[Vol 0] Chapter 17

(Rabbit eggs?)

Weren't rabbits mammals? No, it probably didn't matter in this world. Because it was mutated into a monster, they could reproduce differently? 

Curving tunnels underground the fields where the Horned Rabbits roamed? ...No, these were clearly burrows!

Then... his suspicions were true, this was actually the nest of the Horned Rabbits! White watched apprehensively as the male adventurer scooped up a few of them into a bag that was clearly prepared for this occasion. From the way he was acting, it did seem like each one of them were worth quite the effort he was putting into this.

〚 ♦ Monster Egg ♦ Rare Grade ✠ Miscellaneous 〛

⤷ The egg of a [Horned Rabbit]. 

Wasn't this considered poaching? But they were considered monsters, not animals right? White didn't join in as he didn't want to draw any attention to himself. It didn't take long for the man to finish packing up his bag full with rabbit eggs.

Because the pit was filled to the brim with them, he realized that he wouldn't be able to take any more. With a glint of greed flashing in his eyes, the male adventurer didn't settle for any less and nestled a few more eggs into his arms. But due to its oval shape, the rabbit eggs kept slipping off his grasp.

"God... I'm so rich, I'm so freaking rich! Hahahahaha, ahahahahaha!"

Some of them had even cracked after dropping to the ground, but the man was still unwilling to give up, his ecstatic expression was almost as if he had been possessed by some kind of insatiable desire to take every single thing here with him. He was acting like he was alone in a room filled with gold and treasure.

(Was this the true face of an adventurer? A greed that borders on the decisiveness to risk everything, even their lives?) White was appalled. He had learnt the truth of why this man had came here with the girl now. He had risked his slave's life in order to distract the rabbits guarding the nest. But considering how fast a Horned Rabbit was, it would only be a matter of time before they returned. 

That's right... five minutes. The man had demanded for five minutes, but was it actually possible to hold out for so long----?

White suddenly felt a bad premonition about his current situation. He should have never followed this man in here!

(No... this is bad. I need to get out of here, fast!) 

White's fears were realized in the next moment, as the rumbling of the earth returned. When he understood what this implied, his body shivered uncontrollably. 

The tremors from earlier, that was a stampede that was caused by Horned Rabbits right?!

Then... exactly how many Horned Rabbits were there to cause this level of magnitude? The man seemed to have felt it as well, as the eggs he had just barely managed to balance in his arms had fallen out again. 

"No, my preciousss!" He cried out in pain. Yet he had not even thought of escaping, the man simply tried to pick them up again. 

(This is insane...! Why is he still not coming up?!) White became anxious for the male adventurer who showed no signs of leaving. Maybe he didn't notice it? The young man took in a deep breath, and decided to approach the pit.

"H-Hey!" White called out to the man who was keeping himself busy. Finally, it seemed like he had responded.

"Wh...at, there's someone here too? W-Who the hell are you?! How did you come into this place?!"

"No... M-More importantly, mister, you're... you're in danger! They are coming back!" He warned.

"The rabbits are---"

"---You think I'm stupid?! You followed me in here didn't you!!!" The man glared at White and kept the bag filled with eggs behind his back. 

(...Huh?)

"That get-up... You... you're an adventurer! You are here to, to steal my eggs! No! I earned them! I earned them myself! Don't think of laying a single finger on my precious! Leave, or I'll come up there and make you!" He threatened, as he chucked a dangerous looking object towards him.

White stumbled back a few steps from the pit. He realized that his words were falling on deaf ears. 

...White had tried to be a nice person, but it seems like the man would seriously kill him if he continued to stay here.

To see someone so blind to danger just for money... White was truly appalled.

"...Shit... you're... crazy!" Muttering his last few words to the man, White turned and was ready to run away, but the rumbling had gotten dangerously close! Sure enough, White saw the demihuman again running at the front. Behind her, was an agitated flock of Horned Rabbits! 

In a panic, White ducked under a corner to hide. The girl approached the end of the tunnel with heavy breaths and when she arrived, took a sharp turn to her left and similarly hid herself. 

The rumbling got deafening now and shortly after a few seconds, a blurry streak of white burst out of the tunnel---! Without stopping, the Horned Rabbits zoomed past where the young man and the girl was hiding, and fell into the nest of eggs! 

