"Blue-Eyed Poison Wolves?"
Surprise saturated Alberish's voice as the dwarf, who has spent years navigating various environments and living on the edge of the law because of his dealings in black market gemstones and raw materials, instantly recognized the canine-like creatures with four blue eyes on each of their two heads.
— They are dangerous poisonous species dwelling in the south. Their claws and teeth are laden with paralytic venom. A mere scratch from these quadrupeds can turn even the strongest of men immobile, leaving them at the mercy of the Blue-Eyed Poison Wolves, who'd then devour them thoroughly.
The foul stench of the beasts struck Alberish's nostrils. He cast a pitiful glance at the two foolish beasts charging towards him, saliva and venom trailing from their mouths to the back of their heads. Suddenly, the roar of the beasts turned into a dying wail, the foul smell of burning flesh and the sharp metallic tang of blood filled the air.
Innumerable fine threads, appearing like hair, unspooled from the carriage and wrapped around the Blue-Eyed Poison Wolves' bodies. These thin strands, which seemed fragile enough to snap at any moment, constricted, slicing through fur, flesh, and viscera. After the wolves' bodies crumbled, all the threads simultaneously tightened around their still-intact heads, penetrating through the mouth, ears, eyes, nostrils, spinal cord, blood vessels, bone gaps, and right into the still-living brain.
"I see, Servant Pledge... It's a Familiar, then―"
The sentence, vague in content and casual in tone, was Li Lin's death sentence.
The hair-like nanobots began to vibrate at an invisibly high speed, transferring a high-speed stream of information from one brain to another via the Contract Seals within the Familiars. Just two or three seconds later, a horrific scream came from the southwest of the forest, abruptly ending after not even a second.
"That's a nice overload. Blew it right out."
Before the scream even started, the information fed back by the nanobots had already sealed the fate of those bound by the Familiar contract. According to the feedback: the brain of the contract-bearer – or what Li Lin understood as the master computer – had collapsed due to the overwhelming influx of garbage data backfiring from the Familiar's brain via the Contract Seal.
The black threads withdrew from the animal's head, now completely dead in a biological sense. The two sphere-like objects, having lost their support, rolled a few times on the dirt road before tumbling into an unseen grassy patch. Alberish, who had begun to grow immune to such gruesome scenes, muttered a short prayer and quickly turned his attention back to the carriage.
Taking the place of Nidhogg, who was too overwhelmed by his blood surge to perform emergency treatment, were the hair-like structures extending from Li Lin's brain. Not only were they visibly treating and bandaging wounds between the injured woman and the medical box, they were also releasing nanobots into her body to deal with the poison and perform surgery to heal the wounds.
It took several minutes to complete the emergency treatment and the carriage had to be pulled over to the side of the road. Scared and overworked, the two horses pulling the carriage needed to rest and regain their strength for the journey ahead. At the same time, it was an opportunity for the unexpected patient to have some necessary rest.
"Let's camp here for the night."
Li Lin, who announced the decision, jumped down from the driver's seat and untied the reins from the yoke, calming the two winded old horses. Nidhogg and Alberish unloaded camping equipment from the carriage. For men (males) who had already grown accustomed to simple fare and despair, a few days under the open sky was nothing out of the ordinary. The small campsite was quickly set up. Alberish even started a fire and put a small kettle on it, steam slowly rising from it.
"Master, is it alright to leave that fly overhead unattended...?"
"It's fine, in fact, it would be a problem if our guests didn't come."
"May I entertain them?"
"No need to rush, let's at least give them some preparation time. We also have plenty of chores here; we should pay some attention to the etiquette of hospitality."
"...As you wish."
Swallowing the slightly bitter saliva, Nidhogg cast a regretful gaze towards the dot still circling in the sky. That unknown person's falcon familiar has been observing this carriage ever since it started facing inexplicable encounters. It was still stubbornly watching overhead. Those who control the blue-eyed poisoned wolves might be preparing for their next visit.
Regrettable - such a precious opportunity to eat alone was wasted.
Shrugging like a human, Nidhogg momentarily dismissed his desolate mood. The feast of impending death was no longer the focus of Nidhogg's attention. The Black Dragon had found a new, worthwhile object of interest.
- That unexpected female guest who made the innocent Dragon Clan darling who had survived hundreds of years flustered, almost suffering stomach pain and developing a fear of humans.
Until now, the young bachelor Black Dragon had a vague understanding of the opposite sex: "Not the same as the male species", "Can mate with", "Capable of laying eggs", "Takes care of the young" -- such fuzzy and basic concepts. Also, some additional trivial knowledge such as -- XX species females having better meat texture than males -- were noted in the menu. The visual and tactile shock brought about by contact with females of different species was not the same as the concept of contact through feeding.
"Hmm... no scales, the skin is smooth."
The index finger gently tapped several times on skin uncovered by bandages. The unique sensation was quickly magnified through nerves and recorded. Afterwards, his impressions of the contact were expressed through reddening cheeks, rising body temperature, and accelerated heartbeat. To further investigate the female, the Black Dragon lowered its head, using its sense of smell to record and differentiate the other sex.
"Her scent is so fragrant... a sweet fragrance..."
"If you accidentally swallow her, I can only regretfully knock out all the teeth in your mouth. Maybe you should learn to chew with your tongue, Nidhogg?"
A stern warning always achieves some effect. When someone who would definitely turn every warning into reality mentions the part about "knocking out the teeth", Nidhogg immediately extinguishes the idea of recording characteristics of the opposite sex with his tongue and obediently withdraws to one side.
However, a certain sharp-tongued figure is not going to let him off so easily, and that action proved to be in vain.
"Your unsatisfied lustful behaviour is just like a fat old man with body odour and age spots violating a little girl. It's truly an astounding perversion that's disgusting to the point of surpassing tapeworm."
"Uh…!!"
Clutching his chest as if something fragile had shattered and it was unbearably painful, Nidhogg gritted his teeth, revealing a look of painful determination.
"Your remaining life is just going to plummet, isn't it? Destined to rely on peeping, stalking, harassing, imprisoning, restraining, stealing to satisfy physiological needs in your long lifespan - what a wretched and unfortunate accumulation."
Dust flies into the air and the thump of a bag filled with stones falling on the ground echoes in the forest clearing.
Even as strong as the Black Dragon is, it's unable to handle such a brutal psychological attack - Nidhogg was thoroughly crushed and reduced to ashes in a pure white world.
"Oh dear... Can't even handle this much, huh? You really are useless."
A seemingly bitter smile turned towards the motionless injured guest as sharp sarcasm flowed from the crescent mouth of the red moon.
"You think the same too, don't you? Miss Elf."