GalaxyTL
* * *
The Kobudai that appear in this story may have a different ecology from real Kobudai (they fly, talk, and many other things).
Thank you for your understanding.
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<<<UOOOOOOOOOHーーー!!!>>>
The war cries of the Kobudai echoed through the bottom of the Eserem Sea of Fog… a world enveloped in blue fog!
And the two groups, positioned at both ends of the open plain, simultaneously charged towards each other.
Today, the intertribal war that claims the lives of the Kobudai, has begun again.
<<<We’ll kill every last one of theeeem!!>>>
Shouting that enthusiastically, the young warriors of the “Black Kobu Tribe” were the first to fly out from their group.
The Black Kobu Tribe is a clan of black-colored Kobudai whose territory is the western side of the Eserem Sea of Fog.
They advance straight towards the enemy, undeterred by the poor visibility caused by the fog.
<<<Those brats!! We’ll crush theeeem!!>>>
And facing them are the warriors of the “Red Kobu Tribe”.
Their territory is the opposite of the Black Kobu Tribe, the eastern side of the Sea of Fog, and they have a fiery red body color.
And every single one of them… is huge.
Even the smallest one is well over a meter long, and combined with their battle scars, their appearance is incredibly intimidating.
On the other hand, the Black Kobu warriors are, on average, about 80 centimeters long.
Perhaps due to poor food conditions, all the individuals are rather slender, and they look unreliable compared to the Red Kobu Tribe.
<<<Dieeee!!!>>>
<<<You dieeee!!!>>>
<<<Guh…!?>>>
With such small bodies, they can’t withstand the attacks of the thick-bodied Red Kobu warriors… and now, one of the Black Kobu warriors, carelessly entering the range of a Red Kobu warrior, was struck by a powerful tail blow, crushing all the bones in his body and killing him.
<<<Alright! An opening!>>>
<<<Now’s our chance, go, go, gooo!!!>>>
<<<Nuu!?>>>
But the Black Kobu Tribe has numbers!
Seizing the opening created by the tail attack, the Black Kobu warriors swarmed the Red Kobu warrior’s body and bit into it, one after another!
<<<GUUAAAAAAHーーー!!!>>>
The Red Kobu warrior, unable to bear the sharp pain, let out a groan!
That’s no wonder… the teeth of a Kobudai, capable of crushing even turban shells, are strong, and the power of their jaw is incredible!
Even a Red Kobu warrior, whose scales are hardened like armor by skillful 【Body Strengthening】, can’t withstand such a simultaneous attack…!
<<<G-Nuh… Haha… I-I was careless…!>>>
This Red Kobu warrior managed to blow away one or two Black Kobu warriors by twisting and thrashing his body, but that was his limit.
Finally, with a weak laugh, he fell sideways onto the berries that densely cover the ground beneath the fog.
…He died.
<<<We got him! We got ‘Kobuda Tail, the Tail Strike’!!!>>>
<<<Uooooooh!!>>>
The Black Kobu warriors cheered, their momentum increasing as they charged towards the Red Kobu warriors!
But the morale of the Red Kobu warriors didn’t waver.
In fact, it’s the opposite.
The Red Kobu warriors were enraged by the death of their comrade, and their fighting spirit burned even brighter!
<<<Uooooooh!! You bastardsーーー!?>>>
Shouting that, a warrior flew out from the group of Red Kobu warriors, “Kobdaroze, the Crusher”.
He’s a young man who recently transitioned to male, and still hasn’t quite shaken his feminine speech patterns, but his strength is high, and he’s a fierce warrior, counted among the “Ten Warriors of the Red Kobu”!
Kobdaroze flew into the group of Black Kobu warriors, and started rampaging, swinging the hump on his forehead like a mace!
<<<Gyah!?>>>
<<<Stop him! Someone stop Kobdaroze!>>>
<<<Gyaaaaーーー!?>>>
Helpless against his fierce attacks, the Black Kobu warriors were blown away, their bodies crushed by Kobdaroze’s hump.
