"Crackle."
Electric sparks flew.
A huge, short-beaked eagle stood atop a treetop as usual, its feathers colliding and rubbing together, faint flashes of lightning flickering between them.
Its sharp eagle eyes gleamed with the light of an intelligent creature. While checking the adventurers' positions through Perception, it searched its surroundings for any potential prey.
Not far behind him, the pale-red boundary of the Secret Realm was shrinking inward at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Though he had no idea what had happened, ever since the boundary had begun shrinking faster a few days ago, he had gained the ability to sense the locations of other adventurers.
Having already killed other adventurers and absorbed their Life Energy, he knew that, as someone nearing the Second Evolution, the ritual had likely reached its final stage.
His identity as a flying raptor made him especially suited to this environment. He fully exploited his speed and aerial advantage, wantonly harvesting the adventurers in the surrounding area.
That morning, he had descended from the sky and killed a Ground Rat adventurer with one swipe of his claw after it cautiously poked its head out of its burrow. Thanks to the greater amount of Life Energy left behind than usual, he had finally reached the Third Evolution.
He could roughly guess what "Algae Scale" Dodd was plotting by holding such a ritual. But he was merely an ordinary adventurer who had come to Stodd Island with his team to attend the Moon Tide Feast. He might have had some renown in the Southern Islands, but he had little connection with this great pirate.
Since he had been dragged into this, he had to make things difficult for Dodd somehow.
As he pondered his next move, the Thunder Eagle Adventurer searched through his Perception for