Lightworm Descent (1)
As my breathing finally steadied a bit, the air in the room shifted first. The stench of blood and burning wood, mingled with the strange metallic tang from the angel's blood. And cutting through it all, a faint, barely audible breath.
I turned my head. A little girl leaning against the wall. A wound ran from her right eye down to her jaw, drying out. Blood and tears crusted on her cheek, her left eye wide open and clear. That eye flicked between me and the angel's corpse.
"......"
Her lips trembled, but she hadn't spoken yet.
She's alive. That fact felt strangely burdensome.
I licked my dry lips.
"Name."
The cracked voice rasping from my throat didn't even sound like mine.
"...Pardon?"
"Your name. What is it."
The girl stared blankly at me for a moment, then whispered so softly it was almost nothing.
"...El."
El. The name rolled once in my mouth.
"Right. El."
I said it.
"You survived."
At those words, her shoulders shook harder. Not gratitude, not relief. Her face made survival sound like no blessing at all. That was normal.
That was when it happened. The outside lit up. Another light descended over the burning landscape.
I whipped my head toward the shattered window on instinct. A single white line was plummeting from the sky. That pillar I'd seen from afar before. This time, it was plunging straight down right in front of this house.
"......Damn it."
I ground my teeth.
The moment the pillar hit the ground, the sound followed a beat late.
───BOOM!
The air flipped. The house shuddered. The pillar shattered, fragments of light spraying everywhere. And from within it, angels rained down.
Silver armor. White wings. Glowing swords. One. Two. Three or four. Dozens. Hundreds. Like a swarm of white bugs dropping from the light, spewed out and descending.
Watching them, a thought crossed my mind. They looked like moths to a flame. Not drawn to the light, but born from it—pests that spawned directly. Numbers that wouldn't end no matter how many you crushed. Cut one down, and three more reared up.
"......Ha."
I almost laughed.
El asked in a trembling voice.
"Th-those... again...?"
"Angels."
I cut her off short.
El's breath caught. Frozen, unable to inhale or exhale.
I turned to El. Her left eye was fixed on me.
"El."
"...Yes."
"Listen carefully from now on."
As I spoke, my voice reached my own ears. Like I'd swallowed blood and metal shavings.
"Don't breathe. Don't let on you're here. No sounds, no movement."
El stared at me blankly.
"Then... I'll just hide...?"
"Yeah. I've gotta go out and kill every one of those white bastards."
I yanked the dagger from beside the angel's corpse. Fresh blood welled up.
"You won't die."
Before the words finished, her face crumpled.
"Wait. Don't do anything—just stay hidden good."
"Why... go that far...?"
"I risked my life saving you. Letting you die right after would feel off."
My mouth said it on autopilot. Joke or sincere, I didn't know.
El still didn't look grateful. Eyes wide with fear, face full of incomprehension as she watched me. Good. That made it easier.
I drew a deep breath. Shards of broken ribs scraped between the bones.
My spine cracked open again with a grind, then locked back into its twisted position. Hips and knees wrenched back into place by force. Pain exploded.
"Ngh...!"
It's fine. Starting to feel familiar now.
Outside, as the light scattered like white dust settled, countless angelic silhouettes emerged. Mostly low-rank angels. Similar faces. Similar eyes. Similarly vacant expressions. Mixed among them, a few with thicker insignias and sharper-looking swords.
"...Lieutenants and above too, huh."
It hadn't been long since I tore apart that lieutenant angel. Before my blood and theirs could even dry, they swarmed like birds.
One glanced at the broken wooden house and said,
"Here."
Another added,
"Lieutenant Angel 'Tarel' response lost. Low-rank and above detected. Location pinpointed."
I steadied my breath and stepped out the door. Shoving aside the shattered frame, one step forward. Blood-soaked body, single dagger in hand.
The angels' gazes locked on.
"...Low-rank demon."
"High probability it's the reported irregular."
Their speech was mechanical. But up close, same stench as the lieutenant I'd just killed.
"Shut up and come at me."
I spat low.
"All of you."
A crack from inside my ribs again. Already shattered bone split further. Muscles tore, foul new flesh piling on. Tendons screamed. Still, it held.
