I'll kill you after I finish this game!

Honestly, in this desolate place, seeing a petite girl who looks like she's not even an adult is really suspicious.

Because of the other person's scarlet eyes, they looked like the Gastrea that was frantically chasing her from behind.

Gastrea, with their bizarre and varied appearances, such as mantises, hares, deer, snakes, spiders, mosquitoes, flies, or bears, watched the small, fleeing figure with greedy and hungry eyes.

With tears welling in her eyes, Lan Yuan Yanzhu wore a dress that looked like it was sewn together from rags. Her exposed skin was covered in dirt and scars, and she was desperately running away with her bare feet stained with mud.

She is the cursed child of the rabbit-type factor, possessing extraordinary leg strength, speed, and jumping ability that far surpasses that of professional high jump and long jump athletes in human society.

Therefore, she still had some strength left to escape when faced with the pursuit of Gastrea, which crawled on the ground and flew in the sky.

She clutched tightly to the plants she had gathered to feed herself and her companions. These were the only edible foods she had managed to find on this unpolluted land; if she lost them, her companions would starve.

Even though the children of the curse possess immense genetic power, they are not entirely free from the limitations of food intake; without proper nutrition, they will weaken and die.

"Wow, there are so many of you! I'm so small, I'm not enough for you all to eat! Stop chasing me, waaaaah..."

Enju Aihara really cried. She nimbly dodged the mouthparts of a mosquito-like Gastrea, then stomped on it and made a long-distance jump, creating a little distance between herself and the Gastrea behind her.

Her petite legs were sore and aching, and her stomach felt empty and weak. If she didn't get rid of these Gastrea soon, she would really become their food.

The thought of not wanting to die swirled in her mind, and a faint red light flickered in Yeonju's eyes.

The shock of death caused the little girl to more intensely activate the gastrulatory factors within her body, constantly extracting power in exchange for the consumption of her human factors.

"call out--!"

In Enju Aihara's horrified gaze, the Gastrea behind her, a creature capable of long-range attacks and resembling a spider that spews polluted fluids, fired a dense barrage of corrosive poison arrows at its fleeing prey.

"Wow!!"

Lan Yuanyanzhu screamed in agony. Stimulated by the impending death, she instinctively released the wild vegetables she was holding tightly and began to desperately dodge and run away, using both her hands and feet.

Countless sap droplets shot onto trees and rocks, making a series of piercing "sizzling" sounds, piercing through the trees and causing the earth to rot.

Aohara Enju's crimson hair was brushed against her face and broke in the slightest.

The area in front of us is the outer perimeter of the monolith. The holmium magnetic field emitted by the monolith, which is hated by Gastrea, will drive these creatures away.

"call out--"

Just as Lan Yuan Yanzhu was about to break through the dense forest, she saw a figure leaping rapidly between tree branches in the distance. The figure and speed did not seem to be the child of the curse.

In that moment of surprise, Aihara Enju didn't notice the dense branches of the tree branching out beneath her feet, and unfortunately, her bare feet got stuck.

"well!?"

The sudden loss of balance in her legs from the intense exercise caused Lan Yuan Yanzhu to release the breath she had been holding. The moment she stopped, her legs felt as if they were being swarmed by tens of thousands of ants, and she was dominated by numbness and soreness.

"Ah ah ah..."

The view shifted, and the petite girl screamed as she fell heavily to the ground, rolling a short distance before crashing down.

With a slightly distorted expression, Lan Yuanyanzhu immediately tried to stand up, her small hands scraped and bleeding.

As she lay on the ground, half-supported by her small body, she saw the astonishing chill behind her and the enormous shadow that engulfed her eyes. Despair welled up in her tear-filled, crimson eyes.

Without even standing up or looking behind her, she knew that the Gastrea was already right behind her, its putrid, ape-like mouth and fangs lunging at her.

We were almost out of there, why... being eaten alive must hurt so much... I don't want to...

"【The Cannibalistic Shadow of Torture City (CsefteUngarnNachtzehre)!】"

Just as the young, cursed child was about to perish in the jaws of the Gastrea, and in a moment of utter despair, a voice filled with viscous killing intent uttered the name of the vicious creature.

Splash! ...

Before Aihara Enju's astonished eyes, an even darker shadow instantly spread across the ground in front of her.

The dark purple shadows that looked like writhing creatures spread out behind her at an alarming speed.

As Aihara Enju supported her small body, she could clearly feel the strong, viscous texture of the rapidly writhing shadows on the ground.

The little girl was so frightened that she trembled and dared not move, as if she felt that some more ferocious monster was coming and wanted to eat her.

But just as she was fearing that something in front of or behind her might take her life, four or five seconds passed and Aihara Enju didn't feel any movement.

despair--

A clear footstep was caught by Aihara Enju, and the shoes of the person who made the footstep landed in front of the little girl's lowered gaze.

"well!?"

Aihara Enju looked at the pair of feet standing on the writhing shadow with some surprise.

It wasn't a monster; it looked like human feet, and they were even wearing clean shoes.

Suppressing a trace of fear and dread, Aihara Enju slowly raised her head. Her fearful and uneasy gaze moved upwards and she saw the face of the person standing in front of her.

The handsome young man, dressed in a black outfit and coat, had no visible expression on his face, but the look in his eyes as he looked down at her lacked the disgust and hatred that Lan Yuanyanzhu knew all too well.

Some of them were simply curious and concerned about children, while on his back was a beautiful silver-haired girl who looked like a princess from a fairy tale.

Wearing a violet dress and armor that Yeonju found somewhat strange, the delicate girl being carried on the young man's back looked at her with her deep and sparkling sapphire blue eyes.

"Are you OK?"

