“What happened?”

Bruno opens his eyes after what seems like a deep slumber. The last thing he remembers was being surrounded by his old friends, filled with holes. Then the eyes started to open then there was only darkness. Overwhelming, how could a mortal match such forlorn power.

The man stares at his hands, he can still remember that feeling, to be swallowed by the cosmos. It felt good.

“It’s alright, you are safe” Behind him the priest stood, assuring the man.

Looking around, Bruno could see the Smiling Hunter pulling bolts out of his deceased friends. He could hear her giggling merrily with every bloody pull. “Told ya I could hunt everything” She said.

Oh right, they were attacked, but now everything is alright.

“Rest in peace”

Bruno mumbled, looking at the corpses of his friends strewing about. The holes in their body are no longer filled with the cosmos but simply nothing. Blood and their insides all spill out, making a mess. If he has time, the man would dig a grave for every single one of them.

“Worry not for the dead” The priest put his hand on Bruno shoulder “You should think about the living, about yourself”

“I don’t even know what to think” The man mumbled.

Next to them is the barrier protecting the woodland settlement, more specifically, inside the barrier. Bruno couldn’t remember how he even got in, the man only remembered running away from the raiders before meeting with the priest. Now that he mentions it.

“How… did you two even enter the barrier?”

“Oh, enlightened beings like me and your friends now can just brute forced through it” The priest answered.

That word, ‘enlightened’ is sometimes used to describe those affected by the deities. Their power above any form of magic, their own existent goes against the rule of nature. That’s why some scholars would say they have ‘transcended’, or ‘enlightened’ to a higher form of knowledge, of understanding.

“I am sure you have learnt this in school but us Blinds are unaffected by this… thing, dearie” The Smiling Hunter said mockingly, of course she sounded amused.

‘So she is a Blind after all’ Bruno finally confirmed that suspicion. People with metal poured into their head, unable to use any sort of magic. But it also makes them immune to all thing arcane, even influence of the mysterious deities.

There is only one question left.

“Then what about me, I don’t really remember…”

“Oh dearie, that’s…” The Smiling Hunter somehow makes her way to him, her face right close to his. The man can feel the cold glass of the google in his eye even “Because you are also ‘enlightened’. Don’t worry though… I will remember to kill you after all this”

Raising her finger, Siobhan flicks his nose before retreating. The man recoils back from the threat, she is serious. He will die and Bruno can’t think of a way to change his fate. But he doesn’t mind, if ‘after all this’ means all of his friends will find rest, then the man would love to join them. This world isn’t worth living in.

The Smiling Hunter gathers the corpses of the cosmos-touched, there are five of them in total.

“I’ve never heard of this deity before, is this the threat you talked about, Father Walker? One that can somehow… end her” She asked.

“To be honest, I didn’t know about this until recently, while following her” The priest answered “She told me herself, whatever it is, this thing can kill her. Of course, I can’t let that happen, especially I show her the true way to enlightenment” He smiles, but there is something off, something evil, the priest usual gentleness is nowhere to be seen. The black stone embedded on his head glows a slight tint of red.

The three continues on their course outside of the barrier to the raider base camp. Bruno looks back to find the horse continues to stay put, not listening to any of them. That thing also somehow passed through this barrier.

“This woman that you two keeps on talking about… who is she” Bruno finally mustered the courage to ask them.

The two lunatics turn around, the priest can be seen with a wide grin on his mouth. And while he can’t see the face of the Smiling Hunter, the man is sure her smile is no less unsettling. “What do you want to know about, Mr. Raider?” Siobhan said, giggling.

“Maybe you can start with her name?”

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“We would if we know” The priest said “I have laid eyes, absorbed the most forbidden of knowledges, but that woman’s name continues to escape me”

“Not like it matters, you will know when you see her, she is one of a kind, truly special” The Smiling Hunter bends back at Bruno, fawning over this stranger “So resilient, I have pumped her full of bolts, strangled her, decapitated her, electrocuted her, drowned her, melted her with chemicals. Yet, that crimson harlot came back every time and stole my heart. I just want to fall into her arms then cut her apart, burry those pieces, maybe even consume them… Ah, there are so many ways left I want to try”

Bruno pushes Siobhan away, who is currently drowning herself with fantasies. This person is not affected by any deity, yet her mind is as damaged as those who do. The man feels disturbed, dirty to catch a glimpse of such depravity. But the Smiling Hunter isn’t the only one here obsessed with that crimson woman.

“Such an untainted mind, so… unaffected by the world” Father Walker also added in “I just want to show her pain and suffering, the true path to enlightenment. I want to see her transcend, reaching a level of agony that no other, even me, can even perceive”

The man regrets ever bringing this topic up. Although he can’t deny wanting to see this person, his mind swirling with possibilities. What could this ‘woman’ be, does she even look like human.

