It was almost nightfall, so I had to find a decent place to rest. Fortunately, we found a decent place, quite a flat area with some bald trees. I had to say, this place was a bit better than sleeping on hard cliffs. Wood was a better surface to lie on, even for just a bit. What? The woods could be more dangerous to be at?

Yeah right, like there was any safer area in a place like this. Every fucking inch was dangerous. Therefore, it didn't matter if I were to rest in this woody area or not. It would be all the same. So, why not just use the more comfortable spot, despite how minor it would be?

We searched for a nicer spot, or to be precise, I was searching for a decent tree trunk. And that alone. Not like these trees even had leaves to find any shade. It took a while before I found a decent-looking tree, and I couldn't be more relieved… Goddammit, now I was getting happy about finding a good tree? Fucked up.

I plopped down on the tree root and let out a long, relieved sigh. Finally, I was able to actually rest. I was about to fall, and the world had been turning a bit blurry in my eyes. Since we took down that giant, we had not stopped moving, trying to make as much distance as possible.

I really pushed myself this time. And I was drained, exhausted as fuck. I was panting while sitting down. I leaned my back on the trunk and raised my eyes to the sky. Now I was at rest, I could finally feel the weight leaving my body.

What a boring sky.

Nothing was enjoyable about this experience at all. I was so tired to fucking sleep.

"Goddess?"

"I'll take a rest. Meanwhile, you watch."

"Okay."

Once she walked away to watch the perimeter, I suddenly started coughing. Not that hard, and not a blood came out of my mouth, thankfully. But I should really hold out on using powerful magic, at least until tomorrow. I groaned in frustration.

Well, at least I had a better surface to lie on.

Sometimes, I just wanted to nuke this shitty place. And I wouldn't mind killing thousands of people in the process. This place was a stain in my eyes, not a shred of beauty. And it kinda pissed me off, making things difficult for me.

Once I cooled down a little, I started eating what was left of the worm meat while staring up at the gloomy sky. Wow, this was like a picnic, only lonely and lackluster. Plus an incredibly bland food.

"For fuck's sake."

Whatever…

I'm just gonna stop complaining… Maybe.

Time passed, and night had fallen. I was so tired from doing anything else, and I had filled my belly. Therefore, it was fine to fall asleep now. I should have nothing to worry about when Nira was to keep watch.

I shifted my body to find a comfortable spot on this wooden trunk. Once I felt that comfort, I closed my eyes and cleared my mind. At least in sleep, I would find peace.

I did fall asleep a short time later. It would seem I was so tired that my insomnia just didn't get to work, hehe. Oh look, now I resorted to making jokes about my plight. Now what was that a sign of? Dammit.

I was getting some decent sleep, compared to the one before. But suddenly, late in the night, Nira shouted from the woods.

"Goddess!"

I snapped awake, followed by an instant headache. I mean, come on, it wasn't healthy to wake up so suddenly. Placing a hand on my head, I stood up while leaning on the wooden trunk. Nira ran up to me, completely covered, as she was in her monster form.

"What is it, Nira?" I faintly groaned in my aching head. I really needed some more sleep. The world was a bit of a blur, not good.

"Monsters are crawling around. Two of them, they're big."

"Huh." Shouldn't have been a surprise. But if Nira came up to tell me, then it was something she couldn't handle.

I pulled out medium daggers in each hand, just as the two creatures slowly moved in the shadows. I could hear their faint, dangerous growls. I summoned a ball of light, lighting up the area. And the pair of monsters was revealed.

They were dark orange-colored beasts, almost feline, but more savage looking. They were like tigers, fierce faces, sharp claws, but their upper body was a bit bigger. Almost reminded me of the beast form of the beastmen we faced back in the home city. These beasts before me, were like the inferior cousins of those inhumans.

The two beasts split up and slowly crawled as they glared at us. Like predators waiting for the right moment to pounce. Their eyes were sharp as blades, watching our every move. How annoying, how troublesome. These two interrupted my sleep.

Furthermore, these two… didn't seem to be a walk in the park. I could sense it, the danger they possessed. In my weakened state, this might be a bit too stressful to handle. I shifted my hand.

"!" But the moment I did, one beast suddenly pounced at me with incredible swiftness. It rattled me a bit, with its speed, and the moment it responded instantly to my slight movement. These creatures were more wary than I thought.

