Chapter 75

Ignoring this Hound became easy when it sat on its ass and did nothing but watch over the hole aside. Dreadus got over it quickly. Climbing down was another question. The girl wasn't sure how to go about it, but she could always try to retrieve the liquid as long as it would have its fine cage. Down below, trying to look for some sort of container was easy, but before she finished, she heard a crashing noise.

Dreadus fell down after he increased the hole a little bit because of his wide shoulders.

Once again, he wasn't sensible, but she didn't tell him to wait, or... did she? She said sit. Perhaps she considered it enough for both of them but wasn't sure about either. She thought he wouldn't fit like Hound.

“Oh, this is??” Dreadus looked around and noticed quite a few things that caught his eye around this cave. Then, he froze, shocked himself twice to his cheeks, and slapped himself twice more afterward.

He saw everything thanks to the light of that big pool and the crystal above it seemed absurd. That one was the most prominent. It survived the mayhem above and even the walls were the same. Frankly, this whole place hadn't felt his attack in the slightest.

How? Considering how much effort he put into that Creature, he realized this cave wasn't simple the moment he saw it. Getting down was also a challenge because the opening wasn't some cave, but a hollow shaft made of something. What he was watching exceeded his expectations. It was some sort of Tomb. Walker's Tomb? He considered multiple things when he looked. He felt it was wrong. It looked old and neglected, and that crystal was very wrong.

“Is that Arcalyst, or something else altogether? How old is that?! It is big and... clear.”

The girl shook her head and figured there was no helping it when he got down. Watching him, she seized her bone knife and wondered what would happen next. This one didn't seem that bad, but...

There was another shock coming. Dreadus had one after the other, and her home wasn't on this list. Right before the place she called her home and where she cooked her last feast, there were big flat walls of dark purple metal. It looked sturdy, yet there were thousands of cuts presented on them, etched for all eternity.

It wasn't everything.

Below them was a corpse. Walker's corpse. It was at least a few years old, dry, and cold in death for a long time. It was a big corpse, indicating a man. He deteriorated, though his uniform was clear, as well as... lacking a head. Skull was not far away, screaming at nothing in the corner.

“B-Benjamin?!” Dreadus recognized that uniform and linked a couple of information that he knew.

The girl approached him like a ghost and poked his wounds with her knife made of human bones. The other arm did so with a finger.

“Enemy...” she whispered.

“W-what?” Dreadus mumbled in shock.

She pointed at the walls and tried to point to one answer she thought was correct. “Cuts... Days... Nights.”

“W-what? Wait. Wait. What is that corpse? You have been here for over a decade?! We sent so many people to look through this Coban Region and...”

She had no clue what he was talking about. What was even a Coban Region? Any enemy was a dead enemy in her eyes. She expressed no concern about this opinion whatsoever. She left that corpse there for years to rot and decorate her room. It was a history that put some fear in her, but also some doubts in others. Trust? What trust or worth did it have? Survival and power were as important, if not better, and more crucial than anything else.

“What killed him? Darks? Owner of the Peaks?”

The girl pointed at herself. “Enemy...” and then at that corpse.

“You... killed Rank 7 Walker?!” Dreadus had his doubts and watched that crystal and her arm.

He was familiar with Benjamin Franklin from the former US Division. He was a surviving member from important areas devout to the former United States of America that fused with the Federation upon his disappearance. Back then, his disappearance was odd and created some tension. But Franklin's family was big and influential, continuing to prosper even without him. ]

Benjamin was an old Walker and almost as old as the Walkers themselves.

“Did he hurt you over that thing?” Dreadus pointed at the crystal not far away, getting a hint that this situation was nothing simple. Considering the Holy Land, Benjamin, and that thing or that pool, he might not see everything. He wasn't perfect, but he wasn't some young fool either.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The girl nodded, making a difficult step forward and escaping no gaze. She observed this person before her and approached him with uncertain steps. Was he fine? Will he speak, make excuses, or do strange acts like the one before? Years... before?

Voices whispered upon her daunting indecision.

[TURN HIM!]

[Forgive him... See him...]

[KILL HIM!]

“This... did...” She offered her arm that was shining in her Emblem. It was long like a blade going from the wrist to the end of the elbow. It wasn't at the point of important arteries and faced the outer section of the forearm, not at the side of the palm but knuckles. Its innermost flow was white, while the surroundings were black like charcoal, stirring and leaving thin mist going a bit to the whiteness. It almost reached her knuckles in a little sharp tip.

“Emblem? I see,” Dreadus sighed and scraped his short hair. “This is difficult. Odd. I....”

“My... home?” She asked in worry that he was misunderstanding something.

