My Pet Fox Is Actually A Demon Prince-Chapter 33: Beneath The Murky Water

Kyva simply acted.

And all hell broke loose.

Despite the distance they had managed to cover, the monster had heard them.

Its claws swiped through the air with malevolent intent, and several shards of ice came hurtling toward them. The three immediately scattered, diving for cover behind separate tree trunks.

Finn and Vera pressed their backs against the rough bark, their eyes landing on a jagged shard of ice embedded in the earth not far from where they hid. Power pulsed from it, cold, unnatural and wrong.

The mere fact that the creature could conjure ice in a jungle where there is no ice sent a chill through their veins.

Before joining the Sacred Order, there was one thing the siblings had been taught well: every monster in the beastly realm also possessed a rank of its own.

These were the corrupted beasts.

As candidates, they were meant to challenge something lesser– something fair. And more importantly, something that belonged. An ice monster could not survive in a completely foreign environment.

To do so, it would need to wield affinities tied to that environment, which is an extremely rare case for beastly monsters.

They hadn’t studied the theory in depth, as it was not something they were ready to learn. But they knew enough.

This was trouble.

"This is all that slave’s fault," Vera cursed under her breath, holding her position as another wave of shard came hurtling toward them.

The monster’s deafening howl echoed through the jungle, and it started to move, but without a sense of hurry.

Meanwhile, Kyva remained crouched in her hiding place, her bound wrists pulled close as she reached for the small dagger tucked into her boot. Gripping it carefully between her fingers, she twisted her hands and began to saw at the ropes.

She forced herself to stay level-headed, shutting out the chaos around her. She was going to focus only on the ropes and freeing herself from it.

"Fake it till you believe it," she muttered. A moment later, the ropes gave way.

Relief surged through her as her hands came free. She quickly rubbed her wrists and lifted her gaze, scanning her surroundings.

Her eyes lingered on the multiple shards of ice pierced deep into the earth. If even one of those struck them directly, it would be fatal. But hiding away wasn’t going to be of much help either.

As soon as she finished her thoughts, the ground suddenly trembled.

Kyva caught her breath as the earth beneath her feet began to split. In the distance, the monster had slammed both fists into the ground, the sheer force fracturing the jungle floor. Cracks tore through the earth in violent patterns, and it toppled trees. The creature’s motives were terrifyingly clear as it was intent on forcing them out of hiding.

"Shit, RUN!" Finn shouted, already bolting from cover, his sister following behind.

The fractures chased after them, splitting the ground at their heels. Yet, through skill and instinct, they evaded each rupture— darting between the trees and leaping effortlessly over jagged breaks. Their movements were precise and deliberate, even to Kyva.

She found it bewildering how their movements tend to complement the other’s next move.

But she was not safe either.

A third crack was racing straight toward her.

’Oh no.’

For a split second, her body threatened to lock up, but she crushed it.

"Move," she whispered to herself, already shifting.

Kyva pushed off the ground and ran, but not blindly. She was not as fast as Finn or Vera, but she had a purpose.

Before the crack came her way, she had observed the pattern it took while chasing after the siblings. She noticed that the cracks didn’t move randomly and were simply following a pattern, like the monster controlling it.

It wasn’t blindly attacking, but it was getting rid of every possible hiding spot, branching and splitting. But not everywhere at once.

She veered sharply to the left, narrowly avoiding the first rupture as it tore through where she’d been crouching seconds before. The ground split open with a loud, deafening crack, dirts and roots bursting upward. Kyva felt her heart at her throat at the impact, but she kept moving.

Her gaze snapped to the ice shards embedded nearby, but they weren’t just debris from the monster’s failed attempts. They marked where the creature had already struck.

She pivoted toward them, her steps quick but controlled. Another fissure chased after her, zigzagging through the earth, but she adjusted, cutting across its path instead of fleeing in a straight line.

The crack missed her by inches.

Vera, who had successfully landed lightly among one of the untouched branches of a tree, gritted her teeth upon seeing that the slave girl was still alive.

