Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Q’s Hunt

At the top of Reiki's lungs Q shouted. "H-H... HUNGRY!!!" The voice said. [Calm down Q. If you keep shouting like that you'll rip the kid's vocal cords to shreds and possibly pop his lungs.]

The group of four covered their ears to prevent their eardrums from rupturing. After their initial shock, the mage screamed. "Battle Formation!" The swordsman went to the front of the mage brandishing his greatsword as he kept his eyes on the monster in front of him. The mage was roughly 20 feet behind him as three flames started to circle him. 

The crossbowman started to sprint as far as possible to find something to blend into the surroundings and provide cover. Before the mage finished his sentence the assassin disappeared from thin air waiting to strike when an opening presents itself. The four of them just stood still waiting to see how the monster would react.

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On The Girls Side Of Things

Arashi was in the center of the bodies on the floor. All of them were bleeding from one or two deep wounds that they had. Her first was soaked in blood as she calmly stared at how many more she had to kill. Kiru on the other hand was roughly 7 feet behind her back and the ground beneath her was a mix of a few bodies that were on fire being burned alive, another few bodies that were constantly twitching from being covered in lighting, or have their bodies pierced by dozens of frozen spikes.

Those who tried to overpower her in numbers ended up one of the three. Haruka was all alone by herself but was just peacefully reading under a tree. The tree looked normal until someone within range casts a spell the tree would grow branches and would whip the caster until bones were visible. All spells that were cast from away from the tree the branches protected Haruka by absorbing the spell and if they got too close to the tree it would whip them in half. Every time someone cast a debuff on her she would just drink a white potion.

Arashi said. "How long does this barrier last again?" Kiru replied. "20 minutes give or take. It trapped us instantly so we can only wait for it to wear off. Even if we killed the mages the only option we would have is to wait." Before Arashi said anything else she saw something in the air.

It was an old man wearing blue robes that appeared floating in the sky and said. "I don't know why mental attacks aren't working but it doesn't matter. The child you were with should be captured by now. If you surrender now I'll let him live in one piece." As a cruel smile formed on his face.

But what happened was out of his expectations. Arashi hearing this combined with all the past frustration she had to bottle up from before finally snapped. Her eyes started to glow a golden color as something above her started to stare wherever she placed her gaze. The surrounding air became heavier as everyone felt something was pushing them from above.

Arashi's right hand was starting to be covered in golden light. She made a squatting position and jumped. The ground beneath her crumbled as it started to collapse as she suddenly was in front of the old man. She punched him with her right hand directly to his stomach. The old man was flung downwards the moment he made contact with the ground where he landed and started to make a large ditch by caving on itself. The old man barely stood himself up as he spat out a large amount of blood. Arashi in mid-air squatted once again and gold cracks slowly grew bigger in the air as she jumped. She was instantly next to the old man again with a kick to stop her momentum.

The direction in which she kicked ruined the landscape. In the shape of a cone starting from where she kicked the ground was completely flat. The cone was easily 14 feet deep and the wall of earth next to it started to collapse as it fell inside the cone. She stood there in place just staring at the old man. The old man gritted his teeth and pulled out a black talisman with blood writing on it and aimed it towards Arashi. After a few seconds of nothing happening, the old man turned pale and barely said. "I... I can't use magic anymore."

Arashi just looked at him with an indifferent expression she only calmly said. "I'll kill you last." As she disappeared and was suddenly in the middle of her opponents as she started to punch them all one by one with brute force. Some of them died before touching the ground with multiple holes in their torso. The one who was still alive by then was bleeding copious amounts of blood on the grass. The more she killed the more blood started to stick to her hands as the adventurers against them either ran towards her to subdue her or started to run away.

The old man seeing this started to limp as fast as he could to wait for the barrier to pass. Kiru, seeing this stretched for a bit before she spoke to the people in front of her, saying. "It would have been fine if you guys demanded a ransom... But." Her eyes turning cruel as she continued to talk. "I need that boy alive and well." As she started to slowly walk towards the biggest groups she was closest to her. She had dozens of icicles needle-shaped around her she aimed it at their joints while everyone on the ground was set ablaze. The ones who were running too far ahead was struck by a bolt of lightning.

On their side, only the sounds of bones breaking, miserable screams, and flames burning were heard. One by one their enemies fell to the ground and were sent to an early grave.

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On Reiki's Side

The group of four was tense, not even breathing too loudly just to avoid the monster looking at them. The mage holding onto a wooden staff with a red gem embedded on the top felt his hands sweat for the first time.

