The Flesh That Remembers
Sonia let out a gasp of admiration.
"Whoa, that was insanely well done."
A ghostly knight descending through the darkness astride a spectral steed.
And Elbridge and Rombel, leaping up the sheer castle wall to slice the ghostly knight apart.
It was the kind of heroic feat that belonged in the old legends. So brief that it almost felt disappointing.
"···."
Yet the two who had just performed that magnificent display wore faces as hard as stone.
Marcus's expression grew even graver than theirs.
What the hell happened?
In the past year, Marcus had never seen Elbridge and Rombel look this serious.
Even facing the black giant, even in the middle of a Stampede, the pair had maintained at least some composure. But right now, there wasn't a trace of ease on either of their faces.
Unlike Marcus, however, Sonia still hadn't read the atmosphere.
"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
"Yes."
"What kind of problem?"
Elbridge's gaze turned toward the remnants of the ghostly knight.
"Ah, is it because of the seal? Just wait a second···."
Sonia, who had been about to prepare the sealing ritual, froze mid-motion.
Only now did she spot the shattered glass bead inside the ghostly knight's armor.
Its shape and size were somewhat familiar to Sonia, and it was violently belching out ominous black smoke. And there weren't just one—there were two.
Sonia unconsciously spat out a curse.
"Oh my god, fuck."
Sealing the ghostly knight no longer mattered.
Her voice trembled.
"Elbridge. You were amazing back there—do you think you could take on a demon too? I can enchant your weapons like crazy···."
Rombel answered in Elbridge's place.
"No."
Every demon carried its own variables.
And when those variables doubled, it didn't simply mean twice the danger.
The moment two or more demons gathered, even the flow and outcome of battle became impossible to predict.
That was why the basic combat doctrine when facing multiple demons was to avoid engagement entirely.
It didn't matter how many prepared forces you had, how skilled the knights were, or what kind of demon it was. Unless irreversible damage was already guaranteed, the order was always to retreat.
This had been true even in the past, when the level of Holy Knights had been far higher than now.
And right now, there were only five people present.
Elbridge considered the odds.
What were the chances that both demons were like the black giant—creatures with almost no variables?
Low.
What were the chances they would have extreme compatibility like the demon they had seen in the basement of the Central Magic Tower?
Negligible.
The conclusion had been clear from the start.
Combat doctrine existed for a reason.
Engagement is out of the question.
Yet Elbridge still couldn't shake off his lingering reluctance.
Is retreating here truly the right choice?
He had no way of knowing exactly what information remained inside Viscount Dickens's castle.
But one thing was certain: the chances that those clues would still be there if they left and came back later were slim.
Sssss—
While Elbridge was still weighing his decision, the smoke leaking from the beads began to gather and take shape.
It was still blurry, but he could already make out the silhouettes of demons.
That one looks humanoid···.
Since there were so many humanoid demons, the silhouette alone wasn't much of a clue.
But the other demon was different. Its silhouette and size alone were enough to guess its identity.
Rombel muttered under his breath.
"···Star Serpent."
Most demons had no fixed names. At best, those who fought them would simply give them nicknames—like the black giant or the demon of flowers.
But on very rare occasions, certain entities earned special titles.
The colossal serpent known as the Star Serpent was one such demon.
Its scales shimmered like the Milky Way on a clear night. Its size was among the largest of all demons. Its temperament was relatively gentle compared to others. And yet the catastrophic damage its mere presence brought···.
Watching the two demons slowly complete their forms, Marcus shuddered.
"Sir Elbridge. Last time I heard you were an expert at buying time for retreats···. Looks like the perfect chance to show off your specialty has arrived."
A blunt suggestion to retreat immediately.
But after a brief moment of thought, Elbridge shook his head.
"Even if it's dangerous, we must inspect the lord's castle."
Who had gathered the seals, who had broken them, who had lured Viscount Dickens into the trap.
All those clues might be inside the lord's castle.
He knew it was only a possibility. But Elbridge could not afford to let that possibility slip away.
Marcus immediately shouted.
"That's insane!"
"It will be dangerous. But I doubt I'm the only one who believes we must enter the lord's castle."
Elbridge and Sonia's eyes met.
Even after seeing the two shattered beads, Sonia had asked whether Elbridge could defeat the demons.
It was clear she wanted to enter the lord's castle even at the risk.
Sonia asked.
"Is it possible?"
"There's no guarantee we'll come out alive."
Sonia squeezed her eyes shut.
Her goal was no longer mere survival.
"···Fuck it. If we die, we die. Let's go!"
But before Sonia could set off with Elbridge, Rombel spoke.
"Sonia! Set that building in front of us on fire!"
"Fire?"
"We can't be the only ones who get out! If we're going to save the crows and escape, we have to do this!"
"Wait, what does fire have to do with··· that Star Serpent thing?"
"The Star Serpent perceives its surroundings through temperature. It hates fire and tends to get lost in burning areas."
The plan was to confuse the colossal serpent's senses by setting fires.
Two hundred years ago, when the Star Serpent had appeared, the very first step in responding had been to light fires.
Moreover, if flames rose in the deep of night, the crows who had been scavenging ownerless valuables would realize something was terribly wrong.
The quick-witted ones might be able to slip away in advance.
When Sonia chanted a spell and swung her staff, flames bloomed across the wooden roof.
Rombel shouted.
"Elbridge, Sonia. Let's meet again alive! Marcus, Walter! You two follow me!"
Rombel tore off a burning section of the roof, held it like a torch, and ran.
He paused here and there to set other buildings ablaze as well.
