Chapter 445 – The Scholar and the Beast

000

The griffon fell to the ground without the strength of his wings his, and he had no choice but to absorb the impact with his own body.

There was a big pit, and of course dust rises and covers the surroundings.

He was stung by the pain and weakness that ran through his huge body his, so his body his didn’t listen, and the upper body of an eagle and the lower half of a lion seemed to move separately.

“Ki…Kia…”

Somehow, he tries to get up on the spot, but his legs his don’t have enough strength, so he stumbles and falls over and over again.

Cleon and Sasha, while looking at such a griffon, kept their mouths shut for a while-

Cleon closes and opens his eyes once more, then grabs Carly Burn again.

“If you leave it as it is, it will recover and rampage again. …Now, we have to hunt it down.”

At his words her, Sasha shuts her mouth for a moment, then she talks while looking at Cleon.

“Wait, wait. This gryphon… Something is strange.”

“…Strange?”

When Cleon looks back at her at Sasha’s words her, Sasha nods her head and raises her finger to point at the part of her griffon’s beak her.

“There is no blood on the griffon’s beak or feathers. If you look at the condition of the body, there are signs that something has eaten it…”

“…Come to think of it…!”

Even if the griffon had washed away the blood in the river, then it should have been seen escaping the forest.

Besides, the time they died, which was felt from the traces of the corpses, was not that long ago.

“…Then, who the hell-“

From what Artis heard, there are no animals that are dangerous enough to prey on people in this forest.

At best, the level of danger was a wild boar that rushes excitedly when danger arises.

That’s why it was hard to think of anyone besides Gryphon creating the corpses scattered around, but-

Sasha’s words she had some truth, so when Cleon became hesitant about beheading Griffon.

Sasha quietly approached Griffon.

“Sasha!”

In response to Sasha’s sudden action her, Cleon grabbed her arm her.

Sasha nodded her head while placing her hand on top of Cleon’s her.

“…It’s okay, this kid… I think I know… Why he was so nervous.”

At Sasha’s words, Cleon had no choice but to shut her mouth her.

The only one who can use the hunter’s imprint, right now, is only her.

If she, as a hunter – no, as a vessel of the animal god, she felt something for the beast, Griffon.

That was far more credible than Cleon’s own intuition or prediction of her.

However, even so, Cleon couldn’t send Sasha to Griffon’s side alone.

“…In that case. Let me go too.”

At Cleon’s words her, Sasha nodded her head slightly and Cleon led as he approached Griffon.

Naturally, as if rejecting the two people approaching them, the griffon fluttered its wings and tried to create a wind.

However, unlike before, he could n’t use freezing magic, and perhaps his wings did n’t have enough power, so his flapping of his wings his ended up generating wind that was about the size of a fan.

Thanks to this, Sasha approached the griffon without any danger, and she put her hand on her back—the spot where she had shot the headless arrow.

As it is, the hand goes down to the side of her, and soon it touches the belly.

Then- something hard felt inside it.

At the same time, Cleon is somehow forcefully holding back her griffon her, who reacts sensitively to the touch of her her own belly and peck at her her Sasha, or swing her claws to drive away.

Sasha opens her eyes wide and looks back at Cleon.

“…As expected! It has eggs. It wouldn’t be strange if it was born soon.”

“Are you…?”

The reason Griffon was sharp, and the reason why he seemed nervous was n’t just his hostility towards his people.

It was because he had a huge egg inside his body his, and it had grown to the point where it would n’t be strange if it came out soon.

‘Then this guy… Feared being disturbed from spawning, did he attack us?’

Griffins are clever beasts.

He would have been able to tell at least that Cleon and Sasha weren’t the same kind of people as the bandits who had imprisoned him.

However, as the spawning season approached, the griffons were extremely sensitive, and they had to build a nest as soon as possible and lay their own eggs.

“…Wait. Then, why was he flying in the sky? He should have built a nest and laid eggs even in this garrison.”

When Cleon reaches the obvious question, the next moment Sasha’s nose ‘sniffs’and her expression her turns urgent.

“The smell of blood… It’s human.”

“——Are you the one who attacked the wild bandits in the garrison!”

As Cleon said that, when Sasha turned her gaze to the same place-

Making a rustling, crackling sound. It walked out of the bush.

It looked like a black furry beast, like a walking rabbit.

It was about the size of a human adult, with claws like sharp blades of steel in its hands.

