Human beings are not all born with emotions towards most creatures outside of themselves, including those of a particular race.

Gregarism, combined with a culture that has been passed down through writing, painting, singing and dictation, allows children and teenagers who have just learned to understand what to love and what to hate.

People cannot be separated from the cultural background of the ethnic group into which they were born.

In the process of growing up, the words and deeds of the adults and elders around them will have a very profound impact on the next generation, and when they grow up, they will teach all this to their next generation:

"The Loans are damned thieves, robbers. So said the peasants of the West Coast Kingdom.

"The Avenela are a bunch of illiterate and ridiculous pariahs. And the nobles of Sivalier, even to this day, though much quieter, still preach this idea.

One of the drawbacks of civilization is that stereotypes that were formed at a certain point in time or because of specific events circulate in the same cultural circle, and then evolve into a dead end that makes the younger generation fall into a dead end of "loving a country you have never been to and hating a group of people you have never met".

But most of the time this traditional experience is valid.

For example, rats and flies that everyone shouts at are because they can pollute the food that humans have worked so hard to hoard and spread diseases. But even such creatures, which are supposed to be abhorrent to all agrarian civilizations, have cultures that do the opposite and worship them as gods.

Therefore, many of the human hatreds are not born and are not common.

— but this time it's different.

When everyone present, including those who were bastards, heard the movement and turned around, these witnesses who were clearly from different classes and even different cultures had the first emotion that emerged in their hearts was rarely the same-

The fear that makes the whole body feel like falling into an ice cellar, and the disgust and hostility that makes the muscles tense and the hairs stand up.

"Ahem-phew! What the hell, disgusting. The bolder of the gangsters turned, spitting and screaming across his neck, but his pause and the trembling in his words suggest that he was merely hiding his fear with disdain and contempt.

"What the hell are the Southern Barbarians?, there's nothing to be afraid of, just one!" the other thug turned his head and shouted, but at the same time he stepped behind his companions and kept looking at the corner exit of the alley on the other side.

The ghoul stopped in front of them.

It was roughly the same as the one Mira had seen on the East Coast in the past, but with a few subtle distinctions—its skin was covered with fine, snake-like scales, and its inhuman body was much elongated, appearing tall and not thick but covered with solid muscles. Although it walks on all fours, the slender forelimbs of the fingers can be seen to retain the ability to grasp, and the hind limbs are like cats, dogs, tigers and leopards.

Aya, who was born as a doctor of the stars, immediately noticed the physical characteristics of the species in front of her, and the hunter's intuition made Lulu's whole person tense like a mountain knife out of the sheath, ready to act at any time.

Neither of them knew the creature, nor did Mira have ever had any experience of confrontation, but their knowledge was enough to recognize the creature in its horrors.

The supple, slender spine and hind limbs that land on tiptoe like a cat suggest that it is a vigorous and swift predator. The human-like palm is clearly a feature that evolved for the use of tools.

There is an old saying among the Yi people in the north that one pig, two bears and three tigers - this does not refer to the strength of combat effectiveness, but the degree of threat to humans.

Wild boars have a territory close to that of humans and are smaller in size than the latter two.

Creatures as large as Rigal's wurms are terrifying, but humans are insignificant to them, and dragons don't bother to kill them when they take refuge in cramped cellars.

Large and dangerous creatures are like natural disasters, threatening the rise and fall of cities, villages, and even kingdoms, a civilization.

However, the greatest threat to individual humans is often the same size as the human body.

Because they can enter the shelter where humans are hiding, they can search every corner.

It was a very strange feeling, and even though it was the first time I had seen it, this creature with such a human face and so many details that it could be concluded that it was not a human being, instinctively made people feel the ultimate disgust and disdain in their hearts.

Like an entity that is the opposite of all the good things in the world, even the criminally charged bastards feel themselves nobler and more polished than this filthy creature of darkness.

