After listening to Shinya's account, Nicole felt an indescribable sadness.
"I'm so sorry," she said.
"You don’t need to apologize for that," Shinya reassured her.
"So what happened next? Did Irene come?"
Shinya looked out the door again, realizing that the moonlight in the night sky had disappeared without him noticing.
The night was fading, and the dawn was faint.
Shinya let out a bitter laugh. "At that time, I imagined countless possible scenarios. I might be provoked by Volker again. I might lose control, and attack him; Irene might mock me, call me shameless, and make me feel utterly humiliated; I might even… disregard Irene’s wishes, ignore my father’s advice and Tsuruga’s warnings, and elope with her—if only she would agree…"
At this point, Shinya's gaze fell on Nicole.
Nicole was shaken by the determined and passionate look in his eyes. For a moment, she even wanted to nod on Irene’s behalf.
"And then?" Nicole pushed the thoughts out of her mind and asked.
"Irene didn’t show up. She never came," Shinya said as he looked out at the faintly brightening sky. "Volker and I waited for a long time. His coachman kept urging him. He didn’t say anything, just kept waiting. Eventually, the coachman stopped urging, and instead, Volker ordered to leave.
"He realized Irene wouldn’t come and left, heartbroken. I watched them leave, still unwilling to believe that Irene would break her promise. I was convinced that Irene wasn’t such an irresponsible person. Even if she had changed her mind and didn’t want to marry him, she would have had the courage to come here, face him, tell him her true feelings, and then sincerely apologize.
"At that moment, I suddenly realized that the only possible reason for Irene’s absence was—something had happened to her."
"Did you go to find her?"
"I rushed to her house but didn’t have the courage to knock on the front door. I sneaked in through the garden, entered through the back door, and quickly found myself outside Irene’s bedroom. I heard a baby crying and smelled blood. My anxiety and worry made me break in, and what I saw was a baby lying on the floor and…”
Nicole, almost as if possessed, finished his sentence, "…and a woman with a dining knife stuck in her throat."
"You remember?" Shinya looked at her in shock. "Have you remembered what happened back then?"
Nicole couldn’t speak. Countless images flashed through her mind—the woman’s sickly smile, sharp sarcasm, the dining knife glinting at her fingertips.
And then, all memories of Irene ended there.
"Do you know that woman?" Nicole asked.
Shinya shook his head. "I don’t know her. I think she probably wasn’t from the town."
Nicole suddenly got up and started walking out of the classroom. Shinya quickly followed.
"Where are you going?"
"To Irene’s house."
The eastern sky was already brightening, but the clouds to the north seemed to be pressing down, making it hard to breathe, as if a storm was about to break.
Nicole looked up at the sky and quickened her pace.
She remembered the visions that had just appeared before her eyes, as if they were the key to unlocking her memories. She suddenly had an inexplicable certainty that if she were in a specific location, those past moments would replay before her.
If she rushed to Irene’s house, would she be able to find out what had really happened—who that strange woman was, why she died, and why Irene had regressed from a 29-year-old woman to the form of a baby?
"Get on, this will be faster." A tall, elegant elk passed by Nicole.
Nicole grabbed its antlers and leaped onto its back.
"Thank you, Shinya."
The elk didn’t speak again, just started running quickly.
The eastern sunlight broke through the clouds, shining on the just-awakening town, while the northern clouds cast a shadow over it.
A girl and an elk raced through the intertwined layers of time, the dust kicked up in their wake dancing wildly in the morning breeze, reflecting a soft glow like fragments of lost memories.
At the town gates, a young black panther watched a carriage leave, then jumped down from the tree and ran toward the town.
***
The elk carried Nicole into a small backyard. She looked at the familiar arrangement, feeling a sense of nostalgia.
In the corner of a small pond, a few water lilies still slept in the dawn light. Several clusters of spurges surrounded the fuzzy antler pillars, with vibrant and flourishing blue-violet Endless Summer hydrangeas beside them.
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She still remembered their names, which filled her with warmth and longing.
Nicole turned and saw the other side of the backyard, where several freshly washed clothes were neatly hung on a line.
They were once Irene’s clothes.
Suddenly, a black figure darted in front of her eyes. She saw a young black panther sneak through the garden, cautiously threading its way between the hanging clothes, occasionally pausing to sniff them before heading toward the back door.
Nicole frowned at the scene. "Why were you sniffing my clothes?"
The Shinya from the past naturally couldn’t hear her, but the Shinya standing beside her answered honestly, "They smelled nice."
"You were really rude." Nicole tossed the remark at him irritably, following the little black panther.
The complaint made Shinya smile, but he quickly became serious when he heard the sound of a baby crying. Shinya followed her at a quick pace.
They saw the young Shinya burst through Irene’s bedroom door, then freeze in place.
Shinya looked at his past self with regret. "It seems we were still too late."
***
The young Shinya’s shocked expression didn’t fade for a long time.
The woman lying in bed had already stopped breathing. The dining knife in her throat was stained red with blood, which had splattered onto the bed and soaked the sheets, as well as the walls.
He had no time to deal with the dead woman on the bed. Instead, he crouched down, scooping up the crying baby along with the loose clothes on the floor.
The baby reached out and grabbed his index finger, stopping her crying and smiling happily at him.
The young Shinya finally recognized who the baby was, but how could he believe that a nearly 30-year-old woman had suddenly regressed into the form of a baby?
