His Breeding Obsession

 

By this point, Grecan was coughing up blood. The weight of his body spilled forward.

 Cough— 

A thick stream of blood mixed with saliva poured from his open mouth.

 

His hands clawed at the ground, his gaping mouth unable to close. Hot breath escaped.

 

The flesh of his throat was splitting open from the heat, and the tainted blood that had seeped out mixed with his saliva and leaked out of his mouth.

 

Grecan turned his head and spat out another bloody gob of saliva.

 

Bracing himself against the ground with both hands, he curled his fingers around the weeds and clutched at them.

 

His veins bulged with unrelieved heat.

 

Closing his eyes for a moment to push down the nausea, he knew instinctively that he was out of Mirania’s sleep spell.

 

‘What happened?’

 

He couldn’t see himself, but his copper-colored skin was flushed with heat.

 

His awakening hadn’t ended yet, and his blood was rushing faster than usual.

 

The feverish heat of his awakening had caused Mirania’s spell to break down, unable to work as it should.

 

He didn’t know why, but now that he was free of the spell, Grecan let out a long, satisfied breath. His breath came in raspy gasps, tinged with blood.

 

The uncomfortable pain made him wince.

 

His body felt languid, yet strangely full of strength.

 

He raised his hand to scratch at the back of his neck, which felt like a needle piercing his skin.

 

Blood-red crusts fell from the back of his neck, which was cracking like a field in a drought.

 

The back of his neck, where the skin had peeled off, was smooth and copper-colored. It was a bizarre phenomenon.

 

As he tried to focus on his physical condition, he suddenly felt a sense of urgency, as if something was wrong.

 

‘This is not the time. Something is wrong.’

 

What was wrong with him? It was Mirania’s absence.

 

Ever since that moment, perhaps since he had abandoned the Balkan and the Wolves and chosen Mirania as his

‘place to be’,

Grecan had felt most comfortable in her presence.

 

Always, ever, every time, perhaps forever. His place to be was with Mirania.

 

Staggering to his feet, his ears were assaulted by a piercing scream and the clashing of weapons.

 

Grecan turned his head toward the source.

 

Black eyes narrowed as he squinted.

 

The day was turning to night, and yet everything seemed strangely clear.

 

‘When this transformation is over, I will be…’

 

He had a vague hunch that he would be stronger, but he didn’t think it mattered.

 

He didn’t particularly want to be stronger, if it made it easier to be by Mirania’s side, that was enough for him.

 

If he could get rid of Leverianz and that pesky Malandor, so much the better.

 

‘I can’t see Mirania.’

 

My eyesight was better than before, but it was still not easy to find her. There are too many humans, for instance.

 

The giant monster stomped about, its horrific noises piercing his sensitized ears like awls.

 

His face contorted, Grecan clutched at his throbbing chest. A sharp throbbing pulsed through him. The blood was pumping fast.

 

That was all, but it didn’t feel good. I felt like I was facing an invisible monster in the woods.

 

Grecan’s compliant eyes crinkled ferociously as he felt like a blind man.

 

‘I feel like something is going to happen.’

 

There was no time to ponder why. The thought of going to Mirania rang urgently in his head.

 

Hissing, Grecan stepped out of the safety of the trees.

 

He felt a strange resistance, but in his confused mind, he didn’t think much of it.

 

Breaking through the witch’s circle, he was immediately greeted by a human soldier.

 

The armored soldier hesitated at the sight of Grecan, but he didn’t hesitate to use his sword against the figure he assumed was of a different race.

 

“Die!”

 

Still unaware of the situation, Grecan quickly realized that a fight had broken out. He also realized that one of the combatants was Mirania.

 

The soldier was Mirania’s enemy, then.

 

‘Mirania’s enemy is my enemy.’

 

Grecan’s pink lips parted to reveal sharp teeth. The soldier’s eyes widened to the size of fire-glasses.

 Whack! 

With one swift bite, Grecan bit the soldier in the nape of the neck, and the stench of his blood distracted him.

 

Rapidly spinning flesh. The searing heat. The stench of iron.

 

He was gradually being driven to the edge of his senses.

 

He shook his head and searched for Mirania.

