Chapter 414: The Gate Opened (2)

Sister Sera, who was staying at the monastery, had recently been hearing strange noises every time she fell asleep.

It was the sound of her fellow novice sister, who shared the next bed, murmuring to herself alone at dawn.

'Ah… why is she suddenly doing that?'

At first, she thought it was just sleep-talking. However, it had been happening for several days now, and she was starting to get really annoyed.

'I'll have to talk to her when she wakes up.'

Gripping her throbbing head, she barely managed to fall asleep. When she woke up, she immediately tried to talk to her.

'Ah, has she already gone out?'

It seemed she had overslept due to her restless night. Her fellow sister was already gone.

She thought she would have to catch her later and talk to her. But as she went about praying and carrying out her duties, she was too busy to encounter her.

Come to think of it, she couldn't recall seeing her fellow sister's face recently, except when they were in bed.

'I feel like our paths keep missing each other.'

After finishing her tasks for the day and returning, her fellow sister was already asleep.

Sera quietly moved closer and looked at her. She was so still and silent as she slept, completely motionless.

'Please, just stay quiet tonight. I'm exhausted too, I haven't been able to sleep for days.'

Grumbling inwardly, she lay on her bed and tried to sleep. Just as she was about to drift off, that strange noise came again.

[$%&*#@$%!%$$#]

It sounded like a voice whispering incredibly quickly. However, the words were mumbled and incomprehensible.

"Ah, please..."

Even when she covered her ears, the sound persisted. It felt as though someone were sitting next to her, whispering directly into her ear.

Chills!

Suddenly struck by a chilling thought, she was covered in goosebumps and bolted upright. But there was no one around her.

'What the hell is going on?'

Clenching her teeth, she cautiously got up and walked over to the neighboring bed.

Slowly approaching and looking at the bed, the sister was still sleeping soundly. Just as Sera had seen her earlier, she remained completely motionless.

'What…?'

Was it her imagination? Then what was this sound she kept hearing whenever she lay down to sleep?

Whenever she was awake and alert like this, no noise could be heard.

Even when she stared at her fellow sister's bed, there was no sound at all.

In the end, Sera spent the entire night wide awake.

As dawn broke, she unknowingly dozed off.

[S%&*#@$%!%^$$#]

"Aaaah!"

The strange noise woke her with a start once again.

"Please, stop it already!"

Yelling, she looked around and realized it was already night.

Had she been sleeping all day?

That didn't make sense. Someone would have come to wake her up. Life at the monastery was busier than one might think.

But right now, more than the puzzling situation, her anger at her fellow sister consumed her.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Sera stormed over to her fellow sister's bed and yanked the blanket off roughly.

"Kyaaaaaa!"

And then she screamed, collapsing onto the floor.

Her fellow sister was a blood-soaked corpse. She must have already been dead the first time Sera checked on her. That was why she had been completely still, lying in the same position.

"W-What is this…?"

Who would dare come into the monastery and kill someone?

"I-I need to call someone…"

She had to call the others. They needed to catch whoever did this. With that thought, she sprang to her feet, but suddenly, the world twisted, and her head began to spin.

Zzzzzzzzz…

A sound like the world splitting apart filled her ears.

At some point, her surroundings turned crimson. There wasn't a single object left in its original color.

"Why… why is this happening? What is this?"

Terrified, she trembled and tried to leave the room.

Creak…

Just then, the door opened by itself.

"W-What is this…?"

Sera took a step back. Beyond the slightly open door was a darkness so profound, but she saw it clearly.

Creak.

From within the darkness, a single bloodshot eye appeared, peering into the room.

It had to be a demon. A demon had surely come here.

Sera, overwhelmed with fear, couldn't bring herself to step outside.

"L-Lord…"

She collapsed onto the floor, shut her eyes tightly, and fervently rolled her rosary, praying to God.

As she recited her prayers, she began to feel a sense of calm.

But her relief was brief, as another sound began to intrude upon her prayers.

[$%&*#@$%!%^$$#]

It was the same whisper she had been hearing every night.

There was no way it was coming from her fellow sister. She was already dead.

This had to be the voice of a demon.

"P-Please…"

[$%&*#kill… 1%^S$#]

The whisper grew clearer and clearer. The once indecipherable sounds were becoming words she could understand.

[$%&*#kill…!%^Escape… #]

'Kill what? Escape where?'

[$%Kill to survive &*#Kill…! Escape the world%^… #]

'Demon! Leave my body at once!'

The more the whispers grew, the more desperately she prayed.

'Our Father in Heaven… please save my wretched soul…'

There was nothing else she could do but pray, ignoring the whispers as best she could.

At some point, the whispers changed.

[Kill… kill… kill… to survive…]

Suddenly, she felt a cold sensation. Opening her eyes, she found a butcher's knife, the kind used to cut meat, in her hand.

Drip… drip…

Fresh blood was dripping from the knife, as if it had just been used.

Her hands and body were also covered in blood.

"W-What is this…?"

The crimson world remained eerily silent. The only sounds were the strange whispers and her own breathing.

Even in this situation, the monastery was far too quiet. Thinking this didn't make sense, she looked ahead.

The eye that had been visible through the door crack was gone.

Swallowing hard, she cautiously opened the door and stepped outside.

Only small candles lit the dark monastery halls. Usually, this wasn't unnerving, but tonight the atmosphere was utterly terrifying.

Creak… creak…

It felt like strange sounds echoed with every step she took. Looking around carefully, she saw the walls were horrifyingly smeared with blood.

"Ah…"

She let out a trembling voice without realizing it.

Corpses were scattered everywhere. That was why no one had responded to anything.

