Chapter 51: Interlude: Devouring Phantom

It prowled in the shadows, gleefully culling any living being within its territory. It had no idea how it was able to escape, all it remembers was two titans fighting and then some bubble of power had it brought to the far reaches of a forest. 

There were no sentient beings for miles. But it still remembers the delectable taste of that screaming humanoid. Its wings reminded it of bats, they were the tastiest part of the meal. But the energy within was a welcome surprise. It had felt bloated ever since eating such a morsel and now it was scurrying around eating measly pathetic creatures with absolutely no amount of energy within. 

These swirling thoughts had become far more pronounced when it had eaten said humanoid. It wanted more. But it needed power to hunt. Yes, it would do nicely to aim for the top. Morsels as far as the eye can see. So scrumptious, ripe for the taking. A grin manifested itself upon the phantom cat entity, acid-like fluid spilled from its maw as it imagined the supposed dream it held within itself. 

What would it become if it took a bite out of the titan it saw? 

Malicious laughter emanated from the depths of its body, coming out like a combination of wind chimes and grating metal. Its power spiked and another cat-like entity popped into existence, both stared at one another, with no real surprise. It had always had the power to produce illusory mimics of itself, but before it held no power now, however, things have changed. 

Both phantom entities glowed an eerie blue that bordered on white as they leaped and struck the tree they were targeting. Immediately after the mimic exploded gathering into a singular point in the middle while the other pulled back its calw and collided with the sparkles of phantom energy. It tore through the tree landing on the other side of it while a few seconds ticked by before the tree exploded into splinters of wood. 

It was dubious of its power for so long, and yet now look at how far it has come. It stared hard at its claw gazing at itself in wonder and delight. There are far too many possibilities and so many wonderful opportunities to rise in power. 

Its ear twitched and the glow from within surged forth and hid any traces of itself, becoming ethereal as it watched what had made the noise. It crouched down low, its ears twitching back and forth as it moved to the source. Ever so slowly it emerged near a creek with eerie and dubious water and that's where it saw a peculiar creature emerge from within. It had stepped on a branch, crushing it with its bulk as it lumbered out of the water. WEater bubbles emerged from its gaping maw with rows upon rows of wicked teeth. Its coloration was a deep blue with traces of green, but spines covered its backside. 

The phantom cat's eyes gleamed with malice, already having thoughts about savoring such a grand-looking meal. The gator creature lumbered out and let out bubbles of water in every direction, they had an illusory-like quality to them and as the cat curiously looked on it caught on to what it was doing. The bubbles spread out and came back and those that did had trapped creatures within that were swallowed up within the gaping maw of the gator. Crunches and bone-snapping sounded out within the eerily quiet forest. The phantom cat only widened its grin when it looked upon such a scene before it. 

It had found a comrade that enjoyed prey as much as it, too bad it had dubbed the creature before its food already. Would it taste like fish? Chicken? Perhaps a mix of them both? It did not know, but it was eager to find out. 

Camouflaged as it was, it made mimic copies of itself that were iridescent in color. Its body moved and swayed in a hypnotic pattern, the copies mimicking the host, they surrounded the gator who was none the wiser. But instincts apparently warned it that it was in danger so in retaliation its spikes glowed an ominous red color. The cat forgoing the ambush made the copies rush the spines and they exploded nullifying the attack just barely, except one single spine on its tail finished its glow, and boiling hot water shot out aiming right for itself. It shimmered in response a bluish purple aura covered it and as the water impacted it nothing happened. A grin so wide was plastered on its face reveling in the despair registering in the gator. 

The cat opened its mouth and sent out a cacophony of sound waves reverberating within the gator, rupturing its insides. The cat's hypnotic eyes locked onto the gator's sending illusory signals that mentally attacked the mind disorienting it. No longer able to stand by itself, its legs buckled and it fell onto the mud. 

Its ego swelled in pride. Already picturing the power it will be able to siphon from such a massive being. The cat's silver fur glowed as if in response to its elation. Sparks of energy shimmered and were sent out every which way creating an illusion that hid it and its prey from any prowling creature. It would like to dig into its prize without any disruption. 

The cat's mouth began leaking acid-like salvia as it shuffled its way to the gator. Now standing before it its maw began creaking and cracking becoming bigger as it engulfed the head and chomped. Blood splattered over itself, grinning it crunched for a few seconds and swallowed. Power welled up, and tiny droplets of water began exuding from its fur creating a distinct coloration over it. Now having gotten a taste of such a delicacy, it chowed down upon the gator already coming up with plans to hunt the rest. 

Perhaps it might get lucky enough to catch one of them facing off against another predator. There are always bigger tougher opponents that decide they have a chance against another predator, and when it inevitably shows up to such a battle, it will be there to reap the rewards. 

How wonderful. 

The cat could already picture the day when it finds out how a dragon tastes. 

Yes. He... He? Yes, he could hardly wait for the day. 

But for now, he was content with sampling every single morsel this world has to offer before he even had a fighting chance to tangle with such a being.