Discordant Note: Crescendo | TBATE

Chapter 190: Cleansing

Toren Daen

I lounged in the bough of a tall tree, feeling as the cold wind rushed through the bare branches. My assimilated part-asuran physique and affinity for fire mana protected me from the chill, however.

Far below me, a small, rodent-like mana beast with greenish fur was burrowing in the dirt. I watched it from far above, twirling a small glass vial through my gloved fingers.

The little bottle of corruption glistened like dark ink as I held it, the low light of dawn absorbed into its murky surface. The tarry substance was slow to shift within its container, and it gave off a roiling, putrid sensation through the mana.

I'd been given a hundred of these vials, and had been tasked with corrupting ten AA-class mana beasts within the next week, alongside whatever else I could infect. When the time came, teams of mages would come through here with beastwards, the magic within each dark crystal calling to the corrupted mana beasts.

Usually, it was an entire team of mid-tier mages that were sent out into the Beast Glades, tasked with quickly and efficiently trapping and infecting mana beasts for the eventual Beast Horde. But Cylrit, the asshole he was, decided to send me out solo.

Truth be told, I thought, looking down on the little rodent beast far below as it dug at the dirt, That was probably the best decision. I'm familiar with hunting in forests, I thought, remembering the Clarwood Forest. It felt like an age ago that I'd survived in those wilds, training my magic and combat forms to prepare for what was to come in this world.

Within that forest, I'd quickly changed from prey to predator, standing at the top of the pecking order. Now I was in a similar situation as I watched from above like a hawk.

If Cylrit had sent me with a team, I had no doubt I'd be hampered in my abilities to not only do what he demanded, but also complete my own plans.

As if on cue, I felt a slight weave through the ambient mana. The intent of beasts was more... blunt than that of humans. There was far less nuance in each pulse through the air.

But bloodlust? The need to kill? That was just as fervent as any mage's King's Force I'd ever experienced.

Another mana beast burst from the ground where the rodent had been digging, surging high into the air. The rodent didn't even have time to scream in surprise before it was swallowed in a single bite, a large gullet crunching and chomping on its body.

The mana beast that had emerged from the earth shook itself as it settled down. It looked somewhat like a cross between a boar and an armadillo. Thick tusks emerged from the front of its pointed snout, and ridged plates of earth surrounded it in an armorlike shell. It snorted and pawed at the ground, sniffing at where its prey had just been.

The thing was about as large as me, and if I were to give it a rating, I'd wager it was B-class at least. Maybe A-class if I was feeling generous.

I exhaled, watching my breath mist on the air, before clenching my hand around the bottle of corruption I'd been fidgeting with. It was time to get to work.

I rolled off the bough of the tree I'd been perched on, allowing gravity to claim me. The ground–thirty feet below–rushed up to meet me as I plummeted toward the mana beast.

It didn't notice me, of course. Why would it? I'd been concealing my presence expertly, and at this level, I didn't even need to use ambient mana.

The boar-armadillo was still busy sniffing the ground when my fist–coated in a shroud of sound–crashed against its earth-armored skull from directly above. I'd held back the force, of course, but the vibrating wave that traveled through the mana beast made it stumble and list to the side, snarling weakly as it was knocked nearly unconscious.