Gods… What is this?

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No, I don't need to to see this mess.

We’ve arrived at the former War Monkey nest. It’s a relatively flat area near the base of the mountain. The trees are thin here, and there are large rock piles scattered about. There are over a hundred sets of panicked footprints heading away in various directions, and around a dozen War Monkey skeletons left like trash on the ground. Their teeth and claws have all been removed, but the rest was left behind.

I can say that it definitely wasn't your standard Orcs who caused this scene. They would never leave food behind to be claimed by scavengers.

“Well it seems pretty clear why the War Monkeys left their territory,” I muttered.

“An impossible enemy appeared, huh?” Fiara said while absently staring at the corpses.

No matter how I look at it, this was the result of an isolated rampage. Whatever caused it isn't likely a threat to our side of the forest. However, that doesn't necessarily mean we can just go home and start exterminating the War Monkeys. The other directions they fled in lead to Demonic Beast and Fomor territory. Those groups may have already been wiped out by now. If we kill all the War Monkeys on our side too, it might even lead to their extinction. And my knowledge from Earth warns me that causing an animal to go extinct can have drastic and unexpected impact on the surrounding ecosystem.

I wonder what I should do…

And then, I feel a low and distant sound. My body jolts and shivers, and I turn carefully in the direction I heard it from.

“I think… I hear one coming again,” I say tentatively.

“Please calmly kill it this time, chief,” Fiara reminds me. “Torment Curses don't cause any physical damage, so just relax and aim properly.”

No physical damage huh? Well, it would be hard with that fog-like body. But I still think… It’s definitely bad if they get close.

“Wait, Fiara, you know what these things are?”

“Because I couldn't see it, it took me some time to recall the description I'd heard. But I believe they're most likely to be that.”

Hum. Alright. It was definitely correct to bring Fiara along. Her knowledge is really helpful.

Stolen story; please report.

“It’s not just my imagination though, right? These things are dangerous somehow…”

Before Fiara can respond, I start to vaguely be able to make out the tiny skull-like form of a Torment Curse in the distance. My body visibly grows tense, but I force my hands to be steady as I wait for a good moment to fire.

That way of moving is just unnatural. It glides forward at high speed, and then slows to a stop again, over and over. I can see it's disturbing, pinpoint eyes fixed on me. I intend to shoot as soon as I can make out it's voice.

“Fear.”

Now!

I shoot a and manage to pierce directly through its black, fog-like body. It evaporates in an instant, and I let out a sigh of relief. The tension in my body fades suddenly, and I feel somewhat weak.

These things… are kind of like spiders. They're not actually all that dangerous to me, and they're not hard to kill, but I'm irrationally terrified of them. Also like my fear of spiders, I wish I could just get over it already, but my body has other plans.

“Good job, chief,” Fiara said, placing a hand on my shoulder. She can't see what happened, so she has to just have faith that I finished the job. It feels nice being honestly trusted like this.

“Thank you, Fiara. I'm embarrassed for being so afraid of them. Ah, I should have used on it. I'm curious if it had some kind of skill to cause fear.”

“!! can even show you something’s skills?”

“Hm? Yeah. I almost never use it that way though. Since my policy is to strike fast before they can even use their skills. It was definitely on that tablet I showed you when we were documenting skill effects.”

“Oh, that’s right. It was right next to and , though, so I forgot about it.”

Well, yeah. Compared to a unique skill and an absurd skill like , it’s easy to forget a simple .

“Hey, Fiara, can you take your hand off? You're sweating, and it's already hot here.”

“Oh, sorry, chief.”

“No, thanks for being supportive. Let’s move into the shade for now."

We relocate to somewhere where the tree canopy is thicker and sit down to discuss things.

“So what will we do about the War Monkeys in our territory?” Fiara asked.

“It’s fine to just kill them all, right?” one of the men said.

“There’s no way they’ll return here after being ambushed like that,” Dodoran supplemented.

“Not to mention, if they kill any Humans that enter the forest, they’ll send subjugation units. Dealing with that will be annoying,” Fiara frowned.

“Eh? Fiara, I thought you and Elianora became good friends, though,” I couldn't help but ask.

“I don't see how you can compare the two,” she countered. “Elianora’s party was weak. We could become friends because the stronger party had benevolent intentions. To subjugate War Monkeys, they’ll send Humans that are stronger than the average Orc. Negotiations will have broken down before they can even begin.”

Ahh, I guess that's true.

Anyway, the War Monkeys shouldn't be in our part of the forest in the first place. I've basically already decided to treat it like removing an invasive species and let my hunters get some Magic Power--especially Durghan. He’s already shown his loyalty, so I don't want him to fall too far behind.

“We’ll wipe them out,” I gave my decision. “Now let’s head home.”

***

“You won't ever become a War Orc like this.”

The words of the leaders echoed in the large Orc’s ears. He ground his teeth and kicked a stone.

What the hell?! At least explain it to me clearly!

“Varoon!” The voice of a female Orc came from behind him. The large Orc turned around and made eye contact with a female War Orc.

“Tch!” He turned his head away and clicked his teeth. “Irsha.”