I arrived at my cave just after sunset.
The return trip took only half the time I used to get to the village, even though I had a heavy baggage with me. Despite simply just moving around would be strenuous I still managed to run all the way back. Should I give the credit to the sturdy monster body that can do the job when it really counts?
Though it seems like I’ve spent the last ounce of energy in this body. As soon as I reached the cave, it only took me a couple more steps to finally flop down on the cave floor like a marionette that had its strings cut.
I have no time to be resting now however. While still out of breath I try to wake up the sleeping Ari-chan by shaking its body and then urge it to eat the fresh meat.
“Kiuuu….” –Ari
While groaning weekly, Ari-chan musters its strength to move closer to the corpse and start gnawing on a leg. Though it’s hard to tell since it has no expression, for now at least it seems to have more vigor compare to the last two days.
With this, I’ve done all that I can, all I’m able to do now is to hope that this will have some positive effect on its recovery.
-gururururuu-
Now that I’m finally able to catch a breath, my stomach is back to its job of ringing alarm ever diligently. Since Ari-chan was like that I haven’t had anything to eat in a week after all. Not to mention I just literally exhausted all my energy reserves today as well.
I look at the corpse reluctantly.
I really killed someone didn’t I.
This corpse is still pretty much in tact with no visible wounds even.
Shit.
Are you telling me to eat this raw just like this?
Back then probably because Ant-chan could not drag the whole corpse around easily, it tore apart the body and roll into balls of meat. As expected, to eat directly from a fresh body like this is a different thing all together. It’s like the difference between biting on a burger and biting on a live cow.
Yet, no matter how hesitant I am, all my senses are focusing on that body. The smell of fresh blood and meat that was warm just a little while ago is making all the sensors I possess shake in excitement.
Shit.
My stomach is crying out to the flesh laid immobile on the ground.
My vision turns hazy.
The craving for the taste that has long enraptured my appetite is increasingly becoming harder to bear.
Something inside me has already started to crumble since the time I first felt a human neck breaking on my palm.
Or was it even earlier...
Not that it matters anymore.
I’m hungry.
Gritting my teeth, I reached for her arm and tried to break it off, but it was harder than I thought. The strength I had back then when I snapped her neck felt like a lie.
Or is it because the method is wrong? If I remember right when pulling the bone off chicken wings you have to first break the joints… right, I see, how about this then? Holding her arm on one hand and pin her body down on the other, I tried to twist her arm in an impossible direction to break the shoulder joint. And then surely, a snapping sound much, much louder than when her neck break echoed inside the cave dimly lit in moonlight.
“--!”
Hearing that sudden sound made my body jerks up in surprise and I became frozen for a moment.
Uuuu… So pathetic… what am I doing getting scared by a bone breaking?
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I'm so frustrated.
Frustrated at this unreasonable situation.
Frustrated at having no one to rely on.
No one to tell me it's wrong, no one to tell me it's right.
No one to support me, no one to condemn me.
And most of all, frustrated at myself.
I have always thought I was a normal person who can be found anywhere.
But when I’m put in this kind of position.
The layers of reasoning I used to wear crumbles away.
Revealing something beneath.
Something different.
More so than anything, I’m so hopelessly stubborn.
Even if what I’m doing is a mistake, I will follow through until the end.
I killed someone, and now I’m going to eat them. It’s that simple.
In the future too, I will surely kill a lot more, and eat a lot more.
I won’t try to justify myself with boorish excuses like it’s for my survival.
I will face the consequences of my actions.
I won't blame anyone if I was ever to be purged like the vile creature I am.
But even then, I will resist with all I've got.
Taking a deep breath, I rid myself of reasons.
I will only become more confused, the more I think.
Leaving it to my body, I strengthen my grip and pull the arm off the broken shoulder.
This time, the skin and meat get torn off easily followed by the unpleasant sounds of flesh tearing that would make anyone’s hair stand on ends. After breathing in deeply, I open my mouth wide and take a big bite off the broken arm.
Instantly my mouth is filled with a deliciousness I’ve never experienced before.
The flavor of newly obtained meat is much more vivid than the meat balls Ari-chant brought me back then.
The fresh smell of meat and blood, the elastic and soft sensations when I sink my fang in, the taste of animal fat that spreads out in every corners of my throat.
Delicious!
