Just how long had he been running? That hourglass had been fairly large. It would take a considerable amount of time for all the sand to drop. Now that he had put this much distance between them, he should be safe for the moment. Besides, he was nearing his physical limit. If he didn't feed on something soon, he wouldn't be able to keep running.
As he swept his gaze around the perimeter—
"Gih?!"
A boy with brown hair, who looked entirely human, came into view, watching him with both hands thrust casually into the pockets of his black clothes. Sugar let out a muffled shriek.
Why was there a child in a place like this? This was still deep within the jungle, where no ordinary houses could possibly exist. If so, then that meant—
"Hey, Ifrit! Some no-name piece of trash stumbled over here!"
The brown-haired boy shouted toward the canopy above. An instant later, black flames erupted, and a heavily muscled man in black attire with two horns sprouting from his forehead materialized from the fire.
"Wh-Who are you—"
Before Sugar could finish the question, the brown-haired boy was suddenly standing right in front of his face.
"Gwah?!"
A sudden impact tore through his legs, sending his vision cartwheeling between the ground and the sky. By the time Sugar realized his body was spinning in midair, he slammed face-first into the dirt.
Sparks danced across his eyes as a heavy boot came crashing down onto the back of his head.
"Lord Girimehkala just sent word. It seems that slug or whatever is currently taking part in the Great One's game."
"Is that a game hosted personally by the Great One?!"
His earlier lethargy vanished completely, replaced by a terrifying, murderous intensity as the brown-haired boy questioned the horned monster.
"So it seems."
"T-To think a worthless piece of garbage like this gets to play a game with the Great One... How... How dare he! I'm so jealous!!"
With an enraged roar, he ground his heel down harder, caving Sugar's face straight into the soil.
"I can understand your frustration, but word is that once he's caught, he becomes Lord Belze's new plaything, you know?"
A faint trace of pity tinged the brawny man's voice.
"Then I'll make sure he can never move again right here and now! Even for a single second, I won't allow a pathetic small fry like him to play a game with the Great One!"
Screeching in a childish, explosive tantrum, the boy brought his small foot down again and again, effortlessly crushing both of Sugar's arms and legs to splinters.
(Th-Th-They're completely insane!!)
Not just the black-haired monster and the monocled gentleman, but this brown-haired brat and the horned brute too. Every single native in this land was thoroughly out of their mind!
Sugar was an elite operative of Kyou, wielding power that rivaled the best in his homeland! After marching into this wilderness of savages, there shouldn't have been a single soul capable of standing against him. Yet ever since he set foot here, he had suffered one unbelievable defeat after another.
And now, he was pinned and crippled by a mere child, crawling in the dirt like a worm without any way to resist. All because the brat was jealous that Sugar had been dragged into the black-haired monster's so-called game. How could something so utterly unreasonable be happening to him?!
"H-Helb me!"
His face crushed into the mud under the child's foot, Sugar wheezed out a desperate plea.
"Out of the question. Lord Girimehkala commanded us not to let so much as a single insect escape."
The brawny, horned man flatly dismissed Sugar's desperate plea for his life.
"Of course not! You really think a slug like you has any right to beg?!"
The child stomped down even harder, shattering bone and sending blood and pulverized flesh flying.
"Hmm, so the two of you managed to capture him."
A calm voice, utterly devoid of tension, drifted through the clearing.
Great One!
Letting out cries of pure ecstacy, the brown-haired child immediately leaped back from Sugar.
Trembling, Sugar forced his eyes upward. The brown-haired boy and the horned brute were both kneeling on the dirt, bowing their heads low before the black-haired monster.
"Good work. You did well."
"We are unworthy of such praise!"
"It is... the greatest honor of our lives..."
Both of them choked back sobs of overwhelming devotion while remaining on one knee. Faced with this bizarre display, the black-haired monster merely sighed, walked over to Sugar, grabbed him by the hair, and hoisted him off the ground.
The gaze he fixed on Sugar was cold as ice, completely empty of mercy or basic regard for life.
"Tag is over. I win. That means you'll be Belze's plaything until you rot away. Belze!"
The black-haired monster called out, and instantly—
"Did you summon me, Supreme Great One-chama?"
A monstrosity with the head of a giant fly was already kneeling on the ground.
"——-?!"
A single look at the creature sent an agonizing chill tearing down Sugar's spine.
(Wh-Wh-What... what is th-that thing?!)
Never in his existence had he witnessed an entity so vile and sinister. The shudder rattling his very soul was an instinct wired into every living creature. Absolute, paralyzing terror before an ultimate predator.
(To think someone like this obeys him...)
Down to the core of his soul, Sugar finally understood. He realized just what kind of apocalyptic nightmare had set its sights on him.
(No... please, anything but this...)
Without paying the slightest attention to the silent, desperate screaming in Sugar's mind, the black-haired monster issued his command:
"Do whatever you want with him. Play with him to your heart's content until he's dead."
"Ah, that's right. Come to think of it, you can't actually die, can you? Then you two can play together forever."
Uttered in a completely indifferent murmur, a mass of blackness surged forward and swallowed Sugar whole. That casual remark became the very last peaceful memory Sugar would ever have in this world.