Their Purpose (2)
One hour earlier.
In one of the guest rooms of the inn where Milia and Schwarz were staying.
"Catch me if you can!"
"Hey! You over there!!"
"K-kids… I t-told you not to make so much noise…!!"
As children at that age so often did, they were turning the room into complete chaos. The only girl among them tried to rein them in, but her voice was utterly drowned out by the boys' shouting.
Ordinarily Vincent would have kept them in check, but right now he stood at the window with a grave expression, staring outside.
"There's no one…"
The guards who had never once left their posts outside the inn were nowhere to be seen. Not a single one. And that was not all. The people who had been bustling through the streets had long since vanished without a trace.
Streetlamps and the lights of the buildings still burned, yet the streets themselves held no sign of human life. An eerie, almost chilling sight. Vincent stepped away from the window and approached the children still racing about the room.
"Kids. How about we play hide-and-seek instead?"
"Hide-and-seek!"
"I wanna play! Let's play hide-and-seek!"
"M-me too…"
They were at the age when running and playing was pure joy. At the mere mention of hide-and-seek their eyes lit up as they looked up at him. Vincent offered them a faint smile.
"All right. I'll count to ten starting now, so go hide somewhere other than this room. Got it?"
"Yeah! Got it!"
"You have to count all the way to ten! No skipping!"
"I-I'll hide…!!"
Nodding at his words, the children hurried out into the hallway.
Vincent watched them go with that same faint smile, then let out a short sigh and turned his head.
From the shadows beyond the reach of the light spilling through the window, someone stepped into view.
"Leave my little brothers and sisters alone. I'm the only one you need."
"A wise choice."
A robe black as pitch, a mask dark as the abyss, and through the eyeholes a pair of violet irises. The masked man spoke as he gave a light clap of his hands. Of course, the words held more mockery than praise.
"Then let's not waste any more time."
As the masked man finished speaking, writhing darkness surged up from his shadow, and an abyss much like the one he had used to vanish at the harbor took shape.
Vincent stared at it for a moment, then set his feet in motion with a hardened face.
Anyone… please, just end this nightmare.
As the abyss began to swallow everything before his eyes, that was all Vincent could think.
The harbor district had become pure pandemonium.
People fled screaming while fully armed soldiers rushed toward the docks. From farther off came more screams, frantic shouts, and monstrous howls.
Milia and Schwarz leapt from rooftop to rooftop, weaving through the torrent of panicked crowds below.
"In the end we couldn't stop it again…"
Looking down at the hellish scene beneath her feet, Milia ground her teeth in frustration.
"It isn't your fault, My Lady."
No one could rightly call the present situation her responsibility. If she could have known in advance where and when disaster would strike, she would long ago have made a name for herself as a prophet.
"I know. I know that."
"My Lady…"
Even so, the bitterness refused to leave her. She snapped the reply at him, nerves frayed. Schwarz understood her feelings well enough and took no offense.
"Kyaaaaah—!!"
"What…!?"
A scream rang out from the direction they were heading. Both of them turned, and their eyes fell on a demonic beast bursting up through an open manhole in the sewer.
Its overall shape was roughly humanoid, the body covered in hard-looking carapace. The left arm was a massive octopus tentacle; the right resembled the claw of some enormous crustacean. Its head was a ring of circular, saw-like teeth like those of a lamprey.
In a single word: grotesque.
"Schwarz!"
"Yes, My Lady!"
At her cry he nodded and poured mana into his bracelet. The golden inscriptions on the black gauntlets flared to life. Schwarz charged the beast and kicked aside the arm that had been about to smash down on a fallen woman.
[Kiiiiiik—!!]
"Hup!!"
Caught by the sudden strike, the beast's body lurched and lost its balance. Schwarz seized the opening, lunged in, and thrust one hand straight into its maw. With the other he gripped its shoulder and clenched the fist inside its mouth.
[Kiiiiii—!!]
A scream of agony tore from the creature as it flailed tentacle and claw at him. Schwarz twisted and dodged every blow, then, with a sharp shout of effort, wrenched the jaws apart—
[Kik!!]
