“1304 PMA was when many say the Imperial Region truly began to expand past it’s small borders, and turn into the super power that it is today. Were it not for the actions of Legislatus Major Correle Jakeson, we would not have the glorious nation we have today…” - History of the Imperial Region, by Yurel Korgney

It was a cold night in the cavern, as what could only be assumed to be sea breeze flowed into the cave, the tree-like mushrooms swaying in the wind. The once pleasant smell of dew was now replaced with the pungent smell of seaweed and salt. Perhaps the cavern Eye resided in was close to the sea? Eye had no idea what outside the cavern looked like, so for all they knew, it was entirely possible. However, a much more sinister thought crossed their mind: What if it wasn’t the sea, but a sea monster? Eye shuddered at the thought of a large sea beast entering its home, especially at such a vulnerable time like this.

Luckily for Eye, they were much too small and much too frail to be picked on by a big creature such as the one they were envisioning. Although Eye grew hungry, their wing was still heavily damaged, and they were unable to fly well. Thus, they returned to sleep…

Truth be told, Ezekiel had sort of zoned out these past few days. His name had been taken from him, his body transmigrated and transfigured into something completely alien to him, it was as if he was viewing his life through a lens, or reading a book. After the encounter with the bird, Ezekiel had some time to reflect on his situation.

“What. The. Fuck.” Ezekiel thought to himself, curled up in a little ball inside the small crevice he had found. Reviewing his current circumstances, Ezekiel could no longer keep himself from freaking out. He had been killed, then resurrected into another world, and now hunted down by strange monsters? And for the past few days he had just… accepted this? It was as if some divine force had willed him to survive this dilemma, and he was thankful for that.

In any other circumstance, Ezekiel probably would have chosen to not go into this hell like world, but considering the fact that he was likely going to be sent to hell, this was probably the better option… or so he hoped.

It had been a few days now, and Ezekiel had only ever gone out for water once in this time of rest. Ezekiel’s wing had healed surprisingly fast, so much so that he wondered if Eye demons like him had some sort of natural regeneration factor, or if all monsters healed this quickly. That said, Ezekiel had fully healed from his “fight” with the bird a few days earlier. His stomach- or whatever he had as a flying eye- was rumbling, he felt the hunger churn deep within him: If he didn’t hunt soon, he’d likely starve to death.

This hunger was only made worse by the fact that Ezekiel hated hunting. Perhaps as a normal human, he’d be fine, however the act of drinking out all of the nutrients and meat of a creature from his tail like a straw was a little too strange for him to handle, not that he had much of a choice. Ezekiel hoped he would be lucky enough to encounter an easy prey, such as the mouse he had found earlier, but somehow, that seemed unlikely.

As Ezekiel glided across the cavern carefully and slowly, making sure he didn’t overwork his still injured wing. Though he had healed fast, it was not fully healed quite yet, which mean that Ezekiel would have to stay cautious. Out of the corner of his eye, Ezekiel spotted a creature to prey on. It was small, probably no larger than Ezekiel himself, it seemed like some kind of centipede-like creature. Its chitin was a dark purple, and its large bug eyes shimmered like jewels. Ezekiel had no doubt that this enemy would be strong, but it was the only way for him to survive.

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Ezekiel swooped down at the centipede and extended his tail like a spear, and shot himself downwards like a thunderbolt. Ezekiel’s piercing tail had the strength of a bullet! Or so he thought, until his tail crumpled like a piece of paper. Ezekiel let out an inhuman screech in pain. Damn, that hurt a lot more than he thought it would, and it did no damage to the centipede!

The centipede screeched at Ezekiel and whipped it’s long body around at him, slamming him into a nearby cave wall with great force! Ezekiel groaned mentally at the hit, but quickly recovered from the attack. It looked to Ezekiel that this fight would be much more challenging than his one with the mouse. With great precision, Ezekiel fluttered around the centipede-like creature and used his tail to stab it straight in the eye! The centipede screeched violently and began to thrash around violently. Ezekiel, now more used to his limber body, was able to deftly dodge out of the way of its wild movements!

Again, Ezekiel stabs the centipede in the eye, this time in it’s other eye, blinding the creature temporarily. Though he was able to dodge all the attacks, it was getting increasingly tiresome for Ezekiel to dodge. If he wanted to win, Ezekiel would have to end this fight extremely quickly. Now that the centipede was blinded, it would be much easier to go in for the kill.

Wrapping his tail around the centipede’s head, Ezekiel used all of his force that his tail could possibly produce to try and shatter the centipede’s carapace. To his surprise, it worked! Under the great pressure of Ezekiel’s devilish appendage, he was able to shatter the carapace into thousands of tiny shards, leaving only bare meat behind. Just as quickly as he had destroyed the carapace, he had squeezed through the rest of the body too, leaving a severed head and body in his wake.

Once again, Ezekiel stabbed his tail into the carcass of the dead body, and began to suck out all of the nutrients from the body. Despite having already done it before, it was still extremely gross to look at, and to feel. The sense of having nutrients flow through you from your tail: eating from an inhuman appendage, was extremely unnerving. Perhaps more so was the fact that it was even somewhat enjoyable, akin to eating after fasting for many days. Once he had finished sucking up the corpse for everything it had, another system message had appeared.

[SYSTEM]

[Lower Cavern Centipede] Has been slain.

[Evolution Progress: 60%] {• • • • • • ○○○○}

[Tail Whip] {Rank E} -> {Rank D}

[Night Vision] {Rank F} -> {Rank E}

Ezekiel seemed pleased with the results of the battle. In his entire life as a human, he had felt no satisfaction as great as this. For something that was a penance, a punishment for his sins, it seemed like paradise to his old life. However, that glitter and glamor quickly faded away once he realized the situation he was in once again. An emotional and psychological dilemma had to be saved for another time, though, for Ezekiel had to rest. Despite consuming the entire carcass, he was still spent on energy, and needed time to recuperate his energy before returning to the battlefield for his final battle as a Lesser Eye Demon. That’s what he hoped, at least.