The voice said. [Q just try to gently leap on to the mage. Don't use too much force on the kid's leg, just use your left leg and right arm to fight. If you use his chances are it'll break.] Controlling Reiki's body Q lowered his center of gravity by crouching a bit then he suddenly leaped past both the mage and the swordsman by leaping too far.

The ground beneath Q crumbled as Reiki's body flew past both of them. Both the mage and swordsman barely manage to react when Q passed them. The mage lost balance as he said. "He's too fast." Q used her right hand to stand on Reiki's body upside down. Q managed to stop the speed but the ground where Q stopped moving the ground had five long streaks of lines to stop Reiki's body. The swordsman barely managed to catch up to Q as he was behind Reiki's body, he was already lightly gasping for breath. 

With a slash towards Reiki's torso, the swordsman tried to slice him in half. After the single slash Q was gone from his field of vision the mage shouted. "He's on the edge of your sword!" The swordsman turned his head around to see Q was still doing a handstand on the tip of his sword. Which he made the mistake of making eye contact. When he stared into Q's Inversed eyes the swordsman got the feeling he wasn't being looked at as a human not even as prey but as a meal.

Q using Reiki's body smiled while upside down sending a chill down the swordsman's spine. A loud snapping noise was heard the swordsman saw the tip of his greatsword looked like something bite the tip of the blade clean off. With a sound of metal being snapped multiple times the swordsman made a stabbing motion towards Q as he also backed away by jumping giving himself some room to react.

Q using its right hand to slightly push the blade downwards as the swordsman was about to pull his sword to him. With a light push, Q backflipped off the tip of the blade and landed on the ground still in a handstand pose while facing the swordsman. Q heard something whistling on the wind and moved Reiki's head to one side dodging an arrow that was aimed at his head.

Q using the black matter on Reiki's left leg to bend and stretch towards the ground as Q turned Reiki's body right side up. With a punch towards the ground, Q lifted a medium-sized boulder. And looking towards the direction where the arrow came from the mage shouted. "Engulf!" On the boulder. Q turned towards the mage and threw the boulder towards him like a baseball.

The mage seeing this pulled a cube from the ground and used it to block the boulder. The boulder hit the cube of stone as both of them shattered on impact Q was nowhere to be seen by him. He saw a shadow appear behind him as the mage turned his head around. He saw Q with a smile like she was enjoying it. The black mass on Reiki's right arm was growing visible to the human eye right above his head. Behind Q was the assassin who disappeared from the beginning of the battle with his chipped and jagged knife in hand he was aiming for Reiki's head.

Q turned Reiki's head to look at the assassin behind him. The assassin seeing this felt death was already here to claim him. With a smile on Reiki's face, the black mass on his right-hand swiped towards him. The black mass seemingly without joints bent irregularly and slammed the assassin by his torso.

[System: Queen has dealt 897 Damage.]

The voice said. [Yeah, I expected you to deal low damage from how... Inconsistent the arm and leg are. Just smack him one more and you should be able to make more solidified limbs.] The assassin was pushed 10 feet away as he hit the ground he tried to stand up while coughing up blood that his mask turned red. Q tried to kick the mage using the black mass on Reiki's left leg. But before Q was able to do anything to him a familiar sound of whistling came from the wind.

Q raised the black mass on the leg and stomped the ground making a smoke cover from dirt. The mage coughing forced himself to speak and said. "It's aiming for the injured!" After a few seconds, the assassin barely got back to his feet as he saw Q standing right in front of him. With another quick swipe, the assassin was hit by his shoulder and was pushed backward by a few feet.

[System: Queen has dealt 796 Damage.]

This time the assassin couldn't get up. All of them could see the amount of pain he was in his shoulder was touching his chest as his rib cage was deformed. He was only making groaning sounds from so much pain that he couldn't pass out. Blood was flowing from below him as his attire of all black slowly started to turn red.

As his vision started to blur he saw a child's figure walked towards the assassin. The black mass on Reiki's right hand slowly stretched towards him, the assassin could only softly say. "Hel-." Before he could finish the word Q started eating.

[System: Queen has used Devour.]

[System: Queen has gained 0.5 Hunger.]

[System: The host has met certain conditions.]

[System: Recalibration has started...]

[System: The cost of Queen's abilities has been revealed.]

[System: Recalibration has ended.]