A single, short shriek accompanied the sickening sound of flesh tearing. The beast's head was ripped free, and black blood sprayed from the stump. The body staggered, then crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.
"Haa…"
Schwarz let out a short breath and released the head. It rolled across the cobblestones, tongue lolling, utterly still.
"Ah… aah…!!"
"Are you all right?"
He turned to the woman who was making low, broken sounds and offered her his hand.
"Hiiiek!!"
Instead she let out a scream as if her soul were leaving her body and fled for her life.
"…?"
Schwarz tilted his head, baffled by her reaction. His skin was caked in black blood, his amber eyes faintly glowing from the mana he had drawn up, and the streetlamp behind him cast his face into deep shadow. To anyone looking, he was the very picture of something terrifying. Of course Schwarz himself had no idea, so her terror only left him confused.
"What a strange person. I saved her and she didn't even say thank you."
"Indeed…"
Milia had come up beside him and was watching the fleeing woman. Schwarz nodded. Both of them were laboring under a considerable misunderstanding, but that hardly mattered now.
"We need to move. There's no time."
"Yes, My Lady."
Milia sprang onto the roof of the neighboring building; Schwarz followed. Once more they raced across the rooftops toward the inn.
A short while later…
"What… where did all the guards go?"
Not a single sentry remained around the inn. Milia's voice was thick with unease. Schwarz, already guessing what had happened, poured mana into his gauntlets again.
"Let's go inside."
"Yes."
He nodded and took the lead, pushing open the mansion's front door. The chandeliers and lamps still burned, yet not a single presence could be felt within.
"Don't tell me…"
Milia swallowed hard. An ominous premonition flashed through her mind. Schwarz moved carefully down the corridor, prepared for the worst.
They climbed the stairs, followed the long hallway, and reached the guest room the children had been using. Schwarz eased the door open with a soft click.
"Just as I thought…"
"It seems we arrived a step too late."
What met their eyes was a completely empty room. The lights were out; the chamber lay sunk in darkness. Not a soul remained.
"Damn it!"
In a voice thick with fury, Milia drove her fist into the wall beside her. With a sharp crack the plaster caved in, and fragments rained down from her knuckles. Schwarz watched her in silence. The rage she felt now must have been beyond imagining. And he himself was hardly any calmer.
Just then—
"Uh… Milia-noona? Schwarz-hyung?"
"You…"
They turned at the voice behind them. Standing there were the children they had brought along with Vincent.
"Waaaaaah—!!"
"Huuueeeeh—!!"
"I-I was so scared!!"
The moment the children saw them, tears welled up and they burst into loud sobs. Milia hurried over and gathered them into her arms. The embrace seemed to soothe them; their wails gradually subsided into sniffles.
"What on earth happened? Where is Vincent?"
"We don't know either… Vincent-hyung said we should play hide-and-seek and we hid, but no matter how long we waited he never came to find us… h-hic…!!"
"Milia-noona! Do you know where Vincent-hyung is? Please find him!"
"Ugh… hic…!!"
Listening to the children's tearful words, Milia clenched her fists. Her strong sense of responsibility made her feel the weight of this disaster keenly.
"Don't worry. We'll take full responsibility for finding Vincent. Until then, stay right here and wait quietly. All right?"
"Really…?"
"Of course. I don't tell lies. Right, Schwarz?"
She looked at him as the children stared up with wide eyes.
"Of course."
Schwarz answered with a faint smile. It was forced—he could not show angry faces to children who knew nothing—but for them it was enough.
"Okay! Then we'll all wait here quietly! Please bring Vincent-hyung back for sure!"
"Don't worry. I promise."
Watching the children who had stopped crying as if nothing had happened, Milia rose to her feet. She set off with heavy steps, and Schwarz followed close behind.
"The road to God's Nail. Do you remember it?"
"Yes. Of course."
Outside the mansion, Milia asked the question and Schwarz nodded without hesitation.