Paladin of the Dead God

Chapter 8. Bigger Prey (3)

Isaac slid down the hillside.

Four-legged animals are weaker on downhill slopes.

The enraged boar, though fierce, cautiously descended to avoid breaking its legs. This allowed Isaac to stay ahead in the chase.

‘Just need to lure it a bit more…’

When Isaac felt the boar was close enough, he leaped up a tree with all his might and clung to a branch. As expected, his tentacles sprang out, aiding him in clinging to the tree.

Bang! The boar slammed into the tree with a loud noise. Isaac swayed like caught in a storm but held on tightly thanks to his tentacles.

‘Now!’

Seizing the moment the boar was disoriented, Isaac leaped down towards it.

His tentacles transformed into sharp spears, piercing towards the boar.

It was a similar tactic he used when catching rats.

However, the tentacles couldn’t penetrate the boar’s thick skull, tearing its skin instead. The boar, in pain from the tentacles coiling around it, began to thrash wildly.

Crack, crunch!

Though the tentacles couldn’t break the skull, they tore off the boar’s skin, exposing bone. Still, the boar didn’t stop its rampage.

Crack. Eventually, the tentacles ripped off part of the boar’s facial skin and fell away. The boar, as if seeking revenge, started biting the fallen tentacle.

‘Tough one.’

But to Isaac, it only felt ticklish.

It was then the chewed tentacle began to behave strangely. It broke the boar’s teeth and bit into its tongue, starting to invade its mouth. Sensing danger even in its crazed state, the boar belatedly struggled to flee.

“Hey, wait! Stop…!”

As the tentacle dragged him, Isaac considered retracting it but decided to hold on tightly.

This boar was his caught prey.

Moreover, an injured and enraged animal like this could cause havoc anywhere. Isaac extended his tentacles deeper inside it to finish it off.

Suddenly, Isaac felt lifted into the air.

A dizzying sensation passed, followed by a thud as he hit the ground.

“Cough…!”

Despite the shock, Isaac quickly got to his feet. He saw a hole in the ceiling above.

It was a not-too-high vertical cave. It seemed he and the boar had tumbled down into it.

“Grunts, growls…”

The boar growled menacingly in the darkness, limping. Isaac felt his tentacles retracting, with part of the boar’s lower jaw attached.

‘Typical monster kid. Bitten by a boar yet returns tearing off its jaw?’

Isaac felt oddly reassured, despite the absurdity.

A monster kid indeed, but his monster kid. At this moment, the tentacles were more reliable than any knife.

The boar, confused from the fall, seemed disoriented. But Isaac, cushioned by the boar, had suffered less impact and could observe it without much difficulty.

Thump, thump. Despite bleeding profusely, the boar irritably shook its head and rammed it into the wall. Already diseased, the boar was delirious from the fall and pain.

‘I have to finish it off quickly.’

Isaac, instead of overthinking, sprang forward. Sensing him, the boar turned its head.

“Hey!”

Though young, his voice echoed in the cave, irritating the boar. Seeing it charge, Isaac pulled something from his pocket.

It was the luminous stone necklace given by Gebel.

Isaac closed his eyes and struck the necklace against a rock.

Crack! A blinding flash filled the cave.

“Squeal!”

Blinded by the sudden light, the boar frenziedly rampaged. Isaac was satisfied with the flashbang-like effect. The light, as Gebel warned, was intense but faded quickly. The remaining lifespan of the half-year-old luminous stone was uncertain.

The boar, disoriented, missed Isaac and crashed into a nearby rock, further mangling its already torn face.

“Squeal, grunt!”

The sound of the struggling pig was dreadful. Isaac pounced onto its back. The moment he clung tightly to prevent it from escaping, tentacles swiftly erupted from his left hand.

Whirl! As Isaac struck again, a whip-like sound filled the air.

The tentacle tips turned sharply like awls. Like teeth biting into a neck, the tentacles pierced and burrowed into the boar’s flesh.

“Die!”

Crack, crunch!

The sound of bones being crushed and broken was deafening. The boar thrashed wildly, but Isaac clung on for dear life. Falling off here meant certain death for him.

The boar, head and back alike, furiously slammed against the walls. Isaac nearly lost consciousness several times from the jarring impacts and felt bones breaking. The thought flashed through his mind that letting go could be fatal.

[A nameless chaos watches you.]

Suddenly, Isaac felt something writhing inside him.

Crack.

Without warning, a wound on Isaac’s chest split open.

Again? He had no time to think. Like a breached dam, his chest suddenly burst open, spewing thousands of tentacle-like tongues. The mass of tentacles, larger than Isaac’s body, engulfed the enormous boar in an instant.

The boar’s screams were drowned out by the sounds of bones crunching and muscles tearing apart. And it was brief. The boar was disintegrated within the tentacles, not even leaving a piece larger than a tooth behind.

The tentacles, not leaving a drop of blood, licked up everything and, after confirming no other life forms were nearby, retracted back into Isaac’s body.

[You have consumed ‘Plague Boar(C)’.]

[‘Intestines of the Dead God’ perk increases absorption efficiency.]

[Your resistance to diseases has greatly increased.]

[‘Beastly Strength (Temporary)’ perk acquired.]

[‘Tough Hide’ perk acquired.]

[Temporary perks will last until digested.]

[‘Agent of Chaos’ cooldown: 30 days]

“…Ha.”

Isaac, feeling dizzy and nauseous, clutched his head. He felt like he might faint any moment. But the messages didn’t stop there.

[The nameless chaos is satisfied with your new prey.]

[A reward from the chaos has been granted.]

