Chapter 72 – Shadows Under Feet (5)
The dirt fell on my head and the hot heat swallowed my body. It felt like the blood flow hidden in the ground soaked my whole body. I searched for the day, desperately spitting out the dirt that came into my mouth.
“Haru! Holy shit!”
“Ugh… Cough… What the heck is this…”
“Follow the voice! Should I buy it…!”
“It’s okay! I got it!”
Fortunately, the elf’s eyes accurately captured the scene of the day even in the field where the soil was splashing in all directions. I confirmed that Saya was holding Haru, and then inserted the wire of his turret into his thigh.
“Keeeee!!!”
At that moment, the hatchling, which completely shook off its eggshell, let out a fierce roar. No matter how blind they were, they seemed to instinctively sense that there was prey right in front of their noses.
“Damn it…!”
“I have no choice but to catch this guy. When you’re ready, shoot Lope!”
“I know!”
A feeling of lethargy, which I had become accustomed to, entangled in my stomach. Mana, which escaped in an instant, rose from her muzzle to a deep blue light, and the surrounding air sizzled and electric shocks bounced here and there. Before I was sure I was ready, I pulled the battery straight toward Hetzling.
There was no room for hesitation. No, I didn’t even have time to aim. The Hetzling, who had approached right in front of me, was screaming.
“Keeeeeg
“Lope!”
In the meantime, Rebecca’s urgent voice was heard. Ears, head, wings die. Everywhere was good. I just pulled the trigger, praying not to miss.
The electric shock that was fired flew towards Hetzling, tearing through the air as much as possible. Then, without missing an inch, it was firmly inserted into the chest of the guy.
“Queueek!!!”
“Huh…!”
Perhaps because he was a newborn, he fell down in a flash and became ugly, and Rebecca accurately dug into the gap. In an instant, steam and blue smoke exploded simultaneously from her fists, and a thrilling sound of her flesh being ripped reverberated.
“…!”
Then the boy didn’t let out a single scream and remained silent. He couldn’t be certain of his death, but it seemed certain that he had been incapacitated.
“Whoa…”
“…Ugh.”
However, this damage was not easy. The sudden shot took a toll on her body, and Rebecca stumbled as well, holding onto her rattling shoulders. It seemed that her body and prosthetic arm were damaged at the same time due to the accumulated load.
Besides, it wasn’t just this one guy who woke up. As a sign of his collapse, Hetzling’s cries began to rain from all directions.
“Ehe eh eh !!!”
“Kwaeeeee!!!”
“How many of them…”
“Lope! It’s up there!”
“Oh man…!”
When I raised my head without a break, this time a huge shadow flying from the sky robbed my gaze. In fact, it was a bit unreasonable to call it a flight, but nonetheless, it was heading straight toward us.
It should be shot down. Just with that thought, I lifted the battery again. Suddenly, my stomach groaned and something squeezed through my throat. The draining of mana in a prepared state, and the forcible squeezing. There was a much bigger gap between them than I thought.
Even so, I managed to fire the cannon, and blood dripped from the corner of my mouth. I managed to hit the flying guy in the head, but that didn’t comfort me. Besides him, there were too many other guys to deal with.
“Kieh!”
“Kwaek! Kwaek!”
“They’re like bugs…!”
There was no end to going this way. The more you create a commotion, the more they will flock to you, and there was a limit to dealing with even the newest ones.
“Keeeee!!!”
Meanwhile, another guy lunged at us behind us. Instinct, not reason, turned the battery toward it.
“Ugh!”
Then, suddenly, his knees buckled and his posture collapsed. He panicked at the unexpected situation and tried to lift the gun somehow, but his arms couldn’t help it. In an instant, my heartbeat pounded hard in my ears with the sound of Hetzling’s footsteps.
“Lope!”
But before that, the scent of forget-me-nots filled my vision. As soon as Saya approached, she grabbed the gun and pulled the trigger instead of me. The more accurate and precise shot of the electric shock hit Hetzling’s jaw straight through.
“Kkeuk…!”
“Ugh…”
“Lope. Are you okay?”
Of course, the line was still connected to me, so my eyes were blurred as mana was rapidly draining again. When he raised his hand, blood dripped from the corner of his mouth and dripped onto it.
