Reborn into The Promised Neverland//RayxReader//

//Special Gene//

Guess what!! 300K reads, seggsies!! Crazy. Rlly need to come up with some sort of special for that, don't I.

...Not that I've finished the 200K special. 

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"Did we have to do this in the middle of demon-infested woods?" I muttered, stepping over another fallen log. My... escorts... and I had exited the capital and entered deadly demon woods.

"What, I like to think knowing there could be a whole pack of wild demons nearby adds a little...spice." Cozbi elaborated.

"Y'all crazy. I can get behind that." I was saying when Cozbi in front of me suddenly stopped. I stopped too, glancing at the other two demons behind me, who also stood still. "Aight, this the place?" The two demons pulled back their hoods and I, not to my own surprise, met the figures of Aurelia and Benny. "Omg the whole gang here, we can like have a tea party and maybe not de-limb and murder me because that would suck."

I'd agreed to hear Cozbi out, but I had a feeling that my own opinion or feelings would not change whatever these three had in mind. "Alrighty, I'm just gonna sit my lazy ass down, thank you very much." I pulled out a seat on a log, waiting while the other three hesitantly sat down across from me.

"Why is she perfectly calm?" I heard Benny whisper-speak to the other two, only to be kicked in the shin by Aurelia. The air was thick with tension and awkwardness.

"Who's gonna go first? No takers? Alright. My name's Y/N and I'm sitting on a log in the middle of wild demon forest, awaiting an explanation as to why I'm in my current predicament when I could be back in the castle in a warm and fluffy bed awaiting Mujika's home cooked meal in the morning, which, for the record, I would totally kill someone for if it came to it."

Cozbi inhaled sharply. "Y/N, I need you to come with me back to my tribe."

"Why?"

"So we can use you as a bargaining chip."

"For?"

"With Sonju and Mujika."

"For?"

"Well..."

I leaned back in my seat. "What is it you need? Money? Unfortunately, Mujika used most of the monarchy's riches for the capital's repair and to refurbish starving villages..."

"I have no interest in money." Cozbi quipped. "What we need is..." There was a palpable discomfort surrounding the group. "What we need is humans."

My blood chilled. "Why?"

Cozbi's nerves seemed to finally steel. She now spoke with more confidence. "My people are dying. Recently it's been children and elders. But I fear that a few more years, maybe even months, and everyone in my tribe will have degenerated."

"Degenerated?" I sprang up from my seat. "How? What about Mujika's blood? Have you not had any?"

"Mujika's people weren't the only demons with a special gene." Aurelia took up speaking. "Our tribe was once one of the most powerful and peaceful tribes, thanks to our special gift. We could last many years with only a drop of human blood without degenerating. Some could last several hundred. For many years we lived peacefully, even alongside a small tribe of humans we kept safe from the monarchy in return for meek supplies of their blood. Inevitably, the monarchy found out about us, and they tried to destroy all remains of our bloodline, but, as you can see, some of us remained and managed to escape. Our human companions were slaughtered. Our tribe began to worry as we approached the end of our fasting ability."