Kaelan kept his distance from the woman. His total lack of real combat experience put him at a severe disadvantage. Even though his opponent was a woman, Kaelan knew he couldn't afford to be careless.
His only fighting experience consisted of sparring with Lunaria and hunting Wolfhorns. And even that had only happened recently!
"What is your actual goal?" Kaelan asked. He was trying to buy time so he could think of his next move.
The best solution was to ask Reynold for help, but the situation made that impossible. Kaelan could hear and feel that Reynold was locked in a fierce struggle. Asking for his help now was out of the question.
There was the option of finding Rebecca and Drake, but Kaelan wasn't confident he could do it easily. The woman certainly wouldn't let him go that simple.
"Our goal is to show you fools that the curse is a blessing bestowed by the Nadir Sovereign!"
The Nadir Sovereign—the god who sealed this world until it lost the sun. The curses and corruption were the direct results of his actions.
"Those of you who reject the blessing should just die!"
The bone needles grew longer as she began to run wildly. Her movements were quite fast, causing Kaelan to flinch slightly.
However, Kaelan had already thought of a solution. In terms of raw fighting ability, even though they were at the same level, Kaelan was still far inferior. He wasn't used to using Devour Art, and his combat experience was minimal.
"Unfortunately, I don't want to die!"
Kaelan expelled a large amount of blood. Immediately, the blood droplets formed small thorns and streaked toward the woman.
They were easily dodged and parried with her bones, which had shaped into sword blades. Kaelan had expected this; after all, he wasn't capable of condensing them in such a short time.
The next move Kaelan made was creating flesh and flinging it along with the blood. Although the flesh wasn't solid—it was so soft it wouldn't be able to inflict any damage.
I have to be careful. If I expel too much blood and flesh, I'll be exhausted from the effort of regenerating!
Mutation was not a power of total freedom. Not only its consumption, but even using it brought threats. If a Devourer overused their power, their body would undergo a physical transformation. Their soul would be corrupted before they turned into a mindless monster.
"Hahaha, you're like a toddler spitting saliva! So weak!"
As the woman drew closer, Kaelan began to run desperately. He fled, utilizing the trees and the difficult terrain to maintain his distance. Kaelan moved quickly despite being faced with trees, rocks, and a challenging path.
His body felt as if it were already accustomed to moving this way.
"Stop running away!"
Kaelan saw that the woman was slowly falling behind. She smashed through every tree trunk that hindered her running. Slowly but surely, the distance between them grew.
"Are you people always this weak?" Kaelan said while hiding his injured hand.
Kaelan assessed that the woman who was his opponent had low patience. Furthermore, from the veins on her face, she was likely on the brink of madness.
Rather than facing someone experienced and skilled, he thought it was better to face a mindless monster without any common sense.
"Just a loser with a big mouth!" The woman roared in anger. She became more like a bull, crashing through every obstacle.
Kaelan had been condensing his blood all this time. He began to fire several shots at her, but they were easily parried.
"Are you a coward? I've never seen a man so pathetic!"
The sight of him running from a girl did indeed look embarrassing. However, for Kaelan, the most important thing wasn't pride. He was aware that his abilities were not enough to face the girl head-on.
Therefore, he stalled for time and headed toward the right location. He didn't run without a clear reason. Kaelan was running toward a place where he was certain he would win.
"I am weak. However—" Kaelan hesitated slightly to say it. But he steeled himself. "—my friends are strong."
At that moment, Kaelan pointed his finger at the woman in a shooting stance. A bead of blood at the tip of his finger seemed to spin rapidly under high pressure. This was the maximum density he could achieve.
The woman continued to approach; she began to smile as she swung her arm.
"Die!"
Just as Kaelan was within her attack range, she swung her bone needles while smiling crazily.
Kaelan didn't move, remaining in his shooting position while waiting for the right moment.
"Disturbance!"
A teenager's voice appeared out of nowhere. The woman was startled, but before she could act, her body froze. She couldn't move her body even an inch.
"Cu—Cursed Prayer?!" She groaned and searched for the source.
Not far away, she could find a teenager holding a black stone that was slowly disappearing.
"Now, kill her!" Drake shouted to Kaelan.
Kaelan prepared to fire, but as soon as he heard the word "kill," his mind was disturbed. Kaelan had never killed a human before. It felt like a massive sin to commit murder against his own kind.
But on the other hand, this world demanded cruelty. Sin was only black and white on paper. But this world was gray. There was no black or white.
"A small act of carelessness brings calamity!" Drake snapped. "Just do it!" The teenager looked utterly terrified.
Kaelan gritted his teeth. He took a large leap and fired right at her forehead.
In a single shot, the woman's forehead had an ugly hole. Her eyes turned white as her body slowly slumped to the ground without resistance.
Kaelan watched in silence. He saw blood flowing, staining his shoes. It was the first murder he had committed, yet his feelings were strangely unsettling.
I killed a human... yet I don't feel anything.
What was terrifying for him wasn't the killing itself. It was his suspicion that he might be so used to killing that he was unable to feel anything. If that were the case, then his forgotten self who had committed murder was truly cruel.
Slap!
Kaelan snapped back from his thoughts as Drake patted him on the back. He smiled gently, like a friend giving encouragement.
"My friend is strong!" Drake repeated what Kaelan had said earlier.
"Sorry," Kaelan felt embarrassed and dazed. "I just said that on a whim."
Drake was surprised before laughing, "Hey, I'm glad to hear it!"
"At first, I was a little afraid you were a spy. But from this fight, you ran toward us with such a huge commotion. It shows that you really are incapable of fighting!"
Drake's suspicion was that if Kaelan were an infiltrator and only pretending to have amnesia, he would have been able to finish off the woman. Or at least, he would have disturbed Reynold and caused a tragedy.
But Kaelan had instead run toward the meeting point with Rebecca and Drake at the promised distance.
"You hesitated to kill. That's strong proof for me that you're a good person." Drake smiled, his attitude shifting quickly. It was as if he had already accepted Kaelan.
Even though Kaelan himself had doubts, he was happy. It gave him the drive to further prove that he had no evil intentions.
Furthermore, in this world, Drake was perhaps the first person he had loudly called a friend.
"Thank you. I'm glad you believe in me," Kaelan said sincerely. He then remembered that everything wasn't over yet. "We need to get to Reynold's place as soon as possible!"
"Ah, don't worry," Drake said. "Rebecca has already gone there."
"But his opponent is a Sangu Carna at stage three!" Kaelan felt a strong urge to hurry.
Drake only smiled, "My friend is strong."
He repeated Kaelan's words again. A strong sense of confidence radiated from his face.
"Even though she's just like me, still at stage one... believe me, Rebecca is far stronger than you can imagine."
Drake's absolute trust seemed indisputable. Kaelan remembered his first meeting with Rebecca when he was being chased by the Big Eater. It made him choose to trust in Rebecca's abilities.