Chapter 27: Abnormality in the Bird
The brown bird's wing shadowed him from above, staring down at him with its predatory eyes. What were the chances for him to face an enemy like that while immobile from pain and nearly drained of his soul energy?
The very thing that could help him repel the bird.
"This is ridiculous..."
His eyes darted around. Where were the undead he had sent away? And why aren't they back yet? Have they encountered something that gave them trouble? Or perhaps it is because they strayed too far away?!
Whatever it is. Damien was hoping they would return back at this very moment.
'It's different...'
Damien gazed up at the bird. There was something absolutely wrong with it, for its feathery was twitching vigorously in the air, its head constantly tilting side to side uncontrollably.
The saliva in its mouth poured out of its beak—like rivers and dripped down onto him.
'What the hell is wrong with this—'
With a powerful flap of its wings, it launched itself towards Damien. This species of bird would be more fluid and balanced in its flight. But not this variant, for it was sporadic.
The light in Damien's eyes returned—growing once more.
BOOM!
His energy erupted out of him, creating a dome to protect him against the dive-bombing bird the size of a car. Its body rebounded off of it and fell onto the ceiling.
It shakily got back up to its feet, its head spasming before snapping upwards and...
SCREECH!
... Screeching...
It used its sharp talons to claw at the flat stone ceiling underneath its large body. Each scrape was like nails on a chalkboard—loud and irritating.
It was weird... But the weirdest thing isn't its abnormal behaviour. Instead, it was the darkened parts of its body—the extremities, to be exact.
Its beak... Its talons... Even some parts of its feathers... It was as if it was dipped in soot. Not only that, but it was strangely damp and slick—like it had just taken a short dive into the water.
Without any sort of warning, the Brown Bird then suddenly began to shake its body. Its damp feathers rustled against each other while also revealing a liquid black substance underneath.
The black liquid flew out from underneath its feathers, momentarily becoming airborne before evaporating.
Damien then watched the shadow form underneath it due to the moon's light shifting around. Not because of its erratic movements; it was like it was moving slightly autonomously, occasionally having ripples formed in it.
Damien watched this with the utmost caution, having long drawn in his soul energy—just in case it struck again.
This was his first-ever encounter with such a variant. He can't be relaxed around it, unlike the wolves.
He then watched it notice the crushed corpses of the wolves, the saliva in its mouth flooding out once again—splashing against the floor.
Damien then watched it rip and take apart the bloodied corpse. The way it ate was ravenous; it was as if it had starved for several days, and this was its first meal in forever.
'Could that be the reason?'
Could being starved cause these beasts to become like this? Is he the cause of it, or is it due to him lowering the wolf population?
Red splatters painted the ground, and droplets of blood were tossed through the air as the bird shook its head and tore out another piece of flesh.
It widened its beak and placed them around the head of a deceased wolf before lowering them down on it. The skull of the wolf slowly began to crack and cave in—becoming wholly pulverised.
The sounds of crunching resounded in the dark and bloody ambience as Damien watched the bird clean up the mess he had made—albeit a bit sloppy.
But...
As soon as it did finish, it twisted its head around to him before twisting it upside down.
Its beady eyes stared hungrily at him, still wanting more to devour. The gluttonous bird stared at him with its glowing eyes that resembled cracked glass.
Blood dripped out from its mouth, staining its damp body, causing Damien to see it in a slightly more horrific sight.
"What a foul beast you are..."