One-Eyed Monster

Chapter 33: Chapter 33: Contract Beast

A gigantic octoped burst from beneath the rocks and soil of Guru Mountain, thundering into appearance before Igor.

The tremendous commotion left the monstrous Kadi aghast, his mouth agape. In his memory, even the most violent fights and killings on Dawn Peak hadn’t reached this level of intensity!

Seizing the moment, the Dark Alchemist quickly pulled up his hood and tightened his cloak. The bright sunlight was grating on him! He scrambled onto the octoped, gripped two antennae on its flat forehead, and desperately tried to maintain his balance.

The octoped began to shift its long, segmented body, each section emitting creaking sounds. Its eight long legs constantly moved back and forth, resembling waving feelers.

”I’ll let you taste the flavor of death, you bastard!” the Dark Alchemist roared, his already ravaged face contorting further with a mixture of delight and madness.

THUMP! The octoped extended one of its foremost legs—thin, long, and tipped with a sharp hook. This sharp, slender leg struck at Igor repeatedly, but each attack missed its mark. Igor leaped and dodged, his nimble movements causing every blow to crash into the rugged, narrow mountain path, instantly turning the relatively even surface into a chaotic mess.

”Mon...Monster...” The octoped’s appearance terrified the two dimwitted brothers. The tall, lanky one and the short, stout one were already huddled together, convulsing in fear. They rolled and crawled to evade the debris sent flying by the octoped’s attacks, seemingly forgetting they had legs of their own to escape.

After numerous failed attempts, both the octoped and the Dark Alchemist perched on it grew impatient. The creature increased its speed, but to no avail. Igor’s agile evasions, dodging left and right, left the hidden Kadi completely baffled. He even began to think that the fellow who had gone down with a single blow and this person before him were not the same individual at all. With such a high level of Physique Technique, how could he have been subdued so easily before?

Of course, Igor, possessing such agile Physique Technique, was not an easy opponent to defeat. His face showed no sign of tension, only a hint of disgust and an indefinable, well, excitement.

This inexplicable excitement stemmed from Igor’s very core. After all, he aspired to be an Adventurer. How could he not be thrilled by such a rarely seen Contract Beast? The only downside was that it had been summoned by Dark Arts, which admittedly dampened his enthusiasm somewhat.

Naturally, Igor didn’t know this was actually his second encounter with a Contract Beast. The first time, he had naively mistaken it for an Exchange Beast. Had he known then that the Exchange Beast from the previous night was also summoned by this same practitioner of Dark Arts, the ”scale of faith” within him would have undoubtedly tipped further...

After several unsuccessful attacks, the octoped’s enormous segmented body stopped moving. Clearly, repeatedly striking the mountain path with its forelimbs was exhausting, even if it had many of them.

Igor was waiting for this very moment of respite. The instant the octoped stopped squirming, he leaped. Planting a foot on the creature’s flat head, he used it as a springboard, his clenched fist gathering power as he drew his forearm back. His goal remained incredibly simple: to pummel the one who delved into Dark Arts!

This was an outcome no one had expected, including the Contract Beast itself.

The powerful uppercut sent the Dark Alchemist reeling, his eyes seeing stars, moons, and suns, his ears filled with the sounds of rain, thunder, and hail, and his mouth awash with sour, spicy, and bitter tastes. His jaw was struck again, and unsurprisingly, he was sent flying into the air once more.

Igor landed steadily on the octoped, patted its large, flat forehead, and then jumped off. He calmly walked, step by step, toward the Dark Alchemist, who had just completed a brief aerial journey.

The octoped arched its massive body, its eight tentacle-like legs waving continuously as it seemed to take small steps backward.

”I’ve always thought I was a bit dim, but I never expected you devotees of Dark Arts to be even stupider. It seems the books are right: villains don’t like using their brains; they just love to blather,” Igor said, rubbing his knuckles as he looked at the Dark Alchemist. ”Though, it looks like you don’t have much to say...”

Indeed, among those present, he himself had been the most talkative.

”If you’d actually used your brain, I might have had some trouble with you. I’m not a Fighter who can use Environment Sensing Skills to attack, nor am I a Hunter who can gather Spirit Power as a weapon. And I certainly can’t fight like an Alchemist using an Exchange Beast.”