The black mass slowly made a motion similar to opening its mouth. In one swift movement, Q ate half the body in a blink of an eye, the three seeing their comrade being eaten in front of their eyes held their breath in disbelief. With the sound of bones crunching like chips Q swallowed after a few bites and ate the other half in one go repeating the process.

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Back On The Girls Side

Arashi was finally back to normal but was standing on a small pile of corpses. Both her hands were soaked in blood as her shoes and her shirt were painted red. Kiru did some light stretching for a bit, and with a wave of her hand, the fire that was spreading around vanished. All that was left was ashes where grass once was. Small patches of ice that had corpses on them that were filled with icicles scattered around the land.

Haruka on the other hand was still reading but everything near the tree was corpses that were either whipped in half or whipped until they couldn't move. Blood flowed when the two girls walked past Arashi started to walk towards the old man that had his right leg frozen when he tried to escape as Kiru caught him. Kiru also walked towards the old man to make sure Arashi didn't claim his life just yet. Arashi crossing her arms without wiping them said. "Talk." As she stared at the old man with an indifferent expression.

The old man laughed like a madman and said. "Before that... Tell me one thing. Why isn't mental based spells working on the two of you?" Arashi softly scoffed and said. "I'll answer because you'll be dead soon. I have an amazing Lil bro."

The old man thought for a bit and realized something and manically said. "It was the potion disguised as tea! I made every precaution possible. I paid a huge sum for this reusable barrier, hired dozens of best mercenaries, the two of you slaughtered, two mages with twisted values, and lost my entire fortune to learn illegal sleeping spells and a few more! And the one thing that brought upon my doom was a potion made from an electric kettle! A fucking potion made by a 10-year-old! That the brat made! If I knew he was that valuable I would have kidnapped him instead!"

The old man pulled what remained of his white hair as he started laughing like he's lost everything in life and was fine with it. After calming down the old man said. "But it doesn't matter now... That kid should have been long dead by now." Kiru calmly said. "I highly doubt that. Since you know that my little brother is capable of making such a potion then I wouldn't put it past him if he has a few methods to stay alive."

Arashi made an unmistakable fake laugh and said. "Ha! A few minutes ago you were interrogating him like he owed you money! Lil bro makes an amazing potion and it turned from 'little brother' to 'MY little brother' and here I was thinking that the earth's mantle was thick." Arashi stared at the old man, said. "How long does the barrier last?" The old man chuckled and said. "It lasts for 20 whole minutes. Nothing gets out, nothing gets in. One of the ways is to break one of the walls from either one. But, can you?"

Kiru frowned and said. "If you tell us how to destroy the barrier I'll pull a few strings to give you a lighter sentence." The old man laughed and mockingly replied. "From a life of being a living mana crystal to a life of slavery! What's the difference!?" Kiru narrowed her eyes and said. "I said a lighter sentence. Not scot-free." The old man said. "Well... I had a good run."

As he hastily pulled a 10-inch needle-sized wooden container opened it and revealed a silver needle that was bathed in a layer of green liquid. Not caring he used his bare hands to touch the green liquid the old man picked it up and using the needle stabbed himself in the heart. The old man wheezing between words said. "This way... We... Both... Lose." Kiru and Arashi didn't do anything to stop him, they both just watched like they expected this to happen. After a few seconds, the old man's body limped with one of his legs still frozen.

Arashi started to walk towards the table where she was separated from Reiki. Kiru asked her. "What are you going to do now?" Arashi standing and faced the direction where Reiki disappeared replied. "Wait." Kiru said. "And if he's dead?" Arashi turned her head and calmly said. "He won't. I get the feeling he's the type of person to make a deal with a devil just to live another day."

______________________________________________________

Back To Reiki's Side Of Things

Q was chomping the second half of the assassin making loud crunching sounds. With a swallow, the black mass on Reiki's right hand started to lick the blood on the ground. With a single lick the ground was spotless. After eating the corpse both the black mass on his limbs started to become more refined.

Even though it looked more like a monster's limbs It showed that Q was starting to make progress after having eaten something. Q looked at the mage and suddenly vanish on the spot. Behind the mage Q using the black hand that roughly looked like a hand to stab the mages abdomen.

[System: Queen has dealt 1,023 Damage.]

The mage spat out large amounts of blood as some of his intestines came out where he was stabbed. The mage said. "Wai-." As Q's monster shape hand stretched and grew in size as it gripped the mage's entire head. Without any difficulty, his head burst like an orange. Blood splattered everywhere with some brain matter. One of the mage's eyes was on the ground and one of them was still attached to what's left of the head.

