“Wow. I’d forgotten how this felt,” Larry sighed contentedly as we arrived at the shrublands. He took a deep breath of fresh air, before exhaling in a long stream.
“Yeah,” Angerly agreed. “I didn’t think it would be that bad, but it’s nice to have my mind be clear again for once.”
“Mhhmm. The air is fresher without all the death and the burning of corpses, and so is it quieter without the constant inane chatter and shrieks of those people.” I nodded approvingly. “The smell of the sea was pretty nice back there though, however little we were actually able to feel it. I really wish we could’ve played in the water or something.”
“That’s… not good either,” Lena looked at me with an incredulous crustecarian smirk. “But we were talking about the cursed miasma that was always present? It’s really nice to not have that constantly giving us a headache. Or are you too strong to be affected?”
“Oh! Right! Yeah. That. It’s really very nice to not be under that sort of pressure anymore,” I laughed awkwardly as thoughts of how much I hated all of them flitted through my mind.
“Mom! Mom look!” The mewls of a crustecar child stole our attention at the end of our prior conversation.
“Wow!”
“That’s amazing…”
I glanced over at the wagon to find that the children had spilled out and were now marveling at the great and expansive shrublands. Most of them had never seen anything like it, having only ever known Orila City. Even some of the adults had grown quiet upon taking in the scene. This was the first time they had ever left the city.
We decided to stop and take a rest for a short while and just take in the scenery. Granuel spotted a cursetacean headed towards us, and I shrugged as I went ahead to meet it. The kids flinched upon learning of another impending battle, but they managed to remain calm and made an orderly retreat into the wagon where their parents and guardians could keep them safe.
The children were afraid at first, when we had just begun this journey and were under constant attack, but they did not remain scared forever for they were intimately familiar with the cusetacean scourge. Now, I could see a burning ambition and resolve in their tiny eyestalks as they watched me march off into battle. They were the future, and they knew that they had to someday fight.
I smiled wryly at the attention and decided to give them a show. I dismantled my cursetacean foe, but not with the same speed I usually showed. I slowed down my movements just enough for the children to follow, teaching them through example how to fight a monster like this. They learned of the risks, the patterns monsters could sometimes show, and the weaknesses it had that could be exploited. I wasn’t sure how helpful my demonstration actually was given that I was a demon and they were crustecars with entirely different bodies and Mutations, but I wanted to do it so I did.
The children cheered once the cursetacean went down after a few more well-placed hits to the head. I suffered more damage because of this method, but the enthusiasm and drive they showed made it all worth it in the end.
I have led by example. I hope they never forget that conviction. It will carry them far.
~~~
“AAAHHH!!”
“NOO!”
“A monster!”
“MOMMY!”
“Please don’t eat my face!”
The crustecar children cried and tripped over themselves upon seeing a moledred (sleek mole with big maw) suddenly burst out of the ground behind us. This got the attention of the monster that promptly sniffed the air, jumped out of its hole, and charged towards our wagon.
It was… slow. I deftly dodged its charge, and my blade came down like a guillotine, swiftly beheading my enemy.
It was the first time I encountered this monster. I wondered what it might taste like as I stared at the headless corpse that was already starting to be drained of blood.
“W-wow…”
“She still has her face!”
“Do we know that?”
“True… Maybe that’s why she keeps it hidden.”
Excuse me? I snorted at the turn their conversation had taken. It was embarrassing that I was offended for even a single second against literal children! Wrath instinct could be so mortifying sometimes!
The moledred I just faced was actually below the level of 10. It was nothing compared to the danger the cursetaceans posed, yet the children still reacted to these random monsters with a terror that they never showed for the monsters born of a literal ancient curse. This was because of just how familiar the cursetaceans were to them, and how those same creatures had chased away everything else. The animals and monsters of the shrublands and beyond were an unknown to them, and that was terrifying.
~~~
It was the middle of the night, but there were no stars. The clouds had concealed the sky, and in the place of twinkling lights came a trickle of rain. I separated from the rest of the group with Granuel, allegedly to scout, but with an entirely different objective in reality.
There were still cursetaceans to be found, and I killed any that my friend was able to spot. I struggled to do it quietly, because carapace breaking against metal was not quiet, and neither were the angry shrieks of my opponents. But I must’ve been successful enough in my attempts at stealth since no one came to interrupt my fun.
