Murim Recurve

The rain had stopped but the clouds still completely covered the sun. They were thick to the extent of blocking out all sunlight, keeping the land dark. Like leaves falling during autumn and petals being blown over by gentle winds, eye clusters flew around aimlessly.

Each eyeball was the same as a human eye in size, but their appearance sent chills into one. In place of the lens was a tiny mouth through which a red, forked tongue peaked out occasionally, like a snake's tongue. Reddish projections were visible on the sclera, the optic nerves abrasively dandling about from its back.

While forming a cluster, the optic nerves held each other tightly, transmitting messages in such a manner. They seemed weightless, moving about with the gentlest of winds. The moment the wind grew in strength, they formed larger clusters, increasing their weight to tide through.

Numerous such clusters moved about like a wave, powerful enough to topple a hill. Screeches resounded amidst them from time to time, a sound that resounded when the wind passed through their clusters.

They didn't possess any vocal cords to make the sound. Just the pattern of their eye cluster was like a flute the produced the screech when the wind passed through. The cloud formed by the eye clusters soon approached the Burkurel Ju Clan's Western Settlement.

A significant portion of them just moved past while a smaller portion that had been flying at the bottom zoomed over, finding a couple of beasts roaming around the streets in search of something. Their approach caused numerous screeches to resound as the beasts below were startled.

The moment they noticed the shadow looming over them, they condensed colourful radiances in their mouths before shooting them forth at the sky. Some of the radiances hit their targets, obliterating the eye clusters.

Even the ones that missed flew high before hitting the greater portion of the eye cluster, luring them over. The beasts had reflexively closed their eyes before began shooting forth elemental breath attacks.

The eye clusters soon reached them, creating screeches as they revolved around. Some Kalha extended their optic nerve and wriggled them after touching the beasts' skins, making them shudder. They created numerous screeches that resounded in the ears of the bests and made their heads spin.

But no matter what, the beasts refused to open their eyes. They stuck to perceiving their opponents through smell, brandishing their claws to kill the eye clusters. But, they were slowly losing control over their selves.

The sound interfered with their judgment, making their attacks sometimes miss their targets. The smell caused their bodies to feel weak, their limbs trembling as time passed by. And finally, when the eye clusters were killed, their blood and body mass spilled on the beasts, causing the skin underneath their fur to shudder.

The attacks of the Kalha were the most potent through sight. But, they were able to affect their targets as long as the targets perceived them, through any form. Such was their frightening nature. The beasts continued to attack, even shooting forth all their breath attacks until they ran dry.

A faint scent mixed into the air followed by the death of the eye clusters, causing the beasts to tumble with every step like they were drunk. Of the beasts, one was a Punou, swatting a cluster of three Kalha with its tail, shattering them into pulp.

But, the moment it did so did its body lost all manner of control, plopping to the ground. It felt an itch in its eyes, rubbing its head in the fur on its forelegs. But, the itch continued to grow, irritating it while making its body feel weak.

The Punou continued to rub its head on its foreleg before using the claws on its right to scratch its face. It didn't even seem to feel pain as it punctured its right eye. When it retracted its claw, its right eye came with it. Without even realising it, the Punou scratched its left eye, soon plucking it out too.

It then felt the itch disappear as it opened its eyes, displaying two ghastly holes through which leaked blood. From the eye cluster, two of the nearest Kalha flew towards it, seeping their optic nerves into a hole respectively.

They seemed to form a connection within, soon taking the place of the Punou's eyeballs. Now, they were its eyes. But, the Punou seemed to have lost all semblance of sanity as the two Kalha controlled its body.

It made a couple of jumps before dashing across the streets, unleashing a series of cackles that were the signature cry of a Punou.

Among the other beasts, one was unable to endure any longer, feeling its sense of smell had dulled out. It opened its eyes to gaze at an eye cluster positioned right before its face. It went into a daze, sitting on its forelegs like a person as it used its claws to dig out its eyes.

Similarly, two Kalha occupied the spot of its eyes, controlling its body. The beast realised its state, crying in despair as it watched its body be controlled by the invaders. It still retained its lucidity but lacked the sanity of the body.

Soon, all the beasts in the settlement fell under their control. The animals had fallen prey right at the beginning itself, losing their sanity after their first bite attack.

A faint sound of thunder resounded from above, instantly making all the eye clusters shudder in fear. The Kalha controlling the beasts and animals began to attack the doors of each house, trying to break into it before the rain started to fall.

The beasts used their tough bodies to ram into the doors, creating mild dents after each attack. But, the doors proved to be quite tough too, unrelenting under the attacks. The Kalha had no other choice but to make use of the beasts with no regard for self-harm, breaking bones to break the doors.

The moment a door was opened, a large portion of the eye cluster headed inside, filling it to the brim. They continued in such a manner, blasting open each door to hide within the house. Among them, a serpentine beast slithered towards the house Re'Kha had taken refuge within, using its massive head to slam at its door.