Hunting the Beast, Part II
A chilling wind blew through the forest where darkness had settled.
It felt as though one could hear the rustle of pitch-black feathers fluttering through the leaves.
"We go on foot from here," Gyal said.
The subjugation team numbered ten in total.
When the scout ahead signaled, Gyal, who had been following at a distance, gave the order in a low voice.
Slowing his pace, a knight dismounted with a reluctant expression and spoke.
"The enemy might not be alone. Just a few days ago, smaller monsters swarmed right up to the castle gates. No matter how easily we can defeat them, fighting while outnumbered is foolish."
At his words, the soldiers following behind began exchanging uneasy glances.
None of them had experience fighting beasts, but they had volunteered to avenge their comrades who, just yesterday, had been laughing and joking alongside them.
"That is not the case," Gyal replied.
He didn't even spare them a glance.
From the very beginning, Gyal had not been pleased about bringing the soldiers.
Even this small group was only joined because he had reluctantly accepted them after turning down Count Dornen's original offer of two entire platoons.
Lightly dismissing the knight who had stepped forward on behalf of the soldiers, Gyal continued his explanation.
"Most beasts do not move in packs. In fact, they are highly aggressive toward other beasts that trespass into their territory. The pack of beasts that ran rampant near here was likely fleeing from the very creature we are about to face."
"You seem to know an awful lot about monsters whose identities even the royal court has yet to grasp."
"You do not have to believe me."
The knight looked anxious, but not terrified.
From his perspective, he was pointing out a perfectly reasonable concern, but our opponent was no ordinary wild animal or human.
And as far as I could tell, Gyal's claims about the beasts were entirely accurate.
I dismounted along with Rosia. Seeing this, the knight let out a soft sigh.
He seemed rather embarrassed to see us following along without a single complaint.
"My apologies. I will follow your lead."
The knight admitted his mistake surprisingly gracefully.
Since he had been ordered to assist us in subjugating the beast from the start, he wasn't in a position to argue anyway.
After that brief commotion, we handed our horses over to the scout.
There was no turning back now. I gripped the sword slung across my back and slowly began to circulate my energy.
"Aren't you scared?"
Rosia whispered, following the sound of footsteps while relying on the starlight filtering through the canopy.
The rustle of her light robe brushed against the air, carrying the faint, sweet scent of dew-kissed flowers.
"I'm fine," I replied.
"How long have you been with... that gentleman? Have you killed monsters before too?"
Ever since she found out Gyal was one of the Prophet's companions, Rosia had acted as if she didn't know how to behave around him.
She clearly had many questions but felt frustrated by the lack of answers. Perhaps that was why she mostly spoke to me.
"Not very long."
I nodded, giving a brief reply to her barrage of questions.
"How big was the monster you fought?"
What should I tell her?
The images of the countless beasts I had faced in the past rushed through my mind.
Beasts that shook mountains, swallowed oceans, and tore the sky asunder.
Even if I explained all of those experiences, she probably wouldn't believe me.
I simply shrugged and gave a small smile.
As we ventured deeper into the forest, even the occasional chirping of birds faded into silence.
When low-hanging clouds veiled the moon, dyeing the dark forest an even deeper shade of black—
"Aaaaargh—!"
Reeking of soft mud and the putrid stench of stagnant puddles, a sound like the phlegm-choked scream of a jawless mute washed over us.
The hair on my arms stood on end, and a cold sweat ran down my spine.
The knight ahead drew his sword from his waist, and Rosia let out a short shriek.
The soldiers cursed in trembling voices, leveling their spears toward the source of the noise.
Only Gyal did not stop, continuing to march forward.
"It seems we've entered its territory."
Almost instantly, the trees, the ground beneath our feet, and the very air around us began to tremble.
A massive shadow was approaching from the distance.
As the clouds parted, a shadow nearly as colossal as the red beast loomed into view.
A bloated, bluish-purple mass revealed itself.
It looked like a lump of raw meat. A beast that seemed stitched together from multiple rotting corpses flailed its limbs as it charged toward us.
"S-Stay back!"
Rosia, who had stumbled backward and fallen, waved her hands frantically. A burst of pale light erupted along the arc of her gesture.
Gyal drew his greatsword, and the knight braced his feet, preparing for the onslaught.
Though the sudden burst of light was blinding, I focused my energy into my limbs, searching for the beast's weak point.
From within eyes that held a darkness as deep as a quagmire, a tiny hand about a span long thrust outward. Dozens of muscular, giant arms were swinging wildly over pale skin and blackened shoulders.
Crack!
A massive tree—one so thick that Gyal couldn't have wrapped his arms around it—groaned and toppled over.
The thin trees growing densely nearby snapped and collapsed like reeds.
A beast of rotting flesh.
It was a creature that crushed anything with a physical body, pasting the remains onto itself to grow larger.
Gyal ducked low and swung his greatsword, severing its thickest leg as he shouted,
"Everyone, fall back as far as you can!"
Unable to control its own momentum, the beast tumbled forward and began rolling toward us.
Rosia was the first to scramble away, crawling along the dirt, while I lunged to the side, barely evading the creature.
