Sometimes ago somewhere out of the reach of any being with proper moral senses……
“Ugh… Ugghhhh……. Finally. I can finally leave this hell full of tentacles…”
A weak voice followed by wet sound appeared from the darkness. It was deep within the tunnel which led to the monstrosity for any female creatures would for sure fear for. And the haggard figure, tainted after two years (counting with human calendar) dragged her feet away from the accursed place.
“……damn… it… this is all because of her… This is that whore’s fault…! I won’t forgive her!! I will definitely make her suffer!! I won’t stop at defiling her… I will make sure she will regret for living to this day enjoying sexes so care freely!!”
Her hoarse voice, after being forced to drink disgusting liquid and something that could never be described echoed hollowly in the tunnel. But after a long silence abruptly happening, a laughter suddenly appeared.
“……oh well. At the very least… I have done it. Thankfully, the banishment of the human whom that whore favored for was just a distraction. Khu khu khu khu……! Now, let’s see if your Champion can even endure being hit by an eternal Curse!! A delayed magic won’t be detected by Helios-nii after all!! Hya ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”
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Nearly a week passed by. I didn’t try to pry the driver whether the destination was long or short as that would be showing how selfish I was at certain points. I’m just impatient. Granted, I was not able to fight. As Aeinsland has calmer situation monster or bandits attacking a caravan was not as common as I thought it would be.
Even at the rarest occasion when a group of monsters appeared, it always happened nearing dusk and at night. Obviously they were the situations where Fei would throw me back into the caravan and tied me up using ropes to prevent more troubles (or so he said).
Other beings such as alraunes, treants and their rare variants are often seen in this region so the other Adventurers have to stay vigilant. This Territory definitely has a problem against monsters which popped out of nowhere. But anyway—
“Cut it out already! Stop acting so reckless you scatterbrain!!”
I hit the black haired boy at the head with full power head smack. But instead of him hurting, my hand now hurts! Damn!
But everyone has started to get used to the usual bickering between me and Fei and some even looked at us with warm gazes. Honestly, these people are strange or am I the strange one here? At any rate, after the last encounter with monsters we have to climb up a hill and after that was the scene where we could see the overall of the town.
…or so I thought it would be.
“Why does it feel like there’s something burning?”
“Hm…? I don’t smell like that.”
“Franz, just shut up for a minute. The merchant is saying there might be a fire nearby.”
“But the forest doesn’t look unhealthy… and yet the animals were restless.”
My words caused everyone to grow alert. The Caravan slowly rolled forward but the anxiety still remained as is. We went further and further through the small forest which was on top of the hill and once we passed from it—
“…what… the… hell…?” The Minstrel uttered in disbelief.
“…talk about worse timing. There’s indeed a fire. In a larger scale too.”
“What do you mean, Fei? What are—eh…?”
There was red once I laid my eyes on it.
There was scarlet filling the scenery. And there was ashen smokes pumping out from many places to the sky. The grey dusk was filled with ominous clouds above, and there was a cruel scene unfolding itself below.
What greeted me was a landscape of a town, circled by thick fortress wall acting as protection against outside threats. From the fortified town was a sea of wheat fields as well as vegetable gardens spreading to all directions.
From above, one could oversee the roofs of many houses and with a bell tower right at the center of the town, it would have created a very picturesque scene had there been a thing that were not present.
Flame. Unimaginable amount of flame devoured everything. People frantically ran from the burning devil which enraptured the fields, the fortress wall and the town. Fire quickly spread further and further, and it gave no mercy to those who lost their wills against its ruthless claws.
And yet—there was one thing that did not match well. For the fire, and for the townspeople who wanted to escape for their lives. The thing which did not fit well was the appearance of something which should not have existed in this Human Country.
It was an army of deformed beings in humanoid shape who lit the town ablaze.
It was a chaotic band of savages who pillaged everything without mercy.
It was a large group of monsters which attacked, kidnapped and violated the unresisting fangless people.
Born out of Stasis’s twisted desire to end everything and to throw law around, the race itself was made up by countless ugly creatures with unimaginable intelligent unlike their brutish strength. They who lost the Great War due to the defeat of their Creator, was then exiled to many frontiers and were supposed to hide within the darkness of the Blank History.
Demi-humans. Thus was their names, and I am seeing a dozen, a hundred of them destroying a town rapidly. A town which was living its daily life until yesterday.