Is it because of my lack of magical power? Or did the things that had been overdoing since the island exploded all at once? Neither of them seemed to be able to recover easily. Saya must have realized that too, and desperately grabbed my face with her small hands.
“I’ll take care of this. So you help the day.”
“But it must be heavy…”
“I can lift this much. Let’s do that. Huh?”
“…Okay.”
“Lope! We have to move!”
Blood and dirt. And while the steam was flying, I barely got up and held Haru’s hand. The guy was startled and tried to shake off my hand, but when he realized it was me, he let his shoulders hang down.
“Damn it… You must be a senior. The surroundings are so noisy that I can’t do anything.”
“Yeah. It’s never a good environment for you.”
“Have you calmed down a bit? How’s it going?”
“That…”
Only then did I raise my head and look into the distance. Until now, I couldn’t capture the whole scenery because of the hatchlings that kept attacking me. That’s why I was able to realize one fact after rubbing my eyelids that were messed with dust.
Maybe this will be our last.
Dozens of hatchlings flying towards us seemed more than enough to make that assumption a reality.
“Ah…”
I almost lost hope and gave up everything. I was so insignificant as a human being in the sight of the sound of their cries and the destructive flapping of their wings and the sandstorm of their footsteps.
I even doubted that it was my destiny to crumble along with this dust that passed for a very short time.
“…”
“Seniors?”
But while that may have been my destiny, it couldn’t be theirs.
“You have to run.”
“Yes?”
“Run!”
So, for now, I decided to struggle. As soon as I kicked off the hot ground and stood up, a huge tidal wave of destruction began to attack us.
“Keeeee!!!”
“Damn it…Too many!”
“Run for now, Rebecca-san!”
“That’s right…!”
“Let’s run first!”
I crushed her refutation verbatim and sprinted through the wilderness with all her might. Sand dust danced from all sides and came crashing down on us, slowing our steps. No matter how hard I struggled, I couldn’t seem to get out of this hell.
Meanwhile, the screams of the hatchlings grew louder and louder. Now, they weren’t just crying, they were frantically venting their anger at the unseen prey.
“Keeeee!!!”
“Eeeee!!!”
Aaaaa!!!
“Ugh…!”
The screams gradually penetrated my ears and eventually stirred inside my head. Now it felt like a baby’s scream rather than hatchling. It seemed as if my screams, which I had cried out in my mother’s stomach in the beginning, were now echoing.
And that came as too much pressure for Haru, who sees the world through sound. Haru, who continued to tremble, spat out harsh curse words for the first time.
“Fuck… Fuck you bastards…”
“One day. Just endure it.”
“Fuck…Fuck…Really…!”
“Lope! Look ahead!”
“…!!!”
And then, right in front of her eyes, Hetzling’s teeth erupted. Rebecca and Saya raised their weapons at the same time, but it was already too late. I gritted my teeth and wrapped my arms around Haru’s head.
“…!”
“Keeeeeg
But his body just passed us by. I wondered if he failed to aim because he was young, but it wasn’t like that.
What he was aiming for was not us in the first place, but the bodies of our brothers who had fallen to the ground.
“Keeeeeg
“…! …!”
“Kieh!”
As if expressing the joy of his first hunt, he danced to and fro, biting off his brother’s flesh. Then, as a signal, the others also rushed towards it. Bitten by his own kind, the Hetzling couldn’t even scream, and only swung his head like crazy.
As long as we can eat, it doesn’t matter if we’re brothers. However, no one approached the other guys. The violence was concentrated on only one poisonous hetzling even though they were all equally bleeding. If I were to find a difference between them, there was only one.
The guy being bitten didn’t cry.
No. To be precise, he didn’t. Because Saya’s attack hit her throat directly. That’s how the blind guys tell each other apart. That sick cry that drives the day crazy.
That alone was our breakthrough.
“Buy it…!”
“Okay Lope!”
I only called my name, but Saya raised the bag as if reading my mind. Then, he began firing accurately at the jaws of the attacking guys.
“Kwaheek…!”
“Kkiek…!”
“…!”
Each time it collapsed, it struggled without sound, and it served as a very good incentive for the hungry fellow countrymen who woke up from the egg. Saya did her best to create such lures, and even Rebecca slapped them on the chin at close range. It was hard to open my eyes now because of the steam and blue smoke that exploded in all directions.
