I Can Devour Monsters' SSS Talents

The return to Vhalaris took six days.

Six days that felt even longer to Seris than the battle at the Forgotten Tree itself.

Every hour of walking, every forced stop and every time they had to slow down felt like driving a new needle into her nerves.

Her body still had not recovered from what she had gone through.

Her left eye was gone, the wounds on her side and thigh had only partly closed despite Selina’s potions, and after using her enhancement powers too much, her muscles started shaking after every few hours of movement.

Even so, she almost never suggested stopping herself.

Every time her legs became heavier, she only slowed down a little. Every time the pain in her ribs became worse, she took shorter breaths and continued.

Aren was in an even worse condition.

The man who had spent twenty-five years in this world had now lost both of his arms on top of his old physical weakness.

The wounds where his arms had been cut off were closed, but his body was still suffering from blood loss, shock and the huge amount of mana he had used in the previous battle.

Sometimes his balance was lost while walking, and since he no longer had hands to catch himself, he would fall directly onto his shoulder or knee. Selina had to help him up from the ground several times, and even Seris, despite her own condition, stopped whenever necessary.

But One was in the worst condition.

The giant ant had survived after the two healing potions, but there was a huge difference between being alive and being healthy.

Parts of its natural armor were cracked, and the two large wounds on its stomach and side were still being pulled with every movement.

One would sometimes walk for a few hundred meters, then its legs would give out.

Its body would fall heavily onto the ground, and it would take several minutes before it could even raise its head again.

At such times, its antennae would move nervously, as if it was more annoyed than anyone else about slowing the group down.

Seris never said anything, not even once, her anger was not directed at One but at time.

With every hour that passed, the Black Silence was getting farther away.

Every night when they were forced to stop for a few hours, Seris stared into the darkness of the forest with her remaining eye and only thought about where Lian was now.

Or perhaps it was better to say where the thing that had taken Lian’s body was now.

Six days.

Six full days of time.

The Calamity could have done anything during this time.

And she did not even know if anything of Lian was still inside that body.

Unlike the other three, Selina was healthy.

That fact basically made her the main support of the journey back. She carried water and food, checked the surroundings, helped Aren whenever he collapsed and stayed alert whenever One was forced to stop.

On the second day, Seris increased her speed again.

Her steps were still much slower than normal, but it was clear that she wanted to make the time between their stops shorter.

"If you keep going like this, you’ll die before we reach our destination." Selina looked at her from behind.

"Then walk even faster." Seris did not even turn around.

"You really have a lovely personality."

"I know." The young Pendragon answered without slowing down.

Aren looked at the two of them with tired eyes.

For a moment, something like a smile appeared on his pale face, but it quickly disappeared with the next wave of pain.

That same day, they saw the first real sign.

At first, it was only the sound of growling.

Seris immediately put her hand on her sword, and Selina also raised her mana. One raised its head despite its weakness and turned its antennae toward the sound.

A few minutes later, they reached an open space between the trees.

There were six wolves there.

At first, Seris thought they were sharing prey, but when she got a little closer, her steps slowed.

There was no prey, the wolves were eating each other!

One of them had opened the stomach of an injured wolf with its teeth. That wolf was still alive, its legs struggling against the ground, and yet two other wolves were tearing the flesh from its side without caring about its cries.

The fourth wolf suddenly raised its head from the half-alive body and attacked one of its own companions for no clear reason.

The two rolled across the ground, their teeth sinking into each other’s necks and blood splashing onto the dirt.

"Is this normal here?" Selina frowned.

"No." Seris did not take her eyes off the monsters.

Black veins could be seen under the wolves’ skin.

Their eyes had almost completely turned black, and dark foam was coming from the corners of their mouths. There was no sign of fear, normal hunger or even the instinct to protect the pack in their behavior.

There was only violence.

One of the wolves sensed the Humans and charged directly at them.

Seris drew her sword, and despite her injured body, her attack was still fast, the blade passed through the wolf’s lower stomach and cut through its side almost to its chest.

The monster fell to the ground, but it did not stop, with its stomach open and some of its organs hanging out, it tried to stand again.

She stared at it for a moment, and the monster bit toward her leg.

Selina came from the side, a wave of mana fell onto the wolf’s head and the sound of bones breaking rang out, and the animal’s body finally became still.

She then looked at the corpse with disgust.

"What the hell is this?"

Aren stood behind them, his expression serious.

"This should be the same corruption."

Seris said nothing, but the image of Lian’s purple eyes appeared in her mind for a moment, she had not expected it to start spreading this quickly.

Over the next few days, things became worse.

They saw a group of herbivores attacking each other with their horns and teeth for no understandable reason.

Somewhere else, they saw several hunting monsters of the same species fighting each other to the death, while the fresh corpse of another creature was lying only a few meters away.

On the fifth day, they even came across a group of creatures that were eating the corpses of their own kind while also injuring each other to reach different parts of the body.

The world had changed.

Or perhaps something that had always been hidden under its surface had awakened again.

On the morning of the sixth day, the towers of Vhalaris finally appeared across the gray horizon.

Selina let out a sigh of relief and Aren closed his eyes for a moment, even One raised its antennae a little higher.

But Seris felt no relief, only anger.

Six days, the number repeated in her mind, six damn days for the Black Silence.

Six days for something that had been able to push One and herself aside like toys only moments after its birth.

Six days to do something that they did not even know about yet.

Seris made her steps a little faster, this time Selina said nothing, and when they got close to the city, the first thing they saw was the flags.

The flags of Cinderhold in the east, the forces of Ashenreach in the north and the armies of Emberrol in the southeast.

And groups of Rootcrown forces scattered among the other positions.

The siege was still going on, but something was strange, there was no battle taking place, no sound of siege weapons, no magic explosions and no clash of swords.

The Cindari forces were still in their positions, but instead of advancing, they were only keeping the circle around the city.

A ceasefire, or something close to it, had probably happened.

The reality was almost exactly that.

After the whole world shook, the sky changed color and the strange flames of Heartwood went out, Rindo and Tavern had been forced to enter another negotiation.

No peace had been made and there was no trust, but Maelor, Kael and Tharos were still in the hands of the Humans, and the Cindari were still keeping the siege around the city.

But both sides had reached a simple conclusion.

As long as they did not know what was changing the world itself, killing each other would only make the work of another creature easier.

Rindo had told the Cindari that they had sent a group toward the Forgotten Tree, and one of Tavern’s conditions was also clear.

If Lian’s group returned, the information about the Forgotten Tree had to be shared with them.

They did not know about the truth that their ancestors had hidden.

Seris also did not know about this yet, and before they even reached the first outer gate, movement began around them.

Several groups of Cindari came out from between the trees and ruined buildings.

Ten at first.

Then twenty.

Then more.

Within a few minutes, they were surrounded by a half-circle of armed soldiers.

One even tried to put its body into a defensive position, but one of its legs shook under its weight.

Seris was not in much better condition, but she drew her sword at that moment.

"Put your weapons down." One of the Cindari middle-ranked commanders stepped forward a few steps.

"The city is under siege."

"Surrender."

Seris raised her sword slightly higher, and Selina turned her head toward her.

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"Do you know that if they attack, we probably won’t last even three seconds?"

Seris looked at the soldiers around them.

"Probably."

"And you’re still not lowering your sword?" Selina waited for a few seconds.

"No."

"Very well." Then she put her hand into her storage space.

"What are you going to take out?" The young Pendragon asked after a little hesitation.

"A way to make sure we don’t die three seconds from now."

An emergency Beacon.

The same thing that Liana and Seraphina had activated in the Glesthorn Forest, and it caused Lian to find them.

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