Their journey to the raider base camp is rather uneventful. Before everything was shrouded in darkness, Bruno could remember gazing out of the barrier to see everything covered by a thick mist. But now, no horrible monstrosities of the depth could be seen. No, this is just an ordinary forest in an ordinary sunny day, albeit without any wildlife.

“It seems like this cosmos deity has driven Scy’lla influence out” Bruno commented.

“Nah, I can still smell it, that salty ocean smell” Father Walker sniffs “It’s not too far from here actually”

“A survivor? Oh no, it would be a shame if something horrible is to happen” Siobhan said.

Deciding on a detour, the three finds a cave which used to belong to an unfortunate bear. Upon entering the place, Bruno’s nose is assaulted by the overwhelming smell of the depth. It is such a vivid sensation. The man feels as if he is being pulled down to the bottom of the ocean. He could see strange malformed creatures, some with monstrous jaw, some flopping around without a single bone in their bodies, a monster with a bright natural light swimming.

Bruno opens his mouth to scream only to find the water entering his mouth. The man opens his mouth before he could actually drown. It was just a vision, but that sight feels more real than this world he is living in.

Because that is the truth.

Further in they find a corpse of a bear, bloated with water. Its stomach already burst open to reveal an orb of liquid floating within.

“Don’t look at it!” Father Walker realised the nature of the thing too late.

The man finds himself flung backward, but what collides with his back isn’t cold hard rock but the embrace of the ocean. Bruno opens his eyes in a hallway with a faint light at the end illuminating the way. The stone walls around him, the ground and even the roof are all decorated with swirling spiral patterns. Turning back, the man can only see darkness, the only way to continue is forward to the light.

‘This place is amazing’ Those words, a memory.

After some walking, Bruno can see the end, a spiral podium with a bloodied knife in it. The weapon’s handle is wrapped in plain cloth, but the blade also has swirling pattern all over, resembling an eye, beckoning him forward.

‘So you are leaving, huh. The professors would be furious’ A time long past.

The man continues to walk, soon realising that he is hunching slightly, the ceiling lower than he thought. The more Bruno moves forward, the lower he has to be, a hunch soon turns into kneeling then before he knows it, the man is on his belly crawling toward the item. He is so close but not enough, the hallway is twisted at the end like a spiral. Yet Bruno continues to move forward.

‘That’s strange?”

The man wonders since when does his body swirl like this. Come to think of it, he can’t seem to remember what a normal body is supposed to look like. Oh right, [it’s a spiral shape].

A sharp pain rings out, shocking Bruno to the core, dragging him both figuratively and physically out of this spiral nightmare, straight into another one. It’s the barb wire on his arms, pulling him back into the darkness behind.

Falling to his back, Bruno finds himself in the spacious main chamber of a temple made of stone. But the architecture is all over the place. There are walkways strewing about, going into the ground, into each other, spiralling out into the ceiling.

But more pressing is the thing next to him.

A man covered in growth of black stones oozing red. Wait no, those aren’t stone but dry blood. Glass shards grows out like a flower between the cracked surface.

“That was close, you were nearly swallowed by the depth” The creature said, it spoke with a familiar voice.

“Father Walker… is that you” Bruno asked.

“Yes” The priest answered “I am curious in how you perceive me, but this is not the time for that. We need to hurry up”

The spiral stones break open as someone is flung past, flipping, the Smiling Hunter lands on her feet. How she did that, Bruno can’t tell, it reminds him of the cat back at the academy. What comes after her, however, makes his heart sinks to the ground.

“No… Marisa” The man grasps in horror.

It is one of his friends, but she is all malnourished, her stomach is bloated and cut opened, dried blood stained her body. From her womb is a humanoid creature, growing out, assimilating the woman into it. Covered in pale scales of spiral pattern, its eyes bulge out, blinking curiously. The thing reaches out with its elongated arms, fins sticking out, it tries to grab Siobhan, but she dodges that easily.

Most horrifying, however, is that Marisa is still… alive. Bruno can see that she is still conscious, absorbing every terrifying moment. His friend is like a tumour, a meat lump sticking out of her own child. She is dragged along, forced to experience every living waking moment.

[Bru…no, is… t…hat yo…u?] She groaned painfully.

“Yes, it’s me, Marisa… Just hang on” He reaches out but is held back by the priest. He looks at Bruno, shaking his head, his gentle gaze pierce through the black stones. The man understands, there is nothing he can do to help her. Biting his lips, the man turns to someone who can, the Smiling Hunter “Please, kill it, kill them all!”

“My pleasure!” Siobhan grins, she draws two gleaming steel blades. The old school is still the best. The woman can feel the adrenaline rush, excitement filled every fibre of her being. This is what she trains for, this is what she lives for.

This will be a good hunt.