Chapter 38: Why is That Pigeon So Big?
Several birds were flying overhead, their movements swift and erratic, not their usual foraging patterns, but a chaotic aerial battle.
Several harriers, their wings beating furiously, tried to escape their pursuer, a larger bird gaining on them. They looked closer and realized, to their astonishment, that it wasn’t a bird of prey, but a pigeon!
A large, gray pigeon, its size far exceeding that of a normal pigeon, its wings beating powerfully, a gray blur against the sky, was chasing the harriers, attempting to intercept and capture them.
“A… a pigeon chasing harriers?” Arcaiste asked, his voice filled with disbelief. “Has the food chain gone mad?”
Pigeons were docile herbivores, their diet consisting mainly of seeds, rarely insects. But this pigeon was hunting birds of prey?
“Why is that pigeon so big?!” Leona exclaimed. “I’ve never seen such a large pigeon! What does it eat?”
“Perhaps it learned magic and its body mutated…” Flora said, frowning. “Is it a unique case, or have all pigeons become like this?”
“This is troubling…” Arcaiste said, his melancholy deepening, as he rubbed his temples. “If animals mutate and their diets change due to magic, who knows what kind of monsters might emerge?”
Abyss, his expression serious, watched the pigeon’s pursuit.
The pigeon, as if sensing their observation, suddenly accelerated, its cooing louder and sharper than a normal pigeon’s, its body bursting into flames, transforming into a fiery meteor.
It reached the harriers, its beak snapping shut around one of their necks before they could react.
The flames ignited the unfortunate harrier’s feathers, its desperate cries and struggles only fanning the flames.
Just when they thought the harrier was doomed, it vanished from the pigeon’s beak, reappearing behind it in a flash of light, its singed feathers smoking, its beak latching onto the pigeon’s tail.
The pigeon, surprised by its prey’s counterattack, flapped its wings furiously, trying to shake it off, but the harrier’s grip was firm. After a brief struggle, the pigeon intensified its flames.
The flames surrounding the pigeon grew larger, and the harrier, unable to withstand the heat, released its grip and fell, its wings, partially burned, useless.
It plummeted towards the ground, its desperate flapping only slowing its descent. It landed with a sickening thud, its body steaming, clearly cooked. It wouldn’t have survived even if it hadn’t crashed.
The pigeon swooped down, and Abyss, wanting a closer look, lifted himself and the girls into the air with wind magic, while a vine sprouted beneath Arcaiste’s feet, lifting him upwards.
The scene below was gruesome. The pigeon, standing on the harrier’s corpse, tore its head open with its beak, devouring its brains and entrails. The once-herbivorous bird had become a predator, its beak stained with blood.
“It’s eating its prey’s brain?” Abyss asked, glancing at Arcaiste. “Do animals know that the magic crystals are located in the brain?”
“It must have hunted many times. It’s likely developed higher cognitive abilities,” Arcaiste said, his brow furrowed with worry. “Have the animals truly evolved to this point? I hope they don’t attack the elves. That would be a disaster.”
He wasn’t concerned about the animals harming the elves. Even with their magic, they were no match for the magically adept elves. Every elven village had trained mages, although their primary occupation was farming, magic merely a supplementary skill. His concern was that if the animals attacked, the elves would retaliate, escalating the conflict, humans joining the fray, lured by the potential profits from hunting these magical creatures.
The pigeon, its head covered in blood, having finished its gruesome meal, noticed them observing it. It cooed menacingly at Leona, seemingly sensing her as the greatest threat, then flapped its wings and flew away.
“Are those magical beasts from the knightly romances becoming real?” Leona asked, glancing at Arcaiste.
“Most of the high-ranking Druids we summoned have returned. The council meeting will begin soon. We’ll discuss this problem and find a solution,” Arcaiste said. “It should be within a day or two. Please be patient.”
“It seems my memories are returning. They should be fully restored by the time the meeting begins,” Abyss said through their telepathic link, his message reaching even Rebecca, who was still working in her laboratory.
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