“The hell’s that...?”
In the fishing village of Mariu located in southern Gardio, a man out on a small fishing boat spotted something strange in the far sky over the ocean, his hands pulling in the fishing net coming to a stop. At first, he thought it was a bird, but it seemed far too big for that, and it was sparkling too. In fact, it almost looked as if it had four wings—was it because it was hard to see clearly with the sun at its back? Was it two birds overlapping?
When the man squinted to try to see it better, the glimmering bird let off a bright arrow of light that fired right into the village near the shore, resulting in a massive explosion. The aftershock of the blast created large waves in the sea, throwing the fisherman from his boat.
The sudden explosion had sent the residents of the fishing village into a panic. Watching emotionlessly from above with his camera eye, Gould, with the Cherubim attached, moved to the next step.
“Photon Laser.”
Several balls of light appeared around Gould as he flew with his four wings, before they fired laser beams all at once, piercing through the people running around frantically, ending life after life.
“Stable operation confirmed. No issues detected. Proceeding to the next test: Gluttonic Feather.”
Several gold feathers fired out from two of the mechanical wings. They flew freely through the air at high speeds, attacking villagers both alive and dead.
“Gwah!”
A man’s voice rose in pain as one of those feathers stabbed right into his back. Suddenly, it expanded just like a Slime and consumed the man whole. The gold Slime enveloped the struggling man and progressively became smaller and smaller as its body undulated.
Once the Slime had finished consuming the man, it returned to its feather shape, before leaping back up into the air and settling back into one of Gould’s wings.
Though Gould had been able to refine the Gluttony Slime enough to make the Cherubim, he had been unable to remove the Artificer’s distinct voracious appetite. Not that it was something he ever intended to get rid of—if he did, it would be unable to act as the substitute for the price of a crown skill. Unfortunately, because of that, it became hungry right away, constantly needing sustenance to restore its energy; it wasn’t the most efficient gear.
That was why Gould was now out resupplying its energy reserves while doubling it up as a test run of the Cherubim. If he simply wanted to appease the Gluttony Slime’s appetite, the animals in the forest or fish in the nearby sea would’ve worked perfectly fine. But for the purposes of what Gould was using it for, humans and their myriad emotions were much more suitable for the Slime’s food.
The various negative emotions like fear and despair that were being absorbed would also serve the wicked devout’s goals well. Gould wasn’t particularly invested in the group’s goal, but he found no reason to refuse more manpower.
After feeding the negative emotions into the main body, the feathers shot back out into the village once more. The villagers disappeared one after another, like a field of crops being harvested for the season.
“Test complete. No issues detected. Returning to base.”
Once all of the villagers had been harvested, Gould shot off into the southern sky, content with the results.
Though the fisherman returned to his village with his life still intact, all that awaited him were the houses destroyed by the explosion and the paths empty of all those that he once knew.