The Village Burns

Stepping outside, I found darkness settled over the village.

Peace had settled in that particular hush unique to the countryside. Everyone had gone to bed, it seemed; nothing moved but the quiet itself. The thought of what this place would become in a few minutes — a screaming, blood-soaked hell — pulled a sneer from me toward the humans sleeping in their beds.

I moved through the village dark, confirming everything I had pulled from Elisa.

That's the grain store. Next, the armory... I'll need to take the armory first. And that house — that's the one packed with women, isn't it? Good...

As I prowled, I refined the shape of the raid. The objective was simple: gut the village's key facilities, take everything worth taking, and return to the Dungeon. A fast strike, a fast withdrawal — then I would reorganize inside the Dungeon for whatever came next.

I had all the information I needed, and the skill's duration was nearly spent. I was just about to begin the raid in earnest when—

"Elisa?"

A familiar voice. I turned on reflex.

In the ruddy glow of a torch, a face resolved: short brown hair, a woman. Cecilia.

Tanned skin. A body honed by training — not bulky, but with muscle that showed itself in quiet, deliberate lines. Looking at her, I found myself licking my lips.

She was close with Elisa, and she looked startled to find me standing there in the dark. A sword hung at her hip. Night patrol, then, as a member of the guard.

Running into someone I hadn't accounted for threw me for a moment, but I recovered quickly. She thought I was Elisa. All I had to do was play the part, talk my way past her, and slip away. Simple.

Something began to slide down the side of my face, and the situation turned on a dime.

"...Huh?"

Whatever Cecilia saw made her eyes go wide. I wiped my face with my palm and came away with sloughed flesh clinging to my hand. Too late, I realized a piece of the disguise had come apart.

"Elisa... what... are you sick? No, even so..."

Cecilia hung there in confusion. This wasn't like killing Elisa's mother, where I could talk my way in close. My cover was blown. I would have to kill her.

I didn't wait for her to gather herself. I drew a dagger and launched off the ground, driving the blade at her throat.

"Nh—"

Cecilia wiped the shock from her face and stepped back. The dagger whispered past her neck, close enough to kiss the skin. A thread of crimson opened along her throat.

A scratch. Barely more than a nick. It was more than enough.

"...A monster?"

Having weathered the first strike, she found her bearings. Wariness snapped into her eyes, and she leveled her sword at me. I looked at the hairline cut on her neck and decided to stall. A little provocation wouldn't hurt.

"That's right. Me. Monster."

"How...?"

I grinned, and Cecilia's eyes went huge with horror. How a monster could speak. How a monster could wear a human's skin and play at being someone else. Her single word held a dozen questions.

I was feeling generous. I decided to answer all of them.

"Elisa. I killed her. Elisa — her pussy too. I ate it. Plenty."

"...What?"

"Elisa had kids. Lots of them. Mine. And—"

I opened Elisa's mouth wide.

"I ate her."

I hadn't actually eaten her, not in the literal sense — but the result wasn't far off. Close enough.

For a few seconds Cecilia stared at me, her eyes trembling. Then a vein stood out on her forehead.

"You— YOU BASTARD!!"

She screamed and lunged.

"...Wh—?"

Her foot, planted for a charge, buckled. She dropped to her knees. Her sword slipped from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shaking fingers. She didn't understand what was happening to her own body.

It worked.

I smiled. I had coated the dagger in Paralysis Mushroom spores beforehand. The description had said they took effect on contact with skin, so I'd applied them to the blade just in case. And they'd worked.

I closed the distance before the paralysis could fade and drove my boot into her jaw. The strength went out of her. She crumpled, unconscious.

I raised the dagger over her throat — and then I stopped. Her legs had fallen open as the tension left her body, and looking at that trained physique, I changed my mind.

A woman who's honed her body... not a bad candidate for a broodmother. She could birth some excellent monsters.

The monsters born from a host took after me most of all, but the mother left her mark as well. The stronger the host — or the more unique her gifts — the more the offspring inherited.

I tied her up out of sight. I'd collect her on the way out of the village.

Let's begin.

I took the torch Cecilia had been carrying and made for the building where the village stored its grain. A red glow began to spread. I worked my way through the village's other key facilities, setting fire as I went. Before long, smoke was rising from every quarter.

"H-huh!? Wh-what... F-fire!?"

"FIRE—!!"

It didn't take long. Guards who'd spotted the blaze came running, shouting, and the village's descent into chaos began in earnest. With the forces at the village entrance drawn off, bringing the monsters in through the secret passage was trivially easy.

I greeted the monsters as they filed in, then made straight for the armory.

"Who goes— wait. A m-monster!?"

Kill him.

