Chapter 87: A well-thought-out trap is truly useful.
Outside Monolith City.
.
.
.
I was hidden among the canopy of a huge tree, remaining completely motionless.
My breathing was controlled.
Not even the rustling of the leaves revealed my position.
—Biochip...
—Stay alert.
—Lock onto the target as soon as it appears.
[Beep!]
[Continuous scanning initiated.]
It did not take long.
A man dressed in white appeared, cautiously walking between the trees.
I immediately recognized his face.
He was one of the bandits I had hired.
Naturally...
He had no idea that I had followed him discreetly.
Much less that he was now serving as bait.
I watched silently.
He walked slowly, examining the burned terrain.
He scratched his beard while muttering to himself.
—Is this the place to investigate?
—This does not make any sense.
He kicked a piece of charred wood.
—There is no treasure here...
He picked up another fragment.
—Most likely some drunk farmer knocked over a lantern during a burning...
He continued searching the area.
His expression, however, changed shortly after.
He knelt down.
He ran his fingers over the black marks scattered across the ground.
His expression became serious.
—Wait...
—This is not right...
My gaze remained still.
The man continued analyzing.
His experience as a criminal clearly told him that something was strange.
He ran his hand over a stone completely cracked by the heat.
—These marks...
—They do not look like ordinary burns...
He took a deep breath.
The hairs on the back of his neck began to rise.
—This...
—This looks like the work of some forest demon...
I saw his hands begin to tremble.
I smiled faintly.
The stories spread among the peasants were truly useful.
To ordinary people...
Magical creatures were monsters impossible to face.
The man took a step back.
Then another.
—Better leave...
—If I had known this mission involved these creatures...
—I would never have accepted...
It was exactly at that moment...
That I heard another voice.
Sweet, soft, and childish.
—Finally found...
—The scent of my enemy.
My eyes narrowed immediately.
[Beep!]
[Signature detected.]
[Origin: upper sector.]
I slowly raised my eyes.
She was there.
Floating between the branches.
A beautiful fairy.
Her skin was extremely pale.
Her transparent wings reflected the morning light.
She wore only a short skirt made of intertwined leaves and a small plant-made top that barely covered her chest.
In her hands...
She held an elegant green bow.
Her appearance was delicate.
Almost perfect.
But...
Her eyes...
Her eyes belonged to a predator.
The bandit turned pale.
He jumped backward almost five meters.
—A...
—A person flying?
His voice trembled.
—This...
—This is a demon...
The fairy smiled.
An innocent smile.
One that did not match the murderous gleam in her eyes at all.
The man finally understood.
—Damn it!
—I became bait!
He tried to run.
Useless.
With only two beats of her wings...
She appeared in front of him.
Far too fast for an ordinary human.
The man raised both hands.
—Wait!
—We can talk!
—I have information!
—I know who hired me!
The fairy slightly tilted her head.
Then she answered with only one word.
—Die.
The next instant...
The man screamed.
His right arm simply disappeared.
Blood splattered across the ground.
Before he could even fall...
She was already at his neck.
She bit him.
Without hesitation.
Without mercy.
The screams stopped a few seconds later.
I continued watching.
She fed like a wild beast.
Tearing flesh.
Breaking bones.
Drinking every drop of blood.
When she finished...
Only a few twisted bones and unrecognizable remains of the corpse were left.
My expression remained completely cold.
The fairy approached the bloodstained clothes.
She inhaled deeply.
Her tongue slowly moved through the air.
Then she smiled.
—His scent...
She turned her gaze toward the distant city.
—You are hiding there...
—Damn acolyte...
The particles surrounding her had a dark coloration mixed with a greenish glow.
Without a doubt...
It was that creature.
The one responsible for the pursuit.
My target.
I slowly clenched my fist.
—Finally...
My voice came out almost as a whisper.
—I caught you.
I immediately sent a mental command.
The Giant King Shark Golem remained hidden beneath the ground exactly below the clearing.
Motionless.
Waiting.
At the same time...
My Mud Knight remained kneeling behind some trees, completely covered by leaves and mud.
The enormous earth spear was already resting on his shoulders.
Aiming directly at the creature.
I waited only for an instant.
She was still looking at the city.
Completely distracted.
Now.
I closed my hand.
—Fire!
The Knight reacted instantly.
The spear was propelled with violent force.
