"The one and only." Ikaris sullenly frowned, not forgetting that the young woman had been trying to kill him the day before.
Ellie stopped staring like a zombie at Oliver's corpse and eyed the boy with a mixture of relief and joy. For some reason, she had the feeling that he would survive.
Ever since she arrived in this world, she had felt that Ikaris was totally different from the other Otherworlders. He was too quiet and adapted with remarkable ease. His talent was also peerless.
She thought about walking up to him and saying hello, but when she saw Malia approaching she gave up. In contrast, there was one who had no qualms.
"By Elsisn's beard! The kid is still alive!" Krold guffawed loudly as he gave Ikaris a vigorous hug.
"Nice to see you too, Krold."
The aborigine was covered in dried blood, mostly from his enemies, but he was also moderately injured. He was having the greatest difficulty moving, and the teenager found his grip as weak as that of a toddler.
To survive the night, Krold had probably been lighting fires non-stop. Now that Ikaris was a Crawling-Thrall he knew why fire was a bad idea to fight the Glenrings.
The Crawling retina was abnormally sensitive to light, so much so that they could spot a candle flame in the dark from dozens of kilometers away provided there were no obstacles hindering their vision.
He already knew that. What he didn't know before was why the red flame that Malia invoked the first night when she saved him didn't have this defect. Now he knew why.
The red color was an exception.
The Crawlings could actually see it, but it appeared dimmer to them than the other colors. Ikaris didn't think much of it in the daytime, but at night it became obvious.
When other colors such as blue or green, much more vivid, assailed them, the red was lost in the mix and they had trouble noticing it in the midst of the jumble of information.
However, these monsters could still see all those colors very well. Their eyes were not as sensitive to red, but their vision was as good at night as it was in the daytime. If someone made the mistake of summoning a large scarlet fire, thinking they wouldn't be noticed, it would probably be their last mistake.
"Psst... What about that bison?" Krold whispered in his ear nervously. The other villagers might not have known about it, but he knew full well what kind of feud there was between this Demonic Beast and the boy.
"For now he's one of us." Ikaris said a little louder so that the other villagers could hear him.
They visibly relaxed as they realized that the huge bovine was not their enemy, but a new ally.
While Ikaris listened to the barbarian talk about everything and anything with great enthusiasm to hide his shaking and angst, other villagers were also scrutinizing him with different reactions.
Toby and his squad, of which there were only three members left, including the couple Jacob and Bree, were struggling to hide their shock. Thanks to the military man's experience and Bree's healing skills, their squad had fared better than the others, but they had been especially lucky.
A Crawler the size of a cat was actually as physically powerful as a large dog. If Malia, Asselin and Grallu hadn't taken the risk of dealing with the bigger monsters, they would have been wiped out in a few minutes.
That's why the idea that an Otherworlder like them had survived an entire night alone in the jungle was greatly disturbing.
"It seems I underestimated this kid." Toby sighed, "I wanted to develop an army to take over this village and go on an adventure to explore this new world, but now I think I mostly need more information. No army of ordinary humans, no matter how trained, can survive against the creatures we faced last night. Even if I had recruited 1,000 warriors we couldn't have dethroned Malia and Grallu with our abilities."
"The key is magic." Bree commented unsurprised. "In my home world, magic was reserved for a select few, but here we are all capable of it. This Divine Spark is difficult to perceive, but the magic it grants has no limits. We must stop believing that we know everything and assume that absolutely anything is possible."
"Anything is possible..." The veteran soldier repeated thoughtfully as he stared at Ikaris.
Meanwhile, Malia had arrived in front of Ikaris. She felt slightly self-conscious, but remembering the disaster that had struck the village, she quickly regained her composure.
"You still seem to be yourself. I am amazed." She let out an apologetic smile, but it was closer to a grimace.
It was the closest thing to an apology that Malia would ever give him. But although he was the resentful type, after a night like that he had already moved on. It was as if he had aged ten years in a few hours.
"MOOOO!" The Alpha Bison had recognized his archenemy. Apparently, Ikaris hadn't stolen that status from her yet, and it was a small consolation to the boy.
"Hehe, I recognize you too." The young woman stuck her tongue out cutely as she identified the horned beast. "No hard feelings. It was for food."
The Demonic Beast bellowed insults in bison language to express his displeasure and all the bad he thought of her, but at least he didn't go on the attack.
"I couldn't kill the one who turned me. I couldn't find him." Ikaris confessed offhandedly. "Instead, I killed a Glenring. I guess that proves I'm not loyal to them."
He laughed at his own joke, but to Malia it was as if she had just been smashed by a mountain.
"Y-you killed a Glenring?" She stammered with a flustered face. " There were Glenrings in the jungle last night? "
She stared for a moment, then suddenly a horror-stricken expression distorted her features and she yelled,
"We must get the hell out of here. Right now!"
Ikaris frowned, not understanding why she was only panicking now. As soon as he had told her that millions of Crawlers were swarming the jungle, it should have become clear to her that the Barren Bush had become uninhabitable.
"Follow me. Krold, Tuari, Jathie, Tebec, Toby, Jacob and Bree you come too." Malia ordered as she motioned for them to follow her.
"Moooo!" (I'm coming too)
Ikaris knew instantly where she was taking them when they walked past the cottage. She hastily lifted the hatch and went down inside with jumpy movements.
"Ikaris take this." She tossed him a rusty sword that had seen better days, along with about ten kilos of dried meat wrapped in large banana leaves.
The boy mechanically grabbed the weapon, but his mind was elsewhere. As soon as the meat was put in his hands, he started to salivate, and Malia immediately sensed how hungry he was.
"If you're hungry, eat! I have plenty more, but hurry up." She grunted in a bad mood as she handed food and weapons to the others.
He didn't hesitate and voraciously devoured the slices of beef jerky. The bison glared at him and he realized that it was probably one of its fellow creatures.
'Well, it's dead now. No point in wasting it.'
Malia had given Ikaris her spare sword, but she still had a spear, an axe, a crossbow, and several daggers, which she gave to the others. Seeing the dumbstruck look on the faces of Tuari, Jathie and Tebec when they saw the crossbow, Malia refrained from slapping them and gave the weapon to Toby, who was delighted.
It wasn't as good as the old M16 he was used to, but it was the closest he'd come to it since landing in this shithole.
Krold already had his own sword, but he accepted an extra dagger. Tuari accepted the axe and Jacob the spear. The others all took a dagger.
When they returned to the village square they were all heavily laden with food. Ikaris was even carrying Malia's wardrobe with obvious displeasure. As soon as the female tyrant disappeared into her cottage, he dumped the pile of clothes off in a corner.
A few seconds later, Malia emerged from the thatched cottage with a downcast countenance and walked directly toward him.
"It's not m-"
"Grallu wants to talk to you."
"Hmm, can you say that again?" Ikaris tilted his head with a confused look.
"You heard me right." Malia retorted stiffly. "Go see her, we don't have much time. It may even be too late already."
"Fine..."
Ikaris stoically entered the cottage and saw the old shaman lying on her bed wrapped in bandages like a mummy, but the tissue was practically red and a purulent smell was wafting from it. She would not be making the trip with them.
"You wanted to see me?" The boy crouched down next to her.
Grallu did not answer right away. After a while, with a sigh she confessed in a death rattle,
"I want to apologize Ikaris to have a clear conscience. I was the one who kicked that Crawler towards your tent."