Monster

“We had no choice.

You saw something you shouldn’t have…”

He stepped forward slowly, intending to check the body.

A throwing knife that severed the spine meant certain death for a normal person.

Let alone a little thing with no strength to speak of.

“……”

Killing was what he did most often.

Since becoming a death-soldier, he had been nothing more than his master’s dog.

No face meant no identity.

Only people like this were used again and again.

Because they had been branded with a curse.

The moment they spoke their master’s name, they would bleed from all seven orifices and explode to death.

That was why their master trusted them so completely.

They lived in darkness.

Without light.

Even though they longed for it, they had already become this way…

“Live on as a dog…”

He had told himself that countless times in the dead of night.

Perhaps only death could be his final destination.

But still…

Would angels come to receive him?

Would priests pray a mass for him?

Of course… not.

Because he had already forgotten his original name.

He only knew that he was called Shadow.

One forgotten by the heavens…

He often sighed like that.

“Huh??!!”

He stared in shock at the place where the girl had fallen.

There was nothing there.

The body he had expected was gone.

“Impossible!”

He muttered to himself.

He was absolutely confident in his throwing-knife skills.

And there had clearly been the sound of flesh being pierced…

He immediately dropped to the ground, pushing aside the grass.

He drew his dagger.

Dagger in his right hand, searching with his left.

Suddenly, his hand touched something hard…

He lifted it up at once.

A black, round-toed leather shoe…

The one she had been wearing.

He began to scan the surroundings in terror.

Impossible.

This kind of ghostly nonsense didn’t exist.

He searched nervously, but around him there was only dead silence.

Not a single sound.

Rustle… rustle… rustle—

A discordant sound appeared in the silent air.

Like a snake slithering through the grass.

He immediately focused and looked toward the source.

In the pitch-black grass, two faintly glowing red gemstones appeared.

Bright like small lanterns.

They didn’t cast light outward.

Yet they were unmistakably visible.

He tightened his grip on the dagger in his right hand, gritted his teeth, and decided to investigate…

After all, he was an assassin.

It was better to understand unclear things thoroughly…

Blade had already dragged Mana and the two others together.

Next, they would stage everything as an accident.

Because poison hadn’t been used—thanks to that short one—and instead brute force had been applied, they had to be meticulous.

They were assassins, not bandits.

They had to make sure no one could tell this was a premeditated assassination.

Even assassination demanded perfection.

That was their rule…

“Has Shadow not come back yet?

Damn it, what the hell!”

Blade muttered to the two subordinates sitting back to back behind him.

The two had used healing potions.

Under the stimulation of the medicine, their strength was rapidly returning.

The short one lying on the ground was still unconscious.

Thanks to the potion, his wound was already beginning to scab over.

This had been a big operation.

The target wasn’t some minor noble.

It was a duke of a nation.

They had prepared thoroughly.

They had even chosen this day because the Night-Blooming Sky Flower would bloom.

Yet they had never expected things to deviate even slightly from the plan from the very beginning…

“Damn it…”

He complained again.

An assassin didn’t need to be strong.

As long as he could kill, that was enough.

That was his belief.

That monster Alex should have been knocked out by the drug.

Who would have thought his vigilance was so extreme?

He had kept his battle aura active inside his body the entire time.

“Truly a monster.

Something ordinary people just can’t understand…”

He thought to himself.

Looking at the two who were gradually recovering, he decided to go look for Shadow.

Don’t tell me he couldn’t even handle a little girl.

He laughed softly, trying to ease his nerves.

Everything was going smoothly.

Just some minor deviations.

The targets were still completed.

Four wounded, one seriously injured.

Already a blessing in disguise.

He wasn’t in a hurry.

He walked slowly along the corridor.

Clang—

The sound of a metal object falling to the ground.

He instinctively drew his dagger.

“Damn it!

Why are you only coming back now?

Don’t tell me you couldn’t even catch a little girl.”

Blade snapped angrily at the figure before him.

That object on the ground…

It was Shadow’s headpiece.

“Ka… ka… ka…”

Shadow tried desperately to say something.

But it was as if his throat was being crushed.

No words came out.

Clatter—

He collapsed.

“?!”

Blade rushed forward.

He couldn’t understand what had just happened to Shadow.

“Damn it!”

