It wasn’t a heroic resolve to die from a fall rather than become a slave. Kaniel stretched out his hand and released mana while sending out his will to save him and take him to the ground.
Anyone would do, please.
Before long, the bat demonic creature flew over like an arrow and grabbed his body with its feet. At the same time, the winged tiger bit one winged tribe man’s leg and shook its head wildly.
“No!”
“Catch that thing!”
“Damn it!”
Rough wind brushed past his cheek, and his heart pounded so much his chest ached from the gliding that was faster than falling, but still, he felt better than when he’d been held by the winged tribe man earlier.
Kaniel fled with all his might toward the surface that was said to be full of monsters.
***
The horned bat demonic creature flew at a speed as if it would crash headfirst into the ground, then spread its wings and stopped right before the dirt ground, dropping the person it had been holding onto the grass. Thanks to that, Kaniel fell from a height of 1 meter and rolled around.
“Urgh…”
His head was spinning and he felt nauseous, but Kaniel looked up with a haggard face. Being cautious in case the winged tribe kidnappers were chasing him.
Fortunately, the surroundings were quiet without even the sound of wings.
Had he safely escaped?
As Kaniel tensely looked only upward in the silence, someone poked him from behind, making him crawl forward with a silent scream. Only after moving several meters away did he look back to see the bat gripping the ground hard with its claws. The seemingly solid ground was torn up as if an earthquake had occurred.
“Y-yeah…”
Honestly, there was no empathy at all, so he still didn’t feel connected. But since he knew well about demonic creatures’ desires, he seemed to know why it was acting like that now.
Kaniel sat down with his bottom on the damp grass and hesitantly reached out his hand toward the bat. What if it tried to swallow him whole because mana was pouring out of his hand?
Fearful feelings surged, but he couldn’t not give compensation to the child who helped him escape. The first step in building trust with demonic creatures that weren’t well-tamed was the act of giving and receiving with each other.
“Here, have some.”
When he let the mana flow, the horned bat demonic creature brought its face close and began rubbing its face like a cat. It put so much weight into it that Kaniel nearly tumbled backward.
At that sight, Kaniel felt relieved. He couldn’t read its expression and feelings well, but still, its actions were the same as the demonic creatures he knew.
What did it matter if it was a bit rough and he couldn’t understand it? In fact, he’d heard that most demonic creature trainers tamed demonic creatures in that state. Kaniel’s case of feeling empathy with demonic creatures and being able to tame them quickly was unusual.
So everyone felt like this.
It was after some time had passed while he awkwardly stroked the moist nose of the horned bat demonic creature. Kaniel thought this should be enough compensation, so he tried to remove his hand.
But as soon as his hand moved away slightly, the horned bat demonic creature raised its head.
“N-now stop… Ah!”
Kaniel could now read what the horned bat demonic creature was thinking. However, it wasn’t in a positive direction.
“N-no…”
Mana was being sucked out on its own. As if caught up in an uncontrolled flow, he couldn’t control the speed or direction. It was all the doing of the horned bat demonic creature before his eyes.
He didn’t know how this could happen, but it was certain.
This can’t be. Kaniel gasped due to the rapid change in his body’s mana and tried his best to pull his hand away.
“Let go. Let go! Stop, I said let go!”
The moment he shouted, the horned bat bared its teeth and growled. The hot breath with its disgusting smell brought him to his senses. This wasn’t a demonic creature Kaniel knew. It could never be the same.
This horned bat demonic creature hadn’t saved Kaniel. It had merely picked up a lunchbox. And now it was trying to devour him.
“You, you don’t see me as a person… Ahhh…!”
Suddenly, it felt like his entire body was being crushed.
It was as if some massive pressure was pressing down on his entire body from all sides. The pain of his arms, legs, chest, and head being crushed made it difficult to even breathe.
What the hell is this? Why is this happening…
Kaniel lost consciousness while rolling on the ground in terrible pain.
Only then did the mana release stop.
—
# EP 1. Demonic Beast
“Ahhh…!”
A scream mixed in between the sounds of wind in the quiet forest. Taeyon, who was lighting a fire and preparing dinner by the valley, perked up his ears at that discordant sound.
It was strange.
