Recently, there had been a rumor circulating among the monsters of N City.
That a ridiculous monster had appeared on Maguchi Mountain.
…Where was Maguchi Mountain, exactly?
It was a mountain where the relatively weak [low-rank] and [high-rank] monsters lived.
No.
It was a mountain inhabited by those creatures alone.
It was a place where even among the [low-rank] monsters, the stronger ones gathered, and where all living things except plants had been nearly wiped out in the struggle for survival, creating an ecosystem ruled by monsters.
And yet.
The Giant Grizzly that had ruled that mountain had died.
That monster, who had lived for nearly a hundred years and was still full of vitality.
That old beast, who was close to [dragon-level] even among the [high-rank] monsters.
That alone was shocking enough.
But the fact that it had been ambushed while out on a peaceful walk and died a sudden, miserable death was even more astonishing.
After all, that bear was the kind of opponent to whom ambushes almost never worked.
It was because of the long years it had lived, which had given it an exceptionally sharp instinct.
Unless the attacker had instincts far better than its own, a surprise attack should have been impossible.
And if you tried to beat it head-on, that was impossible too.
Overwhelming strength and a body with monstrous durability.
On top of that, a physique immune to all manner of special abilities.
Ambushes did not work, and direct combat was hopeless.
At the very least, it had been a peak existence among the [high-rank] monsters.
It hadn’t lived so long for nothing.
In the right matchup, it could even beat a weak [dragon-level].
And yet it was dead.
And not only that, it had been eaten alive.
The corpse was gone.
As if the killer had been some tremendous glutton, there was nothing left but clumps of torn gray fur and blood soaked into the ground. Not even a single bone fragment remained.
And the killer had vanished without leaving a trace, so no one could even tell who it was.
Arguments broke out.
“Wasn’t it taken down by a [dragon-level]?”
“Why would a [dragon-level] come to this mountain?”
“It was a planned move.”
“They targeted him from the start and ambushed him.”
“He was probably so startled by the surprise attack that he died.”
“Then why didn’t he notice?”
“How would I know?”
Things like that began to pass from one monster to another on the mountain.
And now the rumor was spreading, becoming the hottest topic in N City these days.
…However.
Even while they were making such a fuss.
One.
Two.
Three, four.
…Thirty, thirty-one…
The monsters of Maguchi Mountain were disappearing at a rapid pace.
“Kyaaah! No!! Stay awa-”
Snap.
Munch, munch…
Crunch, crunch.
Gulp.
“...Phew.”
That made thirty-five.
Just one swing of my claws was enough to turn a [low-rank] into a delicious-looking chunk of meat.
That was how I hunted at first.
But as I kept eating, I started to feel like something was missing.
It was tasty, but somehow unsatisfying.
So I changed my method.
I approached as carefully as possible and ambushed them from behind.
Then, instead of slicing them into cubes, I bit and tore into them alive right away.
Anywhere was fine.
Legs, arms, heads.
I bit into their heads, where the soft flesh and the satisfyingly crunchy texture were excellent, and drank what was inside.
If I just cut them into chunks of meat, the texture changed, so this seemed like a much better method.
And it actually was.
The only problem was.
“Kyaaah! Don’t come any closer!! Don’t come near me, I said—”
Crunch.
Rrrip.
Gulp.
“……Still not enough.”
I wiped away the saliva leaking from the corner of my mouth again.
Once I’d developed a taste for it, I simply couldn’t hold back.
I couldn’t satisfy myself at all.
Eat.
Eat.
No matter how much I kept eating.
The hunger wouldn’t go away.
I had definitely devoured a huge amount, and yet I still felt empty.
Hungry.
Not enough.
More.
But.
…I didn’t know.
I should rein this in.
There had to be a limit somewhere.
Just as even food you keep eating eventually gets old.
This hunger would stop too, eventually.
The problem was.
How many hundreds of monsters would I have to devour before that happened…?
…Ah.
Wait a second.
Isn’t this fine?
Why am I even worrying about this?
Killing lots of monsters isn’t a bad thing, is it?
And it’s delicious, isn’t it?
It feels good, doesn’t it?
Yeah.
Good.
That settles it. Thinking over.
Let’s keep eating them.
Another one immediately came into view.
…This mountain seemed to have an oddly large number of monsters for a normal mountain.
But that was even better, so it didn’t matter.
I rushed straight at it and tore out its shoulder blade.
Riiip!
“K, kyaaahhhhh!!!”
Crunch, chomp…
Huh.
Pretty chewy.
Looks like its muscles were well developed.
Then the other parts should taste good too, right?
You’ll have to be enjoyed a little more slowly.
Without hesitation, I tore out its calf.
Snap.
Riiip…
“Aaaahhh!! Help me! Save me!! Someone, someone help meeee!!!”
…Mm.
A little tough. Still soft, though.
Good enough to eat, I guess.
Gulp.
Now then, next is the belly.
I sharpened my claws and cut away only the flesh of its stomach, avoiding the organs.
Slice.
“Kheh, kyaaahhh!!... J-just kill me... please... kill me... kill me, please...!”
“No.”
“Aaaahhhhhhh!!!”
…It’s noisy.
Annoying, so maybe I should cut out its vocal cords first.
“Mon…ster….”
“...Monster?”
I paused with my hand just before cutting its vocal cords.
Being called a monster by a monster did feel strangely odd.
And besides.
Someone like me wasn’t even a monster.
If you ever met a [dragon-level], you’d understand.
The points I got from eating that thing’s “remains” were 1000.
You’re worth maybe 20 at most.
That’s fifty times more. Fifty times.
…No, whatever.
It doesn’t matter.
Why should I care what kind of food is about to go into my stomach?
While I’d hesitated, it must have tried to escape, because the thing was thrashing wildly.
How insolent. For food.
I pressed harder on the front paw pinning its chest, enough to make a squishing sound, and then applied even more force.
Snip.
I cut out its vocal cords.
Hoarse breathing kept leaking from its mouth, but that didn’t even qualify as noise anymore.
Let’s take our time and enjoy the rest.
I tore off the remaining arm and ripped out its ear.
Then, when nibbling bit by bit started to feel a little boring, I shoved its entire lower body into my mouth…
Crush.
“...!……!!”
I chewed the chunks of meat filling my mouth.
Watching the severed upper body fall, I savored the taste.
The burst of juices and blood blending together to soften the otherwise dry texture was a special treat.
After enjoying it like that, I swallowed.
Then, after glancing once at the dazed eyes of the thing before me.
Crunch.
I swallowed its head whole.
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