It was not difficult for Cleon and Sasha to know that what was smeared under the red eyes and around the mouth painted red was ‘human blood’.

“Ah.”

And, it was when he looked at Cleon and Sasha, he opened his mouth in dismay and made a stupid voice.

“KIAAA!”

Gryphon, seeing the black rabbit, screamed loudly and seemed about to attack her fellow her, but she didn’t have enough strength left.

“Ahaha. It seems that the weak point has been attacked. Did you guys do it?”

The rabbit, who saw the griffon struggling, laughed as if it was funny.

The voice that came out of his mouth was lower than expected, like that of a middle-aged man.

“…”

Both Cleon and Sasha were wary of the black rabbit and if they didn’t answer, he would cover his face with both hands and let out a false cry of sadness.

“Can’t you answer a question? It’s sad, young people these days don’t seem to know what it means to respect the elderly.”

“—Is that Laplace?”

As if ignoring his words her, Cleon inferred his true identity her.

He snapped and stopped his crying.

Soon he answered with a pat, spreading his hands out to the sides, closing his eyes and sticking out his tongue.

“Ding dong dang dong~! Correct answer! We will give you 100 Laplace points~! Ahahahaha!”

The ‘black rabbit’ dancing in place, making ridiculous gestures and high voices like a clown.

It was hard to believe that it was Laplace’s own body his.

Perhaps, he transferred his consciousness to the chimera he created and used it.

Sasha must have felt an indescribable displeasure and twist in that gesture and voice, and as she clasped her hands tightly, she unwittingly set an arrow on her string her.

However, the rabbit danced vigorously while jumping up and down.

Soon, with his back to Cleon and Sasha, with his hands on both hips-

Turn only your neck 180 degrees and talk while looking at the two people.

“It’s amazing, to attack and neutralize the weak point of the griffon that I modified myself so quickly.”

The voice that comes out with the mouth moving with the eyes wide open.

It moves like a doll mask, but only the fact that it is ‘breathing’ and ‘having a pulse’ comes as a sense of incongruity.

“After confirming that Volforth had been attacked, I came to retrieve the griffon. Also, to test the performance of this ‘Bhopal Rabbit’. There.”

Laplace continues to talk with his head turned – and that body. Looking at the Bhopal Rabbit, Cleon holds the Caliburn with both hands.

“… Killed his men.”

“To be precise, I killed and ate! To replenish energy.”

Laplace replied casually, making a V with his hands and holding it next to his eyes.

Cleon asks him once again.

“…Why did you do that?”

“Did I mention it? It’s a performance test. This Bhopal Rabbit is a ‘killer beast’ created from the data I’ve accumulated based on my research so far. I wanted to check how quickly and efficiently it kills people. What? . There was a limit to the rubbish-like yard.”

Saying that, the Bhopal Rabbit turned his body once again to face Cleon, leaving his head still.

“So, speaking of it. I have a favor.”

That guy, like the tips of his fingers his, collided with the blades attached to his four fingers his, hesitating.

“…”

Seeing that eerie appearance, Cleon shuts up for a while.

“For a performance test, can I ‘dismantle’ you guys?”

“Sasha!”

The moment Cleon shouted that, the body of the Bhopal Rabbit left behind an afterimage and disappeared.

Like a shadow crawling, it sped across the ground and moved so fast that it barely left a trace, passing right past Cleon and aiming for Sasha behind him.

“First of all, let’s tear the weak one to pieces~”

The accelerating body and the immediate danger.

And, incongruous with that, a relaxed voice that sounds as if time has been slowed down.

Laplace thought that his own nails would easily tear Sasha apart, and sentenced him that way.

Wields her sharp claws.

Obviously- this girl doesn’t even know what’s happening to her.

As evidence of that, see. Her eyes turned toward the bush where she had been standing until a moment ago—

Kirik. I heard a sound like a spring moving.

No, it was the sound of the Bhopal Rabbit’s sharp senses, the sound of the creature’s muscles, nerves, and skeleton moving.

And. What it sensed was the movement of the wings of the downed griffon, about to pounce on the Bhopalabbit.

Laplace rips off the griffon’s wings with his claws.

And, Sasha’s torso her, which had been protected as if wrapped in it, had to be torn to normal.

However-

“Under?”

The momentary time between 0 seconds and 1 second created by that gap, the small gap created by the griffon’s wings.

Only Sasha’s eyes moved as if they were other creatures, watching the Bhopal rabbit right in front of her.