“Nah. This man... I knew him.”

She gave him a long unapologetic look and clutched her knife tightly.

“Sorry. I mean, what does that mean? This man was old and good. You? That pool. Do you want to leave? Are you even aware of how people work or what is going on in the world? What is it that you've done in this place all these years?”

She couldn't answer. She had no regrets about survival or the things she endured or done. Dreadus could see that in her and felt no regrets about his words. He was more sorry and confused, and ashamed this even happened.

Dreadus didn't blame anything either. He was no hypocrite because he had some blood on his hands as well. There were some people and Walkers who didn't share the same sentiment and the world was vast with dangers, people, and options. There was a place for almost anybody and anything.

But for a kid to kill a Rank 7 Walker? What sort of thing occurred here for Benjamin to die because of...what? As Dreadus thought of possibilities, a couple of things became plausible. Rank 0 Awakening was curious and a lot more dreadful than one would consider.

Some Rank 0 Emblems were nasty little things with malicious effects caused by unkempt Emblems. This girl might have something like that, though he couldn't tell it straight away. He thought about it, saw and knew the Holy Land, and saw her scars. She had some story, and surviving in this place might be more terrifying than he could ever assume.

Then, an even more terrifying idea spread and he clutched her head, trying to pat her and ease the pain. She just tensed up more and her offered Emblem began to churn. Her eyes hidden behind strands of her black hair looked at him and a bit of white light stared from them as well.

“What?” she asked.

“I... damn hope that...” It was futile contemplation to understand this situation. “Sorry.”

Reaz and the siblings were back and reached out to his communication gadget next, causing the situation to tense a little, but the girl was fine and Emblem was not wild. A simple bone knife could not possibly go further than nowhere, though it tried. It really did.

“Oy, Dreadus! The situation outside is getting kind of macaroni. We should leave quicker than anticipated because of your shitty head.” Reaz stated.

“Hm...” Dreadus nodded, contemplating something when the girl slapped his arm away and walked aside, figuring that this person was sorry and didn't want much of anything. When she came back, she offered him a skull of clear dense liquid.

What an offering! Her eyes were clear and her hair was unkempt like most of herself because of that previous storm. So when she offered a skull of no human, such a dreadful and innocent combo was deadly.

Had Dreadus ever met or seen someone like that? Something in him moved, and he wasn't sure if it was fear or expectation when he looked at her.

Was she a monster or an unfortunate incident waiting to grow up, or was it worse? What had she endured in these lands, or what Benjamin caused or done? He wished to ask, but she answered half of the story with a couple of words. Seeing that pool and crystal was that, and her arm was the other.

“I am not thirsty. Do you want to come with us... or will you come, please? I don't think this place is your true home and staying here is not something you want to do for eternity. It is weird to ask, considering I destroyed your home and...”

Grunting, she looked hurt when he opposed her skull. So she splashed his face and torso with the water, sizzling the pain and blood away and healing his wound. Not only did his external wounds heal, but his outer wounds all faded.

He yelped, touched his face and chest, and felt the turmoil in his Cycles as if something terrifying invaded them. Emblem began to scream, and everything about his head and eyes started to blink. He got dizzy, so the girl used this opportunity to sip some of the remaining liquid from the skull and splattered some mist from her mouth around her skin.

Then, she watched how this grown man began to scream and tremble. She seized his pinky, helping him to remain on his feet. The first time was problematic. She knew it and barely remembered that time herself.

“Want... more?”

Dreadus kindly refused, breathing, closing his eyes, and gesturing his arms forward, slapping the air and almost hitting the girl. Minutes into this, he asked her something after closing his eyes and gesturing around him. The same question came to her mind.

Leave, or not?

She couldn't speak. Holding the skull of an unknown creature, she contemplated until she settled on what mattered. Dreadus opened his eyes and looked at her choice. A simple hesitant nod was all there was to it.

Why or what were her choices anyway? Were they even hers? Could she even disappear without her Holy Land? What more could she lose right now? Her treasures? The pool was too big for her. What survival was worse than here? Sure, she was safe and healed thanks to it, but it can't quench the thirst. Sometimes, it was even hurtful, leaving her lost in herself. Dreadus felt it first-hand and struggled with it.

While the girl struggled for food against Darks of all kinds, a place in this world was not hers to decide. Yes. Perhaps it was always like that. Others always decided for her. It wouldn't become anything but a nightmare if it weren't for these hills and this cave.

Longing and glancing at that crystal, Dreadus promised her that he wasn't like Benjamin. Not as if he knew what she felt or knew about that man, but he wasn't like him regardless of his death.

But a spark of greed was definitely in his mind because he recognized the importance of that crystal.