A Ghoul Driven by Hunger

In the dark, damp rainforest, a Beastfolk soldier transferred from the old outpost to the new one was on his way to catch some fish.

There was a relatively spacious area away from the banks of the Wunu River, where he often went to hide and rest for a while.

It's still early; through the small gaps in the leaves, you can see that the sun is still quite a distance away from reaching its highest point.

Therefore, when the soldier arrived at the "holy land" of laziness, he was all alone.

The Beastfolk soldier was happy to enjoy this moment of peace and quiet, and sat down on a tree root that looked good to him.

But he didn't notice that near the hem of his robe, a light, almost weightless Radiant Feathers began to shimmer.

The soldier felt that the atmosphere in the rainforest had become inexplicably eerie.

A subconscious unease warned him of impending danger, but his habitual laziness prevented him from mustering any energy.

It must be an illusion.

He shuddered, then thought indifferently.

But the next moment, something unexpected happened!

The Radiant Feathers pierced his flesh, and before he could react, Space Wormhole opened up inside him.

The Beastfolk soldiers were instantly drained, and then their empty bodies were pulverized by the unstable spatial fluctuations.

Immediately afterwards, a mass of flesh mixed with smoke and carbonized marks crashed onto the bushes and soil.

The Wormhole quickly disintegrated, Radiant Feathers's remaining energy smoothed out the Spatial Turbulence to prevent harm to the humanoid figures on the ground.

Shisui collapsed to the ground, his severe lack of Psychic Energy his self-repair to be extremely slow, preventing him from opening Alternate Space, and rendering him unable to move.

They are even incapable of thinking.

The vital organs and some tissues composed of Rc Cells are still stubbornly alive and dividing at an extremely slow rate.

That's how Shisui managed to stay alive.

The mangled body instinctively began to draw Psychic Energy from the air, a drop in the ocean, but better than nothing.

Fortunately, his semi-comatose state at least spared him from the horrific hunger of Ghouls.

Thus, Shisui's consciousness began to drift and float amidst the itching and pain, like ants gnawing at it.

After an unknown amount of time, Shisui was still not fully conscious, but his body was no longer heavy and he was able to move.

As his eardrums finally returned to normal, the pitch-black world suddenly became noisy.

The indistinct sounds of conversation began to fill my ears.

A rustling sound came from the air.

The throbbing pains that came with the gradual recovery of his nervous system made him extremely irritable.

Finally, at a certain moment, the power began to return to his body, and the existence of the Kakuhou became clear.

The outer skin of the Shisui has not yet begun to repair, and its internal structure has only recovered to the point where it can move.

But that's enough.

A large, crimson humanoid figure on the ground stirred, causing a slight rustling sound in the grass.

Then came the return of consciousness, and an overwhelming surge of hunger.

Having just restarted, my still blank mind was instantly flooded with thoughts of hunger.

His stomach screamed as if it were tearing apart, and a burning heat traveled from his digestive tract all the way to his brain, almost causing him to lose consciousness again.

"Hey! Stop slacking off, we've got work to do!"

In the distance, the shouts of the Beastfolk could be heard, followed by two closer voices conversing.

The hungry Ghoul instantly locked onto its prey!

The Feathered Hell Pack, located near the shoulder, mobilizes the few Rc cells it can access.

Then, a steel Ukaku slowly forms outside the body.

"Brush!"

"No! Lie down!"

The sharp Steel Feathers, like blades drawn from their sheaths, pierced through the gaps in the tree trunk, cutting towards the direction from which the sound originated.

"Bang!"

The sound of Steel Feathers hitting the ground rang out simultaneously with the sound of someone falling to the ground.

Before that, there was a soft "hiss!"

The first prey has been caught.

However, this is far from enough.

Shisui mind was still consumed by hunger and appetite, unable to think; at this moment, what propelled his body was only instinct.

With a sudden burst of power from his legs, he shot towards the location of his prey with a "whoosh!"

Then, he brought his knuckles together to form a knife, and with a swift motion, severed the prey's head.

The sweet, metallic scent of blood surrounded Shisui, both his own and that of his prey.

The Ghoul its mouth and bit off a large chunk of Psychic Energy; its muscles visibly and slowly recovered with the movement.

"Click, click..."

A series of tearing and cracking sounds echoed through the quiet jungle.

A moment later, the chilling sound stopped abruptly, and the forest fell silent once more.

The flesh-and-blood monster was gone, leaving only trampled weeds and traces of crimson stains on the grass.

In the distance, the sound of chatter drifted from the outpost, its bright lights standing out starkly against the dark rainforest.

At this moment, another cargo ship passed through the sentry's control area.

The Beastfolk soldiers poured out in full force, and the massive iron net blocked the ships sailing down the river.

This kind of interception happens almost every day.

This is why more and more people are now illegally crossing the border by land.

While traveling by land allows for detours and hiding, on the open river, boats have nowhere to hide and can only be seized, then forced to pay tolls.

Just like this ship fleeing south, it has been forced to dock.

The Beastfolk soldiers around the ship tightened their encirclement, bringing it to control on the shore.

Left with no other option, the captain led the large group of passengers ashore to "pay the fee."

Suddenly, this section of the Wunu River Riverbank became exceptionally lively.

Beastfolk, Human Race, and even some Demon Race mingled together, crowding onto the flat ground by the river.

In addition to the group of people who were illegally crossing the border by land that were detained at the sentry post last night, this area is home to at least several thousand intelligent species.

This benefits a certain Ghoul who is starving.

"Stand still! Line up! Don't even think about sneaking away!"

"Get ashore, all of you...!"

"Bang!"

A dark shadow crashed down on the noisy meat-eating crowd, silencing the soldiers' shouts.

Immediately afterwards, smoke and dust mixed with fine Feather Powder swept across the entire area.

With a crisp nibble, Spatial Lockdown activated!

The unrepaired body of the Shisui was twisted and deformed, mutated into a state more suitable for hunting.

The absorbed energy fuels the growth of the predatory organs, Kagune gradually envelops the bloody, mangled body.

With its enormous feeding organs fully formed, it pounced on its prey in the next instant.

"Ahhh--!"

It was unclear who cried out first, but the lambs on the periphery took a long time to react.

No one wants to face a twisted, terrifying, and unfathomable unknown life form.

Unsurprisingly, a rout and stampede followed.

But when they try to distance themselves from the center of the event, they discover, to their despair, that...

I am now surrounded by more and more Feather Powder.

They had nowhere to escape; they were already on the dinner table the moment they were discovered by hungry predators.