-cook the pieces. Did codex work in between.
Time passed. Fished out a golden-brown piece.
"Azeras. You first."
"Me... first...?"
"Yeah. Truth is, I made this not for me, but to treat the newbie. So you go first."
"...Thanks."
Azeras's eyes reddened slightly. Touched, huh.
Azeras took the chicken bare-handed.
Azeras stared at the chicken in her hand. Cautiously brought it to her mouth and bit.
Nom.
Chewed, savoring the mouthful. Swallowed and slowly looked up at me.
"Delicious..."
"Yeah? Glad."
Good meat quality—no gamey smell. Makes sense; Pigking meat wasn't gamey either.
Azeras bit again. A faint smile cracked her usually stoic face. Good call making chicken.
"Guys, our turn?"
I addressed the monsters and headed to the cauldron, setting aside the finished codex.
Actual Threat Level: S-grade
Ability: Wind Manipulation