“Is it because he’s young? His appetite is something else,” Felix muttered with a hearty laugh.
Rita tilted her head, puzzled.
‘Was he always such a big eater?’
She recalled the days when she first found Yan in the Kuyan village and traveled with him.
Due to the circumstances, she hadn’t fed him particularly well, but in her memory, Yan was a picky eater.
Seeing him now, tearing into meat with both hands, she couldn’t help but feel bewildered.
Noticing her expression, Loen, the priest, leaned in to whisper.
“I heard from Eimen that since Yan started formal training, he’s been eating like crazy. Apparently, he’s been stealing portions from the paladins he trains with.”
“I see,” Rita replied, a hint of relief washing over her at Loen’s playful remark.
It felt like confirmation that Yan was no different from other kids his age.
“But, well, if you think about it, he’d need to eat like that to have that kind of strength, right? Like it’s the source of his power or something?” Loen added.
Rita nodded reluctantly.
***
From then on, whenever Yan saw birds flying overhead, he’d stop dead in his tracks, head tilted upward.
Felix burst into laughter.
“Looks like he really took a liking to the taste of bird meat.”
Once, Yan reached out mercilessly toward a small bird perched on a branch.
Eileen, scolding him like a mother cat, made him freeze, his wide eyes darting in confusion.
“He listens so well to Eileen, but he doesn’t even pretend to hear me. I’m a bit hurt,” Sercia said, venting her frustration.
Valery quickly chimed in.
“That young Kuyan is just ignorant, Princess. Don’t take it to heart.”
Ever since Eugene joined, things had been getting livelier.
Rita let out a soft sigh as laughter echoed around her.
Were they here to hunt Satan or on a picnic?
Yet, strangely, when facing beasts, everyone snapped into focus as if by unspoken agreement.
“Four adult lizards. From the left: fire, head; wind, arm; wind, neck; wind, tail,” Rita relayed.
The group moved with precision.
Warriors murmured vital points, splitting into teams, while mages muttered attributes, preparing their strongest spells.
“Silent Waterway!”
As Eileen and Floria’s arrows flew, Blena restrained the beasts’ movements.
Though her second-rank magic couldn’t hold them long, it was enough.
The immobilized beasts were hit accurately, their lives snuffed out.
Seth and Alois’s fire magic followed suit.
“Crimson Annihilation Ray!”
Red beams crisscrossed the air, piercing their targets.
Alois’s spell veered slightly off course.
From Rita’s perspective, his skill was lacking, but his courage and effort deserved praise.
‘He wasn’t bad earlier either. Did something change? His focus seems sharper.’
Unaware that she was the cause, Rita nodded in satisfaction.
‘Blena’s confidence in water magic shows—she’s using her strengths well. And Seth’s become much calmer lately, especially since the Kerman incident.’
Rita gave a wry smile, noting the change.
Before, if a beast tried to escape, Seth would’ve chased it recklessly.
Since the incident, he’d been more cautious, staying close to allies.
His rivalry with Rita had all but vanished—not that she was a rival worth competing with anymore.
Still, Seth’s newfound maturity pleased her.
‘At this rate, I can move freely without worrying.’
Her peers had followed her with trust, and their safety and growth had always weighed on her. Now, Rita felt reassured.
‘Even Floria, who didn’t trust their skills before, seems to acknowledge them now.’
It was time to rely on her allies more.
“Yah!”
The moment they thought they’d taken down all the adults, Eugene’s irritated shout rang out.
Rita turned reflexively and froze at the sight before her.
“You crazy Kuyan! Control your strength! You turned the beasts into jam! What, you gonna spread it on bread?!”
Eugene mimed gagging.
Rita, too, was at a loss for words at the gruesome, pulverized scene.
Despite the awkwardness, Yan ran over with a bright grin.
“Helped!”
His proud smile made Rita sigh.
“Thank you, but… as Eugene said, try to control your strength. It’s inconvenient for the group otherwise.”
Rita pointed calmly at Loen, whose white priest robes were stained red with blood, clearly distressed.
Felix, too, grimaced at the beast remains sticking to his boots.
Yan nodded reluctantly, finally understanding.
Blena, watching quietly, murmured in a curious tone.
“Is that why they call other races barbarians?”
“…It’d be better if he was just another race,” Seth muttered under his breath, turning away.
His green eyes, however, were filled with unease toward Yan.
“The air’s getting heavy from here,” someone noted.
