I Can Devour Monsters' SSS Talents

There was no answer anymore, because there was no answer to give, Aren also did not know what he should say.

The Corrupted Behemoth roared, its mouth opened and black strands stretched between its teeth.

Then it charged toward One, its weight making the ground shake.

One also moved forward, the two creatures collided with each other and the sound of the impact spread through the trees.

One, the giant ant was pushed back several meters across the ground, its legs leaving deep lines in the soil.

Aren held himself more tightly with worry.

«Right leg.» Seris jumped from behind One.

Lian understood what she meant, the young Pendragon quickly moved around the Behemoth.

Her sword struck the joint of the creature’s back leg, the blade did not completely cut through the thick skin, but it created a deep wound.

The Behemoth roared and one of the black roots on its body moved toward Seris like a whip.

She bent down, the root passed over her head and broke the trunk of the tree behind her.

Lian activated Thunder Step, appearing in front of the injured leg.

[Glacial Reaper Claw.]

A claw formed on his right hand, he placed his hand directly on the wound created by Seris.

Extreme cold entered the flesh and the Behemoth screamed.

The ice spread inside the wound, blood, muscle, black roots and finally the entire joint, the creature’s leg was completely frozen.

The Behemoth tried to move, the huge weight of its body fell onto the frozen leg, a cracking sound was heard and the monster lost its balance and fell onto one side of its body.

The ground shook.

One immediately moved forward, closing its jaws around the creature’s neck, but black roots came out of the Behemoth’s body and struck One’s armor.

Two roots entered through the gaps between the armor plates and the ant pulled back angrily.

Lian saw it, he gathered Thunder Calamity on his left hand and this time the lightning became much more concentrated.

He jumped onto the Behemoth’s head, the creature turned its yellow eye toward him, its mouth opened and black liquid was sprayed toward him.

Predator’s Instincts gave a strong warning, Lian turned his body in the air and the liquid passed beside his side and landed on the root behind him.

The surface of the root turned black at that moment.

The young Vorhelm landed, his lightning-covered fist struck directly at the top of the Behemoth’s skull.

[Thunder Calamity.]

The sound of thunder mixed with the sound of breaking bones, the monster’s head was smashed into the ground, stones and dirt flew around and the lightning entered the spine through its skull.

The huge body shook for several seconds, then became completely still.

[You Have Killed Corrupted Hollowroot Behemoth Lv.23.]

[Because this was a group kill, the reward has been reduced by half.]

Lian looked at the notifications, aside from the reduced EXP and Stats Points he received, he had finally obtained a new Skill after a long time!

[You Have Obtained a New Skill.]

[Behemoth’s Roar]

[Rank: Common (+)]

[Description: Each roar is a soul attack against targets within a 5-meter radius, it can cause shock, disruption and stop them for several seconds.]

[It does not work on targets that are much stronger than the user.]

[The maximum number of targets is 3, and the fewer targets there are, the stronger it becomes.]

[Consumes 25 Mana each time it is activated.]

After taking a short look at the Skill, it was clear that he had obtained a useful Skill, he could easily use it at important moments in a battle and completely change the result through surprise.

In addition, this was his first soul attack Skill.

«It was not much different from normal monsters.» Seris, who had come closer, looked at the corpse.

Lian got down from the corpse and nodded, he also had not felt any special difference, of course, considering that this monster was far too weak for them, it was possible that they would not notice anything in any case.

Aren got down from behind One and stood at a great distance from the corpse.

Even getting close to the corruption made him uncomfortable.

Lian covered his hand with the ice of Glacial Reaper Claw and froze the remaining black liquid on his palm and then removed the piece of ice from his hand and dropped it on the ground.

«Aren.»

The gray-haired man looked at him.

«Have you heard anything about the origin of the Black Silence?»

«The origin?»

«A Core, a main creature, an Artifact, anything that could be the source of the corruption.»

«No.» Aren thought for a few moments and then shook his head, he looked at the Behemoth’s corpse again.

«Even in my time, no one knew what the Black Silence really was, even the natives of this world don’t know.»

They sat on One again and continued their journey and after some time Aren said

«I heard many things from the Cindari during these twenty-five years.»

«I also found a few old writings, but none of them had a clear answer.»

«What did they think?» Lian asked, he hoped he could find a clue about the origin of this calamity, whatever it was, maybe this way he could find a way to complete the Quest.

