【The Rise of the Ugly Monster】 First Encounter with a Human

* * *

"GUGYAOOOOOOOH!!!"

The Fortress Honeybee's nest is as huge as a mountain.

Therefore, the leftover scraps of the giant whale... even a single fragment of it was about the size of a two-story house.

A monster had positioned itself in front of such a giant fragment of the nest.

With its brows furrowed in utter displeasure, it let out a roar towards the tiny, filthy him.

It was a monster that looked like a cross between a bear and a lion.

The base is a bear.

However, it has a mane and a long tail like a lion, and something that looks like a red jewel is embedded in its forehead.

He doesn't know what kind of creature this monster is.

He doesn't know, but that doesn't matter.

What's important is...

This monster... boasts a body of the same size as the fragment of the beehive, in other words, the size of a house, so it is an opponent he cannot win against no matter what he does.

And... it is sending clear killing intent towards him.

Perhaps it doesn't like the stench he emits.

"Gugigya..."

Furthermore, an inconvenient fact for him... this monster has a means of long-range attack.

When this monster let out a single growl, the jewel on its forehead shone brightly... and a ball of fire suddenly appeared in the air!

It was fired at him without a moment's delay!

"N'EEEEEH!?"

Having been frozen in fear ever since the monster found and glared at him, he was a perfect target.

Fortunately, since that monster usually fights only against giant monsters, its sniping accuracy was not that high, and the ball of fire landed about a meter in front of him.

However, although he wasn't directly hit, he was blown away by the impact and rolled backwards.

(What should I do!? What should I do!? What should I do!?)

While wracked with pain, he tried desperately to make his head work.

However, unfortunately... no idea that could break through sheer reality came to mind.

In the first place, he is not a good match for opponents with long-range attacks.

Since his entire body is covered in poisonous liquid, monsters try to avoid attacks that "touch" him directly, such as biting, hitting, punching, or kicking.

But that's irrelevant to the lion-like bear in front of him.

Because if it burns him to ashes with fire, it can eliminate him.

In other words, the moment this monster glared at him, it was checkmate.

It was the result of his misjudgment, getting distracted by the honey and trying to observe the giant monster instead of running away immediately.

He now has to pay the penalty for that.

With his own life.

"Gugugu..."

The monster growled further.

In the air, a ball of fire appeared again.

This time, it wasn't fired immediately.

It seemed to be taking aim at him.

(N-No... no! I don't want to die! Why!? Why am I the only one going through this!? It's unreasonable, it's unfair, this isss!!)

He lamented, overflowing with poisonous liquid from his entire body instead of tears.

(Help... someone, help meeeeeee!!)

...It was at that moment.

Byuuu

Something sharp was swung down at high speed... that's the sound it made.

And then.

"Gugi...?"

The head of the bear-like giant monster separated from its torso... and rolled onto the ground with a thud.

Next, blood gushed out from the cross-section like a fountain, and the torso collapsed powerlessly with a ground-shaking thud.

Naturally, the ball of fire that had been floating in the air dissipated!

"N', N'EEEEEH!?"

The death of the monster that had been trying to kill him.

His nerves were not strong enough to be simply happy about it.

The blood of the monster that is still gushing out in large quantities is creepy and terrifying!

And the fact that there is "something" that cut off such a thick and seemingly hard neck with some kind of magic-like technique is also terrifying!

He couldn't help but scream.

However.

Pakii

Noticing the sound of a small twig being stepped on, he immediately closed his mouth.

Because, considering the situation, it was the footsteps of whatever killed that monster.

His body trembled violently, and while secreting enough poisonous liquid to form a puddle around him, he awkwardly turned his face in the direction of the footsteps.

...And his eyes widened like saucers.

He had prepared himself as much as possible so that he wouldn't faint no matter how terrifyingly shaped the monster there was.

But his preparation... was completely useless.

What was there was a human.

Black hair and white skin.

Wearing a jet-black robe of unknown material, and underneath, clothes also woven from all-jet-black fabric.

It was a running-wear-like outfit that made the body line relatively easy to see.

That's why he could tell.

That human is a girl.

Moreover.

(Ah...)

The wind blew and her hair swayed, and furthermore, stepping out from the shadow of the giant tree revealed... the girl's beauty.

Her face was as well-arranged as a doll's.

Her eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.

Everything.

It was more... beautiful than anything he had ever seen, even on TV in his previous life.

(A human... a human!!)

However, what was most important to him.

It was that she was the first human he had met since reincarnating in this world.

Therefore, the longing for human companionship that he had pushed down and hidden in the depths of his heart exploded here!

"N'EEEEEH!!"

He, overjoyed, started to walk unsteadily and defenselessly towards the girl, splattering poisonous liquid from his entire body!

Because he was happy.

In an unknown forest, all alone... he had been hiding in solitude every day, trembling with fear.

Finally!

Finally, he had met a being with a form he could recognize as a friend!

"N'eh!?"

However, the next moment, he stopped his feet.

Because.

The girl, who had a beauty that would make a goddess pale in comparison... suddenly, from around her back... began to extend several tentacles!

Moreover, the tips of those tentacles... were split like mouths with fangs, and while swaying in the air, they were clattering their fangs.

And!

"N'EEEEEH!?"

Ignoring his scream, the tentacles stretched out as if cutting through the wind, swarmed the monster's corpse all at once, and bit down!

They took a bite, tore off the flesh and stuffed it in their mouths, and then bit again after a while.

Since countless tentacles were doing that, the monster's flesh, which should have been the size of a house... began to shrink in an instant.

Moreover, the tentacles occasionally, after tearing off the monster's flesh, instead of swallowing it... carried it to the mouth of the main body, the girl.

The girl took the raw meat dripping with blood... and devoured it with a blank expression.

Her eyes were black.

Jet-black.

Like a darkness that swallows everything.

(A-A-A monsterrrrrrr!?)

Putting aside what his own current appearance was like, he screamed internally and fainted from extreme terror.