The projectile crossed the air, producing a deep roar.
It looked like a stone missile.
The fairy only noticed when the impact was already unavoidable.
She tried to turn.
Too late.
The spear tore through one of her transparent wings.
A sharp scream echoed through the forest.
She completely lost her balance.
She fell.
But the true attack was still to come.
At the exact moment she hit the ground...
The soil beneath her exploded.
Earth and stones flew in every direction.
The enormous Mud Shark emerged from the depths with its mouth completely open.
Hundreds of stone teeth advanced directly toward her.
The creature reacted purely by instinct.
She twisted her body at the last second.
The full impact was avoided by a fraction of a second.
Even so...
The golem’s jaws closed with brutal force.
CRAAACK!
Her green bow disappeared between the clay teeth.
Along with one of her legs.
Green blood spread violently across the ground.
The fairy writhed in pain, grinding her teeth while throwing every insult she knew at the enormous shark that had emerged from the earth.
The golem slowly moved around her, making no sound, only observing every movement with its empty eyes.
Its enormous jaw remained closed, but its mere presence was enough to make her tremble.
Without wasting time, I mentally ordered the knight to advance.
The golem rushed forward, easily closing the distance.
With a single brutal movement, it pushed her back against the ground before she could even try to stand using her hands.
The enormous stone body knelt in front of the fairy while both gigantic hands held her wrists, firmly pinning them against the earth.
She was light.
Ridiculously light.
Compared to my golem’s monstrous strength, she was like a child trying to escape the chains of a fortress.
She struggled and snarled in rage, but absolutely nothing worked.
Only then did I jump down from the tree branch where I had been hiding.
As I slowly walked toward her, I began clapping.
—Very beautiful... very beautiful indeed...
Clap... clap... clap...
A laugh escaped my throat.
—Hahaha...
—It seems the prey... became the hunter.
The fairy froze for a moment.
Her nose moved slightly.
She sniffed the air.
Then her eyes widened.
She finally recognized my scent.
It was me.
The target.
The human she had been sent to kill.
Her face immediately twisted with hatred.
—YOU!!
She tried to throw herself forward, violently struggling with her body.
The knight did not even move.
The gigantic arms continued holding her wrists as if they were made of steel.
At the same time, the leg crushed by the shark still burned with pain.
—Aaaah!!
She groaned, her face completely contorted.
Every attempt to escape only made her own leg hurt even more.
I smiled.
That was extremely pleasant to watch.
That damn creature had been sent precisely by the bastards who destroyed my beautiful balloon.
My magnificent balloon.
Just remembering it made my blood boil.
If those bastards had not destroyed my aircraft, I would probably have already traveled halfway to my destination.
Instead...
I had not even crossed a third of the journey.
All because of them.
And now...
The assassin sent to eliminate me was completely helpless before me.
I continued walking until I stopped right beside her head.
She slowly raised her eyes toward me.
At that moment, our gazes met.
I clearly saw a shiver run through her body.
She finally understood.
She had been defeated.
There was no escape.
There was no hope.
I slowly smiled.
—You know...
I crouched slightly so she could hear every word.
—I unfortunately cannot do anything at all against the acolytes who sent you.
—But someone needs to pay for the destruction of my balloon.
—So I will take out all the anger trapped inside my chest on you.
She widened her eyes even more.
Before she could say anything, I walked behind her.
I knelt behind her.
I passed one arm beneath her neck while my other hand locked the hold.
Then I squeezed.
With force.
Her entire body stiffened.
She immediately began struggling.
—Ngh...!
Her face began changing color.
The veins around her neck bulged as she desperately tried to pull air into her lungs.
But she couldn’t.
Her mouth opened and closed uselessly.
Her face became red.
Then purple.
Her eyes began watering as she fought weaker and weaker.
She tried to reach my arm with her hands.
But the knight still kept her wrists completely pinned to the ground.
There was no way to escape.
Only when I felt her body beginning to completely lose strength did I loosen my grip.
She immediately fell onto her side.
—Cough! Cough! Cough!
She desperately pulled in air, coughing violently while trying to recover her breath.
I couldn’t stop another laugh.
—Hahaha...
She breathed like someone who had just escaped death.
Tears flowed freely down her face.
Her entire body trembled.
Then her expression finally collapsed.
—P-please...
Her voice came out broken.
—I-I beg you...
She began crying without any dignity.
...
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