episode_0114

He is a strange human being.

The shadow thought so as it looked at the man.

At some point, the shadow was able to recognize the ‘danger level’ of the opponent and prey.

To put it simply, how strong the prey is.

The shadow has been selecting its prey using something that can be called smell, or intuition.

Is it food that can be eaten right away, or is it food that needs to be eaten later?

Something strong could be felt from a strong prey, and conversely, a weak prey could smell something unique to the weak prey.

However, there was no smell from the human in front of me.

Even prey that is only a bite away has a faint odor.

However, this human has no smell.

Really, no smell.

While feeling strange about that fact, the shadow readjusted its stance.

I don’t know why that prey doesn’t smell, but that’s not the point.

In this situation, the only thing that matters is the fact that he dared to appear in front of me alone.

Even though its intelligence has increased, Shadow is still a monster that moves based on instinct.

There was no hesitation in front of the opponent.

The shadow paradoxically rushed towards the human in front of me at the speed of a flash of light.

And then he swung his nails like that.

These are the claws that have slaughtered countless prey so far.

The shadow had no doubt that his claws would tear the human in front of him to pieces this time too.

However.

Huh ─

Those nails were just clawing through empty space.

“… … ?”

What happened before the shadow even realized.

“You have an impatient temper.”

“… … !”

The human voice came from right behind me.

The shadow’s body moved with all its might again.

The body was bent as if it were a shadow, and the other claw was swinging towards the back.

But this time the result was the same.

The shadow’s claws could not reach the man.

After that, I swung my nails at random again and again, but the result was the same.

Grrrr─

The shadow, tired of the process, let out a low cry and glared at the man.

It was a roar reminiscent of a wild beast, but even in the meantime, the shadow was rolling its head with heightened intelligence.

Why doesn’t my attack hit?

Why can’t I see that prey moving?

The answer was simple.

This is possible if the opponent is faster than you.

Even more so.

Shadow, whose thoughts reached that point, began to shake his head furiously.

The opponent is much faster than you.

If so, maybe it’s stronger than you.

So what should we do?

Hiss!

The shadow’s body fluttered, and in an instant it shot backwards and began to fly.

The shadow made a decision.

I need to run away.

Of course, the opponent is faster than you.

However, when it comes to running away, it’s a different story.

The escape, which maximized the shadow’s survival instinct, boasted a much faster speed than the shadow simply moving its body.

As expected, the man couldn’t keep up with this speed, but even though it wasn’t long since he started running, there was no sign of him following him.

And then, after moving around for a while just in case, the shadow was finally about to stop.

“Running away is fast.”

Along with a familiar voice, a familiar human came into view.

The man stood there with a peaceful face.

As if he had come before me.

In those calm eyes, something foreign crawled up the shadow’s back.

Like leaves dancing in the wind and falling to the ground, at a careful pace.

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

Dangerous.

This man is dangerous.

Even before the fact was realized in his head, the shadow had already realized it through instinct and ran away again with all its might.

However, this time the man did not allow it.

“Stop running away.”

With the man’s pitchless voice.

bang!

By the time I noticed, the shadow had already fallen to the ground.

Before the shadow even realized what had happened.

Wow!

The shadow could not bear the pain and screamed.

I couldn’t understand what had happened.

This time, I didn’t see the movement.

It was just a guess.

This must have been done by the person in front of me.

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

Perhaps, the fear that made him run here, that prevented him from finishing off his prey, might have originated from this human.

The pain eventually subsided, and the shadow rose again, but did not do anything special.

This was because the accident stopped.

Instinct kept screaming to run away, but the shadow’s head knew that it was a meaningless action.

So, I stopped.

The fear of death that had come for a long time finally stopped the shadow’s reason.

The man quietly looked at that shadow with eyes that showed no emotion.

Without saying a word or doing anything, I just looked at him quietly.

There was no life, fighting spirit, anger, or anything else in those eyes, but the shadow felt the utmost fear in those eyes.

Die.

Here, you will die.

The intense certainty of death completely paralyzed the shadow’s reason, and as a result, its place was completely taken over by instinct.

In this way, the shadow returned to being a beast that acted completely based on instinct.

The shadow that became a beast.

Wow!