Something dark flashed in her eyes. That slave girl was the reason the monster had noticed them in the first place. If they were going to escape from here, then the creature needed a distraction.

Vera’s fingers closed around one of the ice shards she had grabbed while running. Without hesitation, she raised her hand and narrowed her eyes, aiming straight at Kyva, her intent unmistakable.

But before she could throw it, Finn caught her wrist and wrenched the shard from her grip.

"No."

"Why?!" Vera snapped, glaring at his sudden strange behavior "Do we have any other choice? It’s either her or us. She has no skills. If anyone deserves to make it out alive, it’s us. We cannot go back!"

Finn’s gaze shifted downward, catching sight of Kyva’s fleeing figure as she stumbled and struggled to avoid the spreading cracks.

"It’s not right," he answered. "She still saved us, so I won’t let us be the one who gets to finish her off." He leapt to another tree, motioning for Vera to follow. "We don’t have to stain our hands."

Vera scowled and stared once more at Kyva’s running figure. But then slowly, her expression shifted. Her brother was, in fact, right. Why should they dirty their hands to slay a slave when the monster would do it for them? They only needed to leave this place and not look back.

Below, the monster, too, seemed far more intent on catching the slave more than anything.

Did her repel spell wear off?

Serves her right!

With a sharp huff, Vera turned and followed after Finn.

Kyva was still running for her life.

The ground beneath her split without warning, jagged ruptures tearing through the earth as though it wanted to swallow her whole. She dodged left, then right, her breath coming in ragged gasps as she narrowly avoided being torn apart.

There was no one coming to save her.

If she wanted to live, she had to do it herself.

But how was she supposed to outrun a monster like this? It was only a matter of time before her limbs started to get tired, and the thought of that stirred something newly dreadful in Kyva.

Was... that the monster’s plan?

She had been wondering why it was taking its sweet time to attack personally, but the awful thing was simply playing with her! No way these monsters possess such a level of intelligence??

Was this trial meant to wipe out all the candidates?

Just as the dreadful theory sank in, her feet finally came upon a slope she noticed far too late. Before she could react, the world suddenly tilted, and she tipped over.

"....!!!"

She tumbled down, rolling over dirt and tangled greenery. Pain jolted through her body as she struggled to regain control, the monster’s howl ringing far closer behind her, its pursuit relentless.

She rolled once more—

—and splashed hard into a shallow puddle, the cold water drenching her to the bone as she came to a jarring stop.

It knocked the breath from her lungs.

For a moment, she lay there, coughing, blinking through the sting of water mixed with mud that had entered her eyes, trying to orient herself. Her heart pounded so hard she thought it might burst.

How much more unfortunate must she be?

But then she looked up.

And a choked gasp tore from her throat.

What she saw were bodies— dozens of them, floating in the murky water. Pale faces stared blankly, their lifeless eyes locked on nothing. Some were more than skulls, their hollow sockets turned toward the sky. Others still had skin stretched over bone, their mouths open in silent, endless screams.

Kyva’s heart lurched violently in her chest as she scrambled backward, the water sloshing around her.

No... no, no—

These weren’t just bodies.

They were victims.

The realization hit her like a blow.

This wasn’t just some random swamp.

This was where the monster fed.

Her breathing came in sharp, uneven gasps as her gaze darted frantically around the waterlogged graveyard. Limbs drifted beneath the surface, brushing against her legs, and she nearly screamed, stumbling back as her stomach twisted. Bile rose from within as she remained momentarily paralyzed by the impossible scene before her.

Kyva wanted to run back, but the monster’s howl had her rooted in place. Her body went cold upon realizing she was actually trapped. She hadn’t escaped the monster at all. She had fallen into its personal buffet!

As she slowly edged backwards, mud and water sucking at her feet, a sudden, sharp tug yanked at her leg. Her heart slammed against her ribs as she spun, her eyes wide with terror.

Something... something beneath the murky water had grabbed her.