Chapter 25: Blood Curdling Shriek.
Like any other day, the blind girl held tightly onto her brother as he descended down the dune structure at a rather steady pace.
With a dark grimace, I dug the dagger into the dune structure. Though I made sure to find cracks in the surface of the ancient architecture in an attempt to ease the harsh pain radiating through my hands with each clanging sound.
...But even then, the descent was still nothing short of arduous. And by the time we were done with the descent, every single muscle in my arms ached and groaned in agonizing pain.
'...Crap! That hurts like hell!'
With a grim expression, I turned to face the rest of the cohort who all tensed up, a dark expression creeping up on their features as they gazed at the vast, desolate land before them. Except for the fact that this desolate and ruined landscape wasn't all that desolate. And instead, sprawled across its surface were nightmarish creatures of all kinds. Each one a conductor of nightmares and horror.
"...Hum."
"So," I paused, shifting my gaze towards Mia. "How do we plan on facing the nightmarish creatures we might encounter?"
Aezel turned to face Mia and I, his expression growing tense.
"...Was also about to ask the same thing?"
I turned to face him.
'Yeah. Very obvious.'
Aezel scowled.
'What do you mean by that?'
I simply rolled my eyes.
'...I meant what I meant.'
We both stared at each other for a few seconds, the silence growing louder before Mia spoke with a light frown on her face.
"I will be responsible for distracting the creatures."
She then turned to face me.
"You will be responsible for finding the opportunity to strike the weak spot of the nightmare creatures."
Her expression turned dark.
"...Provided we can find one."
I nodded tensely.
'Not all nightmare creatures had such obvious weaknesses after all. And the only thing we could do at this point was hope we met no such creature.'
...Even if I doubted that was possible.
But, it was also then that I raised my head up to face the crimson haired lady. Upon noting the problem surrounding this simple yet hopefully efficient plan of hers.
"What if there's a horde of such nightmarish creatures?"
With a blank expression, she said:
"Well... try to stay alive."
'Thought as much.'
A grim expression darkened my features as I took another step forward.
***
....Soon, we continued with the journey. Over the course of hours, we made sure we avoided as many nightmarish creatures as possible, as we headed north.
'Our only source of hope in this wretched and cursed land of madness and infidelity.'
It was then that I,
Step.
Stopped. Having caught sight of what tensed my muscles and strained my breath.
'Huk... Huk...'
I struggled to breathe.
"T-there is a horde of nightmarish creatures ahead."
My voice echoed through the silence.
...Due to my unusual ability to see much farther than most arcanists in the darkness, Mia had handed on to me the job of scouting ahead.
A light frown crept up her face as she asked.
"How many?"
I stared at the path ahead of us and began to count.
'Hmm, one... two... three... five... Crap!'
My eyes widened at the sight. However, I forced myself to calm down, and turned to face Mia.
"There are at least six such nightmarish creatures."
Mia grew silent, as though deep in thought. It was then, however, that Aezel spoke, a light frown marring his features.
"Can we avoid them?"
I raised a brow at the question as I scrutinized the path before us, my expression growing more grim with each passing second.
"...We can. But..."
My throat suddenly felt dry.
"We would probably not be able to make it to the next dune structure in time. And...
"To make matters worse, we might probably come across the dark mist."
...The thought of the dark mist.
'Ah...'
It was more than enough to make every hair at the back of my neck stand on end. Even my breath suddenly felt denser and was now a thousand times more difficult to take in, as though I were breathing in lead.
It was also then that the more harrowing words came out of my mouth.
"So would fighting against them."
"..."
"..."
Aezel frowned, his gaze piercing through the darkness. Albeit a little bit difficult, he was able to discern slithering silhouettes writhing in the darkness. And...
"...!"
His expression slowly turned darker with each passing second. However,
Just as the tense silence stretched taut, Mia raised her head up.
And just like I expected.
"We fight,"
She said, her voice tinged with that same hint of crazy determination.
'Damn it!'
I scowled in a mixture of indignance and deep bitterness.
'To be honest, I knew she'd still end up choosing to fight. After all, either we fought or not, the result was still going to be the same. However, to Mia, this was a rare moment to better our battle prowess and hone ourselves under the immolating pressure of death.'
It was crazy? Yes. But at the same time, it was also the best form of training that one could ask for in this wretched land. However, I agreed with this method didn't mean I really wished to go on with it. It was as a result that I opened my mouth to retort.
"B-but we can avoid them."
The crimson haired lady's expression grew cold as she said:
"Yes we can. And so can we fight them."
That, I had nothing to say to.
I grimaced in dark annoyance.
'Why can I never win in an argument against her?'
...I let out a light reluctant sigh.
Supressing the fear and the panic swiftly rising within me, I brought forth to light, the azure dagger. Its cold, curved edge glistening in the dark like an agent of dread and destruction.
In that moment, my eyes shone with the same cold glint, a dark smile playing at my lips.
After all, as scared of nightmarish creatures as I was, they were at the same time, my only source of joy and anything of remotely close design in this world of nightmare.
The thought of killing them. The thought of surviving their onslaught. That...
'That was more than enough to keep me going.'
With a dark grimace, I gripped the azure dagger even tighter.
'Here goes nothing!'
My face paled as my grip on the blade faltered.
However, knowing what I had to do, I grimaced and stepped into the shadows, hiding within the darkness... while waiting for the perfect moment to surge out of them. At the same time that I did, a blazing incandescent flame rose from Mia's body, overflowing into the surroundings as she dashed forward, towards the horde of nightmarish creatures.
In that moment...
'....!'
The nightmarish creatures all turned to face her, an all-consuming darkness and something much more primal igniting within their pupils.
Creak!
My heart tensed at the sight. However,
Step~!
In a flash of crimson, a blood-curdling shriek pierced the darkness, rattling my skull and dulling my senses.
'Crap!'
That was the last thought I had as I felt something fast rapidly approach me from the shadows.
...And then, all hell broke loose.