Chapter 373: Playing with Food
"Zyren’s blood should give me some nutrition!" she continued, when the tentacles shot forward again—towards Aira this time around, who instantly froze up.
But this time it was Clay who opened his mouth to speak, even as Aira forgot for a second that she was strong, that she had legs, and that she should do something to protect herself.
"...Leader, be careful of her powers! It can hurt us! There must be a reason she’s yet to use it!" Clay warned, even as the movement of the tentacles instantly froze the moment he spoke.
The face of the maid scrunched up in annoyance as her gaze on Aira intensified. Everyone knew her powers were to heal, which was something that affected Zygons in the opposite way.
The maid’s expression only grew uglier the longer she stared at Aira, who was yet to speak. It was clear to her that without Zyren around, it was left to her to protect herself. Yet no matter how hard she willed her powers to appear and work, it didn’t work.
It continued to remain dormant.
Why won’t it work?
That terrified her as she stared at the maid, whose expression had become more than ugly. One moment only her right arm had been transformed into a mass of wiggling dark tentacles, each one huge enough to crush her into paste, when her left arm also went ahead and transformed into the same.
The tentacles were just as big, even as they wrecked havoc as they moved around the small room. Aira was about to take a step back when she dashed forward instead, picking up the guard’s discarded sword off the ground before backing away as quickly as she could.
She gripped the sword tightly in her hand, wearing a look of determination—one that showed she was ready to fight.
But this only seemed to piss the maid off, even as Clay kept his eyes lowered to the ground at all times.
Whatever powers that Aira had couldn’t compare to the majesty of the leader. He himself would have been enough to kill her, not to mention the leader’s strength. It was clear that it was simply toying with her, even as he wondered why he had stepped in.
If I wasn’t a beast, one would think that I’m actually trying to protect her! he thought to himself. The thought itself was laughable, considering the fact that he was incapable of feeling human emotions. Even the slightest bit.
Aira saw the first tentacle aimed at her, and she raised the sword in her hands to deflect it—shocked to feel the sheer weight of it as it struck. Her hands trembled, and she struggled to keep holding onto the sword.
She didn’t even see the second one coming as it slammed into her from the side, throwing her off her feet and several feet away, straight to the ground.
Her arms instantly wrapped around her belly, her body curving to ensure that the impact of the fall wouldn’t affect it. But it didn’t stop her from hitting her head. Her body was strong enough that it bruised but didn’t bleed, as she scooted back while still on the floor.
The maid looked closer to her even as the tentacles continued to thrash around vigorously like they were going to tear the room apart.
"....I guess it’s time I stopped playing with my food!" the maid said, even as her head instantly became five times bigger in the shape of a mouth.
It was horrifying—covered with rows and rows of sharp teeth as a long tongue darted out. A mouth big enough to swallow her whole as it elongated and shot right towards her.
Tears filled Aira’s eyes as her lashes fluttered closed and she wrapped her arms around her body, aware that no matter what she did, there was nothing she could do to stop her death—even if she wanted to.
Yet in that very moment, all she could think of was Zyren.
Zyren...
Knowing that he would be beyond heartbroken to lose both her and his unborn child.
She was still accepting her imminent death when the air suddenly stilled in a way that confused her. Utter silence settled in right after.
A moment later, when she expected to be crunched on but still felt nothing, she slowly opened her eyes, her lashes fluttering open.
She was stunned—and beyond relieved—to see Zyren standing right in front of her, his coat fluttering behind him as he did nothing else but stand there.
She didn’t even see his face, but it was enough to make all her fears instantly wash away as she scooted closer to the wall instead of getting up. The monster’s tentacles were huge, and the space they stood in was small. She didn’t want to get attacked by mistake.
The maid, still in a somewhat human form, shrank back her head and began to speak.
"I guess I wasn’t fast enough! By the time you returned, it would have been pleasurable to see your expression of despair!" she continued to speak in a tone that sounded vastly human and extremely soft.
"...But this is also fine! It’ll be more fun to kill her in front of you!" it continued to speak, even as Zyren steadied his red eyes on the Zygon beast.
He was instinctively aware of the fact that the beast in front of him was many times stronger than the huge beast he had fought before—the one he thought was the overall leader.
Which he was slowly realizing he had been wrong about.
But Zyren had no intention of speaking.
He bent down to grab the sword on the ground, which had rolled off Aira’s hands when she fell, tightening his grip around it, prepared to use it.
Just in time.
The beast chose that very moment to attack with its full strength, all the tentacles lunging at once.
Zyren instantly swung the sword made of heavy metal—only to be stunned as he watched it crack and break into two upon impact, even as he sent one of the tentacles crashing into the wall, breaking it apart.
