The soil was hard and black. There were no grass in this part of the forest, but there were trees.
The trees were irregular. They could be found at a distance of five meters, some ten meters apart. Some trees were short while others were anomaly tall.
But the common thing about these irregular trees was that all their leaves were black and they bore no single fruit.
The crimson moon was shining in the night sky, its gaze trying to penetrate through the defense of the trees, illuminating the forest in a bloody bath.
Its light outlined the corpse lying lifelessly on the floor. His hands were stretched forward, eyes and lips tightly shut. His legs were bent at an unnatural angle as he lay with his chest on the black hard soil.
Crimson liquid oozed out of the silhouette's stomach, forming a pool of blood that mixed with the one oozing from his forehead.
The dead body showed no signs of life. Not just him, but also two other bodies that were lying not too far from him.
One had her eyes gouged out and arms ripped off, while the other had only half of his body remaining.
The black hard soil was stained with crimson blood, and it was trembling with excitement.
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
The ground shook as a towering figure marched across its surface in large strides. The structure of the figure was obscured due to the darkness of the night, but with the illumination from the crimson moon, one could see a silver lining running down its spine.
It walked up to the corpse who had lost her arms and eyes, picking her up with just one hand.
The towering figure raised the body of the corpse, and her face could be clearly seen by the moon.
It was a feminine figure. A human with brown hair, and she was being raised by black paws—paws that carried the weight of sharp and elongated silver claws.
No doubt, the figure that had raised the body of the human was a monster. A ferocious beast that feasted on the bodies of humans.
Grrh!
The Beast snarled as he put down the human. He didn't stand on ceremony before pouncing on the body. He started with the right breast, biting it carefully so as not to damage the rest of the body. This was his meal, and he was going to savor every taste of it without worries or fear.
What should he worry about? He was the strongest here.
He had gotten rid of every intruder. He had worked hard, and now he was going to enjoy the fruits of his labor.
Suddenly, a corpse's eyes snapped open. It was the lifeless body of the figure whose chest and forehead had oozed crimson blood.
He had woken up, and the first thing he saw was the silver lining—the huge silver spine at the back of the human-devouring beast.
This corpse who had just returned to life didn't scream nor shout. He didn't even move from his initial position.
He just watched as the Beast chewed on the flesh of the unfortunate lady who had turned into its meal.
'Why am I here? What am I doing? And that's a carnivorous animal feasting on the flesh of a human. I recall I was in my room sleeping. Did I get pulled into a nightmare? If this is a nightmare, then why does it seem so real? This pain that has engulfed my body, it's preventing me from moving an inch. If it's a nightmare, then I better force myself to wake up before I get consumed by a beast.'
The silhouette's thoughts plastered on his face, and he closed his eyes, trying to force himself awake from his nightmare.
Crack!
Something cracked within him. His brain sent sharp signals into his mind. He saw visual projections of memories in his head.
'These memories… They don't belong to me, yet I feel they belong to me. They're not clear, just fragments and scattered, but from the pieces… Wait! Something is not right. These aren't memories I know of. They aren't memories of Earth.'
The thoughts of the silhouette overlapped with the signals his brain was sending, and at that moment, he opened his eyes.
'I've been transmigrated,' he said to himself. 'I, Isiaka Abdulmalik, I've been transmigrated into a fantasy world in the body of a dead soul. But the situation is terrible. If this is a fantasy world, then that's a monster. The owner of this body and his friends must have fallen to this monster. The body has already sustained fatal wounds. If the monster realizes I'm still alive, it's going to kill me again. What am I supposed to do? How am I going to escape this predicament?'
Isiaka Abdulmalik thought to himself as he watched the monster, just five meters away, enjoying the flesh of the young lady.
'That's Erica.' His countenance changed at once. Gaining the memory of the past owner of the body, Isiaka Abdulmalik was able to recall the friends and foes of his landlord. Erica was his best friend. They had both grown up in the East Borough together.
Watching the beast devour her caused past memories to flash in his mind. Even if the true owner of the memories was dead, just the memories alone were enough for the new tenant of the body to feel dejected.
'If it was the real owner of the body, he would've rushed towards the monster. I can feel my body trying to move on its own, but the wounds won't allow it. The owner of this body is surely rash. How can you rush towards a monster you clearly know you can't defeat? Not that the person you plan to save is alive—you just want to vent out your frustration. You want revenge. Baka…'
Isiaka Abdulmalik scoffed in his mind as he watched the monster tear one of Erica's legs. His heart clenched in pain, but he tried his best to maintain silence.
'Fuck. Within the next few minutes, the monster will have finished devouring Erica's body and then pounce on Eric's. Eric has already lost half of his torso. I'm sure the monster will finish in a minute and then come for me. It's saving my body for last. How's he planning to eat me? Start from the head? No… I believe he'll start from my family. No, I can't let it take my family member. I'm the first son of the Isiaka family. I need to continue the lineage. I need to reproduce.'
Different thoughts roamed in the mind of Isiaka Abdulmalik as he lay there. It had only been two minutes since his eyes snapped open, and he had not moved an inch. If it was another person, they would've thought of running or panicked after waking up in a strange world, in the body of another person.
