The Predator

18. The Predator

It had been hungry lately.

The cause was that the four-legs, which it had previously preyed upon while carefully adjusting its hunt to avoid wiping them out, had suddenly vanished.

Thus, it had been forced to prey on smaller four-legs, which served as a meager supplement, but those were cowardly and far too sensitive to presence, making them difficult to catch.

Having let its prey escape once again, it felt a surge of irritation. It left the forest and prowled the surroundings in search of food.

Where had the four-legs gone?

This grassland, which they favored, remained unchanged. Therefore, there should have been no need for them to migrate. Then where?

During its restless prowling, it caught the scent of the four-legs that served as its food, and it flicked its tongue out with a shlursh to confirm.

However, that scent was mired in decay and gunpowder. It had no taste for carrion.

And what it found were the remains of a four-leg that wouldn't even make a meal.

Gunpowder—that was something the two-legs used. It remembered, for it had been subjected to attacks using gunpowder several times.

Then, was this the work of the two-legs?

Lifting its head in anger, a Tochka towering over the grassland entered its vision. That, too, was something the two-legs had built.

In a fit of rage, it coiled around the structure and squeezed; after a brief resistance, the building shattered into pieces. But doing such a thing only made it hungrier.

Then, it had a thought.

If that were the case, it could simply eat the two-legs instead.

Gunpowder was a nuisance, but it was no threat. They were considerably smaller than the four-legs that were its staple, but they were slow and dull to presence. It would likely be no trouble to capture them.

Besides, it knew they bred in great numbers. If one wasn't enough, it could simply eat two or three.

However, it seemed dawn was approaching.

...Well, there was no need to rush.

It destroyed every other Tochka it encountered along the way as a bonus, then slid across the grassland back to its den.

—And then, the following night,

While heading toward the place where the two-legs were, it was drawn by a sudden scent of blood. As it left the forest, sound and flashes of light enveloped the area, and then a four-leg appeared before it. One of those often kept as pets by the two-legs.

Though not its primary objective, it chased the creature, thinking it might serve as a snack, when a sound like cutting wind reached it and something pierced its body.

An attack from a four-leg?

The power was insignificant, but it felt a strange sensation inside its body. A throbbing, numbing feeling that dulled its thoughts.

Thus, the question of why a four-leg would attack it was quickly brushed aside, and it chased its prey by instinct alone.

For a while, the four-leg appeared to be fleeing in panic, but it suddenly stopped its erratic movements and began to run in a straight line. Just as it seemed to make a sharp right turn, a small two-leg was suddenly there.

It was a size that could be swallowed whole in an instant.

Carried by its momentum, it opened its mouth wide as a natural extension of the flow.

"—Shia!!"

A sound like that echoed from somewhere, and the small two-leg gave a sudden shudder.

Snap. Its mouth closed with force, but there was nothing inside. The two-leg had leaped onto the wall behind it, racing upward while circling around.

It was instinct to chase once the prey fled; it followed the two-leg as it escaped along the wall. Along the way, it felt a subtle dissonance and a foul scent, but it ignored them and climbed to the top, where the small two-leg stood, not fleeing, but staring back.

It opened its mouth wide once more—

＊＊

"Shia! Jump!!"

Tori's voice called out loudly. At that voice, Shia leaped into the air without hesitation—and at that same moment, a giant face swept across the space.

A glinting eye caught sight of Shia, who had narrowly avoided the Serpent's attack, but it was already too late. Shia spun through the air from the top of the Tochka and landed with a plop in Tori's arms.

Immediately after, a roar echoed from above as sparks rained down, and Tori moved away while still holding Shia.

With her heart hammering wildly in her chest, Shia looked up at the Tochka. The Serpent coiled around the wall seemed unable to return from its position, as if held by the thorns.

Shia let out a sigh of relief, and a similar breath escaped Tori.

It had been a close call—a truly dangerous moment had Tori not shouted a warning—but it seemed they had managed to pull through.

The Tochka, with the Serpent still coiled around it, spewed flames from the top. The source of the fire was likely a gun-like tube used to launch the flares Tori possessed.

Indeed, the bags they had attached to the interior contained alcohol.

Shia asked Tori.

"Did you hang those bags for the sake of this fire?"

Alcohol, like that used in lamps, is something that produces fire. But why go through such a tedious process?

Tori pushed his night-vision goggles up to his forehead and looked down at Shia, his eyes dyed vermillion by the unusual flames.

"No, the fire was just a lure; the ultimate goal is a bit different."

"Different?"

"Yes. ...Now, I wonder if it'll work."

Tori's gaze returned to the Tochka, and Shia followed it. The Serpent still seemed to be trying to escape, but its movements were sluggish, as if the bramble poison were taking effect.

However, she felt that the intensity of the crucial fire was starting to drop.

"Tori, the fire is—"

—going to go out.

Just as Shia was about to finish, a sharp, crystalline sound echoed, and ice began to spread across the surface of the Tochka.

And it gradually climbed upward.

Naturally, it enveloped the Serpent's body as well.

Shia blinked.

"...Eh...?"

The fire had vanished before she knew it. With a series of cracking sounds, the entire Tochka was encased in ice before her very eyes.

However, the ice seemed thinner at the top, and the Serpent was shaking its head in distress.

".........Eh?"

"It seems to have worked, for the most part. Though it didn't go so far as to freeze the Serpent completely."

"Eh... e-eh, why? Why is there ice...?"

Gently lifting the bewildered Shia down from the horse, Tori dismounted as well. Looking up at the Tochka once more, he spoke.

"To put it simply, the liquid in those bags vaporized... well, it's a bit different, but when it turned into gas, it absorbed the heat from the surroundings."

"...Absorb... heat?"

"You get cold when heat is taken away, right?"

"It got cold, so it froze?"

"Well, that's essentially it. ...But the explanation for that gets complicated, so you don't need to think too deeply about it. It's also partly because it was a somewhat special liquid."

"Hmm...?"

Tori placed a hand on the head of the still-puzzled Shia and finally let out a light smile.

"Now, let's send a signal to Ronar-san."

"Is it already okay?"

"The poison is working, and with this, its internal organs are likely frozen, so I think the Serpent will have no choice but to stay quiet until the sun rises. Therefore, we'll leave what happens next to the people of the town."

"......"

Apparently, materials such as fangs, poison, and hide from a Serpent's body are used for various purposes. And they are said to be traded at relatively high prices.

That was what Tori was referring to.

But he's the one who caught it... she thought, but since it was this large, it was certainly impossible to carry it away.

However, the "people of the town" included the people who had injured Tori.

Shia knit her brows deeply.

She didn't like the idea of giving it all away. Could they not take at least a part of it?

She looked at the tail at the bottom, but it was completely frozen in ice. Then what about the fangs? As she looked up—

There, she was met by a massive eye burning with palpable intent, and a gaping maw stretched wide open.

＊＊＊

(Think of it this way: the immense heat of vaporization generated by a giant gas canister.)