As I greedily chomp down on the arm, Ari-chan finished with the leg and now starting to cut open the corpse from the front with its knife like jaws.
Uuuu… the sight of bloodstained ribs together with a human’s organs spilling out is truly so grotesque.
So nauseating...
Shaking my head, I try to throw off my disgust.
Keep it together, me. Haven’t I already resolved myself that this is my way of life?
I can’t back down now. I won’t.
Much more importantly......... aren’t those organs looking really appetizing right now?
Bracing myself, my hand reaches for the forbidden fruits…
Ahhh…wa..what is this? The heart is so crunchy, this texture that bounces happily on your fangs can’t be replicated by simple meat tissue. And this liver… no way! This density and softness that makes one unable to stop biting. The taste is a tad thick but it smoothly flows down my throat… The innards too, such a taste you won’t be able to forget your whole life if you were to taste it once. Can so many different kind of deliciousness come from a single creature? What have I been eating my whole life before this?
Ahh..So delicious..
…but so gross.
The squelching sounds I make when I move my hand inside the mass of organs and the thick liquid that is a mix of bodily fluid and blood wetting my body is truly a repulsive sight.
Gross. Gross. Gross.
.
Delicious.
.
Gross.
.
.
.
Delicious.
http%3a%2f%2fimg00.deviantart.net%2f147f%2fi%2f2016%2f...a0x4t5.jpg [http://img00.deviantart.net/147f/i/2016/121/f/8/insectumchronica12_by_amano_m-da0x4t5.jpg]
___________________________________________________________________________________
Morning comes and I wake up feeling refreshed.
It’s as if I’ve shed away a burden that was weighing on my shoulders.
On the cave floor there is the aftermath of last night’s feast. Stained and torn up rags that were once human clothing scatter around together with bones that still smell fresh of blood.
After pulling out all stops and let myself completely immersed in mutilating and eating raw prey last night, I feel like I’ve made some kind of breakthrough.
Aren’t I accepting this situation too easily? Normally a person from peaceful Japan would not so readily accept eating human flesh as a natural thing. Though my circumstances are rather extreme, the problem is rather than reluctantly accepting it I feel like I’m going to regard eating human as something enjoyable.
When putting it that way, it looks like I’m a twisted person to begin with.
Am I?...
No, wait a moment, that can’t be it can it? Even if I’m saying it myself I have always been an upstanding citizen! I don’t have any yearning toward murder or torture for fun either! Though, if I were to be honest I’m a self-absorbed person, I’ve never put a high value on moral and common sense. Hypothetically if I can get away with it then there might be a lot of moral and ethics regulations back on earth I would disregard.
That’s right.
From the start, there was something off about me.
Something that sets me apart from others.
But I only shrugged it off.
Because it never interfered with my supposedly normal life.
Except…
_____________________________________________________________________________________
5 years ago
“Kagami-chan…. -Sob-…. It’s dead….”
A girl in elementary-school uniform was sobbing next to me. She was my classmate, and our houses were close so we would often play together.
The reason for the girl’s tears… would be the corpse of a cat that was ran over on the ground.
The stray cat we would often stop by to feed on our way home.
“Yea…it’s sad…”
I also shed a tear.
I liked that cat.
“Let’s… make a grave for it”
“Why? There’s a crow nest near our school you know? Let’s feed it to them”
Because it’s such a waste, I thought, while still grieving for the cat.
The girl opened her eyes widely, she looked at me in disbelief.
As for what happened after that, all I could remember was the sound of her crying even louder.
We never talked to each other since then.
It was also around the time when I started to avoid talking with other people.
____________________________________________________________________________________
For some time after that, I learned that what I said was considered heartless.
If that story was spread, people might have thought of me as a psycho.
But I don’t think that I’m crazy.
Just… “different”.
Just a little.
Arrggg! Time out! Stop!
Nothing will come out of it even if I think about such things.
I am me. That’s all.
A perfect answer, that answers absolutely nothing but can get away with anything.
I probably still have some reservations when it comes to murdering innocents.
I may come off as cynical, but I don't condemn society. There're up sides and down sides, I think humans are just being themselves, and it's fine that way. They aren’t hateful, in fact I like them. Even now I feel like I can get along with them depends on circumstances.
But they are on my menu.
Somehow, it sounded like most natural thing in the world.