It was then, the male adventurer below the pit had felt a large blanket of shadow casting its shade on him. Thinking it was White again, he gnarled with an even more agitated tone, as he picked up another item from his pocket. "I told you, I----"

But when he finally looked up for the second time, it wasn't who he had expected. And when he had realized what was about to happen to him, it was already too late.

"A-aaa... Ahhh!!! W-Wait! WHAT THE FUCK, WHAT THE F---" His complexion was quickly being drained of colors.

His words didn't finish completely, before his body was drowned in the falling bodies of Horned Rabbits from above.

"Aahhh! Fuck! Fuck! It hurts! It hurtsss!!!!"

The man managed to strangle one of the rabbits to death, but that was all he could manage.

He heard his ribs break, and the sword on his hands fell loose and disappeared under the sea of frenzied monsters.

"AaAaAaAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!! sTOP, STOp STOP stOP plEASE, somEONe, s---"

White thought he heard another loud snap, and no more screams came after that.

...Surely... What was left in the pit, must be a graphic scene of the adventurer's remains. 

White hugged himself and covered his ears. But he still couldn't avoid the sounds of the sound of gnawing, flesh tearing, and bones crunching. While he could still hear the voice of the man whimpering in agony, the rabid feast on a human overgrew it in volumes. 

The man was being eaten alive.

White gagged on reflex, as the acrid odor of blood began to drift up to the surface.

He wanted to get away from here. He didn't want to spend another second in this place. He didn't want to be seen. He didn't want to rabbits to notice him. For a moment there, he had even thought that they should take a longer time eating. 

As he was struggling to get up, planning his escape, White suddenly thought of the girl who was still in hiding.

That's right. She was the one who knew her master's plans, but had still led the rabbits back here. Did that mean that she had done this intentionally, or had the intersecting paths merely brought her back here through a stroke of bad luck?

White didn't have time to digest his suspicions as when he inched his way over to where she was hiding under, he saw that the girl didn't look like she was in the best condition right now. He immediately recognized that haggard expression on her face, it was the time when she had refused the order of the male adventurer. Unmistakably, he realized that the source of her pain came from the collar on her neck again.

"S...ave... me..." 

The girl muttered in that half-conscious state. White's expression turned grim, he realized that he had to do something about this, fast!

The glow on the collar had turned darker, he could see that the constriction had far increased in severity this time. Veins were already forming around her neck, and her skin was already starting to turn blue----

He realized that this had probably something to do with the man who was still below the pit. Were the lives of a slave and its master connected? Does that mean the man was going to take her life along with him?

"Don't fuck with me...!" White glared angrily at the black metal collar. He didn't want the girl to die from such a stupid reason. 

(Break! Break! Break!) White screamed in his mind. He didn't think he could do anything about it, but he was damn sure he wouldn't give up without a fight! 

Ten seconds, twenty seconds... As time passed, White became even more anxious. Was it really not going to come off? Did he still have enough time? Even as he listened closely, the man was already not making a single sound. He was probably finished already. And then, the next one would be him if he didn't leave now.

He needed to leave the girl behind. But White was relentless---!

"Break! BREAK!" At the last moment of desperation, it was as if his pleas had been heard. The collar was torn off the girl's neck---! A black spark of current was discharged, causing his fingers to withdraw instinctively.

(I DID IT!)

A black miasma emanated from the broken collar, and the chains slowly crumbled into nothing. 

The girl seemed to regain a bit of her consciousness once she was freed, but her eyes dilated when she saw the broken collar on the ground. In that state of disbelief, her hands moved to her neck. It was gone. The slave collar was gone.

She looked back up at the one who had done it, and the young man did the same. 

No, he tried to. The moment he had broken the collar, White felt a large amount of his stamina sucked out of him at once. His eyes blurred, and his vision slowly turned darker. He felt his body lean backwards, losing himself to the natural shift in gravity. Behind him was the pit of rabbits who were doused, and visibly excited from tasting human flesh. Was this going to be a repeat of what had happened in the dungeon? Only this time, he would no longer be just as lucky---

He heard the voice of the demihuman girl. But he didn't know the language she was using.

Within his flickering flame of consciousness, he felt a hand grab hold of his wrist. His weight was pulled back and the last thing he saw, was a pair of feet.