 

There she was, in the distance, in the center of the plain.

 

Grecan’s eyes lit up at the sight of Mirania, but soon turned sinister.

 

The one-armed swordsman hurled his sword at Mirania in the air.

 

Luckily, it didn’t hit, but it enraged Grecan to the point of losing his temper.

 

His emotions and reason moved uncontrollably, like a scale that had lost its counterweight, and regaining his composure was a hundred times harder than usual, his emotions boiling over as easily as wildfire.

 “How dare you.” 

Gritting his teeth, Grecan bit down on the nape of the human’s neck without hesitation at the ill-timed lunge.

 

But he was out of shape. Moreover, the attackers were countless, like a swarm of ants.

 

As he was unable to move forward as quickly as he would have liked, a look of annoyance crossed his face.

 

The power gathering inside his body was still a work in progress, and generating a force he couldn’t properly use was more of a hindrance than a help.

 Crunch! 

Setting aside the body of the soldier whose head had been crushed by his uncontrolled power, Grecan turned to Mirania.

 

Mages bound her feet and knights charged their swords, aiming for her body.

 

The whole situation came into focus for him.

 

Grecan’s mind raced.

 

‘I must get to Mirania, even if it means allowing a few more attacks.’

 

The moment he made up his mind and put his foot down, the net came crashing down over his head.

 

The net wrapped tightly around his slipping body, tightening as he struggled.

 

A cheer rang in Grecan’s dazed ears.

 “I’ve got you, you vile creature.” “This is a masterpiece of the Mages Tower!” 

The soldiers surrounding Grecan pointed their spears at him.

 

One wrong move, and he could be pierced through the head, not the body, and killed instantly.

 

Grecan calmly assessed the situation.

 

It wasn’t easy with the mind-melting heat and the fishy scent of blood, but he forced himself to think.

 

‘Darn it.’

 

The curse came out hastily.

 

Sharp teeth biting at the flesh in his mouth, he forced his thoughts back together.

 

This was a troubling situation. Mirania’s in danger.

 

No matter how much the others hailed her as a powerful, Great Witch, it was unnerving to Grecan.

 

He should be there to protect her, but there were too many people around to get in the way.

 

That was the situation he was in now.

 

‘Saboteurs.’

 

Now that he understood the problem, Grecan looked at the soldiers differently.

 

The humans who had been irrelevant to him a moment ago were now a distraction he could chew and swallow.

 

Grecan’s black eyes dilated, his elongated slits widening. The yellow irises deepened to scarlet.

 

‘Grrr.’ 

 

A low, animalistic growl escaped.

 

Puffing himself up menacingly, Grecan was covered in the blood of the humans he had bitten.

 

The eyes that glared at them belonged to an unspeakable beast, sending chills down the spines of the soldiers who stood guard over him.

 “Growl!” 

‘Hmph’,

the soldier’s face contorted with shame.

 

As if to make up for his mistake, he lunged forward with an exaggerated roar.

 “You slave!” 

The spear plunged into Grecan’s chest, aiming for his sternum.

 

To the soldier, the other kin were familiar only in the guise of slaves.

 

Insignificant and unimportant.

 

He was ashamed that he had been frightened by such a being, even for a moment, and wanted to destroy the beast in front of him for making him feel that way.

 

‘I won’t kill him, as I have orders from higher-ups, but he’s killed a lot of my people, so I’m sure I can cut off a limb or two.’

 

Grecan did not blink, but stared straight at the spearhead as it hurtled toward him.

 

The sharp point glinted in the waning moonlight.

 

Just as the spear was about to pierce his body, Grecan moved his hand like lightning and grabbed the blade.

 

The man panicked at the unexpected turn of events.

 “Uh, what? Let go of it, you bastard!” 

The soldier’s face flushed red as he struggled but couldn’t retrieve the spear.

 

Grecan’s eyes turned cold as he watched the ridiculousness of it all.

 

As he watched the soldier, his mind raced as to how he could escape this web.

 

Unfortunately, in his current unsteady state, he was unlikely to be able to free himself from any of the man-made tools.

 

‘There’s Mirania, and she’s under attack.’

 

But he’s stuck in this place.

 

His frustration grew impatient, and his anger rose.