Along with the sparkling engraving on the top of the pupil her.

The next moment, even before the Bhopal Rabbit’s hand can tear Sasha apart, her dagger her is drawn from Sasha’s waist her, blocking her claws her.

Kang! As the sound echoes, the Bhopal Rabbit’s light claws stick out.

Sasha’s hand her moves mechanically, in a trajectory where she plunges her dagger into the Bhopal Rabbit’s throat, without changing its expression her.

Even Cleon, who hurriedly turned her body to save her, was briefly stunned by her dagger skills her.

Her black bunny her was to avoid getting stabbed in her vitals her by doing her her back her tumbling to distance herself from her.

“…Huh!? Eh, huh!?”

It was only after the battle that took place in that fleeting moment, a few seconds in terms of time, was over.

Sasha looked down at her hand her in bewilderment when she noticed that she had drawn her knife and responded to her enemy’s attack.

[Whew…]

I hear Ruben sighing from inside.

“KIAAA…!”

However, the griffon’s wings were severed in half and bleed profusely.

“That, Griffin!? Why…!”

Sasha, she didn’t know why the griffon was trying to protect her.

And then, when Laplace saw Sasha like that, her red eyes twinkled her and she laughed.

“Huh, haha. What is that kid? There’s something inside, isn’t it? The Witchbeast? No, it’s something else of a higher dimension.”

“It’s none of your business.”

The next moment, when he thought he heard Cleon’s voice behind him.

Laplace regrets having sold her mind her to Sasha, but at the same time, she feels the body her cut heavily on her back her.

From her right shoulder her to her left flank, it was a deep flash that cut diagonally around her heart her.

“What is it? When did you come?

As if having fun, Laplace bursts out laughing even though his body is in tatters after being cut in half by Cleon.

The guy staggers, one step, two steps, stumbling as if he can’t control his body his, which is about to fall sideways.

“Interesting… Very good. Cleon-kun. And- Sasha. That’s how you ruin ‘Maxwell’s plan and subdue the ‘Serial Beast’.”

“Do you know about us?”

“Everybody knows about you, Cleon, except for the very low-end throwaways. Alas. And the fact that you’re a very attractive person to us.”

“…”

Soon, jureuk. When a sound is heard, the upper and lower parts of the body are separated, the lower half collapses and the upper half of the body lies on the ground while talking.

“The durability also needs to be adjusted. Even though it’s a holy sword, its recovery function is paralyzed at once and it’s cut as it is.”

Laplace, after lowering his evaluation of his creation his like that, turns his head to Cleon and talks.

“Cleon. You must already know that you are a soul that has been reincarnated as Adam’s adversary. If so, how many ‘traces of the past’ will there be in your soul?”

“There’s no need to tell you guys. …Besides, I’ve already destroyed the reincarnation factor.”

At Cleon’s answer, Laplace laughed loud enough to make blood spurt from his mouth.

“That’s something you’ll find out when you dissect your body, Cleon… If you want, I can guide you to the place where the hero Lesia is—”

The next moment, when Cleon’s sword is swung once again. The guy’s head was to be severed once more around the nose of his.

Staring at the brain-water-gushing head his, Cleon looked at trash for a moment before returning his sword to his waist his.

“Cleon! Griffon!”

When Cleon hears Sasha’s voice her urgently calling him, he turns her eyes away from the dead Bhopal Rabbit and approaches Sasha.

There, the figure of a griffon with one wing cut in half and bleeding profusely.

Sasha, who had been protected by such a griffon once and was able to avoid getting hurt, was at a loss.

“—Caliburn, healing magic-“

Saying so, I call for Caliburn, but-

[…This is a kind of wound that cannot be treated with healing.]

At Caliburn’s words, Cleon also frowned as he checked for something purple in the wound.

“…It’s poison.”

[Yes. It’s probably a specially formulated poison.]

At Caliburn’s rare sincere voice, Cleon closes and opens his eyes and shakes his head.

Sasha had a sad face at Cleon’s answer to her.

The deadly poison that had already been applied to the Bhopal Rabbit’s claws had penetrated Griffon’s body of her and was slowly eating away at her weakened body of her.

Time is running out to analyze the poison and create an antidote.

Griffin, perhaps thinking that she could not escape her own death her, raised her panting body and moved her head to look at Sasha.

There was no hostility or murderous intent in that act, rather it seemed that she was appealing to Sasha for something.