Still, the reward was sufficient. The hatchlings rushed at their own people, wounding each other, and eventually fighting among themselves. In an instant, the wilderness turned red and the smell of blood began to vibrate in the sand wind.
But that didn’t mean everything was over. Still some of them soared into the air looking for us. And Saya’s mana couldn’t support us forever either.
“Haha…”
“Buy!”
“Rope…”
Eventually, even Saya lost her strength and leaned on me. Hot heat rose like smoke from his limp body. Above it, the crucible of frenzy we created was dotted with screams of all kinds.
“Haha…”
“Keeeeemaker
“…! …!!”
“Ha…Heh…”
Now we had to hide our existence in this turmoil. When I raised my head like that, I began to see the end of the faraway wilderness. Beyond that was a city, and there would be a place to hide.
I had to run for the last time. Quietly without making a sound.
“Lope. I’m fine. I can do more.”
“It’s okay. Now we have to run away. Rebecca, the back…”
“Leave it to me. Now run!”
At her words, we started to run forward, even with the cannons we were carrying. Will there be any sound The steps he took while holding back his breath constricted his lungs and heart at the same time.
“Haha…!”
The world weighs me down. I couldn’t express more. It was like that even though I was carrying the weight of only two people. Sustaining the life of a precious person meant that.
Meanwhile, Hetzling’s screams haunted us until the very end. Even Haru, who had sensitive hearing, was bleeding from his ears.
“Fuck … Real dog fucks …”
“Haru…Bear it a little bit…Ahh…”
Saya tried to comfort her, but blood was still flowing from her ears. It was clear that the strength was gradually draining from Saya’s body. Dangerous. We must get out of here.
I continued to step forward, looking around with bloodshot eyes. His breathing quickened and his eyes were covered with blood and sweat, but he couldn’t stop. At the end of such a wandering gaze, I finally began to see human structures.
It was a bridge A bridge spanning the river between the wilderness and the city. Even though I couldn’t see the river, the image of the refreshing water of life gushing out filled my mind. If you go that far, you will be able to wash off the blood on your body and repel this repulsive pursuit.
Haru, perhaps feeling the smell of hope, barely whispered in a cracked voice.
“Senior… How long do you have left?”
“Almost there. Almost there.”
It wasn’t a lie. You really only need to go a little further. After going through that deep pit and overgrown bushes, you can step on bricks instead of dirt. The energy of hope gave strength to the crumbling bridge.
“Are you really almost there?”
“Yes. Really.”
“Haa… That really hurts my ears.”
The voice that had cracked a lot returned to its original state just a little bit. At this rate, I thought I might add a pointless joke like usual.
One day, as if to live up to that expectation, I carefully held on to the hem of my clothes and carefully opened my mouth.
“Seniors…”
“Huh?”
“…Avoid!”
Then, with all my strength, I pushed Saya’s body away from me.
“Day…?”
“Bastards…!”
While floating in the air without knowing why, Haru spit out swear words. It was only then that I realized that something was vibrating beneath the ground. It was a vibration that only one day could feel, which Saya and I were exhausted from realizing.
When I belatedly realized that fact, the dirt floor exploded behind Haru’s back.
“Ehe eh eh !!!”
“No!”
White shards scattered in all directions, and Hetzling’s shouts resounded. Debris flew into the place where I had been just a moment ago and was deeply embedded in the ground. Through that hour of death, I raised my head.
Then, the monster broke out of the egg and was born, crying out for birth. As if someone had pulled the string of time tight, the process flowed very slowly. I couldn’t tell if this only looked like that to my eyes, or if the world’s time had really slowed down.
But that’s for a while. The flow of time returned to normal and everything began to happen in an instant. As soon as I came to my senses, I hit my back on the ground and Haru fell to the floor. And Hetzling immediately turned his head toward it.
“What the fuck!”
“Ha…”
“No! Haru!”
Day with me And Rebecca’s voice rang at the same time. The roaring Hetzling broke through all those moments and rushed toward Haru. When her hand, which reached out somehow from her bottom, touched Haru, I pulled the hem of her clothes with all my might.
But before that, Hetzling’s mouth turned this way. Then, Haru’s shoulders, which were being dragged toward her, were torn apart with her hideous teeth.