We left nothing go to waste and consumed all that were edible. I wonder how did a 165cm man and a monster the size of a dog pack 40kg worth of food in their stomach. Is it because the metabolism of a monster is on a different level? How mysterious…
Checking up on Ari-chan who is still sleeping soundly, it seems that there are some kind of soft tissues covering the holes in its body. Could it be that the wounds are finally getting repaired after gaining enough nutrient? It’s a welcoming result. There doesn’t seem to be any changes to the broken leg though, I wonder if it’s not possible to grow that back. But as long as its life is no longer in danger then it’s a great success to me.
As for my own body, I don’t feel the kind of fatigue I had yesterday anymore, though still far from a completely recovery. Even after I had at least 20kg of meat it’s still not enough to gain back all the energy? Just how high maintenance is this body?
There’s still the matter of Ari-chan as well since it’s still recuperating and I don’t know how far can yesterday’s meal aid in its recovery.
As expected, I should hunt some more prey...
I need to get some more food and have both of us back to full health.
Ari-chan only managed to hunt one human in about one week. Because of such low efficiency both of us were always hungry and it even took me one and a half month to be able to move around. However yesterday I obtained some good information. It seems that the strength of my new body is out of standard. I was in a much worse state of fatigue yesterday and yet I had so much strength I snapped a person neck by accident.
Now that my strength has recovered somewhat, I have confidence that hunting won’t be so hard after all. I should be able to bring back 2, no… 3 human every day.
The wild animals that I detected in this forest are all too vigilant and fast at escaping. I have inhuman strength, but my speed isn't anything special. In short, except for muscle strength I'm no different from the high school kid I was back on Earth. I have no idea how to make traps either...
And I cannot wait... I want Ari-chan to recover quickly...
Not to mention my own body is still not yet fully recovered.
We need a large amount of food.
It’s regrettable but I shall have that nameless village become our nutrient.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Once again I find myself treading along the route to yesterday’s village. How would I commit the act today? As expected I don’t think nagging 3 people stealthily is possible. Not to mention one more just had been added to the list of missing people yesterday. They thought that they took care of the ant monster that was the culprit but soon after there was another victim, probably they would have their guard up again. I wonder if it’s best to wait until nightfall to infiltrate the settlement.
On the way I start to realize something. Isn’t there an awfully small amount of monster around here? The closer I get to the village, the less monsters I sense. In a three kilometers radius around the village there’s almost no sign of monster. Could it be that the monster’s area of activity does not reach here? If so then that does explain why the villagers are rather careless and poorly armed.
Still, I don’t think I’d have the guts to live next to a danger area such as this forest.
Humans are amazing aren’t they. Alone they might be fragile but as a species they might just be the most resilient living beings in the world.
Hmm? A few hundred meters away from the village, I notice unusual movements.
It looks like the village is in an uproar.
About 40 adults are gathered in front of one of the bigger house, standing on that house’s veranda is a man who is in his forties with a sturdy and muscular build that seems to hold far more vigor compare to other middle-aged elders in the village. Hm? This old man looks familiar, isn’t he the guy that was arguing with the woman who became my prey yesterday? The old man seems to be shouting something with a face filled with anger.
“--------- --- ----------------- ----------- ---------------!!!” –old man
““----------- ----------------- --!!”” –other people
Yep, I’m in trouble.
This guy definitely has some connection to yesterday’s woman, most likely a family member. I had briefly forgotten about him because of all the happenings yesterday. Really, what a blunder, it’s obvious he’d lose his mind if a family member goes missing. Not to mention he also seems to hold a high position within the village, is he perhaps the chief? Though… even if I call it a blunder it’s not like I could’ve done something about it. After all, I have already marked this village as my hunting ground.
Still, this is not a favorable situation, from where this is leading to it could pose great danger to both me and Ari-chan.
“--- --------!!!” –old man
Apparently having finished his speech, the old man raises his fist into the sky and the gallery responded with a loud “Uuooooooo!!” then they spread out into the woods, spears and knives in hand.
Are they going to try and look for the missing woman? It’d be bad if they actually find the cave I was living in. I nervously follow the group that went toward the cave’s direction and monitor them from a distance. They didn’t go alone but in groups of three, it was quite a good strategy, clearly they have their guard up. I probably could take down all three of them, however I didn’t want them to scream for help. Not to mention if the group that came this way was killed then next time they’d focus on this route.
