Chương 240: Bite And Fall

This valley was surprisingly lacking in life. The plant life was thriving, but when it came to animals and the like… I had only seen squirrels, rabbits, and a fox. All of them had darted away at the slightest sign that something was off. If anything, the intense amounts of bestial fear they emitted the second they saw or heard me made me think that there had to be some sort of predator lurking around. They were all overly wary. I did not notice even a small sign that my theory was correct, however…

So I just kept moving forward until I arrived at the foot of the mountain of interest. It was a steep, rocky protuberance. Nothing was special about it. The only oddity I detected wasn't about the mountain, but next to it, where I spotted footsteps in the grass–Unless this was a big coincidence, these footsteps had to belong to someone trying to get a hold of the Star Gazer's eye. As expected, there was competition… Night is still several hours away, I guess I'll take care of the pest now.

The footsteps didn't make a clear path, but by following the direction they originally headed toward, I was quickly able to run into a small camp. The fire was currently extinguished, and… Is this really a good place to be doing this sort of thing? Judging by the more professional-looking tents and climbing equipment present, I presumed that this duo were more likely to be explorers instead of adventurers. However, while I would have praised their preparations to scale the mountain, I could only shake my head.

The two explorers, one human, one demon, had decided that letting their primal urges express themselves was a good idea in the middle of the wilderness–I suppose they saw how easily frightened the wildlife was and thought that they could get away with this. I casually pressed my hand against my chest as I felt Xlown trying to peek out–I am fairly certain she already knew about such things, but that didn't mean I could just let her gaze upon such indecency.

With slow and quiet steps, I approached the couple as the hydraulics in my right arm prepared themselves… Not even any traps to protect themselves while they are literally in their most exposed state. I suppose some people just like the danger. My fist was brought down, blasting right through the man's back and the woman's chest in a single motion as I struck right through the top of the open tent they had been making themselves busy inside of.

The only sound they were able to let off was a pitiful sigh as they expelled whatever amount of air had already been on its way out. Their death came swiftly, and so did their disposal via my maw. I feasted upon their tools made from steel and trashed what was left of their camp before living. Try as I might, I didn't find anything that could tell me if they had been hired, or if they had been here of their own volition alone. Regardless, this was a potential problem dealt with.

I spent an hour more looking for any more camps around the mountain, but after finding nothing but easily frightened animals, I decided to settle down by digging myself into the ground using my bare hands. Xlown didn't really need to breathe, so this was a perfectly acceptable way of hiding myself, especially since I took upon my 'Plush Form' for extra concealment, letting Xlown hold me as we waited for night to fall.

I myself couldn't see a thing, but my precious daughter could extend small eyes through the dirt to monitor the situation up above. For another hour, nothing of note happened. We simply waited and waited, until Xlown suddenly retracted her miniature eyes, hugging my soft body as she whispered something to me:"Mommy, there is a monster coming our way… It looks like a tall humanoid wearing red robes, but its mouth goes all the way around its head, and so do a whole bunch of overlapping eyes…

I don't think we can see eye-to-eye with this guy" Xlown still managed to shove one of her puns into the mix as I began feeling the vibrations of the monster's steps… It didn't sound very heavy despite how tall Xlown said it was, but more importantly, it stopped right next to the portion of turned I was hiding underneath, and spoke.

"I know you are hiding there" Judging by the closeness of that thing's voice, it had bent forward and brought its face awfully close to the ground–Oh well… Transforming back into my 'Base Form', I pierced through the dirt and grabbed a hold of the monster's head–It had quite a thin head, as I was able to wrap my entire hand around it… I burst out of the ground with the rest of my body, getting a closer look at this thing using the last rays of sunlight. … What an ugly piece of shit.

A hairless, grey-skinned, lanky motherfucker wearing robes far too ample for its body.

"Hi–Hiding? I prefer–fer the ter–rm 'lying in amb–ambush'..." I squeezed the bastard's head with the full might of my hydraulics-enhanced grasp, but as I let go, the creature stumbled backwards without dropping dead immediately, emitting incomprehensible sounds as its fingernails grew into claws.

"Xlown" My daughter surged out of the ground in front of me, one arm already bent backwards, by forcefully sucking hair into her limb and focusing her strength into the pseudo-muscles she had there, she was able to swing that arm with great force as she simultaneously turned into into a blade while extending it, resulting in her hacking off the monster's feet at the ankles, and also cutting a tree deep enough for it to start leaning and then crash into the ground, unable to support its own weight.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work. I pulled her closer to me as I simply brought my hand in front of my face, activating 'Forward Shine'. This caused the shadow of my hand to appear at a distance away from me, right in front of the monster.

This allowed Coco to come surging out with the distance already closed, and in a demonstration of power, drove one arm straight through the monster's chest, claw at its insides on the way out before knocking it on its back, which is when Coco got a hold on the monstrosity's crushed head with his maw, and proceeded to roll whilst sinking his claws into the thing's shoulder to keep it in place.

