Chapter 16: A Beast That Eats Its Own Kind
"Calm down. There's no need to worry—I won't hurt you," Daniel said with a bitter smile.
Why did he feel like a villain right now? Looking at Lunaryl's frightened expression, he really did seem like one.
"How can you expect me to calm down? You fucking Human are you planning to kill me too? Damn it, you people are even more savage than demons!" Lunaryl shouted with disgust and anger.
She had never heard good things about humans, but she didn't expect them to kill others without a reason.
"If you don't trust me, look at the water next to you—the one you almost drank. You're an elf. I'm sure you can tell the difference," Daniel said as he raised his hands in a peaceful gesture.
Lunaryl frowned and glanced at the wooden bowl filled with water.
"Don't come closer," she warned as she grabbed the bowl and sniffed it.
She could tell the water was strange. With her special skill Eyes of the World, she looked deeper—and saw that the water was indeed poisoned.
"Did you poison this water?" That was the first thought that crossed her mind.
When she saw Katri faint, she first assumed the food was poisoned, but now it looked like this human had actually poisoned the water.
"It wasn't me. It was her," Daniel said, pointing to Katri.
"And why should I believe you?" Lunaryl frowned deeply. Why would this demon girl want to poison her? And when did she even have the chance to do it?
"I don't know what her class or abilities are, but I saw her create fire from nothing. When I went to ask her to help make a fire for cooking, I caught her adding something to the drinking water I had found."
"I got suspicious and decided to use her own plan against her. I poured my water onto her mushrooms and refilled the bowl with fresh water."
Lunaryl fell into thought after hearing Daniel's explanation. In this forest, there shouldn't be anything that can knock someone out.
At least, she didn't know of any plants that could grow under the snow and have such an effect.
She walked over to Katri and sighed. Though her mother had told her not to use her skill to spy on others, this time she didn't had any other way
She focused her eyes on Katri and a spark flickered in them.
"I see..." she exhaled deeply.
"What is it?" Daniel caught the piece of wood Lunaryl threw at him and asked with confusion.
"Sorry for what I said earlier," Lunaryl looked at him with a bitter smile and puppy eyes, guilt washing over her for her harsh words.
"Oof—my heart," Daniel felt like his blood was boiling for a moment.
How could a living being be this beautiful? Now he understood why people called elves the most beautiful creatures in the world.
"So, what exactly did you see that made you believe me?" he asked, pressing his nail into his fingertip to snap out of his daze. Now he was the one raising his guard.
"Well, I have a skill that lets me see the truth of things—if they're within my level. That demon belongs to a subspecies of poisonous demons. Their blood is like poison. What she poured into the water was her own blood."
"With our and her levels, her blood can't kill us—but it can knock us out for a while," Lunaryl explained.
"I see," Daniel nodded.
Still, many questions popped into his mind. Why hadn't she used her skill earlier?
And had she used it on him? He didn't think so.
Because if she could see the truth about everything, then she should've figured out his class—and that could be dangerous for him.
'Should I kill her?' The thought crossed his mind.
But he wasn't a serial killer who could just kill people casually.
'I'll wait for now' he thought. They were still on the first floor of the tower, and he was sure there was a long way to go before clearing it.
"So... what do we do now?" Lunaryl suddenly asked, pulling Daniel out of his thoughts.
"It's almost night, and that creature will find us soon," Daniel said as he turned to Lunaryl and asked if she had any specific information about the One-Eyed Winter.
Lunaryl thought for a moment, then shared what she knew. Except for a few points, Daniel already knew most of her information
Turns out, this beast of corruption was actually a very unique creature. In fact, the One-Eyed Winter mostly hunts other beasts of corruption
That's why it was rejected by other beast of corruption
"I didn't expect that," Daniel muttered. There was nothing about this in the online guild forums—or at least nothing he had access to.
ROAR!
"Hm? Looks like it's coming," Daniel said, looking up toward the mountain.
It was already dark. This whole snowy mountain now felt like the beast's domain. One small mistake, and they'd be dead.
"Let's go," he told Lunaryl, then picked up Katri's body and carried her to the frozen river, laying her on top of the ice.
He looked around and, seeing no danger, pulled out one of the key items for the trap: a strange liquid called Black Gold. He poured it all over the surface of the river.
"It really stinks," Lunaryl grumbled. It had been her idea to use the Black Gold, but now she was starting to regret it.
"Don't forget to use that plant you mentioned," Daniel called from across the river.
"Yeah yeah," Lunaryl sighed and placed several leaves of a plant called Mistleaf at the four corners of the river to cover the scent and avoid triggering the One-Eyed Winter's danger sense.
Once everything was ready, Daniel looked at their work with pride.
"I'm a genius."
"Excuse me? I'm pretty sure I found everything we needed for this plan—and I was the one who even knew what they were!" Lunaryl puffed her cheeks and glared at him.
This human was trying to steal all the credit.
"Sorry, but if I remember correctly, you just stood there giving orders the whole time."
"You!" Lunaryl stomped the ground and looked away.
Daniel gave a smug grin and looked up at the dark sky.
"According to the Mother System... we just need to survive for 24 hours," he whispered. He still didn't know whether the goal was to escape from this beast or another monster
But he hoped the reward for killing this monster would be worth it.
ROAR! ROAR!
Suddenly, the sound of trees breaking and terrifying, furious roars filled the sky.
"It's here" Lunaryl said as her ears twitched.