Xiaoyou looked at the little girl in front of her, who was dressed in dirty, tattered clothes, covered in injuries, and looked disheveled, and asked her in a gentle and concerned tone.

As she spoke, Xiaoyou landed on Lei Zhe's back, wanting to check on the little girl's injuries.

"Ugh, no... don't come any closer, I... I... sob..."

When Aihara Enju saw this unbelievably beautiful older sister approaching, her long-standing aversion and fear of humans made her very bad at dealing with the kindness of strangers. She stood up and took several steps back.

She only stopped, her face stiff, when she realized she had bumped into something furry, warm, and trembling violently.

Trembling, she raised her head, and the grotesque features of the spider-like Gastrea and its pairs of scarlet eyes came into Aihara Enju's view.

She is currently leaning against the legs of a spider-like gastrulator!

"Wow!!"

The frightened little girl immediately let out a terrified scream, trying to get away from the Gastrea, but her numb and tingling legs caused her to lose her balance and fall to the ground.

Only now did Aihara Enju finally see clearly why the large number of Gastrea were right in front of her and why they hadn't continued attacking her earlier.

Because their entire bodies were tightly bound and imprisoned by tentacles formed from the purplish-black shadows spreading from the ground, they could not move an inch.

Furthermore, those shadowy tentacles seemed to possess fangs and mandibles similar to those of a sea monster, visibly devouring these Gastrea creatures and slowly dragging them into the abyss beneath the shadows.

Meanwhile, Aihara Enju stared in terror at the purplish-black shadows on the ground, fearing that these monstrous shadows would prey on and devour her as well.

"Do not be afraid."

Suddenly, a soft, comforting voice came from beside her, and a comfortable and warm pat landed on Aihara Enju's head.

The girl turned her head and stared in horror and confusion at Xiao You, who was squatting in front of her, stroking her head with her delicate hand.

His other hand was gently placed in front of her, and a beautiful rainbow-like light enveloped her injured area.

"Well......"

The gentle pat on the head, the silver-haired girl's obvious kindness, and the warm, colorful light that healed her injuries caused Aihara Enju to let out a comfortable whimper.

The side effects of Xiaoyou's abilities all disappeared when Lei Zhe reached the Formation Rank. However, the side effect that caused her to feel pain while healing others could not be eliminated. This is because it is the normal duality of her abilities, which Lei Zhe cannot eliminate. Unauthorized modification of Xiaoyou's power would lead to the creation of entirely new side effects.

Rezhe didn't want to see his beloved heal others and cause them the same pain.

I'm too heartbroken for her to bear any more pain, so I'd rather not let her suffer. So I transferred the healing fiber and Elsa's Mother's Smile ability to Xiaoyou. Although it's not as good as the original healing ability of Xiaoyou's hands, it's enough for her to deal with most injuries.

When the warm, colorful light disappeared, Aihara Enju looked down in disbelief at her unharmed body; her injuries were completely healed!

"You...you're one of us too!?"

Lan Yuan Yanzhu looked at the petite silver-haired girl in front of her with excitement and joy, her eyes no longer showing any wariness or rejection.

She attributed Xiaoyou's incredible healing ability to the fact that Xiaoyou was one of her own kind, and thus felt grateful towards Xiaoyou.

"?"

When faced with Aihara Enju's question, Xiaoyou tilted her head in confusion, wondering why the girl's emotions changed so quickly.

It seems they consider her some kind of special being in this world.

Aihara Enju wanted to say something to thank Yu, but she also noticed that the shadow under her feet was moving again.

slam-la-

Just then, there was no longer a single Gastrea left in front of Enju Aihara. They had been completely devoured by the shadow, becoming food for the evil beast shadow and turning into part of the shadow, all of them being recycled back to the source.

All the surging dark purple shadows, under Aihara Enju's fearful gaze, converged into the shadow beneath Raize's feet.

Lan Yuan Yanzhu timidly looked Rai Zhe up and down. His strong and well-built physique showed no trace of feminine delicacy. No matter how she looked at it, this guy with special abilities should be male.

Lei Zhe's lips twitched at the little girl's gaze. With his sharp eyes, he naturally knew what the little one was doubting and struggling with.

"Hey little one," Reiji said, taking a few steps to squat down in front of Aihara Enju. Although his expression was unreadable, his tone was gentle as he said, "That look you gave me was quite rude. I saved you, and Yuu healed your wounds. Aren't you going to say thank you?"

"You...you aren't cursed children?"

Lan Yuan Yanzhu could clearly hear the gentleness in the other person's tone. Her emotions had been calmed by Lei Zhe and Xiao You's actions, and she asked cautiously.

'A cursed child?'

Xiao You frowned as she glanced at the child, then looked at Lei Zhe. No matter how you looked at it, this form of address was not a kind one.

Facing Xiaoyou's gaze, Lei Zhe sighed inwardly, thinking to himself, "This is indeed the damned world."

To actually blame all the mistakes on innocent children—what kind of world, or rather, what kind of humans... Raiji certainly didn't have the same intention of saving the world as he did in the previous Demon Slayer world.

He even regretted bringing Xiaoyou to this disgusting world. If he had known this would happen, no matter how willful Xiaoyou was, he would not have let her come here with him.

"The cursed child is the child born to a woman who has been infected... Guh!"

Gululu...

Seeing that Yu and Raiji really didn't know, Aihara Enju tried to explain to her two saviors what a cursed child was, but her little face wrinkled up as soon as she started explaining.

Her lower abdomen was also sending out mournful signals that she desperately needed to eat.

Lei Zhe and Xiao You looked at the pitiful child clutching his stomach, and both sighed because of each other's plight.

"Eat."

To avoid startling the little guy, Lei Zhe squatted down in front of him, took out a lunchbox from behind his back, opened it, and handed it to him.

"Gudong..."