Extra in a Romance Fantasy

114 – Monster (5)

What a strange human.

The shadow thought as it looked at the man.

At some point, the shadow had become able to discern the ‘danger level’ of its prey.

To put it simply, how strong that prey was.

With a scent, or perhaps something that could be called intuition, the shadow had been selecting its prey.

Whether it was prey that could be consumed immediately or prey that needed to be saved for later.

From strong prey, it felt an intense something, while from weak prey, there was the distinct scent of weakness.

However, the human before me emitted no scent at all.

Even prey just a mouthful away gives off a faint odor.

Yet, this human has no smell whatsoever.

Truly, no scent at all.

Feeling a strange unease at this fact, the shadow readied itself.

I cannot fathom why this prey has no scent, but that is not what matters.

What matters is that it has dared to appear before me alone.

Even with heightened intelligence, the shadow remains a creature driven by instinct.

There was no hesitation in the presence of its target.

Paradoxically, the shadow surged forward toward the human with a speed like a flash.

And it swung its claws.

These claws had slaughtered countless prey until now.

The shadow had no doubt that this time, too, its claws would tear the human before it to shreds.

However.

Whoosh—

The claws merely sliced through empty air.

“……?”

Before the shadow could even comprehend what had happened.

“Impatient, are we?”

“……!”

The voice of the human came from right behind.

The shadow’s body moved with all its might once more.

As if it were truly a shadow, it twisted and swung its other claw behind it.

But once again, the result was the same.

The shadow’s claws did not reach the man.

Time and again, it swung its claws wildly, but the outcome remained unchanged.

Grrrr—

Growing weary of this process, the shadow let out a low growl and glared at the man.

It was a sound reminiscent of a wild beast, yet even in that moment, the shadow was racking its brain with its heightened intelligence.

Why were its attacks not landing?

Why can’t I see that prey moving?

The answer was simple.

It was possible only if the opponent was faster than oneself.

And significantly so.

As the shadow reached that conclusion, it began to furiously churn its thoughts.

The opponent is much faster than it is.

Then, perhaps, they might be stronger as well.

What should it do then?

Hiss!

The shadow’s body wriggled, and in an instant, it shot backward, beginning to flee.

The shadow made a decision.

It had to run away.

Of course, the opponent was faster than it.

However, escaping was a different matter altogether.

The shadow’s survival instinct, maximized in its flight, boasted a speed far greater than merely moving its own body.

Indeed, even though it had only just begun to flee, it felt no presence of the man chasing after it.

Still, just to be safe, after moving for a while, the shadow finally intended to come to a stop.

“You’re quick to run away.”

With a familiar voice, a familiar figure came into view.

The man stood there with a calm expression.

As if he had already anticipated its move.

In those tranquil eyes, something alien crawled up the shadow’s back.

Like leaves dancing in the wind before settling to the ground, at a cautious pace.

Slowly, something thick and sticky settled on the shadow’s spine.

It’s dangerous.

This man is dangerous.

Before the shadow could comprehend that fact in its mind, it instinctively realized it and fled with all its might once more.

However, this time, the man did not allow it.

“Stop running.”

With the man’s even-toned voice.

Bang!

By the time it realized, the shadow was already pinned to the ground.

Before it could even comprehend what had happened.

Kraaah!

The shadow could not bear the pain and let out a scream.

It couldn’t understand what was going on.

Once again, it had not seen the movement.

It could only guess.

That this too was the doing of the human before its eyes.

At the same time, heightened intelligence and stimulated instincts combined to formulate a hypothesis.

Perhaps the fear that had driven it to flee here, the fear that had prevented it from finishing off its prey, might have originated from this human.

The pain eventually subsided, and the shadow rose again, but it showed no special actions.

It was as if its thoughts had come to a halt.

Instinct continued to scream for it to run, but the shadow’s mind knew that such actions were meaningless.

So, it stopped.

The long-awaited fear of death finally halted the shadow’s reason.

The man quietly gazed at the shadow with eyes devoid of any emotion.

Without words, without actions, he simply stared.

In that gaze, there was no sign of life, struggle, or anger, yet the shadow felt an unparalleled terror emanating from those eyes.

I will die.

Here, I will die.

The intense certainty of death completely paralyzed the shadow’s reason, allowing instinct to take over entirely.

Thus, the shadow reverted to a beast that acted purely on instinct.

The beastly shadow—

Kraaah!

Let out a monstrous roar and lunged at the man.

