Spawn of Chaos
A short while earlier. The infirmary of Kelebor Fortress.
"Hey! What the hell is going on!?"
Hagner raised his voice in the empty infirmary, but no one answered.
All that reached his ears were the howls of monsters, the clash of weapons, and the screams of the dying.
"Damn it…!! Damn it…!!"
Cursing under his breath, he staggered to the window. What met his eyes was a scene of pure carnage.
Monsters poured in without end, and soldiers fought them with everything they had, locked in a desperate struggle for survival…
"What in the world is happening…"
A low groan escaped him as he stared at the nightmare outside.
He could not make sense of any of it.
How could monsters possibly assault a fortress sitting in the very heart of the territory?
"A weapon… I need a weapon…"
He began searching the room for anything he could use to fight.
And then—
"Ghk…!?"
Pain flared in his left eye—the eye that had long since gone blind.
It felt as though something were boiling inside the socket, a searing heat that drove him to his knees with a strangled moan.
I don't have time for this.
He forced himself to breathe through the agony, trying to push it down.
But the pain only grew worse, digging deeper into his eye with every heartbeat.
"Gyaaaaah…"
A raw, wrenched cry tore from his throat as he finally broke.
And in that moment—
"W-Who's there…!?"
The voice from the darkness made him answer through gritted teeth as he forced himself upright.
Someone was here. Clutching his throbbing eye, Hagner snatched up a nearby chair and turned toward the infirmary door.
At the same time, writhing darkness began to seep through the entrance.
It swallowed the walls, the floor, the furniture—creeping toward him like a living thing.
It looked like dozens, hundreds of snakes coiling and twisting. Cold sweat beaded on Hagner's brow as he swallowed hard.
Then, from within that darkness, a figure emerged.
A towering height no ordinary man could claim.
A black robe and hood that covered every inch of his body.
And where a face should have been, a pitch-black mask with violet eyes gleaming from the sockets.
"S-Sacrificial brand? Don't talk nonsense! I don't know anything about that!!"
The voice carried a chill that seemed to sink straight into the bone.
Hagner hurled the chair at the man—but it passed through him as if through smoke, shattering against the wall behind.
A moment later, a bone-chilling laugh rose from beneath the mask.
"Ugh…? Aaaaagh!!"
Agony lanced through his left eye once more—deeper, sharper, as if something were gouging the socket out entirely. He collapsed to his knees with a strangled cry.
The pain was so absolute he could not even scream. All he could do was twitch and shudder.
The writhing darkness surged forward and engulfed him.
"Aaaaagh—!! Aaaaaaaah—!!"
The torment that had been confined to his eye now flooded his entire body. Every nerve felt as though it were boiling. Hagner thrashed and screamed, but no one came to hear him.
His consciousness and senses began to fade.
With those words from the darkness, Hagner's mind shattered into pieces.
"Nngh…"
With a low groan, Schwarz opened his eyes.
And then—
"Nngh!?"
He jolted upright at the sight before him.
It was no wonder. What filled his vision looked like nothing short of hell itself.
A cavern of living flesh.
There was no more accurate way to describe it.
Veins bulged along the walls, and along those veins pulsed faint violet light, writhing like something alive.
"What the hell is this…"
Schwarz muttered as he stared at the nightmarish scene.
Then—
"My Lady!?"
Realizing Milia was nowhere in sight, he frantically scanned the surroundings.
Moments later he spotted her lying not far away and rushed to her side, checking her condition with desperate care.
"My Lady! My Lady!!"
"Ugh…"
Thankfully she had only been unconscious for a short while. When she stirred with a soft moan and opened her eyes, Schwarz let out a long breath of relief.
"Schwarz? What on earth…"
She pushed herself up, still murmuring—then caught sight of their surroundings and cried out in shock.
"W-What is this place!?"
"I don't know either, My Lady."
A perfectly natural reaction. Schwarz shook his head as he looked at her.
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
"Mm… I don't think so. Nothing feels wrong."
"That's a relief."
The thought of her being injured had terrified him. A faint smile of pure relief touched his lips.
"Ugh… What even is this place? I've never seen anything like it in my life…"
"Indeed. It feels as though we've stepped inside the body of some living creature."
Flesh and veins twisted together, pulsing and writhing. The sight was so grotesque he half-feared it would haunt his dreams.
"How did we even end up here? Do you remember anything?"
"Hmm… I remember the earthquake forcing us flat to the ground, and then something bursting up through the castle… but that's as far as it goes."
"Same here. That's all I've got."
Given how suddenly everything had happened, the blank in their memories was hardly surprising.
"Haa… No idea. Let's just find a way out of here first."
"Yes, My Lady."
With a short sigh, Milia rose to her feet and started walking. Schwarz fell into step beside her, and together they set off down the tunnel of living meat.
How long they walked, he could not say…
"Wait a moment."
"Hm? What is it?"
Schwarz stopped her, having spotted something moving not far ahead.
Milia narrowed her eyes as well, peering into the darkness—and in the next instant—
"Aaaagh!?"
"Aagh!?"
"Waaagh!?"
The shape in the shadows whipped its head toward them and let out a scream of pure terror. Milia and Schwarz both yelped in startled reply.
"M-My Lady!? Is that you?!"
The figure that stepped from the darkness was a soldier wearing armor stamped with the Count's seal.
"You are…"
"Please call me Chen. More importantly—do you have any idea where we are?"
Milia shook her head at the question. Chen let out a short sigh and sank down where he stood.
"Haa… What in the world is going on…"
"Wait. Is that blood on your arm?"
"Ah. When did I even get this…"
Milia had noticed the droplets running down Chen's arm. Only then did he seem to register his own injury, exhaling another weary breath.
Everything had been so chaotic he had not even noticed he was wounded.
"Hold still. This should do for a bandage."
"Y-You don't need to go that far for me!!"
Milia tore a strip from her sleeve and bound the cut on his arm. Chen stared at her in open horror.
"Every one of you is a precious subject of the Count's domain. Even a small wound can fester if left alone. First aid is the least I can do."
"Th-Thank you, My Lady…!! Sniff…!!"
Chen wiped at his eyes, overcome with emotion. Milia finished the knot and rose to her feet.
"Oh—by the way, have the two of you checked the passage over that way?"
"The passage over there? No. Why do you ask?"
Chen pointed toward the opposite tunnel. Milia tilted her head.
"Well, you see… something important-looking is down that way. Problem is, some huge brute is blocking the path."
"Something important-looking?"
"A mass of flesh that looks like a heart. One glance and you just know—this thing matters."
"Hmm…"
Milia made a thoughtful sound.
"What should we do?"
"What do you mean, what should we do? If it might get us out of here, we try everything we can."
She answered Schwarz as though the question were obvious, then turned back to Chen.
"Can you guide us there?"
"Of course. This way."
Chen nodded, turned, and started back the way he had come.
Milia and Schwarz followed close behind, their footsteps carrying them deeper into the long, writhing corridor of living flesh.