I raised my daggers and blocked its claws from both its frontal hands. Now it was standing on two legs, really like the beastmen. I hated this type of opponent. It unnerved me. I shifted my blades, sliding off its claws so I wouldn't get the whole brunt of the impact, while stepping backwards.

The moment I made some gap between us, it suddenly opened its mouth.

Ah shit!

I immediately conjured a barrier the moment a blast of magic shot out from its mouth. I felt the impact it had on my barrier as it sent a powerful shockwave, but fortunately, my barrier was able to stand it. The beast ran up to my flank, and swung down its claws on one hand. Once I blocked it, it subsequently swung down its other hand. I evaded it, and while turning, I brought down my blade at its arm. The moment I slashed its skin, it jumped backwards and landed sideways on a tree trunk.

This little sh—

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And it propelled itself towards me like a bullet. I frantically conjured a sturdier barrier before it crashed on me. Barriers usually deflect away attacks, but this beast managed to push me backwards the moment it made contact.

Damn this thing! Making me use more magic.

I had to be thrifty here. I shouldn't use my spells recklessly. No, there was no need to use a lot of magic to defeat this thing. It was fast on its movements, its strikes were heavy, and it was smarter than the typical monster. But at least I only needed to watch out for its claws.

And then, while it clashed against my barrier, it opened its mouth, magic shining inside it. I had to watch out for that too…

Of course it would do that.

I used the wind to move myself sideways, and its breath attack hit the ground. At that moment, I strode forward in a swift motion, raising and pointing my dagger at its neck. However, before I could land the hit, it stepped sideway to evade my attack. The moment I missed, it swung its claw towards me in a sweeping motion. And so I conjured a burst of wind and dodged above its attacking arm, I could feel it go below me on my back.

The moment I landed on the ground, I thrust my blade from below it, plunging my blade into just under its armpit. It roared briefly before it used its other hand to attack me. I pulled out my dagger from it and dodged its attack. After its full hand swing, I propelled myself forward with a small wind magic. I slashed its arm, and as I went past the side of its head, I swung my dagger and slashed its neck. But it was far from anything fatal.

I flipped in the air and landed sideways on a tree trunk, and instantly, I propelled myself towards the beast. I attempted to strike with both daggers, but the beast raised and crossed its claws to block my attack. Just like how I predicted. The way this thing acts was almost human, some monsters here were indeed quite clever. Were monsters always like this? Even at home? Perhaps, not like I usually fight monsters back home.

With the monster responding as I had hoped, I conjured a wide wind from my feet to thrust me upwards. As I flipped in the air over the monster, I brought down my foot enhanced with Physical Enhancement and kicked down its head with the back of my foot, causing an audible impact. Its head was hard, but I felt I did good damage on it.

It whimpered like a kitty cat before stepping backwards, stunned. I stepped forward to deliver a fatal blow, but then the second beast suddenly jumped in and intervened. It violently charged and swung its claws at me, and I had to back away and evade its attacks, failing to land a fatal hit on my target.

Shifting my eyes, I saw a terribly wrecked Nira on the floor. She was torn apart, her limbs cut, her body shredded like a paper clawed by a giant cat. It was gonna take some time before she recovers. Still, facing two enemies at once, even ten seconds was too long.

I thrust my blade at it, it blocked. It attempted to send multiple strikes, I dodged them all. But it was continuous with its attacks. I parried one of its claws as I searched for an opening to deliver a direct strike. But it was then that I noticed the other beast came up next to me.

I conjured a barrier to block its claws, while I dodged the attack from another. And then one ran up next to me and opened its mouth, magic shining.

Up close?!

I took in a sharp breath and waited for that slight jerk they do before firing. And just as it did, I jumped away from my spot. A blast burst out, launching dust and debris into the air, leaving a small crater on the ground. At the same time, the other monster pounced at me. I sidestepped and swung my dagger at it. Only to be interrupted by the other one. I frantically dodged. I clicked my tongue. Two at once in my weakened state was just difficult.

I dodged and blocked with my barrier, deflecting their claws with my dagger. I was hoping to buy time for Nira to be restored, but then my head ached for a moment. That disoriented me. The next I saw was a claw coming at me. I stepped back to evade, but I was a little too late.

The claw slashed my left chest almost an inch deep.

"Fuck!" In my anger, I swung my dagger sideways, unleashing a wide wave of magic at the two, pushing them back away.