It did not consider that the man was faster than it, nor that its attacks had never landed until now; it simply swung its claws endlessly at the enemy before it.

There was no intelligence or technique involved, but paradoxically, that made it all the more destructive.

Thud! Bang!

With each swing of the shadow’s claws, trees were severed, rocks shattered, and the ground erupted.

—

However, such destructive attacks did not even graze the man’s hair.

In the midst of an onslaught that would have claimed the life of an ordinary human from the sheer aftermath, the man merely gazed at the shadow, at the monster, with indifferent eyes.

How much time had passed in that state?

After a considerable time spent staring at the shadow, the man finally moved his body.

Slowly, his hand reached for the sword at his waist.

Without even drawing the sword from its sheath, he swung it forward, still sheathed.

There was no destructive power in that attack.

It was simply linear and ordinary, like a child wielding a wooden sword.

But.

Puh-ack!

With a sound like a drum bursting, the storm-like assault came to a halt.

And.

Thud—

The shadow collapsed to the ground.

With its back against the floor, it was forced to look up at the sky.

In that state, the shadow merely twitched slightly, not taking any action.

Not even a scream escaped this time.

And the man, quietly looking down at the shadow, muttered.

“…Hmm, is this the end?”

A murmur imbued with the sense of exploring the existence known as the shadow, as if he were examining it.

However, that moment did not last long.

As if there was no need to see more, the man lightly nodded his head and lifted the sword back into its sheath.

And he was about to swing it again.

Wobble—

The shadow began to writhe.

Uplift—

At the same time, the man’s movements came to a halt.

He stood the sword upright, watching the shadow as it thrashed about.

Even then, the shadow continued to writhe, squirm, and undulate.

Displaying movements that appeared grotesque at first glance, the shadow soon completely lost its original form, writhing as if in a frenzy, and then began to swell as if it were about to explode.

—

Originally, it seemed to be at least five times the size of a shadow.

It was a bizarre sight that made one instinctively take a step back just by looking at it.

No matter what was happening, merely gazing at it sent chills down the spine, evoking an indescribable fear—a sight like that.

This strange spectacle continued for a while.

Then, after some time had passed, the shadow, which had been writhing as if it would explode at any moment, came to a halt.

And then.

The swollen shadow began to shrink again.

Shrinking and shrinking, it became the size of a single person.

Yes, one person.

The now smaller shadow had taken on a human form.

In this new shape, the shadow slowly rose from its place.

Lifting a featureless face devoid of eyes, nose, mouth, hair, and eyebrows, the shadow gazed at the man.

At last, a red line appeared on the shadow’s previously blank face.

Soon, that red line stretched open, top and bottom.

And then.

“Ah.”

A voice flowed from that place. Not the cry of a beast or a monstrous roar, but a proper voice.

The surprise didn’t end there.

“Hu, man.”

The shadow spoke.

Not a simple sound, but language.

The shadow was not merely mimicking a human form.

It was, quite literally, resembling a person.

The shadow, the monster, broke the mold.

It had shed the label of monster.

It had evolved.

The extreme fear faced for the first time.

Death, stepping one step closer.

That survival instinct was pushed to its limits, evolving the shadow into a higher existence.

Thus, the monster that was no longer a monster reached out a finger to point at the man.

—

And then, he spoke.

“Eat, this.”

A grin split the red line from side to side.

The shadow was laughing.

Looking at the man, joyfully.

An entity that had achieved true evolution, transcending the mold of the forest monster, laughed as it gazed at its newly born belly, eyeing its first prey to satiate its hunger.

And it took a step toward the prey.

Thud—

Just one step, and the air around grew heavy.

And the space trembled.

Thud—

As it took another step, the forest shuddered.

The forest held its breath.

Feeling the arrival of a new predator, it swallowed hard.

Such was the power that could make even the forest tremble, in that shadow, in that step.

Yet, even facing such a shadow, the man’s expression did not change.

He merely stared blankly at the shadow approaching him.

“…I see.”

Then, as if he understood, he spoke.

“Now I get it.”

Muttering to himself, the man nodded a few times before lifting his head.

And then.

Swish—

He drew the sword from its sheath.

“Let’s end this.”

Saying so, the man swung the sword.

The sword was slow.

So slow that one might wonder if it could even cut through reeds.

And yet, it merely glided slowly through the empty air.

However.

—

Rustle─

“Uh.”

In the next moment, the shadow split into two pieces.