Rule’s body lay motionless on the grass, unmoving. The vivid color of crimson blood painted the lush green of grass a new color. It wasn’t long till some reached Helen’s dress, who was still sitting on the ground from the shock.

“Aahh…!” a small whimper escapes the healer’s mouth. The color on her face quickly drained in sheer fear. Her whole body wouldn’t stop trembling, while her hands tightly clung to Gale’s foot as if her life depended on it.

“Rule!” Gale covered her mouth in disgust. Even the natural fortitude her mind had developed were reduced into nothing by this sight. She can feel her breakfast slowly going up her throat, but the last she wanted to do was throw up and turn the monster’s attention to them.

The unknown creature finally detached itself from Rule, but not without fully biting off the knight’s head clean. They can distinctly hear the sound of his skull being crushed inside its body, scratching and rattling their ears as it continued on chomping it.

A tiny spurt of blood squirted out from his neck and drenched their feet. This seemed to finally snap them back into reality.

“Helen, get up.” the wizard whispered slowly. “Don’t suddenly move, and don’t scream.”

Helen choked up her terror and nodded. They need to get out of here, fast. It’s still busy eating off the rest of Rule’s body and apparently forgot about them. She used Gale’s right foot as leverage and pulled herself up, slowly but surely. Even the sound of rusting grasses made her skin crawl, afraid that the creature would mercilessly kill them like their deceased teammate.

Gale picked her glasses that she dropped a while ago. She can barely see anything without it, and as much as she hates seeing a dead body being eaten right in front of her, she still needs her eyewear for when they finally run away.

Their gazes were glued on the monster’s two bone blades. On their initial fight, it felt just as sharp as Rule’s longsword, but that was it. Though it has two of it, they were much shorter than Rule’s-- only a foot long, and the user didn’t even look like it knew what it was doing.

Now, a thick, yellow slimy liquid covered the swords, which melted almost everything it touched. Grass, cloth, flesh, iron… bones. It looked like a certain middle-class spell that Gale had read about before; the level 60 water spell, .

These swords are its primary weapon and the main point of concern to Gale and Helen. The moment those come near their way, they’ll die.

They slowly inched away, one step at a time... then ran.

He glanced at the two humans desperately running away from him. He’s aware that they’re escaping him, and would likely alert other people living where they came from.

But that’s exactly what he wants. After this interesting encounter with humans, he concluded two things.

The first thing is that humans aren’t an efficient source of DNA. He had to risk his life just to eat one, and he only got sixty. Those strange green things before were much more rewarding and easier.

The second thing is that they triggered something called ‘Special Mutation’. Is it good?

It sure is!

“Ruru!” he raised his tentacles as he cheered.

Well, he can speak now, but he still doesn’t know this planet’s language. Overall, it’s still pretty useless. He might need to mutate his brain a little bit more.

On the bright side, anyone can hear his voice now, instead of his nonsensical shrieking and grumbles. They still can’t understand him though, and vice-versa.

“Muru...” he slurped the melted bits on the knight he fought a while ago. After a long time of dosing it with his gastric juices, its armor and body eventually melted into a puddle of red goo. It’s much easier to eat him now.

He wondered... if he had the ability to communicate with those three humans, would they have let him off?

“I, alien. I invade hooman planet.” he tries a couple of harmless gestures to further present his ‘non-hostility’. The three adventurers stay silent.

... No, everything might have just turned out the same. Maybe even worse.

Anyways, humans attacking him later will ultimately benefit him in the long run. This is the main reason he let those two females go.

There’s also the slim chance that they will warn others to not go to the forest anymore, which can be good too. It’s less risky that way. But those are just wishful thinking, and humans are pretty random. He’ll have to wait later and see.

“Duru…” One last slurp and everything’s clean. Just like nothing happened, he crawls back to where he hid his case and got back on his little adventure.

Back inside the Yggdrasil tree, Sylph bemusedly watched the pair of girls running through her woods from a giant leaf. Even with the immeasurable distance between them, her tiny eyes were still able to clearly see them.

She had just watched the complete battle between the monster and these trespassing humans, and suffice to say, she was very entertained. Watching those pathetic monkeys die is one thing, but seeing one getting so brutally killed and subsequently eaten? That was a first for her.

“Don’t kill those girls.” she talked to a buzzing bee near her. “Let them go alive. I want to see more of this.”

The bee flew down several hundred meters on the ground in reply.

“It seems to be carnivorous. Can it eat anything that’s meat?” the fairy idly thought to herself. “Or maybe--”

“Excuse me, great guardian Sylph.”

A cold voice interrupted her thoughts behind her. The pixie’s face turns into a scowl and quickly glances back.

“I don’t remember inviting you here in my home. Are you inciting a war against me?”

What greeted her eyes was a person completely covered in a black robe. Only their mouth and chin were visible through their hood, which was curved in an eerie smile. It’s just like before; she never felt their presence even when they’re already behind her-- which is absurd-- considering just who this individual is.

The robed figure merely chuckled. “Goodness, no. I wouldn’t want to receive the ire of the great guardian of Yggdrasil.” they wave their hand in dismissal. “This is just the same as my earlier visits.”

Sylph rolled her eyes, then fully turned herself so that she’s facing the unknown speaker.

A particularly strong gust of wind blew over them, uncovering the darkened hood over the figure’s face. What she first noticed was his pair of horns; two ivory stumps of bones coming out of his head, an inherent trait of the demon kind. Last but definitely not the least would be his stunning and charming face, befitting of someone with his caliber.

Sylph glared at him. “For the umpteenth time Demon Lord, I will not join your army!”

Maybe it’s just him, but lately, he feels like the monsters of this forest have been avoiding him. It’s not like he’ll outright kill them when they haven’t done anything. He’s, at the very least, a ‘civil’ creature.

At least, to anything that isn’t human.

“Kuru?” he glanced on a direction where a white wolf ran to. It was casually walking around at first, but upon seeing him, it ran away as fast as it can.

… Now he’s getting a bit hungry. Maybe he can talk someone out here into turning his food.

Amidst this forest, the thick smell of death lingered. It is not surprising, as everything that lived here have to fight for food and survival. The ‘Rule of the Jungle’ strictly applies to this particular place.

But what happens when this smell of blood, this feeling of dread and death, get’s compressed into a single being?

It laid waste to the goblin tribe alone. As if that was not enough, it ate every single one of them, and casually crawl away as if nothing ever happened. Now its body has been newly soaked of a far more familiar smell; the scent of human blood.

After the ‘show’ it presented them just earlier, where it fought a group of adventurers alone and managed to actually win and send the two remaining running, this particular creature has unknowingly made a name for itself. The monsters in the lower end of the food-chain now fear it as if its Death itself. Something that will coldly tear your body will from limb to limb-- while eating you at the same time.

“Suru…” it turned its head to a hiding wolf on a bush, its large mouth wide open. Before the mutt even knew it, darkness had enveloped his whole vision.