"Gahahahahahahaha!"
An afternoon on a bright... well, not exactly bright, but a slightly overcast day.
A rough, grating laugh rose from something that had emerged from the sea and echoed across the coast of J City.
"Humans, listen well if you don’t want to be annihilated!"
Thud, thud.
A massive body landed on land with heavy footsteps.
Standing at least five or six meters tall, it shouted arrogantly.
"I am the herald of the deep sea, come to deliver a warning! Hand over the surface to us deep-sea folk!"
People ran.
They screamed.
And then....
"And you humans will become our food...."
I smiled.
It was a smile made half from pleasure, half from disgust.
Talkative food is still annoying.
But free food is always welcome.
So....
Srrk.
I had no intention of listening to that long, drawn-out speech to the end.
Honestly, what nonsense.
Threatening humans with this little?
It’d be one thing if it had said, “Please raise me as livestock.”
But after seeing that girl who felt like a natural disaster, and that man who blew apart a dragon-level monster in one hit, I couldn’t help thinking...
there was no way you lot were at a level humans could beat.
If there were other strong ones among the deep-sea folk, maybe it’d be different... but if this “mere” one was all they had, then I alone could wipe them out.
The cleanly severed octopus head rolled onto the ground, and the rest of the body below the neck slowly tilted over....
KWA-DAAAANG!!!
It collapsed helplessly.
Crushing several cars on the way down.
Was this a low-rank?
At this point, it was hard to call it high-rank, since it had been sliced apart far too easily, as if it had no muscle or resistance at all.
Still, it was that big.
I’d never seen a low-rank monster that size before, so I was a little unsure.
Or maybe it had some other special ability...?
My instincts said probably not.
Maybe it had just been a low-rank monster that was big and nothing else....
[Allocatable Points: +15]
...Right.
So it was just a big low-rank.
It was definitely the largest low-rank monster I’d seen so far.
If I’d met it not long after first fully awakening my mind... I might have had a hard time.
With that weight, it could have been a pretty decent weapon.
Not now, though.
Crack!
Crunch!
Crunch!
Gulp.
"...Oh?"
...A herald of the deep-sea folk, huh?
After taking a bite, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
Did I kill it too early for nothing...?
What if, because I killed this one, the other deep-sea folk won’t come?
That kind of oddly unsettling thought crossed my mind.
"...It’s delicious...!"
Chewy, plump, and springy in texture.
Not a bad smell, either.
That alone was enough to pass.
But....
Crunch!
Crunch-crunch-crunch!
It had even been salted by seawater itself.
The moderately salty taste blended with that unique texture, making it perfect.
Of everything I’d eaten so far, this was definitely the first properly seasoned food.
Crunch-crunch-crunch!
Crunch!
Crunch!
Crunch!
Munch, munch, munch....
Gulp.
"Phewww...."
...Yeah.
This was definitely a jackpot.
Seasoning really was a magnificent thing.
All that meat disappeared in less than two minutes.
"...Tch."
I clicked my tongue in disappointment.
Would more of these deep-sea folk show up...?
Would it be fine to lie in ambush around here and jump them when they appear?
Since it called itself a “herald,” there were probably stronger ones than this guy.
Then ambushing and hunting them would be the best move.
Thinking those pointless thoughts, I turned to leave.
Shiver!
".........?"
Far away.
Something glittered in my field of vision, reflecting the sunlight.
And then.
The moment I realized it was a bald head shining where the skin had peeled away....
"!!!!!!!!"
My head, which had been full of happy fantasies, went completely white.
Run.
That was the only thing filling my mind.
It was a familiar feeling.
And because it was familiar, I hated it all the more.
The presence of a strong being.
That overwhelming aura.
The absolute... tolling of death’s bell.
It was coming from far away.
My legs, already running, sped up on their own.
My breathing grew rough again.
My scales prickled.
I shuddered.
I trembled.
It wasn’t even close yet.
And yet just seeing it in my field of vision felt like the blade of death was being pressed beneath my chin.
I kept running and running.
Only after I’d run to a place that instinct told me was safe did I finally let out a breath.
".........Hoo."
...Forget ambushing there.
No. Forget staying here at all.
I didn’t want to keep living by getting blown apart in one punch.
"...I should get out of this place as fa..."
Halt.
"...But the seafood is too precious to leave."
By now I was calling them seafood instead of deep-sea folk, but that didn’t matter.
What mattered was that if I left now, I might not get to eat any seafood.
That man might blow them all apart anyway.
"..............."
Maybe because I’d just developed a taste for it.
Taking a step away was not easy.
The chewy, salty texture of the octopus leg I’d just eaten kept lingering in my mouth... ugh.
"..............."
This is insane.
My sensibility, which wanted flavor, and my reason, which wanted survival, were colliding.
[Sensibility]: You want me to give up that taste?
[Reason]: First survive, then talk.
[Reason]: We can just wait for the bastard to disappear later.
[Sensibility]: ...Right? Genius.
Collision over.
Good. Let’s run right now.
"..............."
...But.
Maybe just one bite would be fine...?
...Yeah. Leaving J City entirely might be too hasty a decision.
Let’s just wait a little farther away... for a few hours.
If they all die, maybe one of them will still be alive... probably?
Swoooooosh....
"..............."
...In the end.
Only one was left.
But it was a lot different from what I’d expected.
It had become a very... unforeseen situation.
"Huh? What are you?"
"..............."
Even if I had to take a little risk.
I should have waited there and dealt with it.
"A-another monster...!"
"All the heroes are already down... i-it’s over now!!"
"................"
Among the fallen humans, one familiar outfit caught my eye.
It was the human I’d fought last time.
Yeah.
I see.
He was a wreck.
If he’d taken just a little more punishment like that, he would’ve died.
He looked like he was breathing terribly hard, too.
The rest of the humans were all covered in blood as well.
At least... there didn’t seem to be any dead humans yet....
...
......
.........
That bastard.
"...I’m going to kill you."
"Heh. Still got a mouth on you?"
Really?
Yeah. My mouth was still alive.
So.
Forget dying cleanly.
No matter what happens today, I’m going to chew your head off raw.
[Disaster Level: High (promotion conditions not met)]
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