The ghoul ignored them, even as the young and grown males made a series of noises of bold and intimidating intent, and its pure black eyes, which had no pupils, kept staring straight at the ground—

Locked onto the fallen Mira.

The clever Luoan girl reacted immediately, and she subconsciously glanced at her cramping left hand—the aftermath of the immature use of magic was still there—was it magic that attracted it?

The question that she couldn't figure out should not be thought about anymore, especially at this critical juncture, when she immediately decided: "You are separated from me who came to me." Miss Luo said to her companions, her judgment was not individualistic and wanted to be in the limelight, but the only one of the four companions who could keep up with her speed was Lulu, and if they acted together, they might become a burden.

As for a head-to-head showdown, she wouldn't consider it unless she had to.

The Roan Maiden, who had fought with such a thick-skinned thing in the past, knew all too well how difficult it was to kill a ghoul, their thick, hardened skin was as defensive as 30 layers of flax armor or nitrated hardened cowhide armor, and only a sufficiently hard and sharp weapon with a high-speed stab or slash at the right angle could penetrate the surface—and underneath that was a layer of muscle and bone strong enough to hold the blade.

These strange things can't be considered creatures even if they have the appearance of creatures, they have no or only minimal pain and have very little damage, even if their internal organs are pierced by several spears, they can still maintain their amazing combat ability for more than ten minutes.

With a hard skin, a tenacious vitality that is hard to kill, sharp claws and a strong bite, the only people who can fight it one-on-one are heavily armed armorers or top swordsmen.

Dressed lightly, her left hand was cramped and numb due to the reverse current of magic, and she only had a short one-handed knife, even if she could barely reach the level of a seasoned swordsman technically, her equipment and her own state were not ideal.

So running away was the best option—but before she could react to the others, someone on the thug's side moved.

The middle-aged thug who pushed his companion to go up finally encouraged the young rogue who had not been in the industry long enough to understand the way of the world, and the young man who thought that his brother was behind him shouted loudly in the language of the people to embolden himself, and roared and stabbed the dagger at the dark creature they thought was still summoned by Mira.

"Ahh

"Hiss-squeeze-pain-" air currents and whining, followed by a strangely pronounced but roughly discernible syllable-speaking language.

"Speak!!" The thugs all retreated in a panic and huddled together, and then someone stumbled on his left foot and fell down with his right foot, and the people who fell heavily on the ground began to wail, and the young thug who was stunned because of the sudden situation also lost himself because of a series of changes-

Last chance to escape.

"Whew-" In an instant, the pounced ghoul grabbed him by the shoulders with its slender claws and threw him to the ground, then crossed his head and bit and tore his throat open.

"It's like a trained hound. Although her face turned blue with fear, she still couldn't even blink because of her inquisitive nature, and the doctor stared straight at the ghoul and said to herself, while the Oiran behind her grabbed Aya by the collar and pulled her back.

"What kind of research are you going to do when your life is gone!" Sakura was probably the only one of the five who could still think normally, and the Luoan girl, who had been sluggish because the situation was different from before, also woke up because of her voice, she got up and clenched her weapon.

"Let's go!" a few people on the other side of the alley hurriedly ran to the other side.

"Get up!" "Get out of here!" The thugs near the ghoul were also in a state of anxiety and confusion, kicking or pushing their companions away with their hands and feet, trying to get up and flee, but the ghoul who had killed the young gangsters shook his head and then lowered his body.

"Bang!" the slender hind limbs like a goat landed on their toes, and with a hard kick, it pushed its dozens of kilograms of body into the air.

"Smack!!" The falling movement was much heavier than the poor man's dilapidated roof tiles, which had been trampled through a large hole, causing the entire half of its body to sink in. The falling roof tiles and a black claw that suddenly protruded from the sky provoked a scream from the inhabitants of the house, who were oblivious to what was going on outside, but the monster ignored them, pulling its forelimbs back from the breach and crawling up the ridge like a leopard.

It only took less than 10 seconds to shorten the lead of the Luoan girl who was rushing to the front.

