Chapter 5 Blood dripped from his arm as he was injured.
At noon, sunlight streamed through the cave entrance. Catherine struggled to open her eyes, and after her eyes adjusted to the light, she glanced around the cave but didn't see Tarasco anywhere; he had most likely gone out hunting.
She propped herself up, and the previously ignored soreness instantly overwhelmed her senses, each one a reminder of what had happened yesterday.
Catherine had to stand still for a while, waiting for her body to slowly adjust to the slightly agonizing feeling.
Although she had chosen a handsome and passionate perfect lover for herself on her coming-of-age ceremony and spent a satisfying night with him, she never consciously suppressed her desires until the years leading up to her becoming a sacrifice and being sent to the Devil's Forest.
However, Tarasco's enormous size still caused her considerable suffering yesterday.
Once the soreness subsided a bit, Catherine finally descended to the ground. The excessively humid air inside the cave made it difficult for her to breathe as she moved.
After landing, Catherine hugged her arms tightly and slowly walked to the cave entrance to look out.
Outside the cave entrance was a small clearing, through which sunlight streamed in. Beyond that was a dense, dark forest, surrounding the clearing and stretching outwards until its edge was nowhere in sight.
It was very quiet outside the cave entrance, not even a bird chirped, a far cry from the lively scene she had witnessed when she was escaping for her life in the Devil's Forest.
Catherine carefully examined the perimeter of the cave entrance. She couldn't tell if the alien spider was overconfident in itself or too trusting of her, believing she wouldn't leave the cave. The entrance was only blocked by a few inconspicuous, enormous spiderwebs, a token barrier; with caution, it would be easy to escape.
It took Catherine nearly an hour to reach the end without getting stuck in a single spider web. If she took just one more step forward, she would be completely free from the web's confinement.
She glanced around, then cautiously peeked out a little...
In that instant! A bird's beak suddenly shot out from nowhere and pecked straight at her.
Catherine was prepared and calmly stepped back, narrowly missing the bird's beak.
She looked up in the direction she had come from, and a green bird's head, about the size of her palm, emerged completely from the bushes, its deep black eyes darting around, staring resentfully at Catherine hiding behind the spider web.
After staring at her for a quarter of an hour, the green-flowered bird, certain that its weak prey wouldn't be coming out today, gave her a venomous glare and retreated back into the woods.
Catherine gazed at the forest, now peaceful again, and pondered for a moment before turning and retreating back into the cave.
Without much thought, she knew that the reason the cave was so quiet was because Tarasco's spider silk and his scent had intimidated the hungry but not as powerful as the alien spiders, keeping them from approaching.
However, some magical beasts with a keen sense of smell could detect the faint scent of their prey hidden beneath the scent of Tarasco.
They fear Tarasco and dare not enter the cave, but instead remain hidden in the dense forest, waiting for their prey to be clever enough to leave the spider's protection, and then strike them dead.
Catherine had known all along that if she left the cave alone and returned to the Devil's Forest, she would soon become prey for wild beasts.
Her probing just now was merely a more thorough elimination of the unrealistic idea of "escaping the cave."
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In the dense forest, a gentle, calm white mist enveloped the entire grove.
Today's fog is the thickest it's been in a month, which has made it easier for some well-hidden magical beasts to hunt.
Tarasco moved swiftly among the branches. His spider legs gripped the thick branches tightly, allowing him to move as easily as on land, even within the dense canopy of trees.
Following his memory, Tarasco quickly arrived at the trap he had carefully set. Unfortunately, his luck wasn't good today; only a small, already dead bat monkey was stuck to the spider web. It looked like it had been starving for a long time, with protruding bones and hardly any flesh on its body—most likely a "defective product" abandoned shortly after birth.
This bat monkey is only good enough as a small snack; he will obviously need to hunt again for today's main meal.
Without hesitation, Tarasco sped into the depths of the jungle. Even at such great speed, he produced almost no sound or vibration; only when he occasionally leaped across the spiderwebs would the branches bound by the silk tremble slightly.
These are the natural hunters of the Devil's Forest.
After flying several kilometers, the scent of another large predator wafted through the air. However, the scent was faint, indicating it was probably further away.
Tarasco tilted his head and stopped.
He sniffed the air for a moment, then scrambled to the side. The scent grew stronger with his movement, and soon Tarasco spotted another hunter through the gaps in the foliage.
It was a huge creature, shaped like a porcupine, but with a pair of large, curved tusks like an elephant.
At this moment, the "porcupine" stood under the tree, unaware that Tarasco was hiding among the leaves downwind. Seizing the opportunity, several strands of spider silk shot out from its spinneret, precisely sticking to the porcupine's left foreleg, before being pulled away forcefully.
The porcupine, which was running, was caught off guard by the sudden force and fell to the ground.
