The three men grunted as they struggled to keep moving the bleeding beast towards the village. The Crusader simply rolled his eyes as he trudged forward, leading the way and keeping his end of the body up and going. Such an act was nothing for him, despite the weight of the beast that was turning and tossing without its limbs in an attempt to escape, a task which was not going well.
“Good sir, can you please slow down?” Straw Hat begged as he gasped and wheezed, struggling to continue onwards. “We can’t keep up with your speed. It is taking everything we have to continue on with your pace, please…”
“The beast is bleeding out quite a good bit, is it not?” The Crusader scoffed as he kept on going, not bothering to slow down as requested, “Speed is key in this instance, is it not?”
“Good sir, we have already clogged up the bleeding wounds with cloth, there is no need to be worried about the time anymore!”
“Be that it may, being out here in the open will only invite abominations to come and attack. Do you want to deal with another horde like before?”
“But sir!” The bandana man cried out, “Could you not deal with the incoming swarm? You were able to take down the horde last time with ease, so such another assault should be easy to deal with, no?”
“That may have been the case when I was fresh.” The Crusader shook his head. “However, I have dealt with a lot of battles. I am a lot more exhausted than before. If I were to get into another fight with that large amount of monsters, I fear that things will only end on a terrible note.”
“But sir…”
“No. It is best for us to move ahead and not get involved with any other brawls. Understand? We must continue as we are now. Whine and complain about your exhaustion after we reach safety.”
The other three men didn’t say anything to that, only gritting their teeth and looking at each other. The Crusader sighed as he kept walking, before looking back at the group.
“Just think of how much further we have to go. Did you all not say that the village was only some distance away now?”
“Yes, sir.” The dirty blonde nodded, before nearly collapsing. “But I fear we will collapse before we reach our destination!”
“Oh, calm yourselves.” The Crusader groaned, “Please, provide me with some peace before we get to our destination, please?”
The other men grimaced at those words, but they went ahead with the Crusader’s wishes. The rest of the trek was done without a single complaint, though there were constant grunts and groans that came from the men that did not have the same strength as the Crusader.
He, however, was not focused on the weight of the monster. After all, this beast was nearly weightless for him and this task was not something of concern.
No, his focus was directed at his state of being. He had not been given the chance to focus on such a thing due to the constant barrage of fighting he had to deal with, but now? He had all the time now to think and contemplate these thoughts in his head.
The first thing he considered was his new state of being. This power, this speed, this new body. Of course this was all granted as a gift from God himself, the blessing provided for him to launch the crusade against the unholy legion of the devil.
However, what had happened earlier against that horde? What was that? The world had stopped out of nowhere, yet he was still able to move. He had been able to slice through almost all of the beasts with ease, even when his blessed ability began to fail him.
That ability, what exactly was that? He could not quite understand how this could occur, nor did he know what his upper limit was as of yet. Whatever the case was, this was something that had to be an ace in the hole, not something that he could simply use all the time. After all, the usage of that ability caused quite a significant amount of pain to his body.
Perhaps the more he used that blessing, the longer he would be able to freeze everything in the world. However, as is, he did not have the energy reserves nor the capability to continue on with such a task. For now, he would have to keep the ability used at a minimum, at least until he found a place to rest, some food to eat, and some water to drink.
More than that, what was going on with the vegetation? He knew the animals were wrong as the other men had explained previously, but he still could not understand what exactly was occurring regarding the plants. Yes, the plants were not the same, as they seemed to nearly be living flesh of some kind.
He shuddered as he remembered the way the trees were nearly breathing and reacting to everything that was going on. Such a thing still ran the creeps down his spine, no matter how much he tried to ignore it.
Stolen story; please report.
“Ah! The village! It’s just on the horizon!”
The dirty blonde pointed in the distance, with the Crusader looking at where he was aiming. His eyes widened as he looked at the settlement in question, somewhat impressed yet disillusioned with what he saw.
When he had heard the men talking about the village, he envisioned something that he was most familiar with. A simple hamlet with homes with dirt paths that led amongst the community. A wooden fence that surrounded parts of the area, providing a border and a means of safety for the inhabitants. Several people should be walking around, doing everyday chores such as maintaining the fields, offering their services to earn some coin, and those that went out to have some fun.