***
Rita’s group, hunting for the Fragment Satan, passed through several dead forests.
They paused before a dark, lightless forest where tangled branches formed a roof-like canopy.
The eerie sight was unsettling from the outside.
“The stench of blood is thick inside,” Blena said, though everyone already felt it.
Despite their hesitation, there was no choice.
Weapons ready, Rita’s group entered the black forest.
“Shed skins. We’re in the right place,” Valery said, lifting a brittle skin with his sword.
The thin skin fluttered in the faint breeze, falling among layers of other sheds.
Everyone grimaced.
Shed skins meant molting—evidence of the lizards’ growth. Many had matured here.
As they ventured deeper, bone fragments appeared.
“Looks like we’ve stumbled into their dining hall,” Eugene said with a smirk, pointing at the increasing bones.
“If this is their habitat, there’s probably a hatchery nearby,” Sercia said sharply, and Rita agreed.
Given the Fragments’ reproductive instincts, there might be multiple hatcheries, but destroying even one would be a significant blow.
“If we do this right, we can take out their dining hall and hatchery in one go!”
Valery, still stinging from the main camp’s attack, clenched his fist.
Loen, mourning that day’s losses, echoed him.
“They attacked us mercilessly. Why can’t we return the favor?”
Despite her priestly role, her fierce resolve resonated with the group.
United in purpose, their steps quickened.
“Prepare your teleportation stones,” Valery ordered.
They’d abandoned the idea of securing an escape route.
In this open terrain, encirclement was inevitable, and sneaking in would only lead to quick discovery.
Sheds and bones piled up like autumn leaves.
Some were from beasts that failed to molt, rotting alongside them, adding a putrid stench to the blood.
Alois, unused to such smells, barely suppressed his nausea as he pressed forward.
Navigating the dark forest, where tangled branches blocked the light, they reached a wide clearing of felled trees, churned soil, and rocks.
Dead trees, unable to withstand the beasts’ venom, surrounded them.
Below, bones were piled like mountains.
The problem was the human-shaped skulls among them.
Partially decayed human body parts were tangled in the mess.
Undigested weapons and clothing lay scattered.
“Damn it…” Eugene muttered, his anger rising.
Above, on blackened trees, juvenile lizards hung like laundry, rolling their eyes.
Behind a large rock, others chewed on something, blood dripping from their mouths.
“No adults in sight,” Sercia said coldly, swinging her sword lightly as she stepped forward.
The juveniles, recognizing prey, staggered toward her.
Sercia bit her lip and charged.
With a whoosh, a small lizard’s head was cleaved in two.
Even as their kin writhed in pain, the instinct-driven lizards rushed at their “prey” fearlessly.
“Princess!”
Bailey, her guard, flanked her protectively.
Valery, Eugene, and Yan, under Rita’s command, joined in, slaughtering the gathering juveniles.
“Distant Purgatory Mire!”
Rita restrained and burned the swarming lizards, their small size—less than half an adult’s height—making them weak.
Some bared their teeth ferociously, but they were no match for supreme-rank power.
Yan, heeding Rita’s advice, adjusted his strength slightly.
But it hardly mattered—everyone was lost in a frenzied slaughter.
Yan tilted his head, unsure how their actions differed from his own, but following Rita’s orders took precedence, and his curiosity faded.
The clearing was cleaned up in less than ten minutes.
Most were weak juveniles, too full to move properly.
“Huff… huff…”
Everyone, drenched in blood, panted heavily.
As Eugene bent to pick up his dropped dagger, something glinted among the bones.
His face twisted as he pulled it out.
“Damn it! Damn it!”
Eugene’s furious shout echoed as he kicked a tree.
In his hand was a necklace, a marker used by another mercenary group from the region.
It meant his comrade’s bones were here.
He laughed hollowly, stuffing the necklace into his pocket.
Then, heavy footsteps approached.
From a dark forest path, six adult lizards emerged, walking on two legs.
Some carried corpses in their mouths or under their arms, their faces smeared with blood from a recent meal.
“Foraging for food,” Felix said bitterly, and the group grimaced.
Blena speculated that while the Fragments were busy breeding, the adults supported the juveniles’ growth.
“No respect for the dead,” Mikael said, his rare grip on a sword trembling.
His eyes locked on a red-skinned lizard at the end, its mouth stuffed with corpse pieces, including a human arm, heavily decayed and marked with wet dirt.
The group’s faces darkened with rage.
Another bloodbath began.
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