The guard posted at the armory spotted us, and I gave the order without hesitation. Monsters slammed into him from every side. He didn't even manage a proper fight before he died.

Inside, I armed myself and the rest of the monsters, then set fire to whatever remained so the enemy couldn't use it.

Seongha was right. This had to be quick.

Scatter.

Against a backdrop of screams and fire, the monsters split into two groups. One pack, led by the Dungeon Servant — firstborn, and the strongest of them — to loot valuables. The other, led by me, to capture women.

I took my monsters and hit one of the houses ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'd marked in advance. The door came apart.

"Who—"

A man inside lurched up from his chair, the first to greet us. I didn't know who he was, and I didn't need to. I had no business with men. What mattered were the women. The ones who'd serve as breeding stock.

I put the blade through the unarmed man. The women in the house screamed.

Capture them all. Bring them.

On my order, the monsters put steel to the women's throats and started binding them. I intended to take the young ones first. The younger they were, the better the quality — and the more monsters they could carry. But more importantly—

Seongha finished the thought for me.

Even so, I don't particularly want to eat some old woman. Not like this one.

I looked down at the elderly woman the monsters had already cut down, and I laughed in agreement.

We hit the houses I'd scouted, killing anyone who resisted and taking the women. Then, with as many captives as we could drag, we linked up with the Dungeon Servant, who'd come back loaded with anything that would sell.

All that remained was to slip back through the secret passage to the Dungeon. Everything was going smoothly.

"Elisa!?"

A voice calling a name I was already starting to forget. I turned. A middle-aged man stood there, soot-blackened from fighting the fires. Karlson, captain of the guard.

He'd seen my back and taken me for Elisa. Then he got a look at me — the skill unraveled, wearing nothing but Elisa's leftover skin — and shock hit him. But the eyes of a man who could read a battlefield cleared fast.

"A monster...!"

Even in a backwater like this, I suppose the man who captains the village guard is a cut above.

He drew his sword and locked onto me — then his eyes went wide as he saw the monsters behind me dragging village women away.

"Elisa and Belton — you killed them too!?"

Belton?

Ah. Right. I had killed a man like that.

"Don't tell me... Elisa's parents as well?"

He was looking at the blood on my blade. Something had clicked. His voice shook. The corner of my mouth lifted on its own.

"That coat you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠threw over my shoulders earlier. Thanks. Kihihi!!"

I mocked him with it — the coat he'd draped over me, thinking I was Elisa, trying to cover the rags I was wearing. Karlson's face went rigid. Surprise that a monster could talk, braided together with rage. The look on him made me laugh all over again.

Don't worry. I'm not planning to fi—

I scattered a pouch of Paralysis Mushroom spores I'd kept at my hip and tried to run. Karlson moved ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠first. He closed the distance in the space of a blink.

Too late. Faster than I'd imagined. Faster than I could—

The flashing blade filled my vision. I felt the killing blow coming — and then the Dungeon Servant stepped in front of me, and the sword punched out through his back.

"Damn it!!"

Karlson had missed his killing stroke and was wrenching his sword free of the Dungeon Servant, startled. Seongha's snap brought me back. I flung the Paralysis Mushroom pouch I'd been clutching at my hip straight at him.

He threw a sleeve over his face and staggered back.

"I won't let you— khh!?"

He tried to come after me, but even a faint inhale of the spores was enough. Paralysis took him.

I left the Dungeon Servant, still clinging to life, in the care of the other monsters, then grabbed Cecilia by the bangs — she'd been dragged along unconscious among the captured women — and hauled her head up for Karlson to see.

Karlson, still trembling, got a look at her face. His eyes went huge. His vice-captain. A guard who trusted him, who followed him. In my hand. Those wide eyes started to shake.

That slack, stupid look on his face finally bled some of the rage out of me. But I wasn't about to let this end so cheaply. Not after he'd laid a hand on me — on a monster I valued.

With Karlson watching, I tapped my finger against Cecilia's lower belly, nice and obvious. The promise of violating a subordinate he cherished, then killing him with a monster born from her body — blood-red veins stood out in Karlson's eyes.

"You... you piece of filth...!!"

He roared and tried to charge. His body lurched. He drove his sword into the ground to keep himself upright.

"Kihelhel!!"

I grabbed my stomach and howled with laughter at how helpless he looked. I didn't want to waste time tormenting some man.

But he was different.

"You. I'll kill you. As painfully as I can. In front of you. Your precious people. Dying. Getting fucked. I'll show you all of it."

I dragged Cecilia by the hair like a piece of luggage and turned my back.

With the burning village behind him and Karlson on his knees, I returned to the Dungeon with my monsters.