Chapter 10: On the Boundary Between Humans and Monsters (3)
Upon hearing the boy’s words, Lien rushed to the village only to be met with a scene that was utterly incomprehensible.
Corpses scattered everywhere.
Buildings ablaze.
In the distance, a familiar face came into view.
The kind lady who always treated her warmly.
Yet from that face, the gentle smile that used to beam while sharing too much food was nowhere in sight.
Instead, all she saw was a woman with empty eyes, shedding tears.
She clung tightly to a lump of flesh.
As if it were something incredibly precious.
Then, Lien realized that the lump of flesh was none other than the village’s infamous troublemaker, the little rascal who used to play pranks on her.
Behind the weeping lady, a knight approached with merciless intent.
And then…
Slice!
The lady’s head fell away frighteningly easily.
Lien could hardly comprehend it.
Her mind struggled to keep pace with the chaos.
With just a single swish of the sword, someone’s life had come to an end.
Never again would Lien savor the pies the lady baked for her.
The notorious little troublemaker would no longer come by to show her bugs and giggle.
“Why?”
Lien numbly stared at the face of the knight who had beheaded the lady.
That face harbored no trace of guilt.
Just a smile, as if he were pleased to have added another piece to his collection; he’d take the severed ears and treasure them carefully.
They exchanged jokes among themselves, betting on who could kill more.
Talking like that.
Killing those who were like family to Lien.
The uncle who always smelled of alcohol, forever scolded, now trembling with fear, desperately shielding his child and wife.
And the knight, wearing a disturbingly cheerful grin… shoved the uncle aside and advanced toward the child.
He embraced the child and while the mother screamed in terror, he crushed her head with his hands, then sliced the child’s throat.
“Daddy, save me!”
Like a twisted puppet show, the knight held the child’s head up to his face, mimicking the words that came out.
Imitating the child’s voice, he let out a snicker in front of the uncle, who wailed in anguish over his lost family.
He even clapped at the sight of the uncle, driven insane, plunging a knife into his own throat.
Lien’s head was spinning.
She couldn’t wrap her mind around it.
It made no sense at all.
That he could belong to the same species as her.
That he could be a human like her.
“Lien.”
Someone placed a hand on her shoulder.
It was her father.
The priest was looking at her.
“You mustn’t go.”
It was an expression unlike any she had seen before. Such sorrow, such torment painted his face.
“Fate has found you. Fate has come for you…”
What that fate was.
Why her father sought to impede her.
She had a vague notion.
“If you go, you may never return.”
Yet, even upon hearing such warnings, her feet wouldn’t stop.
The girl moved forward with a vacant gaze, focusing on the knights.
Fate was leading her.
Among the panicking crowd, she stood alone, facing hundreds of knights.
Their stares bore down on her.
A man, noticing her, approached with vile remarks spilling from his lips.
And then… Lien cut off the man’s leg.
Splurt!
Blood gushed out like a fountain.
The knight, realizing he had just lost a leg, panicked.
And Lien, in a daze, watched the scene unfold.
Then she understood.
Why she had severed the leg.
She knew exactly where to cut, where to slash, where to stab.
Seeing the most efficient way to take a life, yet why had she opted for such an inefficient method?
She comprehended it.
“Oh, don’t come! I said don’t come! Didn’t you hear me!”
The grotesque struggle to survive.
It struck her as beautiful.
As he bled, trembling in fear of fading into oblivion.
Realizing that one isn’t immortal, that one is made of flesh and blood.
The screams lost amidst the pain.
It was all too…
Delightful.
“Ah…”
Tears rolled down the girl’s cheeks.
Lien recalled the playful promise she made with the boy just moments before.
She remembered the lighthearted vow to embrace her again if she ever lost consciousness, just like before.
It felt embarrassing, a bit shy, but it made her happier than any words could convey.
But that promise would never come to fruition.
A smile lingered on her lips.
Even as she cried, she wore a grin that radiated immense happiness.
The girl grasped her true nature.