Then, he hit the dagger Sasha was holding her with her head her, then lowered her head her and poked her in her chest with his beak.

It’s just that even though she did such a simple thing, the poison spread even faster.

The guy stumbles and falls back to the ground.

In a posture with the stomach pulled out to the side.

“…What-“

Sasha thought it was asking her to do something of her own, but she did n’t know exactly what it meant.

Cleon suddenly looked at her like that.

“…Could you please extract her own eggs…?”

“!”

At his words her, Sasha opened her eyes wide, holding her own dagger and griffon’s chest her-exactly under her chest her-

Look at the part of her belly where her egg is located.

[If the poison spreads throughout the body, spawning will be impossible. It will also adversely affect the eggs inside the body. Before that, it would be safer to take it out of his body.]

When Ruben talked to Sasha as if agreeing with Cleon’s words, Sasha looked down at her own dagger with her trembling hand her.

“…But, obviously, if you split the boat in the current state…”

“…Yes. He will die. He…”

Cleon approaches her as if he knows what Sasha is afraid of.

“… Sasha. You don’t have to take his life his. … If need be, I will.”

Saying that, the moment she tried to reach Sasha’s dagger her.

“Wait, Cleon-nim.”

As Ruben takes over Sasha’s body, she changes her gaze to look at Cleon.

“…Griffon acknowledged Sasha and asked Sasha. It was Sasha who made Griffon fall from the sky. …I don’t want you to break the pride of the Witchbeast, who is called the Lord of Heaven and Earth.”

As she lowered her head, Cleon looked at her and Sasha at the same time at Ruben’s words asking her to do so.

And soon, as if he understood, he raised his body her.

When Ruben goes back inside Sasha, Sasha blinks her eyes.

Quietly, she clutched the dagger in her hand.

“There may be poison in your blood. Be as careful as possible.”

“…Yes. I’m used to dismembering animals.”

She is a hunter

Before becoming an adventurer, she had experience hunting various animals and obtaining their meat and hides.

The reason she was hesitant to stab the griffon was that it was not ‘the result of a hunt’ for meat or hide.

But- the emperor chose Sasha as his own death.

If you get poisoned, you won’t die by completely rotating your body-

It was to lay her own eggs, carrying on her royal lineage her.

That’s why – Sasha took her dagger in reverse and quietly approached the griffon. After stroking her hair as if to reassure her-

She lowered her knife, towards her chest her.

001

“Whoa…”

Cleon sighed heavily and placed the dead griffon’s body on top of the firewood she had gathered using an ax in her garrison.

Since it was impossible to purify the poison in her body, it was impossible to bury her in the ground.

That’s why she decided that it was best to wear makeup.

After Cleon and Sasha disappeared, even by accident, I didn’t want an animal to eat Griffon’s corpse.

Sasha, after helping Cleon, held in her arms an egg with a pattern of red and ivory that was slightly larger than her face.

It felt warm, even though it looked like a huge rock.

It was the egg of the king in name and reality.

When Cleon puts his finger on the firewood and casts a flame spell, the flame spreads through the firewood in an instant and burns along with the gryphon’s body her.

Sasha, who had been watching her body burn to ashes, looked at Cleon in the barrier that was spread out to prevent fire from spreading into the forest.

“Surely, if Griffon had n’t met a man named Laplace, we would n’t have fought like this, and she would n’t have lost her life her.”

Sasha seemed to feel a lot of anger when she saw her use her her magic beasts as consumables, make chimeras, brutally murder people, and even eat cannibals.

It was the same with Cleon.

Regressors, after all, are beings that bring chaos to the world for her selfish desire for knowledge.

“…We’ll see each other again soon. He won’t give up on the ruins.”

Saying that, Cleon looked at the map in his hand her.

It was a map, though very old, pointing to ancient facilities that originally existed in this area.

Judging from what the field bandits had, this must also be Laplace’s.

While patting the depressed Sasha on the shoulder, Cleon talks to Sasha.

“…Watch the end, let’s go back to camp. Everyone will be waiting for you.”

“…Yes.”

Nodding to Cleon’s words, the two of them remained in place for a while until the fire completely died out.

Obviously, it was Griffon who was aiming for their own lives, but in the end, he saved Sasha from danger.

If it hadn’t been linked to humans, the Witchbeast would have been able to fly freely in the sky forever.

It was only after being liberated from the body that he reached the end of being able to obtain freedom again.