Chapter 88: Endless slaughter.

Several hours later, Crule woke up from his nap. He was still huddled in the crevasse. His clothes were stained by dried blood and dust. Other than that, he felt fine. His wounds have all but healed due to his naturally high recovery rate and the energy he spent have already refilled.

A wicked grin was slapped on his face as he thought about the prize of his effort. Such a lynx would be able to make decent weaponry to attach to his android. Also the legion eyes would allow seemingly perfect synchro-nerves. What he needs now is armor.

The androids exoskeleton that covers the skeletal frame and synchro-nerves must be very strong, enough to withstand pressures of deep ocean and space. Of course it would be even better if such armor was slash and cut proof. Although he had some beasts in mind that fits the bill, he would have to find them first.

He got up and left the cave. Arriving at a nearby stream, Crule took the liberty of cleaning himself up a bit. Sleeping a night in a dust cave was not the most sanitary of ideas.

While enjoying a relaxing bath, Crule was lost in his thoughts of what was to come.

Suddenly, a familiar cry echoed through the trees. Crule quickly concluded it was not far off, around thirty or so meters away. He quickly got out of the water and put on a new set of clothes.

Knowing what the cry meant, he quickly jumped up into the nearest tree and perched upon one of its thicker branches.

From the dense forestry out walked a small creature. It looked like a cross between a rat and balloon. It stopped by the stream and stuck its long snout into the water to drink. Lifting its head, it made a sharp cry. From the forest, an entire horde of the creature rushed out and joined in on the drinking.

[Crule]: I cannot believe my luck today. There is an entire horde of Arpeggio Murine right before me.

This creature was rare as inside of each rat contains a gemstone. It grows alongside the rat storing all sort of mineral deposits slowly becoming tougher and tougher. One could tell the age of the rat by how durable the gemstone is. Once the rat reaches maturity, the gemstone erupts from the skin on its back and stays embedded there, revealed to the world. Collectors would usually want the entire animal with the gemstone as a sort of collector’s piece. The harder the stone, the more valuable the beast is.

The rats are seldom in hordes. The ones that do travel in such fashions are usually from the same parent thus having the same level of rigidity in their gemstones.

Depending on how old the pack is, they may be the perfect thing for Crule’s android armor. There is certainly enough of them as they number in the thousands. Each rat gemstone was around a cubic foot in size. The entire body was around a meter in length making an entire horde of them a frightful sight for any inexperienced adventurer. But to Crule, this was a mountain of gold.

[Crule]: Those who see Mount Tai before them shall be rewarded with unspeakable riches…

A silly grin plastered over his face. The rat was only deadly if they were in a feeding frenzy. Their diamond sharp teeth can cut through steel and could consume an entire ship in mere minutes.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Crule’s approach was the simplest kind, swallow the entire horde whole.

Making such a large field of void would require some preparation as Crule closed his eyes and started gathering his energy in his palms. He had to work fast before the horde leaves the river.

Crule’s aura can work in two different methods. One was rapid consumption as seen in the beams and balls of his aura he fires off. They immediately consume all within its path and require a very concentrated release of his aura. The other method was a slow consumption like the method he used to store things in his spatial storage. It was also the method he used on Hanuman when they first fought. The dark tentacles were characteristic of that method as they slowly drag things into the void. This was a slower method and require more energy but overall it guarantees the capture of its prey.

Very few could escape from it unless Crule let them. Hanuman was lucky back then because Crule had not even established a gate yet so his control of his aura when they fought was minimal at best.

Like liquid gelatin, the black aura on Crule’s palms dripped from the tree onto the forest floor. It moved like a snake encircling the entire horde of rats without them noticing it. It had no bloodlust and no animalist instincts so the rats do not pay heed to it. As the liquid darkness made a complete circle around the rats, Crule opened his eyes and smiled.

With a snap of his fingers, the rat all suddenly turned their head toward the tree he was perching on. They were startled but also enraged that their drink was disrupted, but before they could swarm over the tree, heck...before they even had a chance to move at all, the ground beneath them turned into a liquid black quicksand. The horde of rats struggled to get free but their tiny paws were stuck in the black liquid like an old Band-Aid to a hairy arm.

No matter how hard they struggle, it would only tear at their limbs. Some even resorted to gnawing their legs off in order to escape but all attempts were futile. From the black quicksand, even darker tendrils sprouted out and wrapped around the rats like a piece of nori on a sushi roll.   

Thousands of screeches fill the air as the horde of rat was slowly devoured by the void and placed in stasis within Crule’s spatial storage. Crule only looked at the scene with the same silly grin plastered across his face. If anyone saw him now, they would think he was a sadist.

The panicked screech scared away many beasts within the vicinity as it meant that some other beast besides them was in horrible trouble. But it didn’t travel far as the trees, leaves, and shrubbery absorbed the sound waves not allowing it to travel far. Soon everything was quiet once again. Only the sounds of avian beasts chirping and the wind shaking the ever so brittle leaves of the trees could be heard.

Still perched above the tree, Crule looked at his catch in his storage.

[Crule]: Perfect.

Laughing maniacally, he dashed on to find his next prey. Perhaps lady luck would once again bless the one who found Mt. Tai.