“…help…! Som…eone… please… help!!”
Suddenly there was a voice that broke the silence. From the Caravan, I hopped off and traced the voice. I could hear it was frantic, to the point of losing breathes and yet still squeezing out a desperate hope. And it was young nonetheless.
“Over there!” I yelled out and rushed to the source of the voice. Unable to hear what Fei shouted out, I dashed off. Into the dark forest which probably still have threats that were invisible to what I just saw.
I dashed through the thick forest, pursuing the path left behind by a group. It was easy to tell where they were going to as they didn’t even bother to hide their presences. The broken branches and trampled grasses also assisted me and in to time, I arrived in a slightly wide area where a group of six green skinned creatures surrounded something… No. It was someone.
A little girl. Her dress was tattered at the ends and her legs were full of scratches and bruises. Her hair was stained with dirt and so were her clothes. I saw beads of tears streaming down her cheeks and I heard a low growl coming from one of the demi-humans.
“Capture…! Capture…! Slave…!!” He said.
Slave…? Slave, he said…? Do they intend to kidnap villagers and turn them as slaves? You mean… all of THIS… All of those flame and screams… were for something stupid like that!!?
“Get away from her, you bastaaaaarrrrdddsss!!!” I yelled from the top of my lungs.
I didn’t even hesitate to kick these ‘Orcs’ aside and I broke their formation with it. All in a matter of seconds. Three of them were knocked out cold, so I still have three more to deal with and the situation doesn’t look good. It’s not. In fact, I’m trembling but I try to encourage myself to stand firmly beside the girl.
“Hurry, get away from this place!!”
“Uh…?! Ah… b-but…!!”
“Just go already!!!”
The little girl shrieked and fled without turning back. Good… though I don’t think these guys will be happy seeing her running off.
“That one ran!” “Capture her!!” “Capture her…!!”
…So noisy. These creatures… They’re Orc alright, but… Are they truly demi-humans? Not simple monsters? …no, I can’t underestimate them…!
This isn’t a game. This isn’t training. Lives will fly off in a moment. I knew this kind of thing would happen regardless of my intention, but… Can I kill them? To save even one little girl… Can I resolve myself to kill these… living beings…? What if…
"Charlotte Augmund... Tell me. Can you steal a life to save another life? Do you think you can kill someone for your survival?"
…I know… I know it already! But still. But still… I……
“Woman…!” “More… of them…!!” “Capture!! Capture them!!”
The ‘Orcs’ attacked in numbers. Obviously, those who attacked were armed and even if their equipment were shabby, they must have confidence to fight even without weapons. They did have rippling muscles…
I shifted my attention to the one reaching me first. There. The one wearing light leather armor and holding a dagger. It’s probably the fastest out of the three and I have to get rid of it fast if I want to fend off the others!
The orc roared. Raising his dagger with an arm ready to grab me. Charging ahead albeit slower than I thought he would be. More like, too slow!!
“Draconic Sword-Style: First Step: Tail Smash!!”
I attacked with everything I’ve got. Pivoting at one heel, I swung the sword fully and when the orc noticed, he immediately shifted his dagger to meet my attack—to no avail.
*BANG!!* In just a moment, the victor was decided. I saw my first target flying and crashing to a tree with the head as a start. He spat out blood, then he fell down with a dull sound.
Realizing a comrade was taken out; an orc with an axe shifted his anger to me. I could tell my arms went numb because of flinging a body bigger as well as tougher and heavier than my own.
Still, I hurled forward. The orc raised his arm and swung down the axe. There was a room to avoid it and I did so by leaning to the side. I quickly raised the sword and—
With a clean strike, I severed the arm wielding the axe. The large weapon fell along with a severed arm and my vision was tainted red. Red from blood. Sweet metallic flavor of blood. The spraying blood of the wounded orc went everywhere I could smell rust so distinctly.
It made me… sick… My head went light. Nauseous at first, but a headache and the repulsive feeling after cutting a flesh of was too disturbing for me. So disturbing that I intended to puke. But because of that—
“Aarrgh!!?” I cried in pain. Realizing my disturbed mind was leaving me with openings yet unable to protect myself, I was sent flying with a tackle.
