Has 1 hour passed?

I guess time does run strangely if the environment itself is so strange.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING!!!"

I felt mocked, ridiculed and blasphemed to no end.

"Raaah!"

He did it again, there was only one word coming out of his mouth. It was nothing more than an exasperated growl, but somehow I could understand its meaning.

Fuck, or maybe something that had the same meaning as that.

My entire body began to burn in a blazing pain of rage. He was doing it on purpose, luring me out of my rage for his own benefit. I feel stupid, is it really my brain capacity that's declining?

Damn, this bastard is more cunning than a politician...

"RAAAH!!!"

He can also do kung fu, how lucky I am.

****

It wasn't a good day, but it wasn't a bad day either. The entire population of Black Reef felt that they had something troublesome coming. Some of them wisely left the reef as soon as possible. No matter how bad they were, they knew very well that their guests were even worse.

Hazel called it a reef simply because of the fish-like creatures that lived in it. She didn't need to think of a difficult name, the reef was quite striking. Made up of oddly shaped rock structures, she often came across some that looked familiar. Some of them were shaped like a bus and a motorcycle. He was suspicious about it at first, but he was too busy to think about it.

She had been chasing the Wendigo she had first encountered for several minutes. The mythical creature had the same shape as she knew, though something seemed different. From the very beginning the creature seemed to be deliberately baiting Hazel into chasing it. Every time Hazel got close enough to pounce on it, it would give her a smooth kick in the face. At first Hazel had no problem with it, but it managed to trip her up.

She would stop running the moment Hazel tripped, waiting for her to get up from a safe distance. Hazel's every attempt was always thwarted by spectacular acrobatic kicks and punches.

[Looks like he can do kung fu, he also brought us to his friend].

"Understandable, I am not even gonna ask for it anymore." She answer calmly, "That one particular asshole sure know some tricks."

Her brain fluid began to boil as rage filled her. The light of her eyes filled with madness and rage, she was on the brink of sanity. She wasn't sure if it was wise to continue targeting that asshole. This place was too congested and awkward for her to traverse. She was practically too big and his prey had a lot of advantages due to his size.

As a local of this place, he had a better knowledge of the landscape than her. No matter how many stone tubes she had broken, she could still go even further.

Pumping energy into both hands quickly, she summoned her ultimate weapon.

"LETHALATOR!!!"

As soon as a hard black layer covered her right hand, she clawed the air as hard as she could. A crescent wave of energy she shot out with her claws, clearing the place quickly. The coral rocks were no match for the heat of the energy that cut through them like butter. The result was that Hazel could now see the place clearly, as well as the bastard.

Seeing his movements, Hazel assumed that the Wendigo was starting to panic. She couldn't help but smile proudly at her efforts.

"What's wrong champ? Running out of places to hide?"

They continued their meaningless chase until the surrounding landscape began to change. If before it was just a cylindrical coral reef, then now it was an actual coral reef. They were scattered everywhere, some happily extending their stinging tentacles.

She also found many fish-like creatures there. Although many of them had the same shape as the tropical fish in her old world. Hazel was also treated to some unpleasantly shaped ones. Some of them looked like a mix between a fish and an insect that could be considered epic. She was even a little stunned when she saw a clownfish that had the characteristics of a beetle hiding behind a coral reef.

"Oooh... absolutely amazing!"

Since they were passing by the reef, Hazel picked a few ideas in her head. To confirm her assumptions, she would try to stop chasing the Wendigo for a while. She decided to catch some fish that she felt were slow enough for her. Sweeping the surroundings quickly, she found a fish that was... walking.

Rather than swimming in the dense sea of abyssal energy, this fish was walking leisurely on the bottom. It walked casually as if the fish knew, no one would be able to eat it.

Not until Hazel told it otherwise.

She changed direction sharply towards the fish, giving it a slight shock effect. Rather than a fish, the creature looked more like a frog. It was indeed very similar in shape to frogs that still had their swimmer's tail. It's just that this one has a triangular-shaped dorsal fin.

This animal was waving tons of red flags around. The fact that a critter like this was walking around in a place like this without any threat was worrying. It is possible that this creature is so poisonous that no one dares to deal with it.

Swallowing her saliva nervously, Hazel confidently solidified her intentions. The creature didn't fight back as Hazel tried to capture it. It only squirmed weakly as Hazel lifted it in front of her face. So far things were going well for her.

As expected too, the Wendigo stopped running and waited in the distance.

For a while Hazel sat on a rock she found nearby. Right now she didn't have to worry about any threats around her. This place had a peaceful and serene atmosphere, her instincts didn't tickle her brain too much either.

It was all because of one, she had to confirm whether this 'fish' was poisonous or not. She could only rely on her immunity to venom, though that didn't really apply with poison.

"Well, at least I got one..."

Opening her mouth wide, Hazel intended to decapitate the fish. Its jawbone had now been modified to be shaped like a sharp blade. Slightly similar in shape to the prehistoric fish that had a hard bony head, it was also armed with the same thing. Hence, Hazel now has a tool for cutting and  tearing that is quite effective.

Since the frogfish was the same size as her palm, she had to open her mouth a little wider.

"Bon appetit-...?!!!"

Being careless, her hand accidentally slipped due to the mucus secreted by the fish's skin. In its attempt to escape, the fish used its legs to jump away.

Straight to the back of its mouth.

"??!"

She tried her hardest to pull the fish out of her throat. The mucus secreted by the fish made things worse for both sides. On the one hand, she was struggling to hold the fish's tail properly. Meanwhile, the fish was just wiggling and getting deeper and deeper into her throat.

She was suffocated for 3 minutes, which is to say it was quite excruciating.

In the end, she took another initiative to end her torment. Instead of trying to get the fish out, she gave the fish what it wanted. Assisted by her hands, Hazel began to push the fish deeper in. She could feel her esophagus starting to expand past its limit. Gathering all her strength, she would try to end it with one swallow.

"Hnnn!!!"

The bulge in her throat slowly began to move downwards rapidly. She quickly took a deep breath when she finally could.

Her eyes felt so heavy, she felt as if the world could collapse whenever they wanted. Slipping into Hazel's esophagus, the fish got what it wanted. Thanks to the fish's relatively flexible body, Hazel managed to survive the choking.

She felt so full, walking was already very difficult for her. The fish stopped moving the moment it reached her stomach. It might seem that Hazel had won the bet she had placed. But the real problem also came from Hazel herself.

She had a very poor digestive system.

[This is a very bad idea...]

"I know."