Nameless Ones (5)
Wriggle, the corpse of the dead lizard flipped over and quickly opened its mouth. The two rows of densely packed teeth revealed an uneven arrangement.
Snap! The creature's jaw snapped shut, aiming to sever flesh in one bite, but it clamped down on empty air. Leonardo wrapped his arm around its snout, closing it shut. His biceps contracted and bulged with the effort. A struggle ensued between the monster trying to open its mouth and the man straining to keep it closed.
"Leo, catch!"
The man kicked the broadsword rolling on the ground, sending it spinning towards Leonardo. Leonardo stepped on the hilt, making the blade fly into the air, and then drove it into the monster with a precise thrust. The blade pierced through the elongated snout and emerged from the skull. It was a fatal blow. But then.
'That's…'
Slurp.
The dark red blood stains on the blade were sucked back into the flesh. The wound closed up, and the flesh merged with the sword. It was its strange healing ability. Although it appeared monstrous, its regenerative power was unparalleled. If this was the 'evolution' the creature mentioned, it certainly lived up to the expectation.
Then, it rolled its eyes and looked at me. Saliva dripped from between its jaws, just like when salivary glands are stimulated by the thought of a sour lemon, causing uncontrollable drooling. Despite the broadsword lodged in its mouth like an oversized fang, it didn't hesitate to open its jaws.
"Ah, you… look… delicious…"
The nameless creature's tail swayed. It crudely contracted its vocal cords to force out human words.
"Now… I can… eat you!"
Thud!
Its long tail swept across the ground and tripped me, making me fall. As I struggled to regain my balance and lifted my head, I saw a long, narrow tunnel-like structure moving rhythmically. It was the creature's esophagus, lunging at me to swallow me after shaking off Leonardo.
But the dark tunnel didn't come any closer and was pulled back. Leonardo had grabbed its tail and yanked it back, slamming it into the cave wall.
I grew anxious.
'The skins by the lower reaches of the Rilke River.'
They sometimes said that the creatures shared consciousness. And since the one in front of me chose to bury the failed experiment remnants in the ground, the skins by the river couldn't be its doing. In other words, this experiment is being conducted simultaneously.
'Not just here. In regions generated on the stage right now, these creatures are participating in this experiment.'
Not only in this mountain village, but possibly even in Rilke. What will happen the moment the successful cases of the evolution experiment and our current position are shared among the creatures?
The number of
"Want… to eat, join… us!"
To eat me.
"That monster's crest is its weak spot, so if you attack there—"
While my mouth diligently informed Leonardo of its weakness, my head spun in dizzy circles. It can eat now? And it wants to eat me?
They had previously failed to mimic me, and their attempts to eat me had been frequently thwarted. But now, it seemed all those limitations had vanished as they lunged at me.
Suddenly, I ponder its evolutionary process. Now it is neither just a monster, a sacrificial extra, nor something treated as non-existent. It exists as something, but in the form of a collective of multiple entities. Thus, they were named the
'So now it can eat me? Because, in a way, we share the same nature?'
Swish! Leonardo sliced off the monster's crest, causing blood to spurt and splatter everywhere. Though I expected it to heal quickly due to its abilities, Leonardo moved like lightning and stabbed the creature in its side. He murmured slowly.
"Even though you creatures heal quickly."
"Hiss…."
"You can't escape the rule that you recover the most recent injuries first, in chronological order."
A cold shadow fell along Leonardo's nose. His blue-tinged hair drifted across his forehead, and with his eyes slightly lowered, he twisted his wrist with the detached demeanour of an experienced slaughterer.
Crunch, crack.
The blade twisted as it dug into the monster's tough hide, continuously aggravating the wound before it could fully heal. The crest had no chance to close up, and blood steadily leaked out, soaking the ground.
[Weakness (2) / Crest] Similar in appearance to that of a rooster, the crest contains blood that is circulated throughout the body to regulate temperature. If the crest is severed, the resulting heavy bleeding and failure to regulate body temperature will lead to excessive blood loss and acute poisoning, resulting in death.