I then noticed that there was a shadow looming over me. I who was on the ground was catching the grotesque sight of the orc from up close. His nasty breath sending shivers into my bones once heaved out. His murky yellow eyes were full of hatred and vengeance. His muscles rippled as blood continued to scatter around from his severed right arm. But there was more to it.
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The orc was holding another weapon. Hidden from my view. He drew out a dagger from his back and holding it in a reverse grip. At that moment, I realized. He’s going to hurt me using that dagger. He’s going to harm me with that thing. He’s going to kill me…!
“…………!!”
My mind went blank. My thought stopped as fear devoured me. The dagger was raised higher and went down. I who was on the ground, finally—
“Nooooooooooo!!!”
I grabbed the arm which was holding the dagger. But when I stopped it, the orc exerted unimaginable strength. By seconds, the dagger closed in. Moment after moment, it closed in to my head. The blade was about to stab itself into my right eye.
“Gh… Nggh……!!”
I blindly searched around using my other hand. Searching for something that I can use. Something that I can use…!
*GRAB!* and then I found it. I found something that can be used to stop myself from being killed! I immediately raised the object and swung it at the orc’s wrist!!
Blood scattered. Blood sprayed everywhere. My body was stained with the blood of the enemy who was screaming in intense pains. There was yet again another severed arm falling near and I found myself holding a sword. And yet, in my fear and terror. In my dread, I couldn’t stop swinging the sword.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!”
The sword lodged its blade deeply into the orc’s shoulder. Dark red liquid flowed from the rough wound and I pressed the sword deeper using both of my hands.
“Gwwooooooohhhggg!!!” The orc raised a scream. But it didn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter at all!!
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!”
Again. Again. Again! Again!! Don’t stop! Don’t stop else you will die! I will die if I stopped stabbing him!! The blade sunk into the demi-human’s flesh, but I quickly extracted it and sunk it again in another part. The air was filled with numerous stabbing sounds and dancing blood. Then, finally—
“Agh… ah… aaahh…… Hah… haa…… haa……”
When I noticed, I… My sword had pierced his throat. Blood gushed out from various holes in his body like a fountain and I was bathing in it. With the blood of my opponent. I did not even realize that I was atop the monster which has already died for a while ago.
Out of fear. Out of despair. Out of the desire to escape from gruesome fate. I… I…… killed………? I killed……? I, with these hands—
“…Ah…” I leaked a sound when I looked at my hands.
Red. My hands were red. Stained with red, warm liquid. It was warm, and it smelled of rust. The smell was strong enough to melt my mind. It was strong enough to shake my mind, and it was strong enough to make my blood boiling.
I… killed a life……
My mind went utterly white. A sense of disgust and discomfort spread like plague within me. Like a viral, I was soon enveloped with the numbing sensation of having to murder a living being with my own hands. I killed… I killed… I killed a living being—
“Mph… Ugh…!” I fell to the side from the corpse and vomited the content of my stomach. Nausea attacked me and I couldn’t stop myself from vomiting the stomach acid once everything was thrown out.
Yet—I once again heard groans. I heard growls. Angry voices from various places.
My body jolted. Fear pushed my hands to draw the bloodied sword and I stood up. I stood up, gasping, as if drowning and wanting to breathe for fresh air. Then, in the middle of the darkness were something like figures. Figures of deformed something. Something that for sure is trying to threaten my life. My safety. They want me. They wanted to kill me.
“Ah… aaaahhh……! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!”
The maddening urge pressed me to move. I couldn’t control this body. It was as if something possessed me to do something cruel. But I couldn’t resist it. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die!!
In the darkness, I propelled myself—to extinguish these deformed threats.
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Before I realized, everything cleared up. The smell of rust was replaced with burnt leaves and trees. A powerful scent of flame blazing through the forest I was in. Has the fire reached this place too...?
I was tired, and it was as if I couldn’t move my body even for a centimeter. I rolled my gaze to the left and saw corpses… Then when I turned to the right, there were corpses.
I didn’t know how or why. I… ended up sitting in the middle of a dark red pool. Drenched with red from head to toes. My wounds were burning up and my head was throbbing. Yet, when I looked up… Ahead of me was a person.
Black hair. Black clothes. Holding a sword with a black blade which absorbed even the scarlet light of flames. He was the embodiment of darkness trudging through the incandescent blazing world filled with the scent of smoke and burned flesh.
And yet, his body was full of wounds. Red trickled down from his shoulders, his forehead, and his arms as well as his legs. There was no part of him telling anyone that he was fine. Including to me.