However, this did not completely defeat the porcupine. Before Tarasco could find another opportunity, the porcupine quickly got up again and hissed towards the alien spider.
Tarasco's eyes narrowed instantly, and he darted to the side. Almost in that instant, the porcupine leaped and launched itself from the ground to where it had just been.
If he hadn't dodged in time, the beast's ferocious fangs would have left a deep hole in him.
The bloodthirsty eyes of the two ferocious beasts clashed, seemingly stirring up a cloud of blood in an instant. They stood still on the thick tree trunk for a moment, then suddenly charged at each other.
The fierce collision kicked up clouds of dust, and the birds and beasts in the forest scattered and fled, eager to leave the arena where the two large wild animals were fighting.
The tree trunk, bearing the weight of the two beasts, creaked and groaned with a sickening sound upon impact, finally breaking under the weight. Before hitting the ground, the alien spider and the porcupine both left the branch and leaped heavily to the ground.
Before it could even regain its footing, the porcupine charged at Tarasco. Tarasco scrambled to the side, but because of the close proximity, the sharp tusks still grazed the edge of his carapace, tearing off a patch of white dust.
Tarasco's eyes instantly turned blood red, and he raised his leg to slash at the porcupine's body. But the porcupine neither dodged nor avoided, instead turning its head to meet his leg.
The porcupine's legs sank directly into its flesh, but were quickly jammed by the thick hide, unable to go any further. Tarasco sensed something was wrong and tried to pull away, but the legs were already firmly lodged, making it impossible to remove them quickly. He could only watch helplessly as the porcupine crashed heavily into his body, with no chance of resistance.
Tarlasco was propelled onto a nearby tree by the porcupine. The trunk, as thick as several people could encircle, snapped in two by the immense impact, and he slowly fell backward. His legs, which had been firmly planted in place, loosened at the impact, and Tarlasco immediately pulled them free, unleashing a torrent of silk at the porcupine.
Unfortunately, the spider silk only stuck to half of the porcupine's body and failed to completely restrict its movement.
What was too tough for Catherine was merely a nuisance of sticky thread on the porcupine. It shook its body violently, tearing the silk apart with brute force, and then charged towards Tarasco without a second thought.
Both beasts used their claws or fangs to leave deep, bloody gashes on each other's bodies.
The intense pain turned Tarasco's eyes blood red, but it also fueled his bestial instincts.
He plunged his fangs into the porcupine's body again and again, the nerve-numbing toxins gradually spreading throughout its body with the porcupine's movements. The porcupine, still driven by rage, was completely unaware that it had already become the alien spider's pre-arranged meal.
Finally, after Tarasco injected the toxin one last time, the porcupine completely lost its ability to move.
Tarasco stood there, panting, looking at his prey lying on the ground. Once he had regained some strength, he grabbed it and put it on his carapace before turning and heading towards the cave.
Inside the cave, Catherine lay on the bed, trying to clear her mind.
It was nearing evening, and the food she had eaten yesterday had long since been digested. Her stomach was now weakly protesting, trying to rouse her appetite.
But thinking about the raw meat she ate yesterday... Catherine was a little unsure whether she wanted Tarasco to come back or not.
Just then, a rustling sound came from outside the cave. Catherine tilted her head weakly to the side and looked down. After a while, the light in the cave was blocked out, and then Tarasco's huge figure was revealed.
He went into the cave, threw the porcupine he was carrying onto the ground, and the ground trembled slightly.
Catherine knew that this was most likely her food for the day.
She hesitated for a moment, then slowly lowered herself off the bed. Tarasco, below her, glanced at her but made no move, continuing to cut the meat for her. When Catherine landed, a plate of sliced porcupine meat was placed in front of her.
Catherine glanced at the pile of meat and couldn't help but recall the texture of the meat she'd tasted yesterday. Slippery, disgusting…
She stopped letting herself dwell on it and grabbed a piece of meat, stuffing it into her mouth. Unexpectedly, her body reacted even more violently today than yesterday.
In fact, most raw meats taste pretty much the same: an overwhelming, unpleasant fishy smell, and a slippery, strangely sweet and fishy texture.
However, since they have already experienced it once, the initial reaction is always more intense before the body is fully accustomed to these "foods".
A cold aura enveloped her from behind as she was lifted onto the spider's carapace. He held her close, gently patting her back.
His movements were no longer as awkward as before, and had become much more natural.
Although Catherine was still in pain, she couldn't help but have some thoughts. She was probably the first species he had ever patted on the back to comfort her. He didn't know if it was because she was human.
In the eyes of these ferocious beasts, the human race is always more vulnerable.
Just then, a warm drop of blood suddenly slid down her arm. Catherine looked down and saw a drop of bright red blood running down her arm and dripping to the ground.
She looked closely along the trail of blood and saw a deep, bone-revealing wound on Tarasco's arm. Blood was dripping down his arm.
A note from the author:
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