Zalsha was camping a few kilometers from the bandit group's main base, the one that bore the name of 'The Scargang.' He was sitting beside a small fire, cooking a rabbit he had caught earlier, slowly roasting it over the open fmes. He seemed calm and rexed, wearing soft leather armor, while his sword was lying beside him, propped up against the long log he used as a seat.

  From the outside, he looked to be in his 30s, prompting a completely bald head and a long, braided beard, with eyes that clearly have seen bloodshed… and lived to tell you about it. Yet behind his calm exterior y a nervous interior. He had been an undercover agent for years by now, seeing wanton murder and torture that he could not stop, unless he was ready to blow his cover. He even carried out some of the former, gaining the trust of the Scargang, the bandit group he was sent to infiltrate as a mole. He always told himself that when killing someone... That it was to end this... once and for all. And that... It was the best for the poor souls as it was a mercy kill, letting his targets die an easy death instead of getting carried away, tortured, and breaking their bodies and minds before slowly killing them by being the gang's pythings.

  "Hopefully, it will end soon…" he murmured, looking up at the starry sky, wishing the promised final days would come as soon as possible, especially now that he received information about reinforcements arriving...

  Just as he looked back at the rabbit, it was completely gone, and a little girl was sitting at the opposite side, munching on some bones, crunching them with ease, showing a satisfied, happy expression.

  "It was yummy!" Kyu ughed, licking her lips, gncing at him. "Is there more?" She tilted her head sideways, curiously eyeing him.

  "W-who… what are you?!" He stood up immediately, drawing his sword with a loud cng.

  "Mmm? There is no more? Hauh… Kyu is still hungry! Ah, you are the picture guy! Yey, can you show me where the yummy things are? The bandits and things!" She ughed, standing up, patting her greasy hands, licking them clean.

  "You… you are the… one who they sent?" He blinked his eyes, surprised, not believing what he was seeing, as he slowly lowered his sword. A kid? Really?

  "Kyu is! Let's go! It was yummy but too little!"

  "They sent a child…?" He murmured, not believing reality, yet the carefree presence of Kyu suggested that there was something dangerous about her, on a subconscious level, making him agree to show the way. “This can work… and you have a colr…” He muttered as he furrowed his brows.

  "This?" She flicked the metallic ring around her neck with a defeated expression. "Yeah… Kyu was bad, and Master put it on… kyuh… If Kyu does well, Master is going to get it off, surely! Teehee! So Kyu is going to eat every bad thing, and Master is going to be really happy!"

  "What…? Never mind. I don't want to know!" He shook his head, drawing his question back. Zalsha had learned a long time ago that sometimes it is better not to know things. "Can you act like a sve? I can bring you in like that and say I captured you to sell off ter."

  "Sure!" She nodded without thinking, letting him connect a chain to her 'neckce' and bring her back to the camp on a leash.

  "Zalsha?" the first guard asked when they arrived at their current base.

  In the distance, the once-bustling port's ruins were already visible, lit by torches under the clear night sky. The sea gently washed the shores around it, letting the wind bring in the salty smell of the sea.

  "What are you doing here?" the guard asked once again.

  "Can I?" Kyu blinked her eyes with honest innocence, clearly asking Zalsha.

  "Can what?!" The guard got even angrier, sensing that something was off. He was standing in their way and looking at them suspiciously as Zalsha tried to think quickly about something to say. Apparently, the guard had noticed that something was off, as Zalsha should be scouting the perimeter and not be back until morning. Before he could think further, Kyu's hands transformed into two giant bck, bear-like cws, bigger than any of them, and she just cpped... once.

  The cws were as fast as lightning, squashing the man before he could even scream. The gruesome sound of flesh tearing and turning into a paste, bones breaking down to powder, and blood spshing everywhere would b something that Zalsha could never forget. The lightning-fast attack left behind nothing but a meat paste on the ground... Seeing the sudden execution, Zalsha dropped the chain, stepping back quickly, retching from an uncontrolble urge.

  "Mmm?" Kyu looked back at him, blinking her puppy-like eyes as her hands turned back to her human form, squatting down and wiping them on the grass around her. "He was a bad guy… yes?" She asked with uncertainty and got a bit nervous because if she murdered an innocent, Ren would surely be angry at her.