[System: Queen has dealt 2,283 Damage.]

The voice said. [Q if possible keep the mages coat safe. We need something to keep his identity secret, it has an enchantment hidden. If the wearer has the hood up they won't be able to see parts of his face.]

The black matter made a sudden stop and then made sure to envelop everything except for the mage's cloak. With the sounds of bones crunching were made present once again.

[System: Queen has used Devour.]

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[System: Queen has gained 0.5 Hunger.]

As Q was eating the corpse the voice said. [You really are a glutton Q. At this rate, you'll eat the kid straight into poverty. You either eat hundreds of weaklings or eat a couple of monsters out of the kid's capabilities... He needs to be stronger... And he needs to be stronger now.]

With a swallow both the black mass started to change again. This time it looked more identical to limbs but still had a few flaws such as the limbs looking like it was made for a mannequin. Q turned around to see that the swordsman was already running with a small trail of dust under his feet. While the swordsman was running at full speed he turned his head around to see that the monster was gone.

He saw a shadow that blocked the sun as he looked up the swordsman saw the monster was in the middle of winding up its right arm. He saw that the black arm was constantly changing from a mannequin's hand to a monster like proportions. It grew razor-sharp claws and had muscles that were bigger than his then suddenly it changed back to a mannequin.

[System: Queen has tried to shapeshift...]

[System: Queen is too unstable.]

[System: Queen has lost 5 Hunger due to failed attempt.]

As the swordsman accepted his fate he grits his teeth and was punched in his lower back.

[System: Queen has dealt 1,002 Damage.]

The swordsman was bouncing and slid on the ground like Q was stone skipping on water. After a few feet blood started to paint the ground as a few pieces of teeth flew from time to time. As the swordsman finally stopped he tried to stand but found out he couldn't feel his lower body. The next thing he sees was the monster standing right in front of him looking down to meet his eye.

The swordsman shuddered and was somehow able to say. "W-what a-are you?" Q didn't answer as the black hand stretched and slammed on his right hand. Making the ground cave in and small cracks started to appear the swordsman screamed at the top of his lungs but no one answered.

[System: Queen has dealt 305 Damage.]

Q kept on repeatedly smacking the swordsman's right shoulder again and again until the bone started to pop out from his skin.

[System: Queen has dealt 297 Damage.]

System: Queen has dealt 336 Damage.]

[System: Queen has dealt 285 Damage.]

.......

The swordsman gritted his teeth so hard that it started bleeding and some of them had visible cracks. He took a deep breath as he forced himself to say. "You're doing this intentionally aren't you!" The swordsman expecting another punch to his shoulder was surprised when the monster didn't do anything.

He was astonished when the monster nodded and with a raspy voice said. "... I-it's... P.. Part... O-of.. Th-the... Fun...... I.... F-feel.. H-his.... P-pain... I.... S-share... H-his.... M-mem... M-mories... A-all... H-his..... F-frus.... T-trations.... A-anger.... R-resen.... M-ment.... L-like... M-me.... H-he..... A-also... H-hates.. H-humans..... W-with.... H-his.... E-entire... H-heart... Th-the... O-only.... Th-thing.... Ke-keeping... F... Fr-om... Bur-burning... This..... Plan-et.... Is.. His.... Loved.... Ones..." Before the swordsman could say anything the black hand suddenly changed and opened wide as it was aimed for his right hand.

[System: Queen has used Devour.]

The black hand clean off pulled the swordsman right hand as he screamed at the top of his lungs. Q said. "Like..... Him.... I.... Was... The... Same..... Being.... Used..... To.... Kill..... Others.... With.... No... Reason... To... Live.... And.... Did.... Everything... I... Was.... Told.... This.. Time. It. Will. Be. Different... This. Time. We. Will. Decide. Who. Lives. Who. Dies. This. Time. Everything. Will. Be. Different. Or. We. Die. Trying. There. Is. No middle. Ground. So. Just. Take. This. As. Me. Venting. Some. Of our. Frustrations on. You... You. Should. Count. Yourself lucky. You get. To die. Today." The black hand swallowed and was aiming for his left leg.

[System: Queen has used Devour.]

The swordsman made a deafening scream as his leg was bitten clean off.