- Can't escape.

"Brit. Mira couldn't hold back a foul scolding, and then stopped: "You go, attacking it will cause a counterattack." She flicked the knife in one hand, and opened and closed her left hand a few times to make sure she had recovered from the numbness and cramps.

"Bang!" the eighty or ninety kilogram ghoul jumped down from the ridge of the roof, it stood upright, more than two meters tall, and its slender forelimbs fell near the knees.

The strange eyes without pupils looked at the Luoan girl in front of her, perhaps because she was not a high-level magician herself, and the weak magic power on her body gradually disappeared, it did not attack at the first time but seemed to hesitate to observe.

Mira sensed this, so she didn't rush to attack when she didn't know what was going on with her opponent, but seized the momentary opportunity to evaluate the ghoul as well.

It was clearly not the same type as the ghouls it had encountered before - just a few minutes of contact was enough for the Loan Maiden to make a judgment.

The young thug had stabbed more than halfway through the dagger that had been stabbed with his life, and it was evident that the ghoul with a more slender body had a weaker epidermis - was it a different kind?

No, it seems that it's not just the distinction of epidermal defense.

The ghouls I encountered back then were thick and numerous, but as a price, the intelligence of the individual was not high, and if the command was cut off, it would become a monster with only the killing instinct, and it would fall into a simple trap and be killed.

But it's different.

From the outset, it has shown to be targeted at Mira herself, even being pain-sensitive and able to recognize who is attacking it and prioritizing the elimination of threatening targets.

And at this moment, like a seasoned swordsman, it began to evaluate and confirm the target in front of it.

Mira suddenly remembered what the old man had said:

"It's like living things go through the natural trials of generation after generation and eventually evolve into individuals who adapt to their current environment. ”

"These things evolve too. ”

"A stronger physique, a thicker epidermis, longer and sharper claws and teeth, more speed. ”

"They're evolving. ”

"To become. ”

"Better killing machines. ”

Like a thunderclap, combined with her own knowledge of battle, she immediately understood why the ghoul in front of her was so different-

Those encountered on the East Coast can be considered to be the main type: group activities, thick skin and flesh, but individual intelligence is low, and the lack of independent perception and judgment means that they can go forward without fear of death to attack the human defense line and consume the living force.

In a frontal battlefield environment, the number of ghouls, who are not afraid of death, are the most terrible nightmare of mankind.

But what if all you need is a focused kill for a specific target?

A large-scale attack is not only costly but also easy to attract attention, causing the opponent to mobilize troops and launch a large-scale counterattack.

If your own combat power is still insufficient to ensure victory, then this impatient approach will lead to its own destruction.

What is needed is an assassin who can sneak into the target area without even noticing, rather than a main force.

If a single entity is deep, it must focus on adaptability, ensuring that it is able to kill a specific target rather than attracting too much unwanted attention when it encounters someone, and that it has the ability to protect itself.

So it's given a higher level of intelligence, something — I don't know if it's right to think that way — the ability to think for itself or at least to be adaptable.

Sweating coldly.

Thinking of this, the girl reaffirmed the fact that these filthy creatures were all weapons of killing designed for humans.

After the establishment of civilization and city-states, there are very few such kinds of people except for the same kind and other races.

It is like a natural enemy.

"Ahh

- The rebellious intentions of the northern feudal kings.

- The world that unfolded inexplicably before.

- The reaction of the sages at the time.

- The familiar black snow.

- A specialized ghoul with the ability to act autonomously in response to magical powers, sacrificing strength and armor for faster speed.

The series of experiences after arriving in Crescent Island are like one point at a time.

At this moment, they are connected.

But the question was - his teacher should have noticed this earlier, why did he—'Don't think about it anymore, Mira,' she warned herself.

Focus on the battle in front of you.

This is by no means an opponent to be taken lightly.

She moved her fingers holding the knife to avoid subconsciously causing her fingertips to become numb and not obey the call, and then.

Step out.