“Kiiing….”
The thought came that it might truly die. It was scared. It moved almost crawling to survive, but couldn’t get far. The earlier attack had surely cracked its ribs. As it forced its body to move, a sound leaked from deep in its throat. Hisss, a dry sound like air escaping. It wasn’t a threat. It was a cry mixed with pure fear and pain.
Death was right before its eyes.
As it became acutely aware of that fact, a terrible fear and piercing regret incomparable to moments ago flooded in.
It shouldn’t have run away. Even if punished, it should have stayed in that castle. Adrian’s cold anger would have been better than this end. No, from the beginning, it shouldn’t have coveted that sweet honey jar. It should have believed the words that he’d return soon and waited obediently in a corner.
But it was too late for regret. There was no turning back.
The wolf had already approached to within breathing distance. The wolf’s mouth opened wide as it lowered its body to the ground for the final strike. Long yellow fangs glinted eerily. Those things, incomparably large and sharp compared to its own, looked more like horns than fangs.
Soon the thick fangs charged toward its nape like lightning.
It wanted to dodge, but its body refused the command. All it could do was wiggle its toes weakly. The fox squeezed its eyes shut with all its might before death, waiting for the pain to come.
But the expected pain never came.
“Aowuuu!”
Instead of pain, a howl that seemed to wring out the soul pierced its eardrums.
That scream didn’t last long. As if a thread had been cut, it suddenly snapped off, and then the dull bursting sound of bones shattering and the cruel noise of flesh tearing briefly assaulted its ears. And not long after, a heavy rumble like a giant boulder collapsing shook the forest. After that, only suffocating silence remained.
Just what had happened?
It was curious, but couldn’t quite open its eyes completely. The sounds it had just heard warned that something horrifically beyond comprehension had occurred. But it couldn’t keep its eyes closed forever either. The fox cautiously opened its eyelids.
The first thing to assault the fox’s vision was fresh blood.
Blood like spilled paint spread across the damp earth. Beyond the crimson, the terrifying wolf that had been attacking it just moments ago lay collapsed helplessly.
Its gray fur was messily covered in blood and mud, and its flank was bent at a grotesque angle. As if not completely dead yet, its legs scratched at the air in trembling convulsions, but that was the extent of its movement.
Just who… what had done this?
There was one human who came to mind first.
A hunter? Or could it possibly be that Adrian had done this? But nowhere in the forest could it see a human, nor Adrian.
Then, who on earth?
The fox swallowed a rough breath as if choking and examined the fallen wolf again. That massive body that had felt so terrifying just moments ago was now sprawled limply.
Just what kind of force had brought down that wolf in an instant? A lion’s claws? Or a tiger’s fangs? Questions beyond the realm of understanding swept through the fox’s mind like a whirlwind.
It was right then.
The fox’s gaze fixed on one spot as if drawn by a magnet. The wolf barely moved. It was only barely breathing at death’s threshold.
But its shadow was different. It writhed faintly. Though there was no sunlight and no wind blew, only the shadow rippled as if it were a separate living entity. Soon that black outline very slowly raised itself up from the ground.
It wasn’t flat. It had volume, had weight, had will. The shadow was gradually taking shape. It was closer to something that had sprung out of a nightmare than a living creature.
Its body was covered in sticky mucus, and its multiple legs resembled a spider’s but were much thicker and grotesquely twisted.
Most horrifying of all was the face. In the area that could be called a face, there were no eyes, no nose. Instead, a massive mouth filled with what looked to be well over fifty sharp teeth gaped open, and inside it, thin black tentacles squirmed.
“Kieeek!”
It let out a tearing shriek. Its spine froze. The wolf was forgotten. The existence before its eyes was terror on a different dimension.
A demon beast.
A monster said to live in the deepest parts of the forest, in darkness where human footsteps don’t reach. This was the first time seeing one in person.
Had this thing saved it from the wolf, or would it be next to become a sacrifice?
The demon beast seemed not to have discovered the fox’s still feeble existence yet, fixing its gaze only on the fallen wolf. Its torn mouth opened even more hideously as it spewed out a terrible scream like a human’s shriek. Then it swung its tail down toward the wolf’s head.
With a dull thud, the wolf’s skull shattered like a watermelon. Brain matter and blood scattered violently in all directions. Hot red blood splattered onto the fox’s black fur as well. It was disgusting.
