Demon wolf Kiria struggled to move around with all of his four limbs pinned into the ground. Even his explosive whirlwind could not cause the swords to budge an inch.
Kim was intrigued with the monsterification so he analysed Kiria's mana. Even in the old geezer's mana memory, there was no record of a human becoming a monster. Or it may possible that the voice does not care to remember about it.
Even though there was a case of a monster becoming human, but their mana was still those of a monster. Likewise, a human who could transform into a monster was still a human, like Mr Werewolf whom he fought before. In both cases, they could revert to their original form and would be forced back when they are out of mana.
But Kiria...he was completely gone. As if he was looking at a new entity. He enhanced his memory and put his sense on full focus with all details that happened the moment Kiria was dead.
'Dead? How was I'm sure he was dead? He wasn't breathing and his heart stops beating? No...'
Kim just realized he made a mistake. He wasn't a doctor. He was only a kid when the people around him gone. The only way he knows a person is dead is when they stop moving or...their mana has stopped flowing.
Even if someone is sleeping, their mana would still flow around. That is why sleeping outside without proper control of mana is extremely dangerous. Monsters could sense the person's mana and ambush them in their sleep. That includes an ordinary person since they also have a little amount of mana exuded around them.
So all he did was sensing Kiria's mana without examining if he was dead. But what if, only his mana stop flowing and his vital organs were still functioning...then would he still be considered dead?
'Remember Kim! What happened after?'
This time Kim did not rely on his mana sense and tried to remember what he has seen and heard. During that moment, he heard it. A sound... a strong beating sound...it was a heartbeat!
Kiria was dead, no doubt about it. As soon as the trace of his mana was gone, the heartbeat triggered like a signal to unleash different mana which replaced his original mana. It replaced the soul and took Kiria as its vessel. In this case, a monster wolf. Having Kiria's mana memory it managed to learn everything about its new body and manage to break through the wall to become a legendary rank monster!
It's not like Kiria turned into a monster, but his soul has been overtaken by a monster. Like a wolf hiding underneath human skin.
'Interesting... very interesting'
While Kim contemplating what had happened sounds of bones breaking was coming from Kiria direction. Until now he was trying to break free from the swords but the four swords felt like mountains sitting on his limbs. Withstanding the pain, Kiria broke his bones and rip his two arms apart from his torso, flooding the ground with a pool of blood. In that instance, his arm regenerated to replaced his previous one. Before he could break free his legs, swords come raining and pinned him down once more. This has happened several more times until Kiria gave up trying. His wild eyes which were full of murderous intent has become lifeless.
After concluding his thoughts Kim walked toward Kiria and hold up one of Kiria's arms that were lying on the ground.
"Werewolf can regenerate that fast huh? I guess you are a good sample for my experiment. Don't worry doggie, I'm just trying to bring you back. I'll try to keep you alive. Hehe..hahaha.. muahahahahahaha!"
After much screaming and howling...mixed with some laughing, Kim finally exited out from the earth dome. His face looked calm and peaceful with blood all over his body. The blood instantly washed away with the layer of mana that was surrounding him. Everyone else except the people who know Kim was still inside the training hall.
When he saw Kim coming out from the earth dome, Larc was the first one to approach Kim but Momo was already by Kim's side. It caught Larc off guard but seeing Kim's performance a while ago, he could only expect that Momo was potentially within the same level. He stopped for a while and took a deep breath to calm himself down. Then he took another step again to slowly approach Kim. Everyone else just stood there watching. Even though they just saw a person becoming a monster, but it felt like the real monster has just appeared.
"Kiria... is he..."
"I tried my best"
'You did?!'
"I could bury him in the ground now if you'd like"
"It's okay. I will compensate you properly for your help. Thank you"
Kim gave a slight nod and let Larc entered the earth dome on his own. He then continued to walk toward the rest of the group with Momo by his side. As he approached them, the first one who greeted Kim was Leila. She looked nervous and with a slightly trembled voices she said to him
"T-Thank you. Thank you for saving me!"
Kim gave him a slight smile and shoved the little girl who was hiding behind him to the front. When she saw Leila, she hurriedly hid behind Kim while holding his clothes tightly.
"The one who saved you was Momo, not me. Her sword is faster than me. If it weren't for her you would be eaten alive"
Eaten alive? That was what on her mind after seeing the horrifying scene of Kiria gulping his followers. Leila still could not forget the sound of bones breaking and the desperate cry for help from those who were eaten alive. What's scarier was the intense hunger in Kiria sharp eyes that were looking directly into hers with blood dripping from his fangs and innards hanging on his claws.
She was supposed to be dead and she will live with those uneventful moments to the grave. However, what she should focus on now was to properly express her gratitude to her saviour.
With a serious look at her face, she bowed down diligently to Momo and thanked her. Momo, however, seemed to refuse her gratitude. Her mouth was pouting and she was hugging herself. Kim did not know why Momo acted that way but as a woman, Leila does. She got close to Momo and whispered something to her ear which made Momo blushed. Red face and chubby cheek, she looked like a ripened tomato.
Momo suddenly became excited and gave Leila a firm handshake like true sisters.
While both of them having their sisterhood moment, Kim went to the other three guys. Wong approached him first before others come as well.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah. It was satisfying"
Again they felt a sudden chill sensation travelling through their spine. The smirk on Kim's face seems deadly. Even his gaze felt like it could kill them.
'Is this the same guy who saved us?!
It wasn't just the training hall, the whole guild building was empty. Guild master has ordered a full evacuation and forbade any entry into the guild until further notice. It wasn't long before the people of Kuala Terengganu received news about the death of Kiria. This has also caused an uproar in social media. Even though Kiria was only an A-rank and not an S-rank, he was still famous among mana users. Kiria death was shocking but the mysterious part was the guild did not mention his death.