But the Black Kobu Tribe has overwhelming numbers.
<<<Go! Goooo!>>>
<<<It’s 10 to 1! Don’t break the ratio!>>>
<<<Seize the glory of the Black Kobu!>>>
<<<Seize the glory of the Black Kobu!>>>
<<<Uooooooh!!>>>
They charged at the Red Kobu warriors, without fear.
Ah, today, too…
Lives are lost.
Corpses pile up.
Red Kobu, Black Kobu, it doesn’t matter.
The Kobudai are dying.
This is the daily life at the bottom of the Eserem Sea of Fog, unknown to the species called humans.
The bloody truth in the fog… far from silent.
* * *
Now, a few dozen minutes have passed since the battle started.
Both the Red Kobu Tribe and the Black Kobu Tribe have suffered casualties, but neither side shows any sign of retreating.
Normally, the battle would continue for another few dozen minutes, and even more Kobudai would lose their lives in this conflict within their own kind.
But, however…
…Something different happened in the battle of this day.
<<<Eh!?>>>
The first to notice that terrifying something was the young Red Kobu warrior, Kobdaroze.
<<<H-Hey!? What, what is this feeling!?>>>
<<<How the hell should I know!? Don’t ask me!?>>>
Then the Black Kobu warriors, and the other Red Kobu warriors, also noticed.
It was an incredibly terrifying presence.
Cold, dark, filled with killing intent.
That’s the kind of presence it was.
And the owner of that presence…
…Is approaching this battlefield at tremendous speed.
<<<R-Retreat…>>>
The commander of the Black Kobu Tribe, who is sometimes ridiculed for being a bit cowardly, but has excellent judgment, was about to give that order when…
…That “monster”… descended into the center of the battlefield…
…Almost simultaneously…
BANG!
Perhaps it fell from a considerable height…
The moment that monster landed on the ground…
…With a loud sound, the berry bushes that were growing there were blown away, and a small crater was formed.
<<<Wh…>>>
Was it a Red Kobu warrior, or a Black Kobu warrior, who involuntarily let out that voice…?
Anyway, the warriors were surprised by this sudden intruder, and all their attention was focused on it.
War cries, the sound of humps clashing against humps, the clicking of teeth.
All the sounds of the battlefield ceased for a moment, and all the Kobudai stared at the intruder.
It…
The intruder… wasn’t a Kobudai.
It was a creature with two legs, two arms, black hair growing from its head, and black eyes.
Its rather slender, small body was covered in spiky, jet-black scales (that’s how the Kobudai perceived it), and from the gaps in those scales, a jet-black haze was occasionally emitted, like steam, contaminating the surrounding blue fog.
<<<A-A human…? >>>
Someone muttered.
The Kobudai knew about the existence of humans as knowledge.
Because humans sometimes fall from the sky in the northern part of the Eserem Sea of Fog.
But those humans die the moment they hit the bottom of the Sea of Fog, and even if they’re lucky enough to survive the fall, their bodies can’t withstand the high mana concentration of the fog, and they die soon after.
So although the Kobudai knew that humans existed outside the fog, they didn’t know anything about what kind of beings they were.
They didn’t know that they could communicate with them, or that they were a widespread and powerful species in the world outside the fog.
Just an eerie creature with a different body from a Kobudai.
That’s what humans were to the Kobudai.
On top of that, humans can’t swim through the sky, and they can’t survive in the fog.
In other words, they’re weak.
That was the common understanding among the Kobudai.
<<<Aaaaah!? What the hell are you!? A human, suddenly appearing on a Kobudai warriors’ battlefield!? >>>
<<<You’re in the way!! Dieeee!!!>>>
Therefore, it was inevitable…
…That some of the hot-blooded Black Kobu warriors, shaking off their fear of that terrifying presence, ignored the Red Kobu warriors and attacked the human intruder.
In their perception, humans are weak and eerie creatures.
Their mere presence defiles this sacred battlefield.
That’s what they thought.