I gritted my teeth as I looked down at the wound while panting. I was bleeding, my blood falling to the ground.

This is the second time I've been hit!

And to some random monsters? Dammit! This was unacceptable. What a disgrace. What a fucking disgrace!

I cannot let this shame go on.

There was no time to use healing magic, the monsters were already going my way. I was holding back to preserve my health. I could have handled them without using much magic, but my deteriorating body got in the way. I was so annoyed, so angry.

Fuck it. Fuck everything.

Time to end this.

I sheathed my daggers. Electricity crackled and shone on both my palms.

I'm the hunter here. Not you.

I poured mana into my body, and I charged towards the enemies. I adeptly evaded their attacks and thrust a finger at one monster's arm. A lightning bolt shot out with great power, severing the arm and cauterizing the wound in that same instant. The beast roared in pain.

I dodged the other one, and I did the same, its arm flew off in the air. It attempted to strike me again, and so I dodged towards its back, and then kicked its spine, my strike causing an audible boom, staggering it. The other beast attacked, I evaded and pushed it towards its companion.

At that same moment, I raised my hands, and a large ball of electricity formed. It shone brightly in the darkness of the night, like a beacon of death. And I waved it towards the two monsters. The ball of electricity crackled and blew dust in its path before it hit and completely engulfed the two monstrous beasts. It took a moment before the bright light dissipated.

"Hah, hah, hah…" I breathed heavily as I stared at the burned corpse. I only used the minimal amount of mana that could obliterate these monsters in an instant. Hoping to lessen the damage I would do to myself. "Gah!" But it was not that effective as I started coughing, and blood spattered to the soil from my mouth. I crouched as I suffered from pain all over my body. My vision was becoming more blurry.

I rubbed my mouth stained with blood, then glanced at the bleeding wound on my chest.

I need… to heal this wound.

I held out my hand over the wound, but then I heard a strained growl. I paused and raised my head, it was Nira, standing in front of me. She was breathing like a beast, her fists clenched tightly. Her eyes seemed directed to the blood I was bleeding.

Shit, my blood was extremely tempting to them. Getting wounded in this situation was bad. And no one to hold back Nira…

On the bright side, she seemed to be controlling her urge.

"Nira… Control yourself, and look away."

She shook and her growl grew louder. And then, she lunged at me, and pinned me down. I was feeling weak, but not like I couldn't resist. However, even as she pinned me down on the ground, her repulsive face over me, she had not attempted to bite me. She was still in control.

This was a fine chance to test her.

"Nira, you said you'd show me the power of your will. For you to resist yourself, your nature, and for you not to harm me." I narrowed my eyes sharply. "Is this the limit of your will?"

"I…"

"Harm me now, and we are over. I will be disappointed."

"N-No…"

"Show me your strength, show me I can trust you."

"T-Trust?"

"Prove to me that you are willing to follow me to the end. Prove to me your loyalty to the one you believe as your goddess."

"Goddess…" She gritted her teeth before she slowly moved back away from me. She cradled her head. "Stop… Must not harm the goddess." And she started sobbing. Her body trembled intensely.

I slowly stepped away and placed a hand on my wound, casting healing magic. "Nira, I'm proud that you resisted your temptation."

It was then she suddenly turned into a fog and flew into the darkness of the forest. Indeed, it was best to keep her distance for now. I let out a tired sigh as I maintained my healing magic. Limping slightly, I leaned on a tree and slowly fell on my knees. I coughed.

It was becoming hard to maintain consciousness.

I just need some rest.

A moment later, I checked my wound. It was gone, not even a scar. I smiled, at least my skin was fine. Still perfect. Yes, perfect. And that mattered greatly. I closed my eyes and fell asleep immediately.

Come morning, I was still sleeping soundly. But then I sensed danger approaching. I slowly opened my eyes and I saw a blade pointed at the side of my head from the corner of my eyes. Swiftly, I shifted my body and turned to grab the hand of the one holding the sword, and pushed him down into the dirt.

I pulled out my blade and stabbed him in the throat. I was not in the mood to check whether or not they were friendly, not one of my allies would point a blade at me. And I was still agitated after what had just happened.

Once the person stopped moving, my thoughts became a bit less cloudy. And I realized what I had just killed.

Hm? A kid?

It was a kid, a boy, several years younger than me. He looked around the same age as Nira. I did not expect that.

I just killed a kid.

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