But Isiaka Abdulmalik was different. He was an author, experienced in the field of mysticism and mythology. With his rich experience, he adapted to the situation at once, and now he was looking for the safest solution out of this predicament.
'Fuck. I can't think of anything if I can't move. Where on Earth is my cheat? I can't just get pulled into this world for nothing. My system? My AI? Where is it?'
Isiaka Abdulmalik asked himself, but received no response. He opened his mouth to curse his ill luck when something happened.
He felt the numbness in his body subsiding. The pain on his forehead was reducing, same with the one on his chest.
His legs, which had been bent at an unnatural angle, were straightening as the dislocated joints fixed themselves. All of this was happening without the slightest sound, and he just stared in shock.
'I'm healing. I'm fucking healing. I've got a fucking healing cheat.'
Although he had expected a cheat, it still sounded like a miracle to him. In less than a minute, the fatal wounds had healed completely, and his body felt perfectly fine.
Isiaka Abdulmalik didn't let excitement overcome him. The monster was already feasting on Eric's body and would be done soon. He had to formulate a plan and get rid of that monster within that timeframe, or he wouldn't survive.
'I wonder if I die here whether I'll be able to go back to my world. But for me to be pulled here, it won't be so easy to return. I even have a feeling that if I die here, I'll be dead in my own world too. So I can't afford to die. I've got to find a way to sneak attack this monster. Judging from the pieces of memories left behind by the real owner of the body, during the battle against the monster… Eric's sword had stabbed into the tree behind me. All I've got to do is pick up Eric's sword, sneak behind that motherfucking bastard, and stab the sword right through his heart. Easy peasy. Now let's get to work.'
Isiaka Abdulmalik didn't linger anymore. He silently stood up while controlling his breathing. He slowly stepped back, shrinking the distance between himself and the tree.
The monster was focused on the meal in front of him and didn't even care about the activity behind.
Luckily for him, Eric's sword hadn't stabbed deep, so he was able to pull it out with ease.
'Now… this is where the main deal begins. My years of watching anime, my years of reading light novels—please don't fail me.'
Steeling his resolve, he dashed at once, moving with high speed from the very start.
The sword was supported with both hands and held horizontally. Isiaka Abdulmalik was planning for a straight thrust, a technique he had learned from the Knights.
He closed the distance between himself and the monster within seconds.
5 meters…
4 meters…
3 meters…
2 meters…
1 meter…
Half a meter…
And that was when the monster noticed something was coming for him. He turned around instinctively, but by then it was too late.
Pierce!
The blade of the sword thrust into his left chest, the tip breaking out through his back.
"Hahaha! I did it. I really pulled that off. I knew you'd turn around at the last moment, so I purposely targeted your right chest. By the time you turned, it became your left chest, and my sword directly thrust into your heart. Am I not wonderful?"
Isiaka Abdulmalik raised his gaze as he looked up at the monster. His eyes met the monster's blood-red eyes, and his body shivered with fear.
'What's wrong? What's this feeling? My sneak attack was successful, but why is the monster not showing any sign of pain or weakness?'
The monster raised his right paw and, with two claws, pulled out the blade from his chest. The force caused Isiaka to stagger backward while black blood seeped from the wound.
The monster opened its mouth, revealing bloody red teeth filled with chunks of flesh. Then he pointed to his right chest and pricked it twice with a soft growl. It was conveying a message to its opponent.
'What? Why is he pointing to his right chest? Does he want me to attack there?'
Isiaka Abdulmalik didn't stand on ceremony. He launched forward at once. His movement was unbalanced, but he managed to control his body as he leapt into the air, forcing the sword forward.
Suddenly, the sword flew out of his grip after being struck by the monster's paw, and the next instant he was grabbed by the neck in a tight grip.
'Fuck. It's suffocating me. This monster is incredibly powerful. I can't believe I thought of killing this thing with just a sword. Is he going to snap my neck off? Damn… can I regrow a head back? What if he consumes my body?'
Different thoughts raced through his mind as the monster brought him closer to its face…
At that moment, the face of the monster transformed. It changed into the face of Erica.
"Quinn… the heart of the monster is in the right chest." Isiaka Abdulmalik heard a tiny voice in his mind. It felt like a hallucination, but he clearly saw the face change back to that of the monster—and then to Eric.
"Quinn… defeat this bastard, avenge our death." Isiaka Abdulmalik heard another cry. It was a plea from his friends—the ones the monster had consumed.
'They've got strong wills. The will to live. They're fighting against the monster from inside. That explains why I'm not dead yet. The monster is having an inner battle, a battle of supremacy with the souls of the humans it devoured. This is my chance… my chance to turn the tides of this battle. Eric and Erica… Thank you. I, Isiaka Abdulmalik, shall defeat this monster and avenge your souls in the place of Quinn.'
'Quinn Smith! The name of the owner of this body. What a tyrannical name. Well, that's something to worry about in the future. For now, my major aim is to get rid of this monster that has nearly snuffed the life out of me.'
Isiaka Abdulmalik cried out in his mind as he struggled to free his neck from the tightened grip of the monster.