Guild master Larc has given the notice among the witnesses to keep whatever happened in the training hall to themselves. People only assumed that Kiria has encountered a Legendary rank monster while he was doing his job request. The event of Kiria sudden transformation into a monster had only spread as rumours inside and out of Kuala Terengganu. Even though most people accepted the first reason, there was one particular person caught interest with the latter.
Kim gave an address of a hotel to Wong and the three of them brought Kim and Momo to the place. Wong was curious about how Kim got the address, but Kim only told him an acquaintance recommended him the place.
The hotel was small and looked quite old. There was not that much guest. There may not even one guest at all staying in this place. Located quite far from the centre and the main gate, it was understandable why a hotel at this rundown place was not popular. It was shocking for the hotel itself to still exist even to this date. After decided the time they would meet tomorrow, Wong, Teng and Ling left the place and walk back to their home.
Kim greeted the owner who was at the lobby desk and requested a room for two people. They got their key card after paying some points and went directly to their room.
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"Teng...why did you asked him those questions last time? I know you would not ask anything unnecessary..."
"Wong, Ling how many S-rank do you guys know in Malaysia?"
"Excluding Prince Ray and Master Silva, there's only three. One of them is the new general, Varius. One is in Johor and the other one in Kuala Lumpur"
"Yes, only three! Young master Kim and Miss Momo are obviously an S-rank so why after 6 years, no one knew them? With that much power, they could only be noticed...unless..."
"No one was there to notice them?"
"Yes...and that could mean both of them from a dead city or village..."
"But people who were brought here by the Varhem Kingdom has finished checking every crooks and corner of Malaysia right?"
"Yes, that's true Ling. But both of them could speak Malay with high proficiency. So they could only be Malaysians. And one more thing...how can a person of this age don't know about rank? They were also confused when we were using our points. Can't they just find all these info on the internet!"
"Where are you going with this Teng?"
"Guys, look. There are both Malaysians but somehow they have been living in a place where no one ever steps on for this past 6 years! That could only mean one thing"
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Steam was coming from the bathroom after Momo finished taking her shower. Her wet hair was covered with a towel to stop water from dripping. She took a hairdryer with her and sat on Kim's lap.
"Wah! I haven't taken a shower ever since that day! We only cleaned ourselves by the river or anywhere with water"
"Momo. Can I ask you something?"
"Yes, master?"
"Why are you sitting on my lap?"
"Waiting for you to dry my hair of course"
Kim wanted to say something to refute but he never saw Momo as cheerful as she was that day. In the end, he just gave in and carefully plugged the hairdryer so that Momo does not need to move away. He removed the towel that was covering Momo's violet hair and turned on the hairdryer.
Momo was seemingly happy as she was humming so kind of a tone while getting her hair dried.
"Wow, you are good at this"
"I've been drying your hair for 6 years, didn't I?
"Yeah, and almost burnt all my hair for 6 years as well"
*cough*
"Anyway, pass me that hairbrush"
Momo jumped down to take the hairbrush that Kim asked and jumped back on his lap again. While Kim gently brushed her waist-long silky hair she again hummed the same tone she did.
"Momo"
"Yes, master?"
"What did you think about what happened today?"
"Why?"
"Do you think that pervert himself know he will turn into a dog like that?"
"Maybe"
"But... why would someone want a wolf's heart?"
Before Kim and Momo left the guild, they asked Leila regarding the job request that Wong and his team were doing. They found out that, it started with the increasing case of missing children in the city which happen every night. Last year, it only happened once a month and most of the victims were street orphans who lost both their parents and their homes.
However, starting last week, there were reports from parents who lost their child almost every day. One of the reports mentioned that they saw a silhouette of a man covered with furs running away before he managed to grab their child. The man was identified as a werewolf because of his the other mentioned features like his sharp claw and fangs coming out from his mouth.
A search has been done within the city but no trace of the werewolf was found. Since then the Minister of Kuala Terengganu issued an order for a wolf hunt because it was suspected that werewolf might have fled outside of the city wall. It was common for a werewolf to reside in a pack of wolves. This was because a werewolf can lead a pack of wolf monsters. Thus, the wolf hunt purpose was to reduce the number of strength which the werewolf could gather.
"Why would the minister ask to bring back the wolf's heart to consider the job is done? It doesn't make sense...if this is how it is...then what Mr. Werewolf told me was the truth...but I need more evidence"
As Kim continued muttering his thoughts, Momo mercilessly headbutted Kim straight to his chin, making him lay in the bed while Momo fell lightly on top of him.
"Master always think too much! It has been a while too since we could sleep in a bed like this"
Kim was caught off guard with the sudden headbutt. It did not hurt him that much, but what Momo told him reminded him of their days in Borneo. Constantly getting chased by monsters, sleeping was suicide. It was common to stay awake for several days before they could find a place to hide. In which after some time, monsters would find them with their mana sense and they had to fight dozens, sometimes even hundreds of monsters before they could run away again to hide. A short nap was a luxury!
No matter how strong they are, they still have a limit on how much they could fight before they need a rest. It was inconceivable on how much strain they have to put up in those 6 years with their lives always hanging on a thread.
Now that they are outside of Borneo, they finally found a place where they could rest without worry of getting eaten by monsters. No wonder Momo was grumpy when he keep asking all those questions.
Kim was about to apologize when he realized that Momo was already snoring. Seeing how calm her face has made his eyelids becoming heavier and heavier.
After living in nightmares for 6 years, the two of them slept peacefully without a single care of the world.