“Aaaaa!!!”
“Day!”
Blood gushed from Haru’s slender body and a sharp scream broke out. Before I could think, I threw her into her pit, holding her in her arms.
Meanwhile, blood continued to spurt out. A scream I had never heard before erupted from Haru’s mouth.
“Aaaaa!!!”
“Heuuuuu…!!!”
“Haru. Look at me! Look at me!”
“Uuuuu…!”
“No… Haru…!”
Saya, who had slid down the pit after us, put her mouth shut. I put a gag in her mouth to keep Haru from screaming and continued to stroke her hair.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry Haru. But I have to keep my voice down for now.”
“Heuuuuu…!”
“I’ll take care of your wounds, okay? Don’t worry.”
“Huh…Huhh…”
“Lope. There’s blood… So much blood…”
When I turned my gaze to Saya’s voice, a puddle of Haru’s blood was forming on the floor before I knew it. I somehow calmed my trembling hands and threw away the bag I was wearing.
“Press here to buy. You have to press down firmly, okay?”
“Blood…Blood keeps coming…”
“Calm down, please. This could really kill the day. Press down with all your might.”
“Ah… I see…”
Saya somehow swallowed her tears and pressed Haru’s body, and I hurriedly opened the bag and looked for a clean cloth. But my hands were shaking, so it wasn’t that easy. Meanwhile, overhead, the sound of Hetzling and Mr. Rebecca fighting resonated heavily.
After so much patience, a white bandage was finally pulled out from under the bag. Although it wasn’t perfectly clean, this was the only thing I could use now.
“Haru. I’m going to stop the bleeding from now on. It will really hurt, but I have to endure it somehow.”
“Huh…Huh…”
“It’ll be fine. Please hold on.”
“Huh…”
At my words, Haru barely nodded while sweating like crazy. I took a deep breath and began to tightly bandage the cut wound.
Then, despite the determination he had made earlier, Haru went into a fit of madness.
“Huuuuu…!!!”
“You have to endure it. Wake up one day…!”
“Huuuuu!!!”
“It’s almost done…Almost finished…!”
“Huh…Uh…”
The more the bandages were wrapped, the more the pupils complaining of pain gradually began to loosen. No. You can’t faint. Please calm down While I was praying, Saya desperately touched Haru’s hair. A time of unbearable pain gripped the three of us simultaneously.
“Done…!”
“Huh… Uh…”
Just like that, when the bleeding was finally finished, Haru’s fluctuating waist slowly came down. Fortunately, the blood was gradually stopping. I finally removed the gag from her mouth and brushed her forehead.
“Day.”
“…”
“Haru. Answer me.”
“Seniors…”
“Ah…Hah…”
When her thin voice came out, the breath I had been holding in burst out in an instant. I ran my hair through my hair with trembling hands and bowed my head to Haru.
“Haru. I’ll get out of here soon and treat you. So, wake up. Okay?”
“Sorry…”
“It’s okay. It’s okay.”
“Haru! Are you okay!”
Then Mr. Rebecca came down her pit, belatedly following her slope. Judging from the sound of hatchlings not being heard from above, it must have been sorted out somehow.
But Haru didn’t care about that and kept lifting her arm on the other side of her. And then she poured out apologetic words.
“I’m sorry, senpai…”
“No. Don’t do that.”
“Sorry…”
“Don’t say that. It wasn’t your fault. So…”
“…That’s not it.”
Nevertheless, one day, I finally lifted her arm and put it in front of my eyes. That strange obsession forced me to turn my gaze toward it.
But there was nothing there. He didn’t hold anything in his hand, and there were no blood stains on the white back of his hand. Absolutely clean…
…
“Ah.”
Only then did I realize that something was wrong and looked at the back of Haru’s hand. There was nothing there.
There really was nothing, just clean.
Wounds too. Scar too.
And the new blue pattern.
“…”
I slowly turned my gaze to look at Rebecca. And as expected, he met her eyes, which were pointing toward the back of Haru’s hand.
Their eyes, which had been straying from each other, slowly began to collide with each other. Suddenly, without realizing it, my hand went to the hilt wrapped around my waist. And Rebecca also looked at me quietly.
We swallowed dry saliva at the same time. And in each other’s eyes, I felt a clear fear.