It wasn’t much different from those knights.
A murderer deriving pleasure from the demise of others.
That was her true essence.
She was not a person but a monster.
A monster who had fooled herself into believing she could become human.
*
Sian, the knight in charge of this expedition for the Empire, was paralyzed with fear, desperately trying to suppress his breathing.
He felt an overwhelming urge to cover his ears.
Laughter.
He could hear laughter.
Ha-ha-ha! filled with madness, reverberated around him.
Sian couldn’t wrap his head around the monster standing before him.
The Empire’s knights are no weaklings.
They were the elite among elites.
Warriors capable of crushing human skulls with their bare hands.
Yet, not a single one dared to resist this girl.
Humans were becoming nothing more than chunks of meat.
The knights, those with whom he had shared countless battles, degraded into something utterly inhuman.
Even when attempting to shield themselves with magical defenses.
Even whilst employing magic.
Nothing could affect this monster.
Grinning grotesquely, the beast tormented the people around her.
Sian could see no future in which he could survive.
If only the opponent were a demon, there would be a strategy.
Demons aren’t incomprehensible adversaries.
In fact, they can turn into good contract partners.
The last time, when he purged the commoners who rebelled against the Empire,
It was merely for the amusement of toying with a few children in front of their parents that a demon blessed Sian with immense power.
They were grateful beings who even compensated him for his leisure activities.
But this wasn’t a demon.
It was a monster that couldn’t be fathomed by common sense.
A creature beyond human understanding.
The laughter grew closer.
But escape was not an option.
His body wouldn’t respond.
He had run out of subordinates to use as meat shields.
Therefore, Sian could only sit still, watching the girl advance toward him.
He witnessed something incomprehensible: crying more sorrowfully than anyone else, yet smiling brighter than anyone else.
That was Sian’s last memory.
*
The priest stared blankly at the sky.
There was no need for further rites to know.
The very thing he had dreaded had finally transpired.
Fate had come for the child.
In some ways, it felt inevitable.
Fate is fate because it cannot be escaped.
In the end, the very reason the priest couldn’t bring himself to slay the girl he considered as his own daughter,
The reason such a tragedy unfolded today,
All of it had been predetermined.
Unchangeable.
The villagers fled in terror.
Or more accurately, they were too paralyzed by fear to even attempt to escape.
The only one who maintained some semblance of composure was the priest.
Everyone else failed to endure the foreboding curse cascading down from the sky.
The sky turned crimson.
A divine presence loomed.
However, this was not the god they worshipped.
Could it even be labeled as a deity?
Something that drove people mad just by being witnessed, something that decimated their minds merely by being nearby, spewed forth ominous curses.
‘Lien.’
The being that would emerge, using that child as a vessel.
Could it truly be called a deity?
‘…I don’t know.’
The only certainty was that this marked the end of the priest’s journey in life.
When a being that brings solely death descended upon this world, survival was utterly impossible.
The priest’s strength was waning.
He could no longer withstand the curse.
Something was gnawing at his mind.
Whispers of stories that could not, and should not, be comprehended invaded his ears.
His vision slowly blurred.
And within that fading clarity, the priest beheld a man.
Mumbling, knowledge that left the mind in chaos.
A fear and oppression that inscribed themselves upon his body involuntarily.
He saw a man, enduring the curse that could drive anyone mad by mere contact, strolling toward its source with his own volition.
It made no sense at all.
Sensation eluded him when he glanced toward the man.
He wasn’t safeguarding himself with divine power like the priest. No magical energy radiated from him.
With sheer willpower alone,
With a mental strength that exceeded human capacity, he resisted the curse.
And yet, he walked straight toward the very source of the curse.
The priest’s consciousness began to fade away, bit by bit.
With the last of his strength, the priest managed to utter:
“You mustn’t go.”
If you step into that place, you will never survive.
But the man did not pause.
Without a second glance, he stepped toward his doom.
Leaving behind only the incomprehensible words that he had a promise to keep.
