No matter how determined the other party seemed, it was quite obvious that the winner would be Abu. Even so, Eugene couldn’t help her pounding heart. She curled her feet, hugged her knees as she looked towards the battlefield utterly nervous.
No matter how big Abu was, to her, he’d always be the cute little black panther that ran to her embrace when called. So, in spite of knowing well his might and reality, seeing him battling it out before her eyes, she was on the edge. And the screech he let out upon being bitten by the Lark yet again, stabbed straight into her heart. She felt a lump in her throat, as horror suffused her misty eyes. However, when she saw Abu retaliate, she was somewhat comforted.
Abu took a large bite of the Lark’s nape as he leapt into the air. Thrusting his long fangs deep, he vigorously shook it. He was on high alert still, ready to thwart any reaction. When the victim did not counterattack, he flung it away albeit a little curious. It had been aggressive all along, but had suddenly given up?
“Argh!”
Incidentally, the hurled Lark fell right near Eugene. She screamed her guts out at the sight of the giant rat with a chomped off, tattered neck.
Unless the nucleus is destroyed, the Lark does not dissipate.
Bloody, gory, and ghastly, the creature was still very much alive though a little weak. Its eyes turned even redder the moment it spotted Eugene. In an instant, it started to crawl towards her.
“Argh! Don’t come near me!” Eugene shrieked with disgust. She loathed the sight of it, so much that she felt sick in the stomach. Not because she was terrified but because it was a rat.
She stared at it for a moment and started to back away. However, the crawling Lark was faster than her retreating steps. In a flash, it caught up to her, touching the tip of her hand in a frenzy.
However, the moment she had intensely expressed her repulsion, she felt something hot slipping out of her body. It was a strange feeling, similar to a sense of liberation. It felt like a tight string, wound around the waist, was breaking off.
Huh?
At the touch of her hand, the Lark’s gray fur shriveled up like a paper catching fire. Its hide hardened like stone.
Crack!
A slender, long stalk slowly peeked through the crack. Gradually, it bulged at the tip and a pair of tender leaves burgeoned.
Leaf…?
The abrupt changes in the giant rodent were astonishing. She fixated on the rapidly wilting body as fresh sprigs sprouted from between the gaps in quick succession.
At first, she thought the Lark was turning into a mummy. But as she kept looking at it, the shape gradually disappeared to the point where she couldn´t recognize that it was originally a mouse.
It´s… a tree…
Indeed, the Lark was turning into a tree. Its gray fur, limbs, claws, whiskers, and hair, the sharp teeth… one by one morphed into a tree. In the end, what remained were two holes after the red orbs had faded away… they took the form of a tree knot.
It happened so fast, that it was hard to distinguish if it were a dream or reality. She closed her eyes and slowly opened them. She blinked several times, trying to fathom what it was that she was seeing. She looked down at her hands, feeling as though she had made it happen… but she wasn’t sure.
Is this… really because of me? Ahh…
Suddenly, Eugene’s body fell limp. It appeared like she had been sucked of all her strength. She leaned back, taking the support of the still growing `Lark tree` and soon succumbed to drowsiness.
♚
While Eugene slumbered, a wave of strange occurrences swept across the Kingdom of Haishi.
It was like time had stopped… The Larks suddenly ceased their attacks and looked up at the sky and let out deafening, haunting cries.
Kasser, who was hunting a second lark after killing one, stopped in his tracks as he witnessed this peculiar behavior.
The fiercely belligerent giant rat that was standing on its hind legs abruptly stopped and mimicked its counterpart.
Unbeknownst to the many, the monsters weren’t actually gazing at the horizon, but their eyes were looking into the distance at the Queen of Haishi, Eugene.
Kiiiiiiii… Kiiiiiiii…
The Lark cried out in a way Kasser had never heard before. It evoked a feeling of grief, lament, and anguish… as if a part of it was being torn away.
Why are they acting as such?
Kasser thought it was a ridiculous analogy. Larks had no feelings; it was nothing but a monster with only offensive instincts. Even though the abrupt change as shocking, there were far from safety. He had to quickly get rid of this creature and rush to the site where the third flare had erupted.
Before that j*rk Abu starts to hunt!
He had sent Abu over to the third spot to gain him time. He’d explicitly warned the Hwansu to keep in check, so as not to harm the people around. Kasser knew the beast would not defy him, but what about its primal instincts?
In the world of Hwansus and Larks, the former had the upper hand. Not only were they more evolved and intelligent, but they also had the advantage of size. Every time the two pitted against one another, hands down the Larks lost. They were ready prey for the Hwansus that hunted them and devoured their nucleus.
As much as Kasser was confident about Abu’s obedience, he wasn’t sure how he would react when his innate desires overpowered him. After all, there was a limit to its tolerance in the face of temptation.
Taking advantage of its distracted state, Kasser flung and swung his sword around the Lark’s neck. The giant rodent didn’t as much as offer a resistance. The decapitated head went flying in the distance; he split its body and destroyed the nucleus. The Lark crumbled to dust and scattered in the air.
That’s strange.
It was a purple-grade Lark. But it was the most absurdly easy hunting he had ever done.
“Your Majesty!”
A soldier dragged a horse in. Kasser immediately cut off his brooding, jumped on the horse and trotted away with his soldiers in tow.
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