Paladia followed Qin Ran's gaze toward the direction they had come from.
A figure had appeared there at some point!
But!
It definitely wasn't human!
A ragged cloak covered its body, but the gaps and holes did nothing to conceal its crimson bones. Beneath its hood, Soul Fire flickered endlessly in its eyes. It held something resembling a string of prayer beads, turning them as it walked, while the skeleton let out a strange, rattling laugh.
The airborne monster spotted the skeleton too. As though terrified, it shot high into the sky and flew into the distance without looking back.
But just as the monster was about to disappear from Paladia's sight-
Boom!
Flesh and blood burst apart.
Without the slightest warning, the airborne monster turned into a bare skeleton before Paladia's eyes and fell from the sky.
It never hit the ground.
Instead, together with the flesh and blood that had burst apart, its skeleton flew straight toward the cloaked skeleton.
"Kak, kak-kak."
With another strange laugh, the skeleton opened its mouth and sucked the flesh and blood into its body. The enormous skeleton shattered into tiny bone fragments, which slipped through the gaps in the ragged cloak and attached themselves to its bones. Yet its size did not change at all. Only its crimson color deepened, while a faint, bloody stench spread through the surroundings.
The prayer beads in its hand spun faster and faster, too.
Watching those spinning beads made Paladia dizzy and sick to his stomach.
It wasn't just their speed. There was also an instinctive revulsion and fear welling up from his body.
Just like when he looked at the crimson skeleton before him.
It was the crushing dominance of a creature at the top of the food chain over one at the bottom.
If