“……I found you.” He said as he approached me.
But my body shivered. The hands in front of me were holding a broken sword, and I couldn’t stop myself from raising it up. Pointing the shattered blade to him.
Stay away. Something inside of me shouted. I knew it was my own voice, but it was too frantic.
Too hushed, and too much filled with fear and terror. I felt my hands moving out of those swirling emotions and—the hand touched mine. Gently touching the two hands before proceeding to take away the weapon before returning the blade into the sheathe hanging beside my waist.
And then I felt my lips was pressed by something warm. What...? What is...
It was his lips. Something told me from within my mind. He kissed me, but it was light, and it didn't have any meaning as if he pecked me for fun. Then... he pulled away slightly
“It’s alright.”
I felt different warmth wrapping my body. No… it was him. This black clothed… per…son…
“It’s alright. You did well.” He said.
……I heard his voice crawling into my mind. It was monotonous, and lacking any comfort at all. There was no reassurance, there was no emotion in those words he conveyed. Even so—
“You did the right thing. You tried to survive. Is it so bad for you wanting to live?”
A crack was heard within me. Along with a profound throb of my heart.
“You’re not wrong. The path you chose isn’t wrong. But that’s not a reason for you to give up your sword here either.”
The beating of my heart. The beating of his heart. The two sounds shook my entire body as heat reached my head. Then… everything started to turn blurry.
“You did well. You did well, Charlotte. Everything is fine now.”
He caressed my back. He patted my head from behind. The boy whispered words lacking any desire to convince me. And yet… And yet……
“Ah… U-uuu……” I groaned.
It hurts. His embrace was too painful for me. He didn’t even try to go easy on me.
“Agh… Ah… Aaaaa……” I gripped his back. Clawing his clothes.
I shoved my head to his chest. In his embrace, my trembling body shuddered and I… Refused stopping the dam inside me to crumbe.
“Uwaaaaaaaaaa……! Aaaaaaaaaaaaahh! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!! Fei…! Fei……!!”
“…yeah. I’m here.”
“*sob*Sca…red… *sob* It was… scary…! Ugh…! Aaaaaaaahhh…!”
“I know. It’s fine now, Charlotte.”
I cried. I sobbed. At that moment, I felt as if everything inside me fell apart. My boiling blood calmed down. Heat left my body. I felt weak. Everything seemed so narrow as if I was caught in a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from. As those wretched, disgusting memories came back, I held Fei tighter and wept in his arms.
And yet—this warmth was something I could feel. The only thing that broke such dark world apart… was the person in front of me. He who’s here… with me. The idiot who never tried to befriend me……
I felt relieved when he hugged me. I felt as if all those weights pressuring me vanished into thin air. I didn’t understand why. I couldn’t know why. But… I was glad.
I felt happy he’s here and that thought relieved me. Above anything else. Above everything, I—
”Ooooh, such a heartrending scene… It’s so lovely I want to tear it apart!!”
I heard a voice. A female voice, judging from its frequency. But, Fei bolted in action by carrying me in his arms and he turned around.
We both widened our eyes. There was someone standing across us. Walking out from the flames as if they couldn’t touch her. As if she ruled them and thus trampling them. Each step she took, chills ran down my spine and freezing coldness pierced my bones.
“You…!” Fei shouted, half in doubt, half in panic. It was as if he didn’t expect to see this woman.
Yes. A woman. A high-pitched laugh reverberated. Her laugh was childish, but the more I listened, the more my mind going crazier for hearing it.
She had dark brown skin with white-black dress draping over her seductive body. As her hair swayed with vermillion hazes, a pair of large bat wings showed themselves behind her back. Her eyes too displayed the pupils of a serpent…
What’s more, the thing that frightened me is the blood red ‘mark’ on her forehead.
Her figure looked translucent. Menacing and dangerous. I could feel my whole cells and fibers making up my body screamed in fear of death. And then I remembered.
Dark brown skin. Serpentine eyes and peculiar horns. Bat wings and blood red ‘mark’ somewhere on their body. Even more, particular ‘hazes’ of various flame colors floating around them……
Fei who was carrying me gulped down. Then, with a twisted scowl mixing in anger and fear, he shouted.
“Demon… General… Ivory Vermillion the Bloodsucking Countess……!!”