Finally they finished their search in the afternoon and returned to their house before sunset. I breathe a sigh of relief. It’s a good thing my cave is around 25 kilometers away from the village. Counting the fact that they have to walk while searching around and looking out for monsters, they couldn’t have made it as far as the cave.
Even then, if this continues then it’s just a matter of time before we’re discovered. What if they become desperate and try to request help from other places? We’d be finished if some professional warriors come here from the city.
Nipping the bud of crisis here is the safest choice.
It is the best choice.
Or is it? Is there really no better way out of this?
As expected, killing so many is just a little bit…
No, does it really matter?
Whether I kill three or thirty.
If they ever do a raid on my cave.
My heart shudders when thinking about how me and Ari-chan would be butchered on the ground, like the pests we are.
...
It's a terrifying thought.
Even if there were a better way, I’m not smart enough to figure it out. I’m just an average person.
I’ll just do this in my own way.
It’s either hunt or to be hunted. And I’ve already decided on which side I will be.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Shortly after sunset, people settle down inside their home and go to sleep. It should only be around 8.pm right now, isn’t that a bit too early? In the midst of the night there’s only the moon as the sole source of light in the forest. I guess without electricity people would not know what to do during the night because they have no light. Oil to burn lamps might be a luxury item as well.
There’s no one guarding the village either, could it be that night is also the rest time for most monsters so they aren’t vigilance about it?
Trotting on my toes, I slowly approach the house where the middle aged man who led the search today was sleeping. This is to make sure that even if something goes wrong, there are openings I could take advantage of if their leader was to be killed.
Contrary to my expectation however, it doesn’t seem that he was sleeping like other people. He’s sitting on his veranda while drinking wine. There’s no one in the house but him, could it be that he’s the only one left of this family? Even though the house is one of the biggest. If so then I guess it can’t be helped that he is drinking in self-abandon. What is an old man to do when he couldn’t protect the young ones?
But this is no time for sentiments, tonight I’ll send everyone in this village to the next world.
Sneaking up behind a drunk man was easy as taking candy from a child, reaching my hand out under his chin while grabbing the top of his head with the other, in a swift motion the man neck is twisted in an impossible angle and an unpleasant sound rang out in to the darkness of the night. In the middle of the silent night the sound was clear, but not loud enough to stir up the surroundings and the silence returned to the night again as abrupt as it was broken.
This is the second person that I kill...
There's a slight sense of discomfort lingering on my hands. My throat feels a little dry, but what little tremors in my mind were easily washed away together with the saliva I gulped down my windpipe.
How anti climatic… He who lost his village’s people and then even his own family member now lose his life so easily just like this. Even though he has a vendetta that he was supposed to full fill, even though he should’ve been someone who lead the people to take revenge for the fallen. I once again was reminded that this is just that kind of world.
You lose everything if you die.
Putting the dead body down gently trying not to make much noise, I continue to circle around the houses and break the sleeping people’s necks as I just did. Some are in deep sleep and died without ever opening their eyes again. Some were woken up by the snapping sound right next to them but I slashed their throat with a knife I picked up from one of the houses. I prefer neck snapping since they die faster that way but if they woke up then there’s no helping it. The stream of blood flow out from their open wound and wet the floor. Without even being able to let out a scream their bodies twitch and then they die shortly after.
With every man slain, a faint tremor vibrates through my chest. A tremor that grows weaker as the number of dead bodies rises.
Soon after, I could no longer feel anything.
Only a small impatience, wanting to dine on the meat I obtained.
When I finished with about half of the village, suddenly a scream echoed from the outside.
“--- ----------- --------------!!” –man
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Someone woke up?!!
_______________________________________________________________________________
[Uidar POV]
How unfortunate.
Truly, how unfortunate.
Why did I have to be born in such a backwater village in the middle of a dangerous frontier forest? There’s nothing here but vast wilderness and man-eating monsters. Well, at least there’s enough space for farming so we don’t die of starvation but none of us have enough to fill our stomach because we have to save up food supplies for winter. Why did we build a village here in the first place anyway? If I remember right then a couple of generations ago, the 5th son of a lowly knight in Reynes city who had no chance of inheriting the family’s title came up here wanting to build a village. Was he looking to become a feudal lord by developing new lands? What was that idiot thinking. Becoming a worker in the city had got to be better than this.