This forest was far from the village and had no paths. Only travel on officially maintained roads. That was the absolute rule children learned when first leaving the village. Of course, there were countless cases of foolish beastkin who didn’t follow the rules and ended up being eaten alive by fierce demonic creatures, but even considering that, this forest wasn’t a place where such a frail scream should be heard.
Because there was no reason for people to come to a place that took four days to reach the nearest village and had no fruit worth harvesting.
He might have misheard. Even while thinking that, Taeyon stamped out the campfire he’d just lit and covered it with sand.
If it was a mistake, he needed to confirm for certain that it was a mistake.
“…”
Taeyon, who had picked up the sword he’d set down, began walking toward the interior of the forest.
And before long, he was able to see a bizarre sight at his destination. Of course, it was a unique sight to see a horned bat demonic creature rolling around on the ground rather than in a tree. It was also certainly a peculiar sight to see five demonic creatures of different species gathered closely in one place while being wary of each other.
But the truly bizarre sight was that there was a person sleeping soundly among them. An intact person who hadn’t lost any limbs or become covered in blood.
‘No, maybe not intact…’
At a glance, he couldn’t see any ears. But that didn’t mean there were wings, and there wasn’t even a tail. Among beastkin, there were occasionally those born with such an appearance. But he had an intuition that the person before his eyes was somehow different.
Taeyon, who wrinkled his nose, frowned. The smell was also unfamiliar. At the scent he was encountering for the first time, Taeyon recalled one absurd possibility. Long ago, there lived a species with such an appearance. Were they called ‘humans’?
‘Humans would be fragile creatures though.’
Such fragile creatures couldn’t possibly sleep comfortably among demonic creatures. Then perhaps it was a unique individual of a demonic beast. Demonic beasts were monsters superior to demonic creatures, terrible beings that enjoyed massacring beastkin. Since demonic creatures instinctively submit to demonic beasts, if that thing that looked like a human was a demonic beast, the entire scene before his eyes would be explained.
Taeyon killed his footsteps and approached a demonic creature, beheading it in one stroke. Though he’d prepared for battle, for some reason the demonic creature was out of it as if drunk.
Having turned the demonic creature into black smoke, Taeyon finally stopped before the sleeping demonic beast. A humanoid demonic beast—did that make sense? If this really was a demonic beast, it would be the first unique individual Taeyon had discovered. Feeling strange, Taeyon observed the demonic beast carefully.
In appearance, the demonic beast looked young enough to have just turned twenty, and though its body was thin, its cheeks were plump. Its black hair was unkempt and disheveled. Just like it was really alive.
It was too different from ordinary demonic beasts.
Perhaps he was witnessing a newly born demonic beast for the first time.
Taeyon placed his sword against the neck of the sleeping thing.
“Ugh…”
He gripped the sword handle tightly, intending to behead it before it woke up.
“P-please… spare me…”
In a trembling voice, it pleaded.
The moment he met those bright blue eyes, Taeyon flinched in surprise and withdrew his sword.
It spoke.
There were no demonic beasts that spoke.
But there were also no beastkin that weren’t attacked by demonic creatures.
What exactly is it?
Taeyon once again swept over the head without ears, the back without wings, and the bottom without a tail in turn. And the unfamiliar smell too.
The conclusion derived from that appearance was still only one.
“Are you human?”
“What? Of course…”
The human, who had been blinking blankly, raised its gaze to Taeyon’s perked ears.
“…You have… ears…?”
“…”
“…Is this a dream…?”
The human muttered with a bewildered expression, then shook its head as if shaking off water and looked at Taeyon again. And with an utterly rude gaze, it looked him over from top to bottom.
“…You have a tail too…”
“Is this your first time seeing a beastkin?”
Beastkin? Beastkin?
Come to think of it, the man before his eyes had an appearance that made him think this is what a shepherd or wolf would look like if turned human. Plus the ears and tail.
“I thought… the only beastkin were the winged tribe…”
“Wasn’t humanity extinct?”
“Extinct…?”
Seeing the stupid and dazed face, Taeyon clicked his tongue. This human seemed to have no idea what situation he was in.
In times like this, there was no choice but to make him realize his situation through action.
Taeyon stepped on Kaniel’s chest with one foot and placed the sword beside his neck.