  “Y...yeah… all… all of them… are here… we are getting ready for… a raid… only two other are out… scouting somewhere else…” Zalsha groaned, trying to hold back the urge to start vomiting as the stench of the body, or at least what remained of it, assaulted his nose once again with the aftertaste of the sea's salty odor spicing it up a notch.

  "Huh! Kyu is safe! Nyahaha!" She ughed with relief. "You wait here; Kyu goes and quickly finishes with it so we can eat! Yey~!" She pointed her small thumb towards him, before turning into a 6-meter-tall, giant bck and white bear, or, as those who were in the know, she simply took the original, demonic, Ailuropoda form of hers.

  But for Zalsha, it was the form of The Beast, straight from the horror stories of his childhood. The now giant Kyu's every movement sent small quakes around the nd as she kicked up a storm, literally, as small white vortexes appeared under her paws. She was sprinting towards the ruins, quickly drawing the remaining bandits' attention, as wild winds surrounded her.

  "Enemy attack! Fire the ballistas!" one of the guards on duty shouted as from the ruins, loud 'twangs' echoed out as the few military-grade weapons they had let loose their massive arrows.

  These weapons were usually used in sieges, shooting meter-thick bolts at walls, penetrating them, and then, from their ends, ropes or chains would drop to the ground, allowing soldiers to climb up. After being repurposed by the bandits, they now fired bolts that exploded mid-flight, splitting into multiple smaller ones, perfect against an attacking enemy group. Seeing the deadly weapons fire, Kyu, for a moment, was truly scared, and by instinct, she curled up into a huge, bck-and-white ball, still rolling forward, waiting for the inevitable impact. When they nded, she only felt a sharp, prickling sensation, moaning out in an unhappy voice.

  "Kyuh! It stings! Kyu dislikes it!" She cried softly, still rolling towards them in her ball-like form, while the stunned bandits tried to reload the ballistas, realizing that because they splintered mid-flight, they lost the opportunity to spear through... whatever was coming at them.

  They never expected that a giant furball would shrug off dozens of arrows like nothing as they bounced off of her, scattering everywhere. Even Kyu was unaware of her body's strength, which was no wonder, as she never really fought against anyone, only ate, slept, or whined in Ren's p, getting her buttocks spanked, unable to fight back against her, not that she ever thought of doing that.

  "They are weak, nyahaha; Kyu is lucky!" She giggled, reaching the ruins, and she just smmed into them like a boulder, smashing one ballista into hundreds of pieces, along with the three men operating it. Their limbs scattered everywhere when the furball bsted through them, dragging a bloody trail forward as she changed directions.

  Inside the camp, everyone was already on alert, trying to surround the intruder, only now realizing that it was a demon, a type that they had never seen or heard of before. Stopping, Kyu unfolded herself in a bouncing jump, nding on her two feet, wobbling a little as her round, white belly obeyed the ws of gravity, tipping her off bance. Looking around with big, bck, round eyes, blinking them innocently, she scratched her little ears with her paws, towering over the humans.

  "Hauh, a little dizzy..." She murmured, trying to find her bance again.

  "Attack! Bring the demon down, and we are rich!" the gang's leader had shouted, who was at the Harmony Realm, already forming a spell of fireball, sending it towards Kyu.

  "Ah? Yummy! Kyu likes spicy food!" She patted her belly, opening her jaws as a bck vortex appeared, slurping down the fireball, letting out a smoking burp right after "Hauh… this tastes baaad… Aunt Isha has tastier snacks! You're bad! Kyu doesn't like you!" She grumbled, leaning forward while inside her mouth formed another white vortex, and the fire spewed back out from it like a fmethrower.

  It was so sudden and votile that half a dozen bandits rushing in to attack were caught unprepared in the curtain of fire, descending down on them and sweeping through their line. It burned just as bright and hot as the sun, melting armor, flesh, and bones, not giving even a chance for a stifled scream, leaving behind ashes only. After Kyu shut her mouth, hiccupping a little and smacking her lips, the ground around her was still glowing as bright embers fluttered in the air.

  "Shoot! Kyu, you stupid, stuuupid!" She screamed, continuing to hiccup, spping herself, crying, "You spat out Aunt Isha's fire… hauuh, now Kyu is really huuuuungryyyyy!" She roared, her voice making the rest, now horrified bandits' ears to bleed and ring continuously.

  "Monster! It's a punishment from the Gods! Run! Run for your lives!" one of the bandits screamed, and panic quickly spread, no matter how hard their leader tried to keep them in line.

