Chapter 1047: An Inelegant Prey - Remembering Roots!

Moraine stumbled over a rock and fell, mud entering her mouth and mixing with blood.

Letting out a grunt, she pushed herself up and looked over her shoulder.

There, in the distance, thousands of small Aragamis roared, as they chased her, flattening the entire world in their wake.

Even more medium to large Aragamis marched behind the little ones.

Moraine never even stood a chance against these beasts.

Not without her Iron Man Armor.

Not without her sword.

Not... without power.

Even if she had all those things, Moraine doubted she could have won her way out of this dreadful situation.

First, Aragamis weren’t ordinary magical beasts.

Unlike normal flesh-blood existences, Aragamis’ bodies were actually composed of hundreds of thousands of semi-sentient, single-celled organisms known as Oracle Cells that group around an Aragami Core.

Simply put, they were superorganisms with swarm intelligence that could take a variety of formations, be it organic, artificial, or even mythical.

Second, Aragamis were innately violent creatures, with a tendency to devour everything to keep evolving. That meant, over time, they would become stronger, adapting to the environment.

The same had happened to the Dyaus Pita Aragami.

At first, the Hashiras had only taken its previous form as a Demon.

Then, the Aragami had begun consuming Hashiras and Moons, finally becoming a Deusphage, Dyaus Pita — an Aragami with a Divine element.

Third, and perhaps the most troubling factor related to them, was that the only way to kill an Aragami was to destroy its Oracle Core.

Their raw, physical strength and defenses were already strong.

Even if an attack ended up damaging them, before one could reach their core, they would only regenerate, making it all pointless.

The only reason Muzan’s last attack worked, despite the Dyaus Pita having a much higher regeneration rate than the Demon King, was because he had managed to reach the core in the Aragami’s head with one move.

Even then, Muzan had ended up paying the price.

And... that was only one Deusphage Aragami.

Moraine was sure that the Deacon of Temple of Amon-Gorloth could easily summon at least five such Aragamis in one timeline. Even if he himself was only a 9th Floor Contestant, one couldn’t measure his abilities on the same scale as with the other Contestants. It became even clearer from the fact that anyone else in the Deacon’s place would have already attracted Timeline Backlash for killing all the storyline characters.

Till now, Moraine had known only one other man to dare attempt such a thing with hopes of surviving the aftermath.

Captain Red of the White Serpent Pirates.

Remembering him, a wry smile appeared on her face.

A loud thud jolted her awake, pushing the thoughts deeper into her mind.

Moraine again looked over her shoulder and saw a massive Aragami — Susano’o, the Beast’s Claw riding its head.

He could see her, she knew.

He wanted her to see him, too.

Clenching her teeth and holding her broken ribs, Moraine turned around, almost laughing, tears streaming down her chin.

Then, one step after another, she continued to run with an unsightly pace and...

... in an inelegant manner, as he wanted her to be.

...

Another month passed.

In a little ditch that Moraine had dug out with her hands, she had balled herself up, her entire body twitching with every roar.

There was little clothing left on her body.

One of her breasts was dangling out in the open. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Her waist and thighs were covered with bloody claw marks, all infested and poisoned.

Her HP Regeneration Rate remained in a constant battle with the damage dealt by corruption and poison, her HP bar always blinking red before her unfocused eyes.

The Wings of Grim Butterfly could break down the lingering spirits to fuel her Mana, Breath, and even Stamina. But the Deacon, who knew such secrets about Moraine, had set up a Bounded Field around the entire planet, banishing all the spirits to hell.

And, as she lay twitching in the hole, Moraine realized something.

The Deacon hadn’t come to this timeline to deliver the Temple’s judgment on her because of her letting Red take Sounga.

He had come here for personal reasons, getting a timely excuse.

Someone must have approached the Deacon to act against Captain Red, knowing her past relationship with the Temple.

That was all that bastard needed... to begin the hunt... to turn her into his prey.

ROAR!

Moraine shook, planting her head deeper into the mud.

She could hear the loud thuds of steps, buzzing in her bloody ears.

She could see the Deacon grinning at her... nakedness, lecherously licking his lips.

She could see herself... taking her life before it ever came to that, too, instead of asking for Captain’s help. Because if she called out Captain’s name, Moraine was sure that Red would not even let her kill herself. Instead, he would throw her into the Deacon’s arms, asking him to do whatever he wished with her body.

There was no place for prey among the White Serpent Pirates.

Moraine’s brows suddenly scrunched up.

But, then...

Then... why was she still alive?!

Moraine breathed in the mud, her eyes opening into the filthy wetness.

She stared at nothing but darkness, reveling in her sudden question and realization.

It didn’t matter what happened in the future, because, for now, she was alive... That meant Captain Red believed in her. He believed that she had the means to overturn her doomed situation.

But, how?

She couldn’t even use Total Concentration, making her Elegant Breathing useless, especially without a sword. She had neither the Wings of Grim Butterfly nor her modified Iron Man armor.

She had absolutely... nothing.

And then, as if that word itself was a cue, a memory triggered in Moraine’s mind.

As she stared into the muddy darkness, the roars, cries, and screeches ceased to exist in her ears, a voice overpowering her senses slowly.

Her father... Tony Stark... kissed her on the forehead.

The little Morgan Stark, lying on the bed, caught his fingers as he got up. "... What if you lost your armor one day, Dad?" she asked, tearing up, knowing he was going away. "What if... you..."

"Haha!" Tony laughed. "You think it’s the armor that makes me Iron Man?"

He patted her head and then continued to switch off the lights, but stopped before closing the door.

"And you know..." Tony said, looking over his shoulder, smiling smugly. "If I ever lost my armor, then... I can just build another one. Goodnight, kiddo."

Then, with one last wink, the Iron Man disappeared.

In the ditch, Moraine’s eyes glowed, a smile blossoming on her lips.

Yes.

Before Elegant Breathing Art, Wings of Grim Butterfly, Claymore Inheritance...

Before anything and anyone...

She — was a fucking Stark!

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