Endless Journey: Infinite Realms

Chapter 76 Danger is in the Eye of the Beholder

Carlie did not like what she saw.

What was left of Phom's body was a mangled pile of flesh, completely festering for the two to see.

"This…" Even Ted was at loss for words as he saw Phom's corpse. "How could it be like this?"

"..." Carlie had the same doubts as Ted, as she knew that a dead Monster like Phom should not look this damaged after just a day of dying.

"Ugh… the higher-ups won't be happy upon seeing this body…" Ted muttered to himself as she levitated Phom's corpse.

"Piyak."

Carlie looked away as some parts of Phom's skin fell to the forest floor. It created a squelching sound, which sounded like a shout in the quiet forest.

"That Divine Knight surely packs a punch..." Ted mused as he looked at the pile of flesh in front of him. "Good thing I am not the one sent to go here yesterday…"

Both Carlie and Ted sighed, knowing that the Divine Knight who killed Phom really is scary.

After all, its quite obvious that what happened to Phom's corpse was related to the Divine Knight.

Well, it's not like they can do anything about it…

"Well, this is where we shall separate." Ted declared as he started to run away, bringing Phom's body with him. "Be sure to record everything that your Targets do!"

Dried grasses and leaves were blazing at the path that Ted crossed, creating a haze and smoke that covered some parts of the forest.

This sight made Carlie feel irritated, as she remembered how much of a prick Ted was.

"Jerk." Carlie muttered at the moment that Ted was out of her earshot. "The day will also come that I can butcher you with the Queen Mother watching in contentment."

Of course Carlie knew that this day will only come once she had the enough power to prove her worth.

"Being a shadow courier is not the only thing that I can do." Carlie declared to herself, remembering her usual job of delivering vials or letters to dangerous areas. I can show them that I can be a good fighter too, just like General Nyx."

With this thought in her mind, Carlie's shadow body slithered as she followed the old tracks that were left by her targets.

This mission will be one of Carlie's longest ones, and Carlie swore to herself that she will get out of it successfully.

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To Carlie's surprise, she actually needed some days to completely reach the end her Target's tracks.

"There they are…" Carlie muttered as she saw the appearances of her two targets.

One was a Great Elderitch, while the other one was unmistakably a Vampire Queen.

Carlie suppressed the pangs of desire that appeared inside her body as she saw the beautiful appearance of the Vampire Queen.

Beautiful Vampires are dangerous, as they use their beauty as weapons against their opponents, and many Monsters have indeed been waylaid by this.

As for the Great Elderitch, Carlie knew that they only mostly deal with concepts related to evil, which can vary greatly depending on the Great Eldritch.

If Carlie wants to know the specialty of the Great Elderitch in front of her, then she must observe it well.

After thinking of these things, Carlie started to settle down, as she thought that she can now start spying on them.

But before she could do so, Carlie almost sputtered in shock as 5 more figures suddenly appeared beside her Targets.

"How could this be?" Usually, Carlie was always calm and collected, no matter what she saw. But right now, what she was seeing was enough to rattle her. "How could they be here?"

Carlie narrowed her eyes at the sight of 5 little monsters flocking around the Vampire Queen.

One quick scan made Carlie sure of their appearances.

One of the little monsters looked like a dog, while the other one were a collection of pebbles. The third one was made od shadows like her, while the fourth one was made up of insects. The fifth and the final one was only made up of bones.

"Tsk."

The reason why Carlie was shocked upon seeing them was the fact that she knew them during their Monster Transformation!

Carlie could still remember it.

She could still vividly remember the forced Monster transformation that she initiated on a nomadic settlement 1 week ago.

Out of this Nomadic Village, the only ones that got turned into Monsters were 5 little children.

Carlie originally left these transformed children on their own, as she thought that they are too weak to be of use to the Queen Mother.

Carlie even expected them to die around 3-5 days after their transformation.

But these kids had exceeded her expectations.

They actually survived for a week, and now, all the 5 little monsters looked like they are under the protection of her targets!

"Fate is quite a trickster indeed." Carlie muttered to herself as she realized that their situation just got worse.

Because of the presence of the little monsters, Carlie realized that the Monster Faction is once again about to head to another bloody conflict.

"If I just killed the little monsters when I saw them…" For now, Carlie could not dwell on blaming herself.

Now, she had an additional damage control to do, and it will only depend on her observations whether or not she will request a Kill Order for her targets.