The death roll quickly ended up ripping off what was left of the monster's cranium, but Coco still felt that it wasn't enough, so he eviscerated the monster, ripping out all of its organs, bones, and dismantling its whole body.

"Goo–Good job, Coco" I praised the gore-covered family pet, recalling him into my shadows as all the blood sticking to him simply fell to the ground in the process. I swear, for someone called 'Coco The Coyote', he sure as hell doesn't fight like a coyote at all. Where did that death roll come from? I don't remember teaching him how to do this… Well, regardless, he was very effective when it came to doing his job. That poor fucker didn't stand a chance the second he allowed Coco to get on top of it.

The remains, as scattered as they were, were swiftly consumed, right in time for nightfall. I put my attire back on, had Xlown climb into my chest cavity, and looked up the mountain. Unfortunately, tonight was not a bright moon. To ensure that the Star Gazer would show up, I had come here on a night during which the stars were supposed to be extra visible. As such, the sky seemed quite bright in spite of the ambient darkness all around me.

It isn't ideal, but I'll have to use 'Forward Shine' to actually light the way. I'll never be able to make it up there without being able to see where I am going. I would definitely end up falling off like an idiot. I adjusted the colours of my eyes to cast a light that would look more in line with what a lantern would do, and I also made sure to reduce the amount of light I was sending outward using my hood.

Unfortunately, I couldn't control the brightness itself–Well, some of my tests had shown that the lightning of the 'Faraday Box' could be used to intensify the brightness, but I was looking to lower it so as to minimise how much I stood out in the dark night. In the distance, I spotted other lights, some yellow, some mana blue. Some seemed to come from lanterns, others from spells–There were quite a few of them currently attempting to scale the mountain.

Did all of these people–Who were most certainly here for the Star Gazer–Truly have the means to endure a mind attack from the thing they were hunting as prey? I found it doubtful. There was a reason why Leou had mentioned my undead-like traits, and it was because even items that could block mind attacks usually never lasted long under the assault of a Star Gazer. Those things innately and instinctively knew how to dismantle defences against their primary method of attack.

One needed very strong defences, or to simply be innately resistant. Something innate could not simply be taken apart, after all. Nonetheless, I didn't want them to get there before me. They might make the Star Gazer leave if they harassed it too much. Though since the night sky was so beautiful tonight, the creature would probably not be willing to budge much. More importantly, amongst all of those groups carrying lights, there was one that stood out.

I could make out several tall silhouettes similar to that of the monster the gang and I had decimated. It seemed like they were part of one of the hunters' entourage, which wasn't too surprising. I feel like Leou would have told me if this place was known to have robed humanoid monsters roaming around at night. … Mmh, whoever that is who controls these things, they are probably a pain to deal with.

I focused on climbing up, since my competitors were all acting as teams, they were progressing much slower, especially since I could maintain my speed without growing tired, unlike them. So once I decided that it was best to just go faster, I left them in the dust. Until my light shone on an odd-looking creature. Thin body, dark skin that seemed rough and uneven like rock, no feet, no hands… And staring up at the sky, at least until it turned to look at me, directing its pale, utterly white, pearl-like eye at me.

Leou had told me what they looked like, but seeing a Star Gazer for myself was quite the experience. They definitely looked like things that belonged somewhere beyond the skies. I soon felt a slight weight place itself on my mind. Frankly, it only felt like a mild, almost unnoticeable headache to me, but I knew that this was the terrific mind attack Star Gazers were known for. I pulled my best acting and took a difficult step forward before bending my back and subsequently putting one knee down on the ground.

Seeing that I wasn't doing anything else beyond this, the Star Gazer intensified its attack, prompting me to put my other knee down on the ground. This entity's emotions were rather odd. Neither sapient nor bestial, somewhere in between. They were there for sure, but faint as though distant. Nonetheless, I could feel its confusion and a hint of creeping frustration as its attempt at going harder and harder only resulted in minuscule reactions from me.

It was to the point that my target eventually moved closer of its own will, which caused its attack to actually grow noticeably stronger–To me, it just felt like a regular headache at this point. I didn't know if the rest was true for my spirit, soul, and the like, but my mind was definitely far sturdier than the norm, and I guessed that it might have to do with the Mindscape.

If the minds of beings were usually just ethereal masses without a proper shape, then mine was a solid structure encompassing several machines capable of bending souls to their will, alongside a small world where my ghostly little sisters spent a lot of their time. Seeing it like this, it was obvious that mind attacks wouldn't be effective at all against me… Alright, buddy… Don't hurt yourself trying to kill me, alright?

The instant it got within reach, I leapt forward and bit the fragile entity in half, quickly removing its eye and handing it to Xlown for safekeeping as I devoured the corpse and blood.

"Alright, Xlown… Kee–eep the eye still in–inside of your body, and hold on" To avoid being pursued for my treasure by literally everyone else present, I not only cleaned the crime scene so that they would have to wonder if I even got the eye at all, and in case they decided to give chase, I was going to take a little bit of a head start… I threw myself off the side of the mountain, believing in 'Reinforced Frame' and 'Shock Dampeners'.