Could it be that a demon had truly come and killed everyone?

'I need to get out.'

She had to escape and call for help. She needed to seek aid.

Clutching the knife tightly, she took two trembling steps forward. Perhaps this knife was given to her by God to protect herself.

The monastery, which always felt suffocatingly small, now seemed endlessly vast tonight.

[Kill… kill… kill… to survive…]

She ignored the whispers. Ignoring the blood-stained walls and the corpses scattered around, she gritted her teeth and focused solely on escaping this place.

"Ah…."

As she reached the monastery's garden, she trembled with a fear she had never experienced before.

Rumble!

The crimson sky twisted and distorted. Even the moonlight warped, emitting an ominous roar.

"Ahhh…."

An endless, eerie wind blew through. The trees had all withered, dying one by one.

Screeeech!

It felt as though grotesque screams were echoing from all directions.

Tears streamed down her face as she looked around in despair.

If the world were ending, would it look like this? Beyond the iron gates, the landscape was filled with nothing but crimson darkness.

Only then did she begin to understand the meaning of the whispers.

[!Escape the%^world… #]

She didn't know what it all meant, but it seemed clear that something had gone terribly wrong with the world. Yet, she had no idea how to escape.

Still, she couldn't just stay here alone.

As terrifying as it was, she needed to find out what had happened to the world. She had to search for other survivors.

Resolving herself, she forcefully pushed open the monastery's iron gate.

Creeeak.

The door opened, and a blinding light poured in. She instinctively shut her eyes.

This made no sense. The iron gate was simply a barrier between the monastery and the outside.

It was already night—how could such a bright light flood in? Earlier, she had clearly seen that the outside world looked no different from the monastery.

Blinking several times against the light, she finally noticed the people standing at the gate.

"Ah…."

A blond young man, who looked like a noble, stood before her. Behind him, a line of knights with grave expressions stood at attention.

Their outfits and armor seemed slightly different from what she was used to seeing, but she was too relieved to care. She had finally found people.

Collapsing to the ground, she cried out in desperation.

"Please save me! A demon has appeared! Everyone in the monastery is dead!"

The young man said nothing to her frantic cries. The knights beside him also remained silent.

Instead, they simply stared down at her with grim expressions.

"Hurry! Please, check the monastery! I'm Sera, a sister here! Didn't the Lord suspect something strange and send you?"

Her voice trembled as she pleaded, but the young man still did not open his mouth.

Instead, he drew the sword at his hip and pointed it at her.

Horrified, she shouted, "What are you doing?! I said to check the monastery!"

Ignoring her outburst, the young man spoke in a detached voice.

"You've already been consumed."

"What? Consumed? By what?"

"You are not a sister."

"What did you say?"

She had lived in this monastery since childhood, dedicating her life to serving God. How could he say she wasn't a sister?

Those words denied her very existence.

But now wasn't the time to argue over such things. The monastery was filled with corpses; there was no time to waste here.

"Fine! Just please, check the monastery—"

The young man interrupted her again.

"This isn't a monastery. And you are not a sister. A man cannot be a sister."

"What are you talking about…!"

Her voice, which had been raised in anger, suddenly faltered. She realized something strange.

Her voice had turned rough and deep, like a man's.

"W-What… what is this…?"

Her hands still held the bloodied knife. But now her hands were rugged and covered with coarse hair—completely unlike her own.

As the unbelievable reality sank in, the stench of blood and rot overwhelmed her senses. Slowly, she turned her head to look behind her.

"What…."

It wasn't the monastery garden or building behind her, but a large, grimy slaughterhouse.

Chunks of meat hung everywhere, dripping with blood.

Human corpses were strung up alongside them. The ground was littered with bodies.

"Ah, ah, ah, ah… w-what is this…?"

Clang.

The man dropped the knife, his face blank with shock.

And then, he remembered.

The bodies hanging there were all people he knew.

Colleagues he worked with, occasional customers, and even his family.

The slaughterhouse walls were smeared with blood. Considering how many had been killed here, it was strange that anything had remained untouched.

"Ah, ah, ah…."

The man's memories and Sera's memories mixed together. He couldn't tell what was real anymore.

He was sure he was a man who worked at this slaughterhouse. An ordinary butcher who sold meat to support his family.

And yet, he was also a sister—a nun who prayed to God in a collapsing world.

[$%&*#@$%!%^$S#]

The whisper returned to his ears. This time, he understood its meaning perfectly.

The whisper spoke in a language he knew, yet it wasn't of this world.

[...Only then will you survive.]

"Ah…."

Blood-tears began streaming down the man's face.

With his own hands, he had killed his family.

The sister who served God had murdered innocent people.

He couldn't understand what had driven him to do such things.

He had only wanted to survive.

Yes, that was all.

Crack, crack! Snap!

Suddenly, the sound of bones breaking echoed as the man's body began twisting grotesquely.

His head split open from the crown.

Zzzzzt…

Like a snake shedding its skin, the human facade peeled away.

What emerged was a grotesque mutant, its brain writhing with thick tentacles.

Shhhhh…

A red gemstone embedded in the mutant's head glowed as it unleashed a dreadful aura.

The young man, Ghislain, who had been watching the transformation, spoke in a grave tone.

"Gordon, immediately find the city mayor. Gather the troops, evacuate the people, and seal off the city."

"Understood!"

"The rest of you, prepare for battle."

No matter how many mutants there were, Ghislain could handle them alone. But this wasn't like the village where they had captured Ravier—this transformation was not normal.

Boom!

An enormous surge of mana erupted from underground.

Ghislain knew all too well what this meant.

"The 'gate' here has opened."

His expression hardened with chilling resolve.

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