How unfortunate.
I missed my chance of leaving this god-forsaken village when I was younger. That stupid old man of mine tricked me with marrying a good looking girl from the village and inheriting his share of the field. What inheritance? It’s more of a burden he pushed on me. Who would want to take over that infertile patch of land. I want to go back and punch the young me in the face because I was too eager to know what’s laying with a woman was like. It was nice and my wife was behaving at first but then she keeps acting more and more brazen, then it comes to a point where she would never shut up and keep nagging me about work. What do you mean by lazy? I’m not meant to be plowing the field. I’m a much bigger man than this. What would a woman know?
Even if it’s just in the village I’m far more intelligence than anyone around here. Those guys who could never raise their head above this piece of dirt and think of nothing but the food they grow tomorrow can’t be compared to me. Even if I say it myself I’m good looking too. I won’t lose to the younger guys who always wear a stupid look on their faces. I’m sure there’s a better life waiting for me in the city, I could even marry a more beautiful woman too.
That’s why, this situation is nothing but unfortunate.
Since 2 months ago, several people in our village have gone missing. They were the hunters that came into the forest to hunt for animals. For some reason monster does not get close to our village. It seemed that long time ago a Sage blessed this land and monster could not approach it? What bullshit I say. Because there’s no entertainment around here those drunk old men like to make up stories and scare children. But the fact that monster does not approach this village is real. However, not just monster but animals too do not go near this land. That’s why in order to hunt we have to go deep inside the forest. It’s a dangerous job so everyone expected casualties. Maybe that’s why everyone accepted the death of the hunters easily. However when the death count rises above five in a short one month time then even those slow witted bumpkins would realize something is wrong. They went in groups of three into the forest and found a giant ant monster that has never been seen around this part. It seemed like they managed to inflict mortal wounds on it and chased it away.
We thought that the incident would end there. But a couple of days later the chief’s eldest daughter went missing. What a bummer, since her husband was one of the hunters who died, I was planning to use my manly appeal to comfort her. What’s done is done, I thought, but the chief threw a fit and ordered everyone to go search for the culprit.
That asshole.
We were lucky to defeat the ant from the other day, but what if something stronger comes out? His daughter was one of the more decent looking women in this village so it was a shame but I have no intention to die just yet.
How detestable, this life of mine. Nothing really good would come out of living in this village. I was nervous the whole time today while searching around the forest that I rarely venture in. Just how long is this going to continue? Just thinking about it makes me frustrated.
Maybe I’ll have Nardale-san comfort me tonight. Her husband is old and isn’t that good at taking care of the field anymore, all 3 of her sons also left the village to find work in Reynes city. She must have been lonely and stressed out. There’s a good mood going on between us these last few days. Really, when people are under fear and stress all you need to do is to be a little kind and they becomes as docile as little chicks.
Or so that was what I was going to do but.
What the heck is this? Why is the chief sleeping out on the veranda?
With alcohol too, damn it, where was he hiding those.
Alcohol is a luxury thing to have in this backwater village.
Coming up near him I tried to wake him up and make him share the wine but for some reason no matter how much I shake he was not waking up. And then perhaps due to the cloud parting, moon light shone on his face and I realized his head was in a strange direction.
Immediately I fell on my bottom.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
What the fuck is going on.
Assassin? Who would even bother to assassinate people in this poor village anyway?
It can’t be a monster can it?
Shit.
I think I leaked my pants a little bit.
What to do? What to do? What to do?
Should I run away? Where would I run to in the middle of the forest?
T..that’s right, I have to wake everyone up. Then they can band together and kill the monster. Or be a meat shield. Or do whatever I don’t care anymore. I don’t want to be sitting here alone with a dangerous monster lurking around in the dark.
First of all, that’s right, old man Turkgan, has to wake him up first. That old timer is the strongest in our village, possibly even stronger than the chief. No one has managed to win against him in arm wrestling.
Hastily kicking the door in his house open, there’s him, his two sons and their wives sleeping on the floor. Normally he’d sleep alone in a smaller one but it seems that he was worried about them so today he’s in the big house his two sons share. Getting closer, I was about to wake him up then my feet step on something sticky.
Did someone drop water on the floor?