My body hunched forward. The angels moved as one.
The first one lunged. Sword slashing for my neck. I parried.
Clang!
Arm bone cracked again. Nerves from wrist to shoulder snapped. But I kept hold of the dagger. The glancing blade grazed the angel's neck. Blood. White light sprayed.
"One."
I muttered. The second dove in from the side.
Knee shattered from inside. Squeezed out every ounce of power. Twisted my body, swinging thigh and waist together. Dagger and sword clashed again; the angel's arm bent at an unnatural angle. I drove in and stabbed.
Sensation of ripping bone and flesh at once. Two. Blood and faint light burst together. One angel went flying.
In that instant, something hot pierced my side. Another's spear.
"Kgh...!"
Metal grazing past my lung. Breath staggered.
From my side, ribs curled inward then forced outward. Flesh tore, shoving the spear free. Blood poured more. Breath choked, but the body endured.
The angels hesitated a moment.
"Self-harm adaptation."
"Immediate correction post-damage."
"Irregular confirmed."
Shut up. I charged forward. Dagger thrusting once, twice, three times. Neck. Chest. Joint gaps. Even light stabs sliced flesh easier now. Strength built in my grip. Feet steadier beneath.
"Three... four..."
With each count, one fell.
The number spewed from the light pillar was more than I'd thought. Slash, stab—and more rushed from behind. My head floated lighter. Vision edges stained dark red. Heart skipped erratically. Bones and flesh had shattered and reformed how many times?
Ankle twisted inside. Calf muscles tore and reknit. I spun on that power. Slashed across an approaching angel's gut. Light and my blood mixed in a spray. One stabbed a spear into my shoulder. Another gashed my waist. Pain layered.
Shoulder blade shattered to dust, then clenched like jaws around the spearhead. Waist vertebrae twisted, reshifting. Body warped more grotesquely. The angel stared at the spear in my shoulder with confused eyes.
"It won't come—"
Before it finished, I yanked it toward me and stabbed its throat.
"Five."
Breath grew ragged. Throat burned; blood welled up with every inhale. Still, I stood.
A few on the hill watched the scene. One spoke quietly.
"Irregular specimen confirmed."
"Exceeds low-rank baseline. Requesting mid/high-rank response authority."
"First, exhaust it here."
At those words, the remaining low-ranks surged all at once. Like the moth swarm charging again.
I gripped my dagger hand tight. Finger bones crushed inside.
Shattered shards writhed, knitting together. Grip strength surged. Parried one angel's sword, twisted till it snapped. Bone-crack from its side. Stabbed the open chest. Another slashed my cheek. Blood streamed into my eyes.
Cheekbone cracked, flesh around my eye tore then reformed. Vision flashed. Light, blood, wings, corpses blurred into similar shades.
"Ha... ha..."
Breaths shortened. Body didn't stop. The more it broke, the better it moved. Like armor hardening with every hit. Bones reshaping perfectly with every tear. This body fed on pain, morphing its form.
──Bang!
A beam from somewhere pierced my chest.
"Guh—!"
Body arched back. Burning hole drilled near my heart. Vision whited out. Noises from the bustling plaza, laughing faces in the tavern, sensations of crushed corpses—all surged up at once.
Just before falling, I whispered to myself.
Get up.
Heart tore inside. Shreds reformed. Blood refluxed. Whole body convulsed once, then hunched forward again. I staggered a step.
The angel ahead stepped back.
"This is..."
"Exceeds low-rank limits."
"High risk of mid-rank evolution if left alone."
Noisy analysis. I raised my dagger. Hand shook, but I could still aim.
My gaze caught the ruined house interior. I felt it. El was there. Face pale as ordered—no breath, watching me. Tears pooled, but silent. Good.
I turned back to the angels.
"......Come if you dare."
Mouth full of blood, I forced the words.
"All of you."
Spine. Ribs. Arms. Legs. Heart. Broke it all once more. With the shattering sounds, another power crawled up from within. I hurled my body toward death.
If they were the white light's falling bug swarm, then I vowed—even ground to dust in that filthy light—I'd protect that child to the end.