[Choose one of the following three rewards.]

[Flesh Storage (A) / Regeneration speed greatly increases until the consumed prey is digested.]

[Janitor of the Otherworld (B) / You can now summon tentacles from both hands.]

[Parasite from Beyond (C) / Tentacles can plant short-lived parasites under the skin of their target, causing continuous pain.]

‘Reward?’

Isaac realized he had successfully completed the mission assigned by the nameless chaos.

Tarot cards with ominous symbols appeared before him. The cards, surrounded by tentacle patterns, were filled with sinister images.

‘Flesh Storage, Janitor of the Otherworld, Parasite from Beyond… more chaos monster skills.’

Isaac, like when he created his character, forced a resigned smile upon seeing more chaos monster skills. Expected, yet it was a mix of joy and unease.

‘Chaos’ attribute monsters are at least upper to top tier. It’s said that areas swarming with top-tier chaos monsters are undeveloped and deliberately sealed off.

Naturally, monsters use skills against players, but these weren’t created with character balance in mind. If a character acquires them, they’re absurdly strong.

‘The problem is, I can’t use these skills in front of people.’

Reluctantly, Isaac couldn’t refuse the perks.

Especially if it’s from a powerful chaos monster…

‘Flesh Storage for health recovery, Janitor of the Otherworld for increased attack frequency, Parasite from Beyond for a dot damage concept?’

In his fading consciousness, Isaac desperately tried to make the wisest choice, but it seemed almost predetermined.

‘Increase these tentacles? Absurd. Parasites for torture under the skin? Where would I use this in the monastery, and even if I did, it’s too risky.’

Furthermore, Isaac himself was on the verge of collapsing.

He chose the first option: [Flesh Storage (A)].

In this world, a young child’s survival is precarious. Such regenerative perks were precious for safe growth.

Above all, Flesh Storage was essential for Isaac, who must grow by consuming various animals and monsters.

Picking the card, the others turned to ash and disappeared. Isaac watched, slowly losing consciousness.

***

When Isaac awoke, the sky above the cave was beginning to light up. Bracing for excruciating pain throughout his body, he flinched but was surprised to feel remarkably refreshed.

‘Weren’t some of my bones broken?’

Inspecting himself, Isaac found no injuries, not even broken bones.

‘Ah, the reward I chose?’

Responding to Isaac’s thoughts, a message appeared.

[The nameless chaos has granted you the ‘Flesh Storage’ perk.]

[Regeneration speed is greatly increased until the consumed prey is digested.]

Isaac thought it was only natural that his wounds had healed after consuming the entire wild boar. Moreover, the recovery effect seemed to apply to his stamina and mental strength as well, as he felt completely refreshed from his fatigue. However, his head felt slightly cloudy.

It felt like there was fog in his head. It was similar to the feeling he had when he first arrived at the monastery.

‘Is it the aftereffect of activating that… whatever it is, the Agent of Chaos?’

Isaac had a fleeting thought that the hazy state he had spent a month in when he first arrived at this monastery might not have been due to his difficulty in accepting reality, but rather the aftereffect of summoning the tentacles.

The tentacles that burst out of his body when faced with a mortal crisis were certainly powerful. However, Isaac was certain that if he had just held out a little longer, he could have killed the wild boar with his own hands, or rather, tentacles. He wasn’t seriously injured, and it wasn’t like he was in real danger like when he was attacked by Kalsen.

‘It’s a bit inconvenient that it pops out involuntarily and tries to devour everything around it regardless of my will.

“Moreover, once activated, Isaac becomes defenseless due to an overwhelming desire to sleep. According to the message, for the next 30 days, that agent of chaos or whatever won’t be emerging, so if complete safety isn’t assured, we might lose even the chance to escape.

There was a chance to escape death, but it was still a situation where caution was necessary.

‘I need to hurry back.’

By now, the monks must be looking for me. They might even think I’ve been eaten.

Even when the sun rose, the inside of the cave remained pitch dark. But Isaac, examining the dim cave, realized that it was not a naturally formed structure.

The passage was evenly paved, and there were things like supports to prevent the tunnel from collapsing and brackets for torches.

However, it seemed to have been abandoned for a very long time, as there were hardly any signs of use. The hole he had entered through seemed to be accidentally connected by the collapsing of the ground.

‘It would be good to remember this place.’

It might come in handy if I need to hide outside the monastery. After all, Isaac had many reasons to be wary of the monks of the Codex of Light.

Soon, Isaac found a way out of the cave.

Pushing through the bushes, he stepped out into the cold autumn rain, which drenched his cheeks.

‘I’ll be careful not to run into some strange beast again…’

Just then, Isaac spotted a pair of faintly glowing eyes in the darkness.

Isaac froze.

Through the wet leaves, a larger wild boar appeared, much bigger than the one Isaac had killed.

‘What is this… Ah, were these the ones using this cave as their home?’

The boar, unlike the one Isaac had killed, seemed healthy and cautious, not rushing in recklessly. However, Isaac could smell the strong scent of blood from his own kind.

Isaac tensed up, preparing to use his tentacles.

He had heard that the boar predation perk made him stronger. Maybe this time he could catch it more easily.

Sensing the blood, the boar, excited, started to charge fiercely. Just as Isaac was about to release his tentacles, someone jumped in front of him.

The man calmly raised his sword towards the charging boar and slashed down. In an instant, a flash of light so bright it hurt the eyes lit up the dark forest, where sunlight shouldn’t be visible due to the autumn rain.

In front of Isaac lay the boar, split in half.

“Kid, are you okay?””