High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 995: Chapter 57: Gradually Rising

An Ao Yin sprawled beneath a thick Comfrey Wood, its white fur splotchy and dry from the ravages of harsh winter, long strands knotted and dangling haphazardly from its body. The four horns atop its head had also lost their usual shine, now dull and lustreless.

Under its body, a pale layer of bones remained, devoid of the slightest shred of meat or hint of marrow. Even the marrow had dried up under its repeated gnawing and sucking.

The Ao Yin half-closed its eyes, its mouth working away, ruminate on the meager, acid-tinged food in its stomach, dreaming of the Star Ape it had caught deep in the forest last autumn. Oh, such a robust Star Ape it was, with lush muscles and sweet blood, its eyeballs bursting with juice and resilience when bitten.

At that thought, its throat undulated, the long-reflected bone fragments in its mouth mixing with the saliva that had just surged, finally swallowed down with difficulty.

Then it lowered its head, rummaged through the pile of bones beneath it for a moment, and found a small rack of ribs. It bit down, holding it in its mouth. Though these ribs were not difficult to crush, after a winter’s freeze, they had become harder than stone. It needed to soften the bone a bit more before chewing slowly.

There was no rush, after all, winter was still very long. It had plenty of patience and perseverance to do this.

A raspy, dry bird call came from the nest among the Comfrey Wood branches above. The Ao Yin snorted loudly, exhaling a puff of white mist, turning a deaf ear to the grey owl’s plea for help.

It wasn’t that it wasn’t friendly enough, but the scarcity of food that winter left it powerless. It wouldn’t mind sharing the bone-chewing with the grey owl, provided that the grey owl’s short beak could break these stiff fellas.

That thought made the Ao Yin glad it only had one body.

As for the grey owl above, with one head and three bodies, feeding three stomachs with one mouth! In this age of food shortage, how unfortunate!

”Ga...”

The low coo from the grey owl in the nest came again.

The Ao Yin lifted its massive head in displeasure, opening a pair of large bovine eyes, gazing at the bird that was nearly dead. If it couldn’t get through the winter, the Ao Yin wouldn’t mind at all chewing on some feathery owl flesh—looking at it from that angle, it began to think it was good that the owl had three bodies.

After all, the flesh grown on three bodies would be much more than on three heads, enough for it to chew on for a long time.

As the Ao Yin looked up with this bit of hope, it was astonished to see the grey owl struggling to get up from the nest, spreading three pairs of wings, eager to fly. This gave the Ao Yin the feeling of food about to fly out of its bowl.

”Moo...”

A reluctant moan came from the Ao Yin’s mouth.

The grey owl lowered its head, revealing a pair of bewildered, clouded eyes. The Ao Yin, taken aback, noticed a film of grey cataracts over the dead bird’s eyes, utterly lacking the once cunning and lively spark.

”Ga...”

With its head bowed, the grey owl called out to the Ao Yin once more, flapping its six wings and abruptly gliding from the nest, flying towards the edge of the Silent Forest.

The Ao Yin shook its head uneasily.

The way the grey owl flew off, there was a group of ferocious bipedal beasts. The memories inherited in its bloodline told it that the farther away from that direction, the safer it was. However, as the grey owl disappeared, Ao Yin always felt as if a voice was whispering in his ear, telling him that direction held an endless supply of delectable food that could restore his strength and help him survive the winter safely.

Ao Yin used to scoff at such invisible whispers, but for some reason, as the grey owl flew away and the whispering repeated over and over, he gradually found the dry rib in his mouth to be increasingly tasteless and detestable.

”Ptooey!”

Finally, Ao Yin spat out the rib, shook his tail, and struggled to his feet.

The ground, littered with bones, made a continuous popping and crackling sound under his heavy trampling, while the dried Comfrey Woods whined under his massive frame.

Ao Yin shook his head vigorously.

When he lifted his head to look in the direction the grey owl had left, his eyes had lost their earlier liveliness, covered with a thick haze—just like the tri-bodied bird that had long since departed.

...

”Phew! Finally sorted that out!”

At the edge of the Silent Forest, a figure cloaked in black, with a head hidden in the hood of the cape, heaved a heavy sigh of relief, lifted his head and said in a relaxed tone to his companion, ”That Ao Yin is on the move... I reckon he’ll reach Beta Town in half a day.”

”Can’t we hurry it up a bit?” His companion seemed a bit impatient, ”The breach at the Forest Goods Market isn’t very big, we urgently need that Ao Yin to smash through the gap in the magic circle!”

”We can’t,” the first voice responded very succinctly, shaking his head and refusing, ”The Black Tide was still a month away from truly surging... With magic, we can only influence their emotions, not truly control them. We can’t make those creatures exceed their limits.”

”Can’t you discreetly cast something like the Bloodthirsty Technique on him?” his companion persisted with some hope, ”I saw the Rat Immortal cast a similar spell on those mice.”

The first figure replied irritably, ”That’s the Rat Immortal, he commands mice! I’m not Ao Yin’s immortal; I can’t command such ferocious beasts!”

After a pause, he asked in confusion, ”I remember those mice drew some big ones over... like the Giants from the depths of the forest and the ancient Owl from the swamp area. Aren’t they enough to enlarge the breach?”

”And there’s Chisel Tooth. We even lured that Chisel Tooth to excavate an ancient tomb, equipped it with a thicker Wolf Fang Club, and a genuine Fine Steel Shield!” His companion sighed, his voice sounding somewhat desolate, ”But it’s still not enough... nowhere near enough.”

”Those Giants spend more time fighting each other than attacking the magic barrier, and that ancient Owl, despite its huge skeletal frame, is utterly putrefied! Apart from releasing some plague clouds, it’s completely useless... I feel like if we let it charge, its skull is more likely to shatter than break through the barricade.”

Upon hearing this, the first figure sighed repeatedly, sharing the sentiment.

After a while, as if an idea struck him, he asked softly, ”Can’t we get that guy to help make a bigger dent? Since he’s already opened the breach for the Black Tide... he could be more thorough.”

”Silence!” His companion held up a finger to his lips to stop the reckless talk, then looked around before explaining, ”It’s not for want, but for inability... Open a small gap, and the hordes of beasts will follow, turning a small gap into a big one, allowing the traces of the small gap to be erased. If you open a big gap directly, and the beasts have a way into the town, who would bother to expand it further?”

”When that happens, you can’t erase the traces, and the dead won’t just be Magical Creatures.”