But it couldn’t even think to wipe away the red drops embedded in its black fur. It was completely overwhelmed by the scene before its eyes, merely suppressing even its breathing.
Crunch crunch. The thing buried its face in the wolf’s sprawled body and began savagely tearing off chunks of flesh. The sound of tough hide ripping and the eerie sound of bones crushing broke the forest’s silence. A sickeningly thick stench of blood vibrated through the humid air.
The wolf that had once been ruler of this forest had now been reduced to a single meal.
The fox struggled to control its pounding heart as it slowly got to its feet. The demon beast seemed too absorbed in its meal to detect the fox’s presence. Now was the opportunity. The pain from the cracked ribs was no problem at all before the suffocating fear.
Killing all sound and as carefully as possible, the fox stepped backward one step at a time. The demon beast still hadn’t noticed the fox’s existence. Good, if it quietly escaped like this, it might be able to survive. It was right at that moment of relief.
Snap.
A twig caught on its hind paw.
Every hair on its body stood on end.
The demon beast’s movement stopped as if severed. With one of the wolf’s dangling legs in its mouth, it turned its head. That empty face without sight faced the fox precisely.
A spine-chillingly heavy silence flowed.
Very slowly, the demon beast spat out what it had been chewing. A lump of flesh covered in blood and saliva dropped to the ground with a thud. It was no longer interested in the wolf’s miserable carcass.
The sightless face was directed only at the small fox.
The fox stopped breathing. Its entire body was gripped by fine tremors. It had to run away. The most primitive command toward survival went wild in its head, but its body was frozen solid and wouldn’t obey. Before that absolute terror that had instantly crushed even that terrifying wolf, all the muscles in its body were already paralyzed.
Kkirik kkirik.
Making strange sounds, the demon beast began to move.
The grotesque legs resembling a spider approached one step at a time, defying the laws of nature. Each time those footsteps fell, the damp leaves spread on the ground were stickily crushed.
It had lost the ability to flee and the will to resist. The fox, frozen in place like an ancient rooted tree, could only stare at the approaching nameless disaster.
Finally, the shadow fell completely over the fox’s small body.
The very final moment before being swallowed by that massive mouth. Something burst out from the shadows beyond the forest.
It was that small, innocent rabbit the fox had missed earlier. The fearless rabbit that had suddenly jumped into the middle of the forest didn’t seem to have noticed the terrible scene yet. It merely looked around, anxiously perking up only its cute little ears.
The demon beast’s movement hesitated for an instant. The eyeless face turned very slightly toward the rabbit as if detecting prey.
Wait, the monster’s attention had completely moved away from the fox.
This was it right now. The one opportunity granted by god.
Hot blood began to circulate explosively through its body that had been paralyzed by fear. The fox squeezed out the last remaining strength toward survival and kicked off the ground, running.
It didn’t look back. It just ran looking only forward. Protruding branches scratched its face, sharp pebbles stabbed its paw pads, and its ribs stabbed at its lungs, but the pain had already been overwhelmed by fear and disappeared.
“Huff, huff….”
How long had it run? It finally stopped when it reached the forest’s boundary. Breathing heavily, it looked back. Fortunately, the demon beast was nowhere to be seen.
It had survived….
All the strength in its legs released at once. The fox collapsed onto the ground as if crumbling. Its legs trembled so much it couldn’t take another step, and its heart was pounding as if it would break its ribs.
The hellish scene from just moments ago flickered before its eyes like an afterimage. The long torn mouth, the tentacles writhing as if mad, and the wolf’s exploded head. Dry heaves surged up its throat.
Trying to shake off the terrible memories, it looked up at the sky. Before it knew it, countless stars were scattered across the sky. It had already become night. And far in the distance, stars also sparkled not in the sky but on the ground.
Small, warm lights dotted in the darkness. They weren’t stars but lights leaking from a human village.
A village. That place was dangerous. When humans saw it, they threw stones or wielded cruel weapons. Except for only one person—Adrian.
When it thought of that name, a corner of its chest that fear had swept through helplessly collapsed again. What was he doing right now? Was he looking for it? Or… had he already forgotten its existence?
Right at that moment when melancholy encroached upon its chest, gurgle. Its empty stomach cried out inconsiderately.