”...” Lying on the ground, the Dark Alchemist could only writhe, utterly unable to respond to Igor’s taunts.

”Your Contract Beast is clearly a centipede. No matter how big it is, its nature doesn’t change. You have it running around under the blazing midday sun; it’d be a miracle if it wasn’t agitated,” Igor said, seemingly analyzing the Dark Alchemist’s failure with earnest, heartfelt advice.

Centipedes indeed fear sunlight. They prefer to hide during the day and emerge at night, favoring dark, damp places. Even children on the Yowein Continent knew this, as these many-legged creatures would always scatter in panic when a rock was overturned.

This foolish mistake by the Dark Alchemist was a clear indication of a disparity in true power. Focusing solely on pursuing the speed and strength of Dark Arts while neglecting the absolute fundamentals meant that even the most powerful creature couldn’t guarantee a win. Against an opponent whose weaknesses were written all over their face, how much of an impact could one expect to make?

”Moreover, centipedes are best suited for finding crevices and launching surprise toxic attacks. They excel at squeezing into tiny cracks, burrowing into the earth. Yet you have it charging about randomly. It’s utter nonsense!” Igor said, glancing at the large creature desperately trying to burrow under a nearby rock. He sighed internally. What a pity for this Contract Beast, to suffer so needlessly.

From his hiding spot, Kadi nearly burst his sides laughing. The fellow in the cave was chattering nonstop, just like old Kevin during a lesson. But the other party was his enemy! Explaining the enemy’s failures to him like this was like punching himself. The thought of fighting himself sent ripples of amusement through Kadi’s body. He struggled to suppress his laughter, afraid of revealing his position. He didn’t know how much longer he could hold it in, especially since he had no idea what new antics the fellow in the cave would come up with.

”If I were you, I’d use this big fellow to escape. Firstly, no one here could likely stop this giant centipede if it bolted. Secondly, Contract Beasts have a time limit. If you don’t flee, once the contract expires and the giant centipede vanishes, wouldn’t you just end up getting beaten up anyway?”

The fellow in the cave actually let his enemy escape so blatantly—and using an escape plan he himself provided! What on earth was going through that guy’s head...?

The Dark Alchemist might not have heard much of Igor’s earlier taunts and analysis, but these last words made him shudder. He scrambled frantically toward the giant centipede. After all, as the one who had signed the contract, he still possessed some measure of control...

Kadi couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

The fellow in the cave had just allowed his enemy to flee so openly, and with an escape plan of his own devising! What kind of bizarre thoughts occupied that man’s mind...?

Igor sighed. ”He ran off before I could even finish speaking. Absolutely no patience.”

With that, he turned to the two bandits, who were still clinging to each other, trembling, even more tightly after witnessing the recent events.

”You two don’t lack patience, do you?” Igor scratched his head.

The two bandits stared at each other, dumbfounded. First, they nodded like chickens pecking at grain, then, suddenly realizing their mistake, they began to shake their heads frantically.

”You two aren’t inherently bad, I know that,” Igor said, the source of this particular logic a mystery. ”Life has its hardships, but you mustn’t lose faith. Turning to Dark Arts is no good. That makes you a bad person, a servant of evil, and then you have to be taught a lesson...”

When Igor got going, he was no less long-winded than an old woman full of tales. From his hiding place, Kadi even began to doubt his initial assessment. While this fellow’s objectives were different from other Treasure Hunters, he was also excessively... garrulous...

”I don’t have any money left on me, so I can’t help you much more. I can only share some of my remaining rations with you. Go down the mountain and live honestly. Don’t resort to robbery anymore.” Igor divided his meager supply of dried food.

”’Thank you for your mercy, kind sir! We brothers will definitely turn over a new leaf and stop trying to get rich this way...’” the tall, slender one expressed with deep gratitude. Indeed, the two brothers had resorted to robbery out of sheer desperation.

Watching the two brothers support each other as they descended the mountain, Igor smiled knowingly. He then resumed his ascent. Although he still had no idea if he would find the answers he sought, he was already halfway up the mountain, and turning back was no longer an option.freew\e bnovel.com

Meanwhile, in another concealed spot not far from Kadi, a different figure was gradually approaching. The figure sniffed the air, a satisfied expression appearing on their face.

”Finally, I’ve caught up,” the mysterious figure muttered. ”Soon, I’ll have the answer...”