He screamed and ran towards the man.

Not considering that the man was faster than him or that his attacks had never worked so far, he just kept swinging his claws at the enemy in front of him.

It didn’t contain any intelligence or technology, but on the contrary, it had even more destructive power.

simplicity and honesty! bang!

With each swing of the shadow’s claws, trees were cut down, rocks were shattered, and the ground exploded.

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

In the midst of an attack that would have killed a normal human just in the aftermath, the man just looked at the shadow and the monster with indifferent eyes.

How much time has passed in that state?

The man who had been staring at the shadow for quite a long time finally moved his body.

Slowly, the man’s hand moved to the sword at his waist.

The man swung the sword, still in its sheath, forward without even removing it from its sheath.

There was no destructive power in that attack.

It was just as straight and ordinary as a wooden sword wielded by a child.

however.

Pow!

With a sound like a drum exploding, the storm-like attack stopped.

and.

Whisper─

The shadow lay down on the floor.

With my back on the floor, I was forced to look up at the sky.

In that state, the shadow only slightly twitched and did nothing.

I didn’t even scream this time.

And the man quietly looked down at that shadow and muttered.

“… Hmm, is this the end?”

A murmur that conveys the meaning of examining, as if exploring the existence of shadows.

However, that time was not long.

As if there was no need to look further, the man lightly nodded and raised his sword again in its scabbard.

And he was about to swing it again.

Grumble─

The shadow began to stir.

Stand tall─

At the same time, the man’s movements stopped.

The man left the sword upright and began to watch the shadows flutter.

Meanwhile, the shadow was shaking, writhing, and swaying.

The shadow, which seemed to move in a way that seemed bizarre at first glance, soon completely lost its original form and wriggled as if running wild, and soon swelled up as if it would explode.

It was about five times the size of the original shadow.

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

I don’t know what’s going on, but it was a sight that gave me goosebumps all over my body and made me feel an inexplicable fear just by looking at it.

That strange scene continued like that for a while.

And after some time had passed, the shadow that had been writhing as if it would explode at any moment stopped.

And then.

The swollen shadow shrunk again.

It shrunk and shrank until it became just the size of a person.

Okay, one person.

The shadow, which had become smaller, now took the shape of a person.

The shadow that took on a new form slowly stood up from its seat.

The shadow looked at the man, lifting up a flat face with no eyes, nose, mouth, hair, or eyebrows.

Soon, a red line appeared on the face of the shadow, which had been blank.

Soon the red lines spread up and down.

and.

“Ah.”

A voice came from there. Not an animal howl or a scream, but a proper voice.

The surprise didn’t end there.

“Human, Liver.”

The shadow said.

Not just sounds, but language.

The shadow did not only imitate a person in appearance.

Literally, it resembled a human being.

The shadow and the monster broke the frame.

I have escaped the frame of being a monster.

It has evolved.

The extreme fear I encountered for the first time.

Death is one step closer.

By stimulating its survival instinct to the extreme, the shadow evolved into a being of a higher level.

The monster that was no longer a monster stretched out its finger and pointed at the man.

Then, he said.

“Ink, this.”

Grinning, the red line tore left and right.

The shadow was smiling.

Looking at the man, cheerfully.

The being who had achieved true evolution and transcended the frame of a forest monster smiled as he looked at his newly born belly, the first prey to satisfy his hunger.

And then he took a step towards his prey.

Boom─

I only took one step, but the air around me became heavy.

And the space vibrated.

Boom─

As I took another step, the forest trembled.

The forest held its breath.

Feeling the appearance of a new predator, I held my breath.

Just like that, the shadow and its steps had the power to make even the forest tremble.

However, even when faced with such a shadow, the man’s expression did not change.

The man was just staring at the shadow coming towards him.

“… I see.”

Then, he said as if he understood.

“Now I understand.”

The man, who had been talking to himself and nodding his head several times, raised his head.

and.

Sereung─

I pulled the sword out of its scabbard.

“Let’s end this now.”

Saying that, the man swung his sword.

The sword was slow.

It was so slow that I wondered if I could even cut reeds.

And even that was just swimming slowly in empty space.

However.

Suddenly─

“uh.”

The next moment, the shadow broke into two pieces.