But soon enough, I realized that it was not really water, because old man Turkgan’s body is emitting a nauseating smell like those animals do when we prepared them for dinner, the smell of blood.
“Hiiiiiiiiiii--!”
I let out a scream and fell on the floor.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
It got him already?
How many did that monster kill?
His sons and daughter-in-laws had their necks twisting in strange directions too.
If it’s like this then I can’t afford to loiter around anymore, I have to wake whoever is alive up as soon as possible. I need them to protect me.
Snatching a bronze pot and a knife from Turkgan’s kitchen, I run out of his house while shaking my hips and smack the knife and the pot together trying to make a sound as loud as possible.
“Wake up!! Wake upppp you idiottttssss!!”
I frantically try to stir up a commotion in the middle of the village. Just hurry up and wake up already. Someone. Anyone.
The first to respond was Calem, he peeked out from his window and call out to me with a half angry, half sleepy voice.
“Da hek’ ya doing ya bastard, d’ ya know what time is it huh? Ya’gonna wake up my kids, idiot” –Calem
“Fuck off!! It’s a monster attack!! You hear me?! Monster is coming!”
“Huh?” –Calem
Hearing the word “monster” Calem raised his eyebrows questioningly.
“Are you deaf?! I said monster is coming! They already got the chief and old man Turkgan’s family”
“What!? Is tha’ true?” –Calem
Seemingly realized the grave situation, Calem hurried back into the house, probably to wake up his wife and children.
Soon after, with his help we woke up everyone that were sleeping. Though many of them won’t ever wake up again.
“To think that it already got over 20 of us” –man
“Fuck, I won’t forgive that monster, Rasgen was a good guy!” –man
“Lindia….” –woman
“How is tis’ happening? Why did it kill so many but not eatin’ them?” –Calem
“The fuck would I know? They were all dead when I found them”
“Could it be it came for revenge?” –man
“So many were killed, just how many monster are there?” –woman
And so on and on everybody was panicking selfishly and asking questions they know would not be answered. If my wife was here she’d be the loudest one too, it’s good that she was already done in by the monster. Really, how useless, that’s why you lot will never break out of this shitty village.
While I was lamenting how stupid these people are, suddenly something heavy latched on my back.
“Hiiiiiiiiiii----!!!”
“Wat!?” –Calem
“What is going on Uidar?” –man
My body jerked up and I hastily pushed the thing that was pressing on my back away then fell down on the ground.
Shit. I leaked again.
However, it turned out that the culprit was someone I know well.
“What the fuck!? Gaigan is that you? You fucking bastard were trying to scare me? I will fucking kill you! Hey! Gaigan! Are you listening to me?... Gaigan!?”
Angrily I shouted at the idiot but there was no respond from him. At a more careful look there’s something stuck on his head… Is that … a stone?
Half of the stone buried deep inside his head, it stuck so tightly blood isn’t even streaming out.
No way…this…
“Guaaaa!!” –man
Before I even had the time to feel scared, a scream rang out from the gathered people. Then one by one they fell down holding their head. One guy even got part of his face blown up, then next to him a woman holding a broken arm that’s bleeding profusely.
Are you telling me just throwing some stone can break off a human arm?! Just what kind of monster are you!
“Uuoooooo take this!!” – Calem
Courageously Calem raises his wood chopping axe and leap toward the place where the rocks were being thrown from in a corner behind a house.
Good! Calem! Get him! I always knew you were a guy who can do it!
However before he managed to swing down his axe, he abruptly stopped on his track. Something pointy is protruding itself out of Calem’s neck.
Then Calem’s body suddenly was blown back as if he was kicked with tremendous strength and fell flat on the ground.
Something walked out from the shadows of the corner, holding in its hand one of our village’s spear.
It was something out of this world.
A monster who’s body is like that of a naked woman, but it’s skin were green and shiny like an insect’s husk. The fact that its body was so much like human while at the same time is anything but human was incredibly eerie. The head looks like that of a spider, with round black eyes staring blankly at us without any expression. It was a bizarre creature that makes one feel like it’s something that must not be born in this world. An abomination that’s repulsive to look at even when it comes to monster.
It’s truly is unfortunate.
Why did this happen? I’m not the kind of man who was supposed to die in a place like this.
But right now there’s no other road in front of me other than one that leads to hell.
Don’t come here.
Don’t come here.
All I was able to do was to shake my head while repeating that single prayer in my mind.
[MC POV]
I had worried what would happen when I was discovered but it wasn’t much of an issue after all. How would I say this, this is the first time I’m fighting a human head on ever since I came to this world but aren’t they too slow? It’s not like I’ve suddenly gained dynamic vision or anything but compared to the swift movements of the panther monsters these guys are moving too clumsily. I guess being a farmer did not require them to be a fast fighter at all, despite having well-toned bodies they’re better suited for strength and endurance instead of speed. Their endurance didn’t matter in the end however since my spear tip easily sink into one man’s neck and pierced all the way through the other side with a light push, leaving the man’s eyes wide open and his mouth was gasping like a fish out of water. I won’t let you complain you know? That’s what happens when you foolishly run head straight into an unknown enemy in the midst of the night.
Since he’s stuck on my spear I gave him a kick to the stomach, the man’s body made a wonderful V shape while flying back a few meters then crashed into the ground in front of the gathered people. Seeing their friend with a gaping hole on his neck, there were various reactions from the gallery. Some screamed and ran away, some fell flat on the ground unable to move, some endured their fear and band close together holding make-shift weapons. It was probably a good thing I killed that chief first of all, they’re nothing more than a rag tag group of scared farmers now. I will be troubled if they run away though, in the first place I’m killing them all is because I didn’t want them to make contact with other human settlements. I won’t let even one escape.
Well then, first will be the guys who can still resist.
The first to move take the win!
Kicking the ground I bring my spear to the chest of the nearest man. It was so sudden he was completely unable to react.
“Guha!” –man 1
The spear sink deep into his chest and the impact from the lunge that I put a good amount of power in ended up sending his whole body flying backward. The people nearby similarly stiffens due to the unannounced attack.
“AAAaaaaaa ---- ---------- ---!” –man 2
However, it seemed that someone regained his mind shortly. No… from that scream I guess it’s more like he just lost it?
A chopping knife comes at me from my left.
I don’t have enough time to pull out my spear.
Letting go of my spear as the first man fall down while being impaled, I jumped to one side to dodge to incoming knife and immediately followed up with a hook to the 2nd man’s chest.
“Guaaaaa” –man 2
A sound of something breaking as my fist sink into his side, I must have broken 2 or 3 of his ribs. The man fell down on his knee, mouth foaming.
Seeing that, whether it was because of fear or courage, finally other people started to take action. They have the advantage in numbers however the odds were greatly against them. In the middle of the night with no source of light other than the pale moon and a couple of flickering torches, a group of non-combatants has little chance against a monster with superior strength and isn’t at all hindered by the lack of vision. My antennae precisely pinpoints the movement of every single person around me.
From my back a man and a woman tried to pierce me with spears but I nimbly jumped back to evade the incoming spears and delivered a kick to the woman’s head. Together with a loud sound and the feeling of smashing a clay pot, pieces of flesh burst out from her face. The man once again tried to hit me but before he was able to change the spear’s direction I jumped next to him in one single step, grabbing the wrist on his arm that was holding the spear, I thrust my other arm near his face and pierced his eyes with my fingers. As he screamed I gave him a kick to the abdomen and snatched the spear from him. I would have finished him off but other people are attacking and he’s already rolling on the ground.
Just like that I continue to deal with them one by one, crushing a man’s shoulder with a punch, then pierce the next one with a spear, break the other woman’s leg, snatch her knife then slash open the chest of one man nearby.
After just a couple of minutes, there were already no moving creatures around me. Just corpses of men and women with their bones broken and blood flooding out of fatal wounds. There are several wounds on my body as well. As expected, even though my detection ability is high, it’s not as if I’m a fighter myself. There was no way I could’ve completely dodged their attacks while being surrounded, since even if I saw an attack coming I did not have the ability to evade it easily. It’s good that there were no significant wounds. The best they could inflict on me were some scratches. With those kind of worn down, make shift weapons and the strength of a normal human they did not manage to cut deeply into my skin even if their attack hit.
After I killed all those that were able to resist, I took no time at all to end the life of those that gave up on fighting and were just crying miserably. Some managed to run away but only a couple of minutes have passed. I have already marked the smell of human, they won’t be able to get away if they are within a two kilometers radius of me.
Chasing after the runaways, I close the distance of a few hundred meters in less than a minute. Despite this being uneven mountain terrains, isn’t this speed on the level of world record sprinting? There weren’t many that escaped so it was easy to chase them down and finish them. I’ll recover their bodies later. Because there’s still one last thing I have to do.
Going back to the village, there’re still a couple of humans hiding in a house and they haven’t moved since. I already have an idea of who they are, so I’d like to finish this final task soon before I change my mind.
With heavy steps, I approach a small house and open the door.
“Hiiiii----!!” –boy1
“Kyaaaaa! Monster!” –girl1
“Ueeee….hic…sob…..uuuu…..” –boy2
“Nooo…..don’t come closer!!” –girl2
“Sob…mommy….daddy….sob” –boy3
It was a group of 5 children, the youngest ones in the village. The eldest seems to be a girl around 13 years old. Snuggling close to her were 2 boys and 1 girl around 8 to 10 years old and the youngest boy seems to be only 4 years old. Half of them wet their self the moment they see my figure.
Urg… is this really impossible to spare them after all?
As expected even if it’s me killing children is a little too much…
But If I leave them alive then who will take care of them? I can’t set them free since I don’t want them to seek help from other humans, if they’re this young it’ll be hard to care for them without their parents.
No, putting caring for them aside, in the first place I’m the monster who killed their family and massacred their whole village. There’s no way we can come to an understanding. I don’t have the luxury to keep them like pets and monitor them so that they don’t escape either. I can’t keep them, I can’t let them run freely. I’m also not the type who will raise someone who will grow up to be my potential danger while spouting cool lines like “kill me if you can”.
No, really, I’d like to live, thank you very much.
So… I guess there’s no other way after all?
I wonder why is it, that I’m able to even considering killing children in the first place? Has eating human flesh driven me mad? Or living in the wilderness with my life hangs on a thin thread everyday has reduced me to a wild beast that can only see others as either prey or enemy?
No.
My mind is perfectly clear, my thoughts are perfectly rational.
By all means I should not be murdering people so easily.
Had I been driven insane by my monster's instinct, then it would've been understandable.
Yet, I am here, in full control of myself.
I’m once again reminded of how I was “different”
But that was not all.
Butterfly Dream
"Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man"
Zhuangzi
Am I really Kawagami Kagami?
Or am I the monster that only dreamed of the human named Kagami?
Maybe.
It was as simple as a change in perspective.
Even among humans, when a person changes their perspective, their values and reasons will change.
Even if it's the same thing, depends on the point of view, two people can see two different things.
When you are a butterfly, you see the world as a butterfly.
When you are a human, you see the world as a human.
The place I'm looking from is no longer the same place I was in back then.
Even though it's the same scenery, what reflected in my eyes was something different.
When I woke up this morning, I was taken aback by a world that was unlike what I previously experienced. The sound of morning dews falling on top of fresh leaves together with the sound of insects singing was like music to my ear. The grassy, earthly smell that used to make me feel uncomfortable was strangely pleasant.
As if I was rid of the human constraints after experiencing my first hunt.
To me, the word "human" no longer holds the same meaning.
Slowly, but surely, I became aware of myself as a different species.
However, it was not a repulsing thought.
On the contrary I feel a sense of comfort.
A sense of freedom.
I would not label it as a “change”, per se. Maybe from the start, I was the kind of person who would feel more at home in a monster body compared to a human body.
Inhumane is humane.
Abnormal is normal.
Maybe there was a different option.
But it didn't matter to me.
Because humans are "food".
I look at the group of children before me.
I recognize them as sentient beings, as the ones who belong to the intelligent race named human.
But at the same time, they are no different from the baby chicks in the village.
Just another prey.
Gritting my teeth, I move toward the shivering children and aim my spear at their heads.
At the very least I will make sure you die painlessly.
.
.
.
.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
And so the village falls completely silent. In the middle of the night there were not even the echoes of singing insects or the breathing sound of sleeping human.
All that’s left were the sound of rapid heartbeats from a single living being.
I raise my head and look at the night sky decorated by a pale crescent moon and countless stars, a tranquil beauty that is unaffected by the atrocity that just befell this land.
Letting out a sigh, I think to myself.
It seems that I’m splendidly walking on the path of becoming an enemy of humanity.
“There is nothing either good or bad, only thinking make it so” -(Shakespeare’s Hamlet – act II scene II)