VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne-Chapter 77: Nobody expects the Beast Inquisition!

Sticking to the trees, Belladonna crept around the border of the clearing. Moving slowly and like the predator she truly was, she stalked around until she was completely flanking the herd.

There were ten of them total, so they needed to cull their numbers before facing the mini boss.

She found a thick enough branch to perch on, like an assassin ready to strike. Removing one of her knives, she pressed it against her wrist and channelled a small amount of mana into her bloodline so that when she removed her hand, the knife stayed stuck there as if it was held on by a magnet.

Then, once she was sure it was secure, she took a pair of her Stone-muncher musket balls from her bag and held one between her teeth while she loaded the other into her magnetic slingshot.

Ignoring the one beneath her for the moment, Belladonna focused on the furthest pair of corrupted deer. One had two heads and was filling both with croco-crab meat, while the other had a hunched and spiked spine and was drinking water peacefully.

Breathing out slowly, Belladonna drew back her first shot and let it fly. It whistled through the air and burrowed into its target’s flesh with barely a sound. The two headed deer let out a pair of choked whimpers as the bullet tore through its singular heart before it crumpled to the ground.

The next shot came a second after, blasting through the drinking deer’s head, killing it before it realised what was happening, and causing it to fall into the water with a loud splash.

All the other members of the herd turned at the sound, which was exactly what Belladonna was hoping for.

As soon as their attention was away from her, she dropped down from her perch. The blade on her wrist shot forwards as she landed on the deer beneath her, forcing it to the ground before she plunged her wrist blade into its throat.

A second stab through the head made sure it was dead, then the pair of them dissolved into shadows before any could notice her assassination.

Lilith raised her eyebrows in shock as she watched the efficient and ruthless killings from the sweet and harmless girl she knew, but Saige was less surprised. Lilith had only known his sister from after her disease started to take away her bodily functions, but had been warm, welcoming and accommodating to his sister.

That was part of why he fell in life with her, over previous girlfriends who preferred him for his fame or money, and treated Valerie like just an inconvenience they had to put up with.

But he had personally seen his sister demolish the competition in multiple martial arts tournaments. Cold, calculated and ruthless is exactly how he remembered her. If he wasn’t so filled with anger at the abominations before him, he might have been moved enough to shed a few tears that his sister could have her true self back again.

"Where did she go? Which one do you think she’ll go for next?" Lilith asked, digging her nails into the dirt and watching with wide eyes, as if she was watching some suspenseful horror film and yet was rooting for the slasher killer and not the plucky teenagers.

"Look for the weakest of the pack. One that is further from the others or is the easiest to kill... Look! That one." Saige answered, pointing quickly towards one of the deer that was sniffing around a particular bush at the edge of the clearing.

It had been lured over by a chunk of fresh meat, yet as its eyes suspiciously scanned the foliage, it caught sight of a pair of softly glowing, crimson lights. Its eyes widened as it locked onto the lights, as its body completely relaxed.

The deers mouth hung open, its eyes staring forwards and unable to move away from the lights. When the lights retreated into the foliage, the deer slowly and mindlessly trudged forwards. Disappearing into the brush, carried by its own legs but not its free will, and never to be seen again.

Pulling her dagger from the deer’s throat, Belladonna blinked a few times as her eyes started to burn. [Beguiling Eyes] was a skill that she had earned not from levelling up, but through her own innovation.

It had been earned in the Trail of the Gatekeeper. Not the second time through, but the first. It was the skill she had inadvertently used to stun the Supreme Commander for a second.

There were a few more instances of her accidentally or instinctively using it, but it was only that instant where it truly unlocked as a skill on her stat page, which made it much easier to use at will.

It had its uses outside and inside of battle. Outside, when the target was calm and not expecting anything, she could somewhat control its mind and lower its defences. Not full hypnotism, but enough to lure it into a vulnerable spot to be devoured, like a true vampire could.

Inside of battle it was weaker, mostly stunning them for a few seconds at most, as their defences were raised and minds were on alert. It also changed with the power level of different creatures.

The more powerful they were, the shorter the stun or enchantment lasted, whether inside or outside of battle.

Its main downside, however, was that it required constant eye contact to use. If the target was blind, it was useless, and if she blinked or broke eye contact for any reason, the effect would be lost and the targets defences would naturally be raised against a second enchantment.

So using it sustainably gave her a serious case of dry eye.

Once her eyes were no longer stinging, Belladonna moved into the trees once more. Leaping between them like a true silent predator.

She managed to pick off two more before the largest, most twisted deer finally learned of her subterfuge. It let out an ear piercing shriek that was like rusty nails down a chalkboard and which could rival the deathly screech of a banshee, before its bony hands grasped at the rotten carcass it had been devouring.

With a spin of its gangly body, the deer threw the carcass across the clearing with much more strength than one would think possible from such a horribly bony body.

The body slammed against a tree trunk, creating an explosion of splinters, bone shards, putrid rotten meat. If it wasn’t for a last minute [Shadow Veil] then it was possible that might have been Belladonna’s latest death.

"Alright you two," Belladonna said with a smirk as she rose from the shadows behind Lilith and Saige, "Time to earn your keep. This is your inquisition after all."