Q said. "I. Learned that. It's bad. To play. With your. Food. But I. Just can't. Stop. Myself... Especially. When. Someone. Tried to. Hurt. My kindred. We may. Not be. The same. Species. But that. Can't. Replace our. Bond. If it makes. You feel any. Better. He would've. Been much. Crueler. Than I am." After the black hand swallowed it aimed at him.

[System: Queens has used Devour.]

[System: Queen has gained 0.5 Hunger.]

With the sound of bones crunching the exception nothing could be heard. Q tried to sniff the air but couldn't find the crossbowman's scent anymore. Q closed Reiki's eyes and tried to hear for any irregular sounds the black hand swallowed and silence filled the lands once again. Q opened Reiki's eyes and turned his head towards south-east and started to run.

The crossbowman sitting behind a tree had both hands cover his mouth to muffle the sound of breathing. Next to him was his lunch that he barfed up yet he didn't care. Right above the crossbowman was Q using Reiki's left arm to hold onto a branch and the right black arm already started to look like a human's hand as well as his left leg.

Complete with the wrinkles from his knees and knuckles, everything was a perfect copy of Reiki's limbs other than it being inky black. Q raised the black left leg as it started changing.

[System: Q has used Shapeshift.]

[System: Q has lost 10 Hunger.]

The black leg slowly turned into an all-black version of the very same great sword that the swordsman was wielding. With one swift movement, Q sliced at the crossbowman's head.

[System: Condition for Vital Points has been met.]

[System: Due to the level difference being too high, the target will receive x2 Damage.]

[System: Queen has dealt 6,482 Damage.]

The crossbowman wasn't able to process what just happened as Q changed the leg back to normal the body just split in half as the slash only reached the stomach. The two halves fell apart in opposite directions which revealed the insides of the human.

You can see the brain inside the skull with the spin cut into two perfect halves as it led down to his stomach some of his intestines started to fall out as blood was starting to make a large puddle under him. Q let go of the branch as the black leg split open and ate the corpse whole.

[System: Queen has used Shapeshift.]

[System: Queen has lost 10 Hunger.]

[System: Queen has used Devour.]

[System: Queen has gained 0.5 Hunger]

Q lands on the ground with Reiki's right foot elevated to make sure it didn't touch the large pond of blood. After swallowing the blood, the pond started to shrink as Q drank everything. Q said. "Should I eat? Reiki's limbs?" The voice said. [Yes, you should. We don't want to make the kid's new friends worry about him. Just make sure to leave the clothes alone... And make sure to wear both the sock and the shoe.]

As Q ran back towards Reiki's limbs that were cut off Q's hand and leg started to replicate the color of Reiki's skin perfectly as Q walked towards his right hand without seeing the limbs you would've thought one of them were props for a movie. Q's right hand turned black until the wrist as it started to devour the hand leaving the teared off sleeve alone.

[System: Queen has used Devour.]

With one quick swallow, Q went towards Reiki's left leg and repeated the process making sure to leave the ripped-up fabric alone.

[System: Queen has used Devour.]

The voice said. [Didn't even feel that in your stomach huh? Now Q carefully try-. I think I should do it.]

[System: Queen is being controlled by an entity.]

The voice swiftly put on both the sock and shoe it even tied the shoelace perfectly in a few seconds flat.

[System: The entity has released control over Queen.]

The voice said. [Before anything else make sure to take the mage's cloak. Now go towards the edge of the barrier towards where the monster is causing havoc.] Q started to sprint as Reiki's left hand grabbed the cloak and started to put it on while sprinting. Q passed the tree where the crossbowman was killed and stopped the moment the barrier was arm's length.

The voice said. [Make sure the left leg is in the front and use your hand to punch it as hard as possible. Once the barrier shatters, pull the hood on so no one can see the kids face.] Q made a half squat to lower the center of gravity with Q's left leg in the front and the right hand changing into monster like proportions again as it replaced its nails for razor-sharp claws as the muscle started to grow roughly the size of a bodybuilder.

[System: Queen has used Shapeshift.]

With one punch the ground beneath him had cracked and spread as far as the eye can see as it made a mini earthquake. The barrier had a small hole in it as Q pulled the hood on and started sprinting towards somewhere.

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Back To Arashi

Both Arashi and Kiru felt the earth tremble. Kiru looked around and with her voice filled with disbelief and said. "The barriers have been broken..." Arashi sprinted towards the way where Q killed the four the first thing she saw was a large brick that had the middle part missing. And was roughly the same height as Reiki that was covered in congealed blood.

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