"Irene, what on earth happened? "
The baby Irene couldn’t understand his words, only smiling at him. She reached out and tugged at his lapel, refusing to let go.
Suddenly, a huge thunderclap exploded in the sky above the town, as if some terrible force had torn it apart.
The young Shinya flinched in fright, and the baby in his arms began to cry again, burrowing into his chest.
At that moment, another person burst into the room.
The man looked nothing like Shinya, but both the Shinya of the past and present called him "father."
Father Aoshi was drenched from the rain, a few strands of hair clinging to his forehead, which he had no mind to tidy.
"Shinya, get back! I told you, you’re not allowed to come here again."
The anger in his eyes was instantly replaced by tension and worry when he saw the baby in Shinya's arms.
"What happened here?"
"Father, Irene… she…"
The baby Irene cried harder and harder, making it impossible for the young Shinya to handle.
Aoshi placed his hand on Irene’s head, closed his eyes, and after a moment, opened them again, making a decision that completely baffled Shinya.
"Take her away, right now."
"Huh?" Shinya didn’t understand.
As if to answer Aoshi’s words, terrified screams rang out from the street. The stench of blood and decay soon seeped into the house from outside.
Shinya was about to ask what was happening outside but was stopped by his father.
Aoshi opened the bedroom door and cautiously peeked outside. Though he couldn’t see the street from there, he could still roughly guess what was happening outside from the smell in the air.
Aoshi closed the door and emphasized again, "Take her away. Leave through the front door, don’t worry about anything else, just get out of Acorn Town, and go as far as you can."
"Why? What’s happening outside?" Shinya asked in confusion.
Aoshi didn’t seem willing to explain further. He pushed Shinya toward the other door of the bedroom, urging him to leave.
"Hurry, take her to find the Dawn Prayers."
Shinya carried Irene through the living room and reached the front door. Aoshi opened the door for him.
Suddenly, three withered beasts surrounded them.
They opened their rotting mouths and lunged at Shinya. Unable to transform while holding the baby, Shinya was spared injury only because Aoshi rushed out, transforming into a giant bear and swatting the withered beasts away in a few swipes.
When Shinya stepped outside, he was shocked by the scene on the street.
Several withered beasts were devouring two corpses at the street corner, their entrails strewn all over the place. In the distance, countless withered beasts chased after the fleeing townspeople. Dead bodies, severed limbs, and skeletons littering the streets. The pervasive stench mixed with the smell of sulfur made it difficult to breathe. Even the torrential rain couldn’t wash away the terrifying odor.
Shinya forced himself to suppress his fear and nausea, unable to utter a word.
"Wrap her up in your clothes, then transform and run. You can’t run fast in human form," Aoshi, still in his giant bear form, urged as he stood beside his son. "Hurry!"
"…Why? What’s going on?…" Shinya muttered as he hurriedly put the baby down and fumbled with his clothes.
"Just do as I say!" The giant bear continued to fend off the approaching withered beasts, unable to offer any further explanation.
But even though Aoshi tore one apart after another, those ugly and repulsive dark creatures continued to surge forward without end.
Shinya wrapped Irene securely in clothes, tying a knot with the long sleeves, then transformed into a black panther and picked up the knotted clothes with his mouth.
"Go, this way!" The giant bear led the way, the black panther following closely behind.
Their movements caught the attention of a few roaming ghouls. The ghouls leapt over a few withered beasts that were feasting on corpses and started to chase after them.
Compared to the beast-like withered beasts, the humanoid ghouls had greater attack power, intelligence, and carried deadly poison.
Aoshi, while fending off the ghouls' attacks, led Shinya toward the outskirts of town.
As they fled, the bear and the panther passed through the town square and saw the culprit behind the massacre.
He was a tall, muscular man with dark skin and goat horns. Below his knees, his legs were replaced by animal-like hooves. With each step he took, the flowers and plants on the ground withered to hay, and corpses crumbled to white bones. He watched the slaughter with delight. His sharp laughter was cold and hollow. A pair of massive bat wings spread behind him, blocking out most of the sky.
Rain had already drenched Shinya, and he shivered at the sight of the man from afar, his heart pounding wildly.
"Come on, we can't save anyone else," Aoshi urged anxiously, his giant bear form looking weary.
The spots where he had been wounded by the ghouls were infected with poison and wouldn't heal. Dark red blood mixed with rainwater dripped onto the ground.
"Father, you're hurt," Shinya said, his words muffled by the knotted clothes in his mouth, but his concern was clear.
"I'm fine," his father replied calmly. "Take care of yourself and don't get hurt by the poison."
The giant bear let out a low growl, clearing a path ahead of them, knocking away several more withered beasts.
The commotion caused by the bear and panther caught the attention of the man with goat horns.
He smirked with amusement, "Oh? Looks like there are some stragglers."
He lightly beckoned with his finger, and the shadow at his feet rose from the ground, forming a pitch-black silhouette in the rain.
"I’ll give you a chance to redeem yourself. Go take care of those two."
"As... you... command..." The silhouette responded in a stiff, mechanical voice.
Then, two blood-red lights appeared in its head, like a pair of scarlet eyes.
The red glow illuminated its hollow body, with condensed darkness serving as its bones, supporting its incomplete form.
It stood crookedly, the long sword in its left hand trembling slightly, while the black claw on its right hand crossed its chest.
"Good boy," the man said with a wicked grin.
No sooner had he finished speaking than the silhouette rushed out.
Its scarlet eyes emitted a terrifying glow, leaving two twisted red trails in the rain.