Precise allocation of personnel and seasoned situational judgment.
Elbridge gave a small smile.
It's always easier when I'm moving with Rombel.
Elbridge approached Sonia. She spread both arms as if asking to be carried on his back.
"Here."
But Elbridge did not carry her on his back.
Instead, he lifted her up and tucked her under his right arm like a piece of luggage.
"···?"
"Let's go."
Elbridge kicked off the ground. Sonia, dangling like a sack, stared ahead.
The inner wall rushed closer at terrifying speed, then her body shot straight upward.
Stairs or ladders were unnecessary. A small protruding stone, a foothold barely wide enough for the tip of a toe, a gap for his fingers···. With just that much, Elbridge scaled the outer wall without difficulty.
And his speed was incredible. To Sonia, it felt less like climbing and more like flying.
Being carried like baggage and whipped back and forth, she found herself atop the inner wall in the blink of an eye.
The ground lay dizzyingly far below. A height several times that of a grown man.
Sonia spoke urgently.
"Wait, wait just a—!"
But Elbridge gave her no time to catch her breath and leaped down.
"Kyaa!"
The ground hurtled toward them. Fierce wind roared past her ears. It was chilling.
Her fingertips and toes went numb. Sonia's thick hair whipped wildly in the wind.
A movement faster, more violent, and more unfamiliar than anything she had experienced in her entire life.
Whether from fear or excitement, Sonia's heart pounded like mad.
She lifted her head with all her strength and looked at the lord's castle. Then she raised her head a little higher to see Elbridge's face. And beyond that, the night sky.
Even though the sky was thick with clouds, it was beautiful. A once-in-a-lifetime moment.
An inexplicable sense of elation welled up from deep within her chest.
There was no guarantee they would survive the night, yet for some strange reason, she felt incredibly good.
Tap.
A landing as soft as the movement had been violent.
Still dangling like luggage, Sonia pointed toward the lord's castle.
"Let's go! That way, over there!"
Her voice was strangely excited given the situation.
···Why does she sound so thrilled?
Thinking that, Elbridge ran in the direction of Sonia's finger.
The ornately decorated doors of the lord's castle came into view. But there was no time to open them properly.
They had no idea how much time they had left, so they needed to hurry even a little more.
Bang!
Elbridge kicked the door open and entered the lord's castle.
"Left!"
They ran down the corridor and turned left,
"Last room!"
The final room at the end of the corridor. They approached the lord's office.
Elbridge did not kick down the door to the lord's office.
Only then did he set Sonia down from under his arm.
Sonia staggered for a moment before regaining her balance.
"···That was fast."
After months of hardship just to reach the lord's castle, Sonia had arrived inside it in a single night.
Yet instead of feeling empty, she felt strangely good.
Sonia and Elbridge took a deep breath at the same time, as if they had planned it, and opened the door.
They expected the creak of hinges that usually came from long-neglected buildings.
But there was no sound of hinges. Even the sensation of the door opening felt somehow wrong.
Elbridge's instincts screamed danger. He released the half-open door, grabbed Sonia, and took two steps back.
And through the half-open door, they saw a bizarre sight.
The space that should have been the lord's luxurious office had become a pale pink chamber.
Flesh.
A room made entirely of human flesh.
It was a grotesque sight even Elbridge had never seen before.
But it wasn't simply the product of perverse taste.
The space was moving—ever so slightly, so subtly that even Elbridge with his keen senses could barely perceive it—as if declaring that it was alive.
"This is···."
Elbridge opened the door a little wider and examined the interior.
The office made of flesh contained furniture half-covered in the same material. Embedded throughout the walls and ceiling were more than a dozen large and small beads.
As if they had become part of the space itself.
Not all of Viscount Dickens's collection was destroyed. That's fortunate.
The two stepped inside the lord's office.
Sonia, who had been silently looking around, spoke in a small voice.
"···Is Father in another room?"
But her voice carried not a question, but a tremor.
Elbridge knew exactly what Sonia was thinking. Because he was imagining the exact same thing.
Both of them simply hoped it was nothing more than a horrific and repulsive product of their imaginations.
And a moment later, beside a bookshelf half-covered in flesh, Elbridge found something he really didn't want to see.
"Sonia."
"Yes?"
"What color were Viscount Dickens's eyes?"
"···Brown."
What Elbridge had found was a brown eyeball embedded in the wall.
The eyeball moved slowly and occasionally blinked. Just above it were what looked like eyebrows.
Sonia, who had come to stand beside Elbridge, stared at the brown eyeball.
The eyeball then looked at Sonia instead of Elbridge. It trembled faintly and blinked several times.
It's still alive. It recognized Sonia.
Sonia reached out and gently stroked the area around the eye.
"Father. How did this··· happen to you?"
No tears flowed from the brown eyeball.
But Elbridge thought its owner must be crying.
The area around Sonia's eyes turned red.
Yet Sonia only clenched her teeth from time to time. She did not cry. She knew that if she wept, Viscount Dickens would suffer even more.
While Sonia and Viscount Dickens gazed at each other, Elbridge thoroughly searched the lord's office.
He found the other eye beside the door, two small nostrils in one corner of the room, and finally, a mouth beneath a carpet thick with dust.
When Elbridge lifted the carpet, Viscount Dickens slowly moved his lips.
Whether his vocal cords were gone or not, no voice came out.
But lip movements were enough to communicate.
Viscount Dickens mouthed the words.
Sonia.
I love you.
Run.
And then, both Elbridge and Sonia felt a massive tremor.