"F**k no."
Arin's heartbeat quickened.
"What the heck is that?" he muttered in disbelief.
The huge lion—its body studded with many purple eyes—charged like a bull.
There was no sound. No disturbance in the air.
It tore straight through space.
Arin's body reacted before his mind could.
He leapt.
Really high.
His heart raced.
It was strange—but to him, it felt new.
Exciting.
"Wahahahah—!" he screamed.
The beast paused, clearly surprised, and shifted its stance.
It opened its mouth wide, standing there as if it planned to catch him whole.
The others took the opportunity.
Nyss slipped toward one paw, ready to strike.
Virex moved in from the other side.
The lion noticed.
Without even turning around, it pressed its legs down.
Nyss and Virex were caught—heads pinned beneath overwhelming pressure.
No blood.
No crunch.
Just absolute restraint.
It didn't even look back.
At this point, Arin was crashing straight toward its mouth.
He didn't notice what happened to his kids.
His entire attention was swallowed by his flight—and the giant mouth ready to eat him alive.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
His scream tore through every corner of the forest.
Arin's body stiffened.
Of course he didn't want to be eaten.
His head instinctively twisted back—
and his tail swung forward.
Watching its prey fly directly into its mouth, the beast rose.
Its eyes widened in anticipation, tongue lolling out greedily.
For a moment, time stopped.
Then—
The sound came again.
"AHHHHH!! F***********K!!!! NOOOOOO!!!!!!"
Then—
—Splash—
…
An adorable rabbit calmly chewed on a snake.
Another sound followed.
—Splat—
The beast slowly turned its head.
What it saw was a silhouette.
A 'needle'.
Protruding straight out of a lion's ass.
Only one thought remained in Arin's mind.
"Why."
That single word repeated again and again.
…
What actually happened was simple.
That dumb lion didn't close its mouth in time.
Arin shot forward far too fast—so fast that the beast's reflexes failed it completely.
And thanks to the peculiar advantages of his body, Arin survived.
His tail thorns flared instinctively, barbing outward as they tore into flesh, anchoring him in place—and the lion's body convulsed as its internal qi circulation shattered under the sudden, brutal pressure.
…
Arin's tail burst out from below.
From the inside.
Blood splashed everywhere.
The lion let out a strangled, horrified sound before collapsing mid-charge, its massive body twitching uncontrollably.
…
A system window popped up directly in front of Arin's eyes—
still inside the lion's body.
[I don't think it died from pain.]
"Ah… f**k you," Arin muttered exhaustedly, his body trembling.
[Congratulations! You just lost 10 karma.]
He took a deep breath.
He tried to move out.
It felt… weird.
So he stayed there for a moment.
Then he made up his mind.
His tail slowly retreated from the lion's rear.
His irritated head popped free, and he dropped to the ground.
Arin emerged fully drenched in blood—
though his scales hid most of it.
The rest smeared onto the grass as he slithered forward.
He looked back.
Gorath was eating its legs.
"Does he have a foot fetish?" Arin thought quietly.
Kael popped an eye from between his fangs.
"…Yeah. He definitely has an eye fetish."
…
Arin couldn't see the other side clearly.
He just watched them feed in silence.
"When did life become this?" he wondered.
His gaze lingered on them.
"Hm… don't snakes usually swallow their food whole?" His thoughts drifted. "Did they learn this from me?"
He looked down at himself, tongue flicking idly.
"How does my body even do this? I don't have teeth," he thought.
"Is it just… muscle?"
The same question surfaced again.
"When did life turn into this?"
"Huh?" He thought.
"How much is my karma?"
[Karma: 95]