Shadow’s body was covered in wounds.

As if he had been torn apart by the claws of a beast.

Aside from shallow claw marks, there were no immediately fatal injuries.

But when Blade tore open Shadow’s collar, he realized the severity of it…

Four bite marks on the carotid artery.

Like those of a deadly venomous snake.

It was obvious Shadow had treated his wounds.

There was the smell of medicine on his neck.

But due to massive blood loss, he had already gone into shock.

He was dying.

Blade suddenly thought—

What if that monster was still nearby…?

He slid his dagger back into his boot.

Picked up Shadow’s long sword.

And went on full alert.

He checked every inch carefully.

Yet there was no trace of the monster.

He remained tense for a long time.

But the surroundings stayed eerily calm.

Suddenly, a thought exploded in his mind…

His other three subordinates…

“Damn it!

Damn it!

Damn it!!”

He grabbed the sword and ran back at full speed, glancing once at Shadow and picking up the fallen headpiece…

Clang—

Metal hit the ground.

The headpiece fell beside the broken charcoal pencil.

Because it was iron, it didn’t snap like the charcoal had.

Blade froze in horror.

The scene before him looked like hell.

Blood.

Blood everywhere.

Mixed with chunks of flesh.

A thick, metallic stench filled the air.

The kind of smell only a rusted sword soaked in blood should have…

Crunch… crunch… crunch—

Cheerful chewing sounds rang clearly through the dark, silent night.

He stepped closer to that unrecognizable mass.

And when he saw clearly—

In the pool of blood, something was biting into his subordinates.

She tore open small holes in the corpses and sucked their blood.

“Urgh!”

He had seen countless corpses.

But this…

He couldn’t take it.

The nausea hit instantly.

He vomited without hesitation.

Too intense.

Blood and flesh mixed together.

That stench…

The monster seemed to hear the sound.

It raised its head.

A beautiful face.

But smeared with clotted blood.

What had once been a pure, beautiful white dress was now dyed an ugly reddish-brown with dried and fresh blood.

Blood clots stuck to it.

Like a guide crawling out of hell…

She looked at him with confused, pitiful eyes.

Crimson and beautiful eyes.

Like brilliant red gemstones.

Truly…

Very cute.

And yet—

“Urgh—!”

Blade felt even sicker.

The contrast made it unbearable.

Such a cute child, yet…

He cried.

All four of his closest companions were dead.

As a death-soldier, he should have had no emotions.

Emotion was a weakness.

A taboo.

He had believed he would never cry in his life.

Yet now, as a grown man, tears flowed.

He wiped away the tears and spat at the monster.

“Die… monster…”

Blade whispered, only loud enough for himself.

Shing—

A clear sound of drawing a blade.

A signal of a fight to the death.

The monster responded with—

“Hehehehehe…”

The little girl let out a chilling laugh.

“AAAAAAAH!

Die!”

Blade swung his sword wildly at the little girl.

A monster was a monster.

It didn’t deserve to be treated as an opponent.

The blade was caught by a small, delicate hand soaked in blood.

The sword split her palm open deeply.

Yet she felt no pain at all.

A monster didn’t need to dodge.

He tried to pull the sword back.

But the monster grabbed the blade with her other hand.

No matter how hard he pulled, it wouldn’t come free…

Crack—

The sound of metal shattering.

She gave him no time to react.

She opened her mouth and crushed the iron sword with her teeth.

“Damn it…

Second time today…”

He muttered bitterly.

He threw away the remaining hilt and leapt backward, putting distance between them.

Swish—clang.

He precisely hurled a throwing knife at the girl’s forehead.

Just as expected, the knife struck true.

She stiffened as if electrocuted.

Collapsed instantly.

The monster stopped moving.

So monsters can die after all…

He thought.

He glanced at the bloodstains, feeling conflicted.

But the mission still had to be finished.

Mana…

And his sons.

Would die here tonight.

Killed by a monster.

He walked toward where they were piled.

“It’s all over…”

He murmured.

He had already decided.

After completing this mission and retrieving his subordinates’ bodies, he would kill himself.

The death-soldier’s task was done.

The retribution had come.

This was the end.

He thought silently.

“……”

Something tugged at the hem of his clothes.

He turned.

And met those crimson pupils.

She was smiling at him…

.

.