I even managed to gouge out the mouth of one to shut it up, and then, well… I stabbed it over and over to find out if it’d ever stop retaliating automatically. The monster died just when I thought the vengeance effect might have been growing weaker, but I wasn’t really sure. I decided after a few more victims that while it might potentially be possible to drain a cursetacean of their mana in this way, they would be long dead before that happened.
“That’s very nteresting. Thanks for waking me up,” Moonwash said as she healed the many wounds I’d suffered for science. I had gone to fetch her earlier when I and Granuel were starting to struggle to keep up with the healing that I needed to keep up with my activities. Moonwash was by far the best healer among us all.
We buried the dead afterwards, instead of burning them in a pit, almost as if in mourning. This was obviously not a funeral, however, as we were only hiding and preserving the materials of the cursetaceans that we’d killed for later. We obviously couldn’t take them with us, as it would be very difficult to explain why we were carrying such illegal goods if someone decided to inspect our cargo. I might even be able to shrug off any actual consequence if it were just us, but there were many more vulnerable people traveling with us on this journey. I would not get them implicated in my crimes, when I had promised them our protection.
I’ll get what I want some other way.
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
~~~
“Good morning,” Moonwash whispered, and my eyes snapped open to a beautiful sunrise.
“Mornin’.” I yawned, getting up slowly in a clank of armor. The crustecars were already awake, and they looked hopeful as they prepared breakfast and started to clean up camp. The children were playing, sleeping, or helping out with whatever chores they could do. A monster then suddenly sneaked out of the treeline, and an adult crustecar immediately got in its way, positioning himself between it and the kids. I was going to help out, but more crustecars came, and they overwhelmed the enraged largess boar in a tide of crushing pincers and unyielding shells.
It too was delicious, and the meal was only made better by the company. Even the two centaurs we hired had started to loosen up, where they had once been so formal and guarded just a day before.
~~~
“Woah!”
“It’s just like Orila!”
“But different!”
It was raining heavily when we reached the fortress city of Agwar. The children made remarks as they peeked out of the shaky wagon. The vehicle was hampered by the rain, its wheels would occasionally slip, but our centaur drivers were committed and soon we were leaving the fortress city behind.
“Huh?”
“What?”
“We’re leaving?”
The kids complained as the tall walls disappeared into the distance, until it could be seen no more. I didn’t want to stick around such a morbid place, and we had decided to just skip most settlements on our way back home. They would just be more trouble than they were worth.
~~~
The Town of Madrika.
That was the first settlement we willingly chose to enter, a few weeks into our journey. The wagon rolled in with Therick and Granuel at the driver’s seats, and the rest of my party at the back. There was an entire group of crustecars trailing behind us, including the children, and my friends explained that they were new hires we picked up for some secret new venture. I poked my head out and showed the guards my adventurer’s badge with a very annoyed and impatient tone. They quickly allowed us entry upon learning of who I was.
~~~
“Wow!”
“So big!”
“What are those trees…?”
The children looked up towards the tall canopy once we reached the forest. The trees from where they came from were not this tall, nor was the vegetation so thick. Leaves rustled, birds sang, and the wind felt different and carried a new scent.
One particular bush shook as a horned rabbit came out, and I chuckled as the children squeed at its cuteness where they had once been afraid of even such a harmless animal. I scared it off, causing a barrage of frost and ice, and the kids cheered and clapped in the many ways they could.
Our travels continued as we made far better time than the caravan we had once traveled with, despite the crustecars not being able to keep up the pace sometimes no matter how they tried. Sometimes we’d stop in more villages to buy and sell new supplies, but we preferred to avoid that and just camp in the wilderness most of the time. In truth, there likely wouldn’t have been any big problem even if we just entered boldly without any sort of ruse… but it was just better to err on the side of caution when we were moving around a great number of crustecars. The other travelers we’d come across on the road were already wary of us, and some even assumed we were outright bandits. People didn’t need to die because Granuel, Therick, and Angerly too were able to engage in diplomacy.
There was one time when a group of bandits did attack us, but our nightwatch was able to spot them, and I dispatched of the fools in the dark. The kids woke up at some point while the slaughter happened, but the adults ushered them back to sleep and shielded them from the horrors of war. It was something they’d often failed to do in Orila, but that didn’t mean it was too late to give the children a more… peaceful childhood. They wanted the best for their own blood, those that they’d adopted, and the many who had only been entrusted to us.
I’m sure everyone else will figure out what to do with those kids.