"Th-Thrust!"
But the soldiers stood frozen, their limbs locked in terror. At someone's desperate scream, they planted the butts of their spears into the ground and aimed the tips at the beast.
Squelch. The spearheads pierced deep into the beast's soft flesh.
Though it wasn't enough to halt the beast entirely, they threw their weight into the shafts, desperately trying to keep from being overrun.
"Damn it, fall back!"
The spear shafts bent upward under the weight of the rolling beast.
They easily could have lost their grip, but the crushing weight drove the spears deeper into the earth, barely maintaining their sharp angle.
We can do this.
Just as that hope began to spread among the soldiers—
Riiiiiip—
With a grotesque tearing sound, the beast's skin ruptured, exposing the spearheads lodged inside its body.
Thud!
At the same time, the beast bounced slightly off the ground. The screams of the soldiers caught beneath its massive shadow mingled with the monster's roar.
"Aaargh! Aaagh!"
A sound like walking on thin ice echoed.
When the beast finally stopped rolling, we saw a horrific sight: the soldiers, impaled by the creature's limbs, were being absorbed into its bloated flesh.
"Help me! Please, help!"
"Aaaaaargh!"
A soldier whose throat had been pierced was making wet, bubbling noises.
The beast's thick hands tore away the twisted legs of a soldier to add to its own mass, while the tiny hands buried within its folds ripped open the chests of the others.
One by one, the screams fell silent.
The beast had grown even larger than before.
"What in the world..."
The knight, who had been flung into the forest after being struck by the beast, stammered in utter disbelief.
It was the terror of the unknown.
He seemed completely shell-shocked by the sight of a creature that remained perfectly fine after taking multiple spears to its body.
"Rosia!"
Gyal shouted, swinging his greatsword clad in hellfire.
At his call, Rosia, who had been staring blankly at the swelling mass of the beast, scrambled to her feet and thrust her hands forward.
"Aaaaargh—!"
A blindingly intense light gathered above the beast.
The eyes scattered across its skin began to weep as the beast shrieked in agony.
Now.
I concentrated my energy into my legs and lunged forward like an arrow, slicing across the creature's waist.
The flesh split open without much resistance, revealing a grotesque interior.
Hundreds of writhing, earthworm-like protrusions sprouted instantly, twisting toward my sword in an attempt to seize it.
No matter how many times I saw it, it was a sickening sight.
I spun my body and slashed through them once more.
A sizeable chunk of flesh tumbled onto the ground with a wet, squelching sound.
Meanwhile, Gyal's greatsword immediately followed into the open wound, and the beast's flesh began to sizzle, releasing a foul odor.
Another roar.
The tiny hands that had been tearing the absorbed soldiers apart began folding the flesh over to seal the wound.
I stepped on the severed flesh on the ground and delivered a massive vertical slash.
There were only two ways to kill this thing.
Either keep carving away its flesh like this, or pierce its heart in a single strike.
But all the spears were broken, and the beast wouldn't just stand there and let us carve it up.
Boom!
It slammed its fist down right where Gyal and I were standing.
It wasn't impossible to dodge, but the real problem came afterward.
Long, thin limbs shot out from the folds of its massive arm. I bent my waist backward with all my might, barely escaping their reach.
Meanwhile, Gyal swung his greatsword and severed the beast's arm.
The severed arm wriggled on the ground like a landed fish, thrashing wildly in all directions.
"Kyaaaah!"
While Gyal and I were distracted by the thrashing limb, the beast's remaining leg kicked off the ground.
The beast rolled at high speed, hurtling straight toward Rosia.
Can I save her?
Instinctively, I channeled all my energy into my legs and dashed toward them.
Just then, a wave of intense heat washed over me from behind, and a streak of crimson light slammed into the back of the beast's head.
"Aaargh! Aaagh!"
Fire instantly engulfed the beast's skin, sending it into a thrashing frenzy of agonizing screams.
Arms that had already turned to charcoal tried to grab the blade to pull it out of its body, but they crumbled into ash and fell away.
As the greatsword, which had unleashed an explosive burst of flames, began to cool, a dark figure leaped out from the side, placing himself between the beast and Rosia.
"On my honor, I shall strike you down!"
It was the knight, clad in dented armor.
With reckless bravado, he swung his sword, severing the limbs reaching for Rosia. With a triumphant look, he brandished his blade again and shouted to us,
"I will hold the line here! Deliver the killing blow, quickly!"
What an idiot.
I shouted as I continued to slash at the beast's thick flank.
"Get away from it, now!"
But the knight, as if telling us not to worry, swung his sword once more—
"Huh?"
His confidently swung sword stopped dead, as if lodged in solid stone.
No matter how hard he pulled, he could barely budge it.
"I said get back!"
As Gyal pulled his greatsword from the beast's body, flames erupted once more, casting deep shadows.
I can save him.
I have to save him.
Slicing through the beast's lunging limbs, I channeled a burst of energy into my foot and kicked the knight squarely in the chest.
With the screech of dented metal, the knight was lifted off his feet, but instead of flying backward, his body merely hovered and flailed in place.