  "Give Kyu's food back!" came the deep, animalistic grunt from her throat, enraged, going on all fours as her jaw opened once again, like the maw of the abyss, summoning back the bck vortex that distorted space around her.

  "The devil… this is the devil…" the leader murmured, watching the horrifying scene before his eyes as the suctioning force reached him.

  The strange thing was that it did not affect his body, but his powers and his soul. He felt a sudden tug deep inside, and fire seeped out of every pore he had, swallowed by Kyu. Soon, he lost all of his strength, and after only a few seconds, he was nothing more than just a shell, falling over, never to move again.

  Every bandit who was in the cone of effect of Kyu's power felt the same; the weaker ones died the moment they felt a tug on their souls as their affinity and essence left their bodies, flying down into Kyu's stomach. When she closed her mouth, standing back up, she was licking her lips with a weird expression.

  “Kyuh… they are not so tasty… uuuuu…. There is nothing tasty here!" She stomped on the ground furiously, letting loose a childish tantrum, but every step of hers caused the ground to shake, making the still-running bandits fall over as the ruins colpsed on some of them, smashing them to death.

  Now that she had used up a lot of energy, she felt even more famished, her temper boiling over into a rampage, letting her frustration out on the remaining bandits, easily massacring them, down to the st.

  Zalsha, who watched the whole thing from afar, was pale from head to toe, trembling in the knees, praying to the gods, repeating the goddess Nilier's name over and over for salvation. It was that moment when a soft voice rang out in his ears as a white-haired teenage girl wearing bck and purple clothing showed up beside him.

  "Don't pray to her. She won't answer." Ren smiled, and her voice carried a deep note of sarcasm.

  "Who…"

  "Rex. I am a friend. Don't be afraid of her either; I'll control her if I must." She chuckled, looking at Zalsha with one eye. "Didn't you know? Praying to gods in the Empire is discouraged."

  "What can you do when you… See the devil?" He gulped loudly.

  "Devil? Nah. She is far from it! The devils are the ones you pray to. Don't do it; the more you do, the stronger their grip will be on your soul and siphon you for their own benefit." She said with a concerned voice, surprising Zalsha, but he did not really understand anything.

  "Who are you?"

  "A friend, as I said. Go home. Make your report. Leave her to me." She chuckled, and Zalsha felt he had received amnesty, maybe because of his prayer. He did not think too much; he just left, at first walking, then jogging, and soon he was sprinting with all his might, trying to get as far away as possible. "Now…" Ren cracked her fingers, forming a bright, violet lightning ball. "Here is your reward!" She shouted as she tossed it out.

  The loud thunder under the clear sky snapped the rampaging Kyu out of her frame of mind as she cried out happily, standing tall, summoning her bck vortex with her mouth and both palms as an expanding, giant, electric ball smashed into her.

  Strangely, it did not hurt Kyu as she moaned happily, giving out slurping, gulping sounds as the three vortexes worked in tandem, eating up the attack, which took her a full minute to completely absorb. When she was done, she fell onto her buttocks as she burped loudly, releasing little sparks from her mouth and nose.

  "Kyuuuhhhhh, Master's spicy food is the best!" She patted her belly with a satisfied, sleepy expression while Ren nded before her. "Master! Master! Did Kyu do well?"

  "Ahaha, you…" Ren ughed, gently hugging her giant, white, soft belly and rubbing it, which made Kyu fall onto her back, all four legs facing the sky, as she ughed, enjoying the belly rubs. Ren was simply lying on her, rubbing her face against Kyu's fur as she sighed. "I can't be mad at you, can I?"

  "Master is the best! Can Kyu get it off?" she looked at her pleadingly.

  "I'll take it off when you are back at the Sect. This is just my lightning clone; I can't take it off you. When you come home, Master will deal with it. But only if you behave! If you do something bad once again, it goes back on you!"

  "Yey! Kyu loves Master!" She moaned happily, scratching her back on the ground before giving out a loud yawn. "Master… Kyu is sleepy… yummy, yummy, makes sleepy…"

  "You… ahaha, okay, okay, sleep a little. Master will guard your dreams, but I'll wake you up come morning. You can't make the other two wait too much!"

  "Um… ookaaay… are… they good too?" Kyu blinked her tired eyes slower and slower as she was fighting to stay awake with little to no success.

  "Yeah." Ren smiled, sitting on Kyu's stomach and scratching it. "They are~!" She whispered as Kyu quickly fell asleep.