Intrusion! Cursed Child Emi!

“MIGYOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”

“SHIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!”

Kaise Forest, thick with black, twisted trees.

At this very moment, in one corner of this forest, a gruesome battle for survival was unfolding between 2 monsters.

“Migyooo!!”

Raising a foreleg as thick as a log at her opponent, ready to drive her iron-hard claws into him, was a Kaise Giant Cat.

She was one big cat, her whole body covered in reddish-gray fur.

Her body, face included, was clad in an armor of tough muscle; naturally, there was not a shred of house-cat charm anywhere.

Her body was a full 2 meters long, not counting the tail; to put it bluntly, she was a monster.

“Shiiiii!!”

Meanwhile, the one letting out a shrill cry as he turned those claws aside with his hard black exoskeleton was a large insect monster called a Sharichet.

This ladybug-like monster was about 1 meter long, small next to the Kaise Giant Cat, but the murderous intent burning in his eyes was every bit a match for his opponent's.

What they were engaged in now was a struggle for survival.

The winner eats; the loser gets eaten.

It was a life-or-death contest, fought in deadly earnest.

The battle was ferocious beyond words: every time the Kaise Giant Cat swung her arm, and every time the Sharichet curled up and charged again, the shock snapped, split and shredded the Kaise trees growing all around.

If a mere human were to be caught up in this fight, they would be reduced to a mere lump of meat in less than 5 seconds.

But, terrifyingly, this was nothing more than everyday life in the Kaise Forest demon realm.

Spraying blood and flesh, hurling their strength at each other.

Such ferocious battles were constantly unfolding somewhere, day and night.

“MIIIIGYOOOOOOOO!!”

“Shi!?”

Now then, the fight between the two took a turn.

The Kaise Giant Cat, who until now had only slammed down from above, suddenly struck from below with a scooping blow, like an uppercut.

The Sharichet took the hit and flipped over.

Laid bare was his soft, defenseless belly, with none of the exoskeleton that guarded his back!

The Kaise Giant Cat had watched how the Sharichet fought and had already seen through his weakness!

The wisdom of the wild!!

Watching the Sharichet flail his 3 pairs of legs, all 6 of them, trying to right himself, the Kaise Giant Cat grinned.

She had won.

All that remained was to drive her claws into that soft belly.

Picturing the sweet flesh and blood, rich with nectar, that would come gushing out, the Kaise Giant Cat couldn't help licking her chops.

Certain of victory, she had grown complacent.

That was her, undoing.

In the next instant, her vision began to spin.

For some reason, her entire body would not obey her.

Her head was rolling across the ground. That was how it felt.

When the spinning stopped dead, what she saw was her own body, everything from the neck up gone, collapsing to the ground in a spray of blood, and standing beside it, a bipedal creature with black fur sprouting from the top of its head.

◇ ◇ ◇

When the Sharichet finally managed to right himself and get up, what he saw was the Kaise Giant Cat lying limp, her head gone, and a strange creature standing on the ground on just 2 legs.

The Sharichet recognized that 2-legged creature.

If he remembered right, it was the fragile creature his fellows called “humans,” the kind that wandered in from outside the forest now and then.

He had hunted and eaten those creatures several times.

Weak, and pretty tasty too, as he recalled.

He curled his body up like a ball, leaving only 1 pair of legs outside, and springing off those 2 sturdy legs, charged at the human.

The Kaise Giant Cat, his life-or-death opponent until a moment ago, had died for some reason.

And on top of that, as a bonus, some tasty prey had joined the menu.

He thanked his lucky stars.

The Sharichet's body closed in on the human in the blink of an eye.

His killer move, which even that formidable foe the Kaise Giant Cat had only barely managed to dodge.

Naturally, in the very next instant, his blow would send the human flying to its death.

Afterward, he would take his time and enjoy a feast for 2.

Just as he thought that far, the Sharichet's thoughts, broke off.

The human, as the Sharichet's iron-like body came hurtling in at blinding speed.

Without moving a muscle of its face.

Without showing a hint of fear at that speed.

Punched it with all its might.

The fist unleashed from that arm, which at first glance looked thin, white, even frail.

But it was a strike far more powerful than the Kaise Giant Cat's claws or the Sharichet's charge.

The Sharichet's body could not withstand that violence.

Cracks running through his whole body as he was slammed into the hard ground.

And there, at last, he burst apart and died, spraying body fluids and shattered exoskeleton everywhere.

◇ ◇ ◇

Beast blood and insect fluids, splattered everywhere.

The damp scent of wood was masked by the choking smell of blood.

It might look like a gruesome scene, but here in Kaise Forest, a demon realm, this was just an everyday sight.

It was proud proof of living things fighting and struggling desperately to survive.

If there was one thing out of the ordinary, though, it was that the creature who had won and was devouring the loser's flesh belonged to the human race, rarely seen around here.

That human was a 7-year-old female.

Her name was Emi.

‘The wisdom of the wild!!’ my ass!

It's just a cat flipping over a ladybug!

Incidentally, in this arc, Emi-chan barely talks.

Screams, groans and that sort of thing, she does let out.