The Revenge of the Soul Eater

Five Years Later

 

「UGH…AHHHHHHHH! AHHH, UGH, AEAHHHHHHH!」

 

Inside this forest that’s dark even in the day time, I desperately moved my legs as I struggled for my dear life while holding onto my right arm that was about to come off.

 

Due to the terribly intense pain coming from the wound, I felt like I could lose my consciousness any moment now.

 

But if I fainted here, I’d definitely die.
I’ll be killed.

 

Screaming like that was a necessary chant that I needed in order to keep my consciousness.

 

「Shit! Why? Why is a king of flies here at a place like this?!」

 

A huge monster about three meters tall was chasing after me.
From its appearance, it was a monster called the king of flies.

Strength-wise alone, it can’t be compared to mythical species such as dragons, giants, or demons.
But still, once a monster like this is confirmed spotted, it was a disaster of a monster on the level where a legit team of knights would be dispatched to deal with it immediately.

 

It’s not something that a tenth tier adventurer like me– the lowest ranking adventurer, can beat no matter how hard I tried.

 

Blood, sweat, tears, mucus and piss.
All those bodily fluids were being discharged from my body due to fear.

 

I probably look so disgraceful right now if I could see myself.
I’m aware of that, but words cannot describe the fear I’m feeling as I’m being chased by a fly that has a body bigger than a small hill.

 

The fear of death easily destroyed all the self-control I had.
I could only keep running and try to escape while crying like a baby.

 

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

I moved my legs with all I had while thinking so.

 

Five years ago, I became an adventurer after I was exiled from my home island.

As an adventurer, I was supposed to hunt monsters, protect the people, make a name for myself, and then get back at my father and the others by gaining their recognition.

Back in those days, I thought that as long as I kept on improving as I grew, I would be fighting something like a king of flies by now with the phantom blade style.

 

However, just like always, reality turns out to be different from my expectations.

 

–No, the situation right now was a few times worse.

 

「That bitch!! That bitch used me as a decoy!!」

 

An emotion different from the fear I was feeling from the monster surfaced from deep down my throat.

 

My right arm was torn up, but it wasn’t because of an attack that came from the monster that is chasing me; it was caused by a human’s magic.

 

The one who hit me with the spell 『Wind Cutter』was already long gone.

 

I did imagine that I might meet my end someday from fighting monsters.

But I would have never imagined to be discarded and killed like this.

 

I chose to be an adventurer so I could have my father and the others recognize me one day, but that wasn’t the only reason why.

It was because I wanted to follow the ideology of the phantom blade to save the world and become the sword that protects others.
I thought being an adventurer would be the most suitable job for that.
That was why I knocked on the adventurer guild’s doors.

 

I wanted to do good for the world.
I wanted to be a human who protects others.
I became an adventurer with those thoughts in mind.

 

And this is the result in the end?

 

That’s just too much.
It’s too cruel.

 

*viiiiiiiiiiiii*- While he was sobbing, the sinister sound of air vibrating crept on him from behind without him knowing.

 

By the time he finally noticed it, he saw the king of flies and its four wings on its back flapping violently.
It looked like it was pissed off from having to chase its prey through the forest that whole time.

 

One would not think that a monster with a body that size could fly with its four wings like that, but the fly was definitely floating with ease in front of Sora’s eyes.

 

In the clear, empty sky, the monster charged at him like a cannonball.

 

When he thought that he needed to dodge, it was already too late.

There was a really loud explosion as the impact happened at a close range.

He was sent flying from the thrust and his body was floating in the air like a piece of trash.

 

He did not feel fear or pain anymore.
He only felt a light floating sensation that was accompanied by a terrible feeling of loneliness that seemed to last an eternity.

 

That feeling continued until he eventually hit the ground.

 

「AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!」

 

After blanking out for a moment, his body was enveloped in an unbelievably severe amount of pain.

He was writhing in the slimy soil of the forest like a mad man.

 

Just how much more pain will there be? How much longer will it take before the pain goes away?

 

When I came to, there was a large amount of soil in my mouth.

 

「…Arghhhh! Blehhhh! Blrghhh!! Aghhhhh! 」

 

I spat out the mud in my mouth and tried to stand up.

However, I lost my balance from the tingling pain coming from my right arm as I tried and fell right back down.

I ended up falling back into the soil that I had just barfed out.

 

Then, I felt a sticky and unpleasant feeling on my cheeks as I smelled the stink of my own spit in my nose.

 

「AHHHHHHHH! What the fuck is this? Whyyy? Shitttt!」

 

Just how many times is this going to happen to me? I cussed out without giving a shit about anything that was going on around me.

 

At that moment, I looked behind me as I felt a chill from behind my back.

 

…The king of flies was there at a surprisingly close distance from me.
I could not feel its intentions as it stared at me with its insect eyes.

 

I was horrified from the bottom of my heart.

 

Then it hit me.
This monster was not only chasing its prey, it’s playing with it too.
If it wanted to kill me from the start, I would have surely turned into mincemeat ages ago.

 

The king of flies did not do that because it was waiting for its prey to weaken.

 

Suddenly, I remembered about the information that I’ve read in the past about this monster’s special characteristics.

 

A king of flies likes to capture humans and large beasts and carry them back to its nest to feed its larvae.

 

The reason why this monster is categorized as a disaster-class monster was because of their phenomenal reproductive rate.

 

When a matured king of flies is left alone, it will produce a countless amount of larvae and destroy the ecosystem of that area in a blink of an eye.

The ecosystem it referred to includes humans as well.
I remember there was a case in the past where a country was destroyed by a monster like this.

 

If I’m caught by the king of flies like this, I will meet a future where I’ll be eaten alive by its larvae.

 

「Uuuuughh…!」

 

I want to get away… but my legs aren’t listening to me when the monster is staring at me from this close.

I’m like a frog that’s being glared at by a snake.

 

Suddenly, perhaps the monster has judged that I was weakened enough now, it moved even closer to me.

 

*Hiiiiiii!!*, I squealed from the back of my throat.

 

The next moment, the king of flies stabbed my sides with its pointed tail.

My eyes rolled back and fell down on the spot.

 

–How… how did things become like this?

 

Such a question crossed my mind right before I lost consciousness.