Finally, the monster, having lost all its blood, turned pale and collapsed with a thud. As its body slowly turned to ash and scattered, I urgently grabbed Leonardo's forearm.
"We need to leave immediately. If our location has been shared among them, they'll soon be swarming here."
Leonardo calmly placed his hand over my forearm and replied, "Calm down. I'll do as you say. Where do you want to go?"
They will come in hordes, shedding their soft human shells for strong and ferocious forms. In the process, they'll replace the characters, literally grinding them into their final, monstrous forms. And there's only one way to stop them.
"To El Dante."
We enter the stage of Act 2 and end this intermission. By doing so, we reduce the freedom of the characters once more. Even if it results in minimal control similar to what we observed in the underground labyrinth, having the scenario regain control over them is the only way to stop the proliferation of the
Leonardo, instead of voicing reasonable questions from his perspective—such as why El Dante, considering it wouldn't fundamentally resolve the situation, or why we don't consider the closer destination of Sinistra—simply nodded.
"Understood. Don't be too anxious."
He helped me to my feet. As we made our way through the rain-soaked forest path back to the cabin, Vittorio was already at the window, watching us urgently approach and had everything prepared. We climbed into the carriage, grabbed the reins, and spurred the horses on.
"Go!"
Since arriving here, it feels like we've been living a life on the run. From the brink of death. From the scenario. And from the monsters.
Splat!
The donkey's hooves splashed mud. In the distance, the swollen river came into view. We couldn't cross the bridge and had no time to waste, so we steered the reins aimlessly toward the direction of El Dante, near the river. The wagon jolted over the rough path, shaking the driver's seat.
In truth, although the circumstances are different, the feeling of running away is familiar. There was a time I ran away from stories about abandoning futile dreams and facing reality, from advice urging me to embrace ambition if I dared to dream and to try harder to the point of exhaustion.
A nameless bit player, an extra without lines, occasionally a supporting character. The period of anonymity is long and monotonous. I used to strive to breathe a little longer on stage. In some sense, isn't my plight similar to that of the monster?
No matter how hard I tried, the end was always obscurity. The name I received after what I thought was an evolutionary leap is a collective term for the ensemble of roles, monsters, and melted remnants called
Just as what I considered effort and meager passion were buried deeply, unacknowledged, and lumped together as experience instead of success. Even knowing this empathy is irrational, it's hard to prevent my thoughts from shifting in a world that is a stage.
Perhaps here, in this world constructed as a stage, I will remain nameless. Even if I become a supporting character, there was no promise that I would receive a name. Look at Baron Roald and Viscount Bermont. They are referred to by their family surnames, not personal names.
There are bound to be supporting characters who don't need a name. If that's the case, lacking a name means I will end up like those nameless ones, left in a form that they can finally consume.
The thin veil of reassurance that wrapped around me has been stripped away. At least I had the assurance that I was not a character in this world, but an outsider, and now that guarantee has been brutally shattered.
The lantern hanging from the wagon swayed and flickered, illuminating a section of the forest. As the cold rainwater hit my face, I furrowed my brow while Leonardo gripped his sword tightly. With his eyes gently closed, he whispered,
"It's easy to detect them since the scents of those and the monster are mixed. They're tracking us by smell and sound. Two of them… are coming!"
The forest split before my eyes, and a monster leaped out from between the thickets. Leonardo laid his sword flat and stabbed the charging creature in one swift motion. It was instantly pierced, and the thrashing creature plunged into the flowing river, hiding itself beneath the current.
"There's one behind us!"
Vittorio quickly shouted, sensing something. Leonardo approached the wagon's cargo area and hurled his scabbard into the gaping maw of the predator. As it reflexively clamped its jaws shut, the scabbard shattered into pieces.
At the moment Leonardo's focus was scattered, a monster lurking beneath the river surged forward, slicing through the water. While Leonardo restrained the creature that had bitten a corner of the driver's seat and shattered the wood, a second monster quickly crawled towards the cargo area on all fours.
I handed the reins to Vittorio for a moment, squeezed my body in, and tumbled into the cargo area. The jostling carriage made it hard to maintain my balance, