A thousand questions flew through Nico’s mind, along with an arrow. The arrow whizzed between Nico and Gen, leaving a thin red line on Nico’s forehead. Wisps of white hair fluttered to the ground, followed by viscous drops of blood. With a loud crack, the arrow burrowed into the rocks behind them.

Gen rose a little as he tried to take a fighting stance, removing some of the weight off of Nico’s shoulder. The stilt village was barely standing, with hundreds of claw marks desecrating its walls. A lone figure stood atop the wall, a drawn bow trained on the two strangers. Nico touched the wound on his head and felt that it was shallow.

‘A warning shot.’ Two other people joined the girl with the bow. One was a tall man with lusterless armor and fiery red hair, and the other was a petite girl.

Nico closed his eyes, reaching deep inside himself to his flaw. ‘They’re alone.’ Raising his free arm, Nico waved an exaggerated arc and hollered.

“We are humans!” Thankfully, the girl didn’t fire another arrow. Nico took that as an invitation to get closer. Dragging Gen unceremoniously along, he came up to the edge of the river right in front of the wooden wall.

The wall fell in slow motion, accompanied by the creaking of old wood. The three people stood on the other side, the girl still aiming her bow at them. Thinking about how to dispel the tension, Nico summoned Duality Feathers to his ear. The sudden rain of sparks had the desired effect.

“Sleepers.” The petite girl mumbled.

“Hi. I’m Nico. The one who broke his ribs is Gen.” Nico gave a slight tilt of his head, flashing his wound at them and smiling.

“You broke my ribs, you louse.” Gen testified weakly. Nico responded by dropping Gen and facing the three before him. The bow girl eased back, lowering her weapon and keeping it ready.

“I’m surprised you guys survived the forest, especially now.” The man said, a flicker of something appearing in his eyes.

“We didn’t come from the forest. We came from the mountains,” Nico said, pointing to the peaks north of them.

The petite girl let out a squeak of surprise, and the man gazed scrutinously at them. “You survived the Hollow Mountains?” The girl whispered.

“It was a piece of cake. Frankly, the river was more of a challenge. Gen nearly drowned.”

“You’ll be the next,” he replied from the floor. Nico pretended to ignore him. “What did you mean ‘especially now?’ What’s going on?”

“The forest has changed recently. The monsters have descended further into profanity. The markings you saw on the walls were their handy work.”

“A black wave didn’t happen to prelude this, right?” Again, the three of them looked surprised.

“Who are you?” The bow girl asked.

“Nico. And you?”

“You’re awfully chipper for someone who knows what’s going on.” She replied.

“What a long name.” Gen chimed.

“I was going to say that. Nico stares at you reproachfully.”

“Who says what they are doing? In the third person too.”

“They’re idiots.” The bow girl said.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“So what is going on?” Gen asked. “From what I’ve gathered, there’s a reason why you are staying here alone.”

The man nodded. “The nightmare creatures suddenly rose in rank overnight and attacked. After the sun rose they vanished. The pentads remain because they can’t move.”

“And something else, given that you haven’t stormed the temple.” Gen guessed.

“Yes. The Black Wave only affected creatures below fallen rank. Any nightmare creatures that were already fallen remained.”

“A river filled with fallen beasts, and a forest filled with worse. Vonderful.” Nico cheered sarcastically.

“That’s not the worst of it.” the petite girl added, “We’re running out of food. It was only going to last a few more days with just us. Now that you’re here, it will last shorter.”

Nico instinctively went to his shoulder and felt the strap of his bag. ‘How do I still have this? Option one: my belongings merged with me. Option two: I was a pentad wearing a leather sack. Given my aspect’s nature, it was probably the latter.’

“We have some food, but it will only last a day or two,” Gen said. ‘We could try having salad.’ The idea was entertaining for a moment before Nico remembered what it entailed. ‘Do I want to dive into a forest of fallen beasts?’

“Then we are back to square one.” The man sighed. “Without weaker creatures to hunt, we are going to starve.”

“Why not leave?” Nico asked. The man stiffened at the inquiry and composed himself.

“I commend you for your survival in the mountains. However, what you experienced was only the surface of what the Hollow Mountains hold. We’d die on day three at best.”

“How optimistic,” Nico said. The man’s reasoning was sound, but Nico picked up on something else. ‘He’s holding out for something. Maybe someone.’ Giving the man a reevaluating look, Nico cracked a smile.

“You’re not a legacy, are you?” Gen struggled, gripping his chest as he slowly sat up. Nico offered him a leg to lean on and focused on the man’s mind. Nico hadn’t noticed before, but he wasn’t feeling anything from the man or the others. Only after the man talked about the mountains did something slip through.

“I am.”

“Are they?” Nico pressed on, pointing at the two girls. The man shook his head.

“What clan?” Gen waited for the answer with an eerie expression.

“I am Justin Wren. Member of the main family and loyal to Valor.” Justin admitted with subdued pride.

‘Explains why he’s in control of his mind. What about the other two?’ Nico flipped through his mind, trying to pull out any information he had on legacy clans. Given Justin’s pride, the Wren clan must be influential. His blood went cold.

“Clan Wren…The same clan that Helianthus was a part of?” The atmosphere darkened. Anyone alive four years ago knew about the tragedy.

“Yes. Helianthus Wren was part of our clan.” Justin affirmed. “The same one who perpetrated the Scarlet Sky Incident.”

Buildings burned iridescent red, crumbling like glass into heaps of bloody ruble. The sky reflected the horrors below like a sadistic pane-glass window. Calmly walking through it all was a man with an expression of stone and hollow eyes. Walking through it all was the newly ascended red death. Walking through it all was the blooming terror of NQSC.

Nico remembered the day well. He’d been alone facing a man he once knew as a friend. Had a Saint not reacted swiftly and subdued Helianthus, the damage would have been many times worse. Despite the incident’s small scale and little loss of life, it was still etched into the hearts of every citizen.

Nico tightened his fist. The worst part of the incident was not facing the maddened Helianthus, nor was it the scenes of destruction. It was the silence afterward. Nico passed the days alone in the empty mansion.

“It’s all in the past. Who cares if you share a name?” Nico forced a smile. “Gen is part of the Krelm Clan of Song. It all is meaningless here. We need to solve the problem of starving.”

“Do you know a way to get food?” The bow girl asked.

“Indeed,” Nico acknowledged. “In fact, we only need to fight awakened beasts.”

“How can you be so sure?” Justin inquired. “I know the forest better than anyone.”

“Are you talking about the Night Marauders?” Gen looked queasy at the idea of eating those.

“We can eat our fill of non-humanoid food,” Nico continued.

“How?” Justin insisted.

“I’m glad you asked,” Nico said, outstretching his hand and pointing to the sky. “There’s an entire feast flying right above us.”