~~~
“A massive tiger! Coming in hot!” Granuel shouted, and the kids poked their heads out of the wagon to see what this new monster was about. The adults recognized the worry and urgency in my friend's tone, so they quickly pushed the children back inside and made a perimeter around wagon. I too understood what Granuel meant, so I hurriedly positioned myself between the approaching threat and the fleeing civilians.
The tiger squeezed itself out of the treeline only a few beats later, and I charged toward this overgrown cat the moment it had dared to show itself. It roared at me in response as I swung my sword, but my blade never reached it for the animal had swiftly dodged away. A follow-up swipe came after me, and my eyes widened as those sharp claws sped toward me like a sideways guillotine. I rapidly flooded my legs with wrath magic and attempted to dodge, but I was still tossed away by the portion of the attack that reached me. My armor rang and groaned as I slid across the ground and winced from the pain. A deep gouge had been drawn across the mythril, and the damage would’ve been far worse had my armor not been the same.
I looked back at my friends, and the people who we’d been traveling with for the past months. I felt resentment towards the latter, for I would be able to show my true power were they not here. They were taking too long to evacuate, and I didn’t know if I could survive this level 40 monster while holding
I let out a roar in frustration, and so did the tiger in front of me yell as our wrathful eyes bore down upon each other. It didn’t even know what my gaze truly looked like, for my true form had to be hidden, and it wasn’t fair!
I took a single instant to heave a sigh.
I cursed the world for this cruel fate, but I did not linger on it for long.
I knew I had only a limited amount of time to think, and I had to make a choice. So I processed through all my emotions in a blink, and took only a single moment more to come to a conclusion.
“Angerly! Sword!”
“Okay!” She pulled my true greatsword from her pack and tossed it to where I was.
I caught the thing and smiled, not realizing how I missed this cursed weapon that had almost become a part of me over the last few years. I threaded my mana across it as the contacts that covered my eyes melted away. My armored boots fell to the ground upon pulling some straps, and the rage that coursed through my mind only widened my grin.
My secret was out. This tiger wished to kill me and my friends. And I was determined to not give it the chance.
I blurred, and so did my enemy. We met each other for another clash, knowing that this time there would be no turning back. Claw raked against sword, and they rebounded off each other with me clearly on the losing end, but I was already following up my offensive with waves of infernal flames and wrathful malevolence. The tiger saw this rush of energy and growled as it jumped away, but I was right on its heels as my body began to fall apart in a rush of power.
Clang, clang, our weapons met, both natural and not. I bore through the pain of just barely managing to come out even in strength, but losing greatly in the damage I was taking. My magic continued to rage in waves of power, but even that was not enough to give me the upper hand. And then an opportunity came, the tiger lunged in for a bite, my blood boiled in my veins, and an evil smile graced my face.
My arms swung my sword with an overwhelming force that was nowhere to be found before. The tiger’s head snapped dangerously away from the blow, and it whined as a tooth fell to the ground. That was when my aura flared, and my evil eyes became flooded with wrath. The action still barely made my enemy flinch, but the additional support from my friends gave me what I needed. Moonwash shot a massive fireball, Granuel aimed for the eyes and nose, Angerly put her new size to use with a massive swing to a shoulder, Therick found some badly burnt and damaged parts to exploit, and Berry clamped down a leg as hard as she could with her big claw before immediately darting the fuck away.
The tiger showed me another opening. I was a piranha on a lake, smelling blood in the water. I called upon the greater magic to help me once more, and a second miniature ritual took shape within my bones. My arms broke, I scored another massive hit on the tiger’s head, and this time it was staggered.
It wobbled on its feet, it contemplated an escape, but after all this time, I wasn’t going to ever let it go. My eyes strained to enact its evil once more, but this time of an infernal design. The monster yelped and flinched away from a nonexistent attack, a heat that never was. That was when the true heat arrived from above, and the waves of my wrath assaulted it from all sides. My friends rushed in, and I forced my broken body to move, just as I had done many times before.
The tiger’s attention remained focused on me no matter what happened from here, as I had made a breakthrough in the heat of battle, to keep it away from my friends. This fight was a gentle spring breeze in comparison to the whole of this journey, for I had learned what it was to truly hate, and what it meant for that condensed hatred to be focused and refined. I even grew to hate myself, if only for some fleeting moments, but that self-loathing became the core of my new spell.
Taunt.
The burning tiger, set ablaze by sickly orange flames, glared only at me in death, as if I were the sole enemy it ever had in the world. I returned the gesture, I swung the strings of flesh that were my arms, until finally, the both of us collapsed.