However.
Unfortunately for the Kobudai…
This small, black human…
…Was a human so far removed from the norm that one might hesitate to even call her human.
First of all, she’s overwhelmingly strong…
…And she has no hesitation in taking a life.
Furthermore, at this very moment, she was suffering from a hunger that was threatening to blow away her reason.
So…
To her, the Kobudai weren’t warriors, or anything like that.
They were just… food.
“…………”
<<<Ah.>>>
It was instant.
The human cast a cold gaze at the Black Kobu warriors charging towards her.
And just that…
…Was enough to fillet them.
<<<Huh?>>>
<<<Wha?>>>
<<<Eh?>>>
The surrounding Kobudai warriors witnessed that scene clearly.
And yet… they couldn’t understand what had happened.
As if they were sliced apart by ‘something invisible’…
…The Black Kobu warriors died in an instant.
The warriors were dead… and had become sashimi.
The flesh visible from the cut surface was a beautiful white, with hints of pink here and there.
Glistening flesh, promising a simple, clean taste.
“…………”
The human silently picked up the flesh, which had fallen into the berry bushes with a thud.
Without paying any attention to the Kobudai warriors, who were staring at her with bated breath…
…She started eating it… at an incredible speed!
<<<Y-You bastaaard!?>>>
<<<That monster! What the hell are you doinggg!!>>>
The Black Kobu warriors, who had been stunned, snapped out of it, and their pride as warriors ignited, enraging them!
A blasphemous monster, devouring the death of their comrades!
They can never forgive her!
<<<Uoooooooh!!>>>
<<<Avenge our comradeeees!!>>>
<<<Dieeee!!!>>>
<<<Stop it, you fools! Retreat! Retreeeeat!!!>>>
Despite the Black Kobu commander’s desperate orders, the Black Kobu warriors couldn’t be stopped.
Except for the few who remained calm, most of them charged towards the monster, unafraid of death!
“…………”
This was a terrible mistake.
This jet-black human has an endless appetite, and as I mentioned earlier, she’s currently starving.
And if there are enemies who dare to challenge her in this state…
…She becomes even more brutal than usual.
“…………”
And so, they extended.
Countless jet-black tentacles extended from the shoulders of the human who was devouring the Kobudai sashimi.
And those tentacles indiscriminately pierced and killed the Kobudai near her.
<<<Agah!?>>>
<<<Guuuuh!?>>>
The screams of the Kobudai echoed across the battlefield one after another.
Red Kobu, Black Kobu, it didn’t matter.
This monster doesn’t care about the tribal conflict between the Kobudai.
A Kobudai is a Kobudai.
Therefore, all the Kobudai who were near the monster were transformed from warriors into sashimi.
<<<Damn it! We’re retreating! Report to Clan Chief Kobdarok!!>>>
The Black Kobu commander and several other Black Kobu turned their backs on the battlefield that had become the monster’s cutting board, and started fleeing westward.
<<<We’re going too! I’m not going to die a pointless death!!>>>
<<<Yeah!!>>>
The Red Kobu Tribe also started fleeing.
Since they have many veteran warriors, their judgment was calm, and more of them survived compared to the Black Kobu Tribe.
While the Red Kobu warriors acting as the rearguard dodged and distracted the tentacles… Kobdaroze and the other Red Kobu warriors withdrew from the battle eastward, minimizing their casualties.
“…………”
The monster didn’t chase after either of them.
She prioritized killing and devouring the Kobudai nearby.
Although she has a mentality that doesn’t hesitate to kill, a heart of ice…
…She’s not the type of monster who enjoys killing.
She kills to eat, to live, or to let others live.
That’s her own way of facing life and battle… different from the Kobudai warriors.
That’s why she didn’t chase after them.
Because first, she has to finish eating the Kobudai, which have instantly turned into corpses.
Munch, munch, munch…
In the deep blue world of fog, now completely silent…
…The sound of the monster devouring sashimi echoed.
——
The protagonist… has appeared!!