"I wish that you two are just docile Monsters…" Carlie muttered to herself as she observed her Targets. "After all, I do not want you two to be waging a war against us."

Just the mere thought of this is enough to make Carlie tired and apprehensive.

"….."

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One major difference from of the Monsters in this World and the Monsters that came from other planes were the difference of their moral values.

This difference is prominent in the Monster Birth Program.

For the Monsters in this World, including Carlie, the Monster Birth Program is their way to increase their power and to show to Humans that even people like them can also join their cause.

The program also helps in revitalizing the population of the Monster Faction.

But for the Monsters from the other planes, once they discovered about the Monster Birth Program, most of them go extremely angry, as if the mere existence of the program was so repulsive to them.

So much was their hate that most of the Visiting Monsters who discovered the Monster Birth Program will go out of their way to stop the program.

This led to many pointless battles between the local and visiting Monsters, which usually ends with the visiting Monsters dead or running away, and many local Monsters either dead or crippled.

Because of this scary casualty count, all the Monsters in this World decided to do everything they can so that future Visiting Monsters will not learn or even hear about the Monster Birth Program.

As long as the Visiting Monster will not discover anything about the Monster Birth Program until the day that they leave, then there will be no hassle and problems.

This had proven to be an easy job, as the only thing that they needed to do was limit the contact between the Visiting Monsters and the newborn Monsters, and to always keep their mouths shut,

With these precautions in hand, it will be almost impossible for the Visiting Monsters to discover anything about the program.

But this time, it seems like these precautions are unable to do anything.

Right now, it is highly likely that the 5 little monsters have already told to her Targets about what had happened to them.

This, for Carlie, is the most direct way to tell these new Visiting Monsters about the existence of the Monster Birth Program.

"This is really bad…" Carlie muttered to herself as she imagined the consequences of the current situation. "I can try attacking them right now, but I am not really sure if they are interested on making a move against the Monster Faction. After all, the last visit of Monsters from another dimension happened thousands of years ago. Who knows, maybe my Targets are open-minded already."

With that thought in her mind, Carlie started to observe.

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With the body that Carlie have she had no need for water or food to survive. She only had to consume some of the shadows nearby to replenish herself.

With this near-limitless survival tactic, Carlie was able to persevere to quietly watch and observe the activities of her Targets

From what she can see, Carlie realized that her Targets were not just randomly moving everywhere. They seem to move with purpose, as if they already had a target to accomplish.

But aside from this, the other things that Carlie was pretty jarring too.

She could see the Vampire Queen having fun playing with the little monsters, while the Great Eldeitch seems to be busy on it experiments that involve the use of weird spells and its creepy tentacles.

"…" Even though she felt slightly bored, Carlie still stayed serious on what she was doing.

So Carlie continued her routine watch on her Targets for 2 more weeks, and that was when she saw something interesting.

"Yeoowww!!!"

She saw the Great Elderitch engraving a Rune on its right shoulder, and Carlie could see the expression of pain just from the way its tentacles moved.

Carlie did not do anything to the Great Elderitch at this time, as she knew that it is a taboo to disturb someone who is deep through a breakthrough.

It is an unwritten rule in this World that no one should disturb a Human or a Monster that is deep on his/her breakthrough.

If they want to do something, then wait until the breakthrough is over.

In the end, Carlie had to wait for around two hours before the breakthrough and recovery period had finished.

By this point, Carlie watched with interest as the Great Elderitch seems to be intent on trying something new.

But before it reached that point, Carlie started to stiffen as she felt something emanating from the Great Elderitch.

What Carlie felt was a faint killing intent, and if Carlie was not wrong, this killing intent was focused entirely on her!

"Oh, so my Targets knew that I was spying them all along." Carlie thought with resignation as she saw the Vampire Queen and the Great Elderitch walking beside each other.

Both of them now looked alert and battle-ready.

And judging from the direction of their gazes, they seem to be looking exactly at where Carlie was currently hiding.

"So much for my stealth." Carlie thought to herself as she revealed herself from her hiding spot.

Since her Targets have discovered her and seem to want to approach her with evil intentions, then Carlie will gladly reciprocate in kind.

Negotiations are off the table now, as the aggressive attitude by her Targets is telling Carlie that what will happen next will be a fight.

"If you want a fight, then I, shall gladly represent Queen Mother to smite you both!"

Carlie's body started to seethe as she prepared herself for a difficult match.

"Come, let's have some fun!" Carlie thought to herself as she pounced towards her Targets.