Chasing the Ranrananga White Lizard

* * *

Byuoooo!!!

The unceasing, violently blowing wind.

Visibility is extremely poor due to the raging blizzard.

The surroundings are completely white.

Amidst this, a group of creatures kicked up plumes of snow as they ran at considerable speed.

The name of these creatures is the Ranrananga White Lizard.

True to their name, they are white lizards that inhabit the snowy, high altitude areas of the Ranrananga Mountain Range.

Including their thick tails, their body length is around 1.5 meters, and they basically live in groups of over ten.

Omnivorous, theyll eat anything edible.

Any humans entering their habitat are naturally considered prey to be hunted by them.

Hence, they are designated as monsters.

However, they are lizards.

Cold-blooded.

How can they remain active in this completely silvery world?

Its because they are instinctively capable of deftly controlling their magic power to maintain their body temperature.

Despite their outward lizard appearance, the Ranrananga White Lizards are actually fantasy creatures that presuppose the existence of magic power.

Such creatures are not particularly rare in this world of Ardyst.

Moreover, due to their ecology of using magic power to maintain body temperature, the Ranrananga White Lizards contain considerably more magic power compared to similarly sized creatures.

Which is precisely why they are currently fleeing like this.

Fleeing frantically from the dreadful predator that favors devouring creatures with abundant magic power!

Zashun!!

However, their resistance was in vain, as the white lizard at the very back of the group suddenly had its head skewered by the predators arm descending from the sky, instantly killing it.

Blood gushed out, dyeing the surrounding snow crimson red.

To prevent any more of the warm blood from spilling, the predator pressed its mouth to the wound, gulping down the blood audibly.

It then began devouring the meat.

Crunching and pulverizing the scales and bones, consuming every part without leaving anything behind in its belly.

This predator, however, was not a particularly large creature.

Shorter in body length than even the Ranrananga White Lizards.

Currently dyed completely red from the blood, its entire body was covered in ash-gray fur.

Its fluffy, coarse outward appearance resembled a giant furball from a distance.

Two legs and two arms extended from this furball shape.

If any foolhardy adventurers ventured into the harsh demon realm of the Ranrananga Mountain Range in this harsh winter and saw this creature, they would undoubtedly mistake it for a new species of monster.

However, this entity was actually human in truth.

Simply a young girl bundled up in many layers of ash-gray fur, giving her a furball-like outward appearance.

As proof, the upper part of the furball had a young girls head with remarkably well-proportioned facial features poking out.

Of course, her head was wrapped in fur too for warmth, but the luscious hair peeking out was jet black in color.

The cold, crystal clear eyes too were black.

An appearance cursed and scorned as a cursed child in the human world.

This girls name was Emi.

* * *

After devouring the massive horde of dark magic wolves and the gigantic huge red boar near the fortress city of Liheid, Emi judged that there were no longer any satisfactory meat sources remaining in that vicinity.

She then began moving westward through the Ranrananga mountains.

Along the way, she hunted down and devoured any monsters that caught her eye.

Some were formidable enough that even Emis current self had to fight desperately against them.

Particularly powerful was a massive golden bear.

Emi battled that bear through the entire night until finally severing its throat at dawn with a knifehand strike, killing it.

It was incredibly delicious.

In any case, Emi had travelled through the Ranrananga mountains like that when an issue arose.

Namely, the season became winter, and the number of prey visibly decreased.

An issue she had never faced in the relatively warm Kaise Forest.

Amidst that, she encountered her prey the Ranrananga White Lizard pack.

Giving them a try, they proved quite tasty.

Resolved not to let a single one escape, Emi began pursuing the fleeing Ranrananga White Lizard pack.

The Ranrananga White Lizards running speed was considerably fast.

Impossible for ordinary people to keep up with their pack, but easy for Emis leg strength and stamina.

Emi hunted down and devoured the lizards, pursuing them, over and over in a craze until she eventually found herself in this snowy plain without realizing it.

Now then, where was this?

After finishing the last Ranrananga White Lizard, Emi wondered that.

Visibility was poor due to the blizzard, but she could tell a vast snowy plain stretched around with no trees growing at all.

Sensing no sign of life in this silvery world she stood alone in, Emi finally came to a certain conclusion about her current situation.

Ah, crap.

Im stranded, huh.

How careless of me.

Well, she basically lived in the mountains and wilds to begin with, so her life could be considered one of constantly being stranded.

Why should she panic just because she didnt know her current location?

Besides, thanks to her body repeatedly undergoing mana transformation, she doubted she could die so easily now.

Compared to before, she had become tremendously stronger.

That strength made her somewhat arrogant in her attitudes toward various things including the fury of nature itself.

Still, the cold was cold.

After using her palm to pat away the snow clinging to her face from the blowing blizzard, Emi started walking.

Was there perhaps a cave that could withstand the blizzard somewhere?

Even in the lee of a large boulder would be fine.

She planned to rest at some wind-sheltered spot, then continue on after the blizzard passed.

However, no matter how far she walked in this vast snowy plain, everything was buried under snow.

Unable to find any suitable resting spot matching her hopes, Emi started consulting with the voice in her mind, Extra-sama, about digging a hole to rest in when the blizzard suddenly stopped and a strange manor appeared right before her eyes.