«Some said it was a disease, something that changes the bodies of living creatures.»

«Some said it was a Curse, a punishment sent down by the gods.» He paused for a moment.

«And some said it was a creature itself.»

«A creature without a body?» Seris whispered with some surprise.

«Almost, more exactly, a creature that spreads itself inside other things.» Aren nodded.

Lian stared at the forest for a moment, this theory was more interesting than the others.

If the Black Silence really was a creature without a body or a scattered consciousness, maybe Devouring it would not be completely impossible, but there was still no proof.

«So no one knows what it really is.»

«No.»

Lian leaned his head against One’s armored back.

Great, the Quest wanted him to eat something that no one even knew what it was.

After a few minutes, he decided that thinking about it for now was useless, when they reached the Forgotten Tree, maybe the answer would become clearer.

He looked at the path ahead and then changed the subject.

«Anyway, two hundred and fifty years ago, when you left your world, what was it like?» Lian had to be careful with his question, in Rootspire he had claimed that he was from the Third Region.

If he asked Aren too directly about his past, the man might become suspicious, so he kept his tone normal and this way he could at least get some information about the Ruined Realm as well.

Aren did not answer at first, his eyes remained on the forest for some time.

It was a simple question, but no one had asked him about his home for twenty-five years.

A home that had only been twenty-five years away from him, but in reality, two and a half centuries had passed since his time.

His expression became calmer, an old sadness appeared in his eyes.

«It was very different, when I was a child, the world was almost normal.»

«Kingdoms existed.»

«Large cities, trade ships, wars between lands.» He gave a faint smile.

«People complained about taxes, kings and the price of food.»

«Monsters were mostly in stories, even in stories they were something unclear, mostly children’s stories.»

«Then one day...» He became silent, as if saying what happened next was not easy for him.

«The sky turned red...the entire sky from one horizon to the other became red.» His eyes moved away from the forest for a moment, as if he could see that same sky again.

«I still remember, that day my mother took me outside the house to see the sky.»

«Everyone was in the streets, we thought it was a sign from the gods.» He gave a bitter smile.

«In a way, it was.»

«What happened next?» Lian asked, although he could somewhat guess what happened after that.

«Rifts appeared, first one, then hundreds, then thousands, on the ground, in the mountains, on the sea, even in the middle of some cities.»

Monsters came out of them.

According to Aren, millions of monsters appeared across the world during the first few months.

Some looked like they had come directly from hell, some had wings, some came out of the seas and destroyed the ports.

Their numbers were so high that some Kingdoms lost their capitals before they even understood what was happening.

«At first everyone thought the armies could stop them, soldiers were sent, the walls were closed, mages and knights gathered.» He became silent for a moment and sighed.

«But they couldn’t.»

Cities fell one after another, the roads became full of refugees.

Famine began, diseases spread and every time humans took back an area, several new rifts opened somewhere else.

«People asked the gods for help.»

«Temples prayed day and night, people made sacrifices, kings held public ceremonies, but no answer came.» His voice became heavy for a moment.

«Some said the gods had died, some said they had abandoned us and some said this was the gods’ punishment.»

«Couldn’t you fight the monsters?» Seris asked calmly, she was thinking about how lucky their world was to have the System.

«We could fight most of them.» Aren thought for a few seconds.

«The problem was not all the Monsters, normal Monsters could be killed, even some stronger creatures could be stopped by an army or several powerful warriors.»

Then his expression changed completely.

«But some things appeared that should not have existed.»

Aren did not answer for some time, his fingers unconsciously tightened around one of the bumps on One’s armor.

«I never saw one of the main ones up close, if I had seen one...» He lowered his eyes.

«I probably would not be here now.»

«What did they look like?» Lian frowned, what were those things that had been able to cause the fall of civilizations by themselves?

Aren took a slow breath.

«According to the people who came back alive...they had bodies like humans.»

«Some of them were not even much taller than humans, but their skin was red, not normal red, like fresh blood.»

«Horns came out of their heads, but not simple horns, they were branched and twisted, exactly like the large horns of a deer.»

«They had black wings on their backs, and their eyes were golden, they said that even in the dark, their eyes shone.»

«Wherever one of them appeared, an entire nation would fall.»

Lian was no longer looking at the path, the description was too familiar.

Human body.

Horns.

Black wings.

Red skin.

Golden eyes.

«Demon...» he whispered very quietly.