What he saw was nearly akin to that of a wooden fortress. The fences were made of thick black logs that seemed to quiver and shake in their spots, with some tendrils that appeared to meld them right into the ground. The entryway was covered up by barricades made of wood that seemed to all be made of spikes, each of them aimed to protect the opening from any and all of the monsters that would dare to try to invade the hamlet.
There were groups of guards all dressed in some form of cloth armor, each of them wielding a wooden spear, though this time they all had an iron spike at the end, clearly showing how they were better equipped for defense than assault. Hell, some of them had bows, though some were made of basic wood and others had them made from the black eldritch vegetation that existed within these lands.
He wasn’t able to see what was past the walls as of yet, due to the mass size of the fortifications. All he knew was that the people in front instantly went on guard upon spotting the four, before easing up as they seemed to realize that there was no monster, only the returning hunting crew.
“You’ve returned!” One of the guards sighed in relief as he came closer to the group.
“Yes! We’re back, and please please please, bring some people to help! We can’t hold on much longer!”
The guard heard their pleas and acted. He whistled loudly, which brought the attention of six others, all of them working to go and assist the hunters in carrying the collected body back into the village. With the extra help, the Crusader proceeded to let go and stepped back, which caused the entire group to gasp and buckle under the new weight.
The hunters were not able to sustain their abilities, all of them collapsing down to the ground. With the three out of commission, the guard frantically whistled once more, and more people came to take their place. With a grunt and a few curses, the group struggled to carry the giant beast inside the village, with a few more coming out to assist the hunters. Before long, the only people remaining outside the village were some of the guards with weapons and the Crusader himself.
“Stranger, who exactly are you?” The guard asked with a raised eyebrow. “I do not recognize you from any of the surrounding villages, nor does any of your equipment and insignia seem familiar to me upon an inspection.”
The Crusader did not answer, leaving the two to stay in a somewhat awkward silence. None of them spoke for a good while, at least until the guard seemed to look away with a red face.
“Ah… Apologies,” the guard got out. “I didn't mean to sound so harsh, nor did I mean to vilify you. I admit that this is mostly for security reasons, as we need to be careful in these trying times. I hope you understand.”
“There is no offense to your question.” The Crusader waved away those concerns, before shaking his head in amusement. “After all, I am unknown in this area, no? It is fair that I could be a threat to your village. It is only right for you to be suspicious, for you are trying to protect your family and friends from such vile threats that could exist within the area.”
“... Indeed.” The guard nodded, thoroughly impressed by the Crusader’s words. “You are correct, sir.”
“Yes, so do not worry about being rude. As for my identity, I am a Crusader sent by God to purify these lands and make things right.” The Crusader smiled behind his helm. “I am here to bring the usurper of the tower down and to reinstall order and peace to these lands.”
“Truly?” The guard raised an eyebrow at those words. “You were sent by God?”
“Indeed.” The Crusader nodded. “I understand if you do not believe such words, but I was truly placed by God to deliver his will.”
“Hrm.” The guard simply scratched the back of his head, before sighing and putting a hand on his hip. “Well, if you’re here to make things right, then you won’t be hearing any complaints from me. I mean, you did help out the hunters with carrying the hunt, and you have proven to be polite. So, entry to the village won’t be too much of an issue.”
“My thanks to you, good man.” The Crusader couldn’t help but feel pleased by the acceptance. He made his way inside, before stopping and turning back to the guard.
“Ah, I almost forgot.” The Crusader looked embarrassed. “By chance, do you know where I can get some lodgings for the night? Perhaps a place to clean up as well as to get clean water and some food?”
“Well, if you want a place to rest, go to the tallest building in the village. The chief will be willing to lend you a place to rest, though for cleaning up…” The guard put a finger to his chin, before snapping his fingers. “Ah! There is always Martha, I recall she has a small bath area that you can use. Her house is the one with the sign with the leaf on it, you can’t miss it. As for food and drink, you can wait until the night comes after we prepare the body for the cooking. You can probably get some water earlier from Martha as well.”
“My thanks to you.” The Crusader tipped his head to the guard, before going into the village once more.
It was time to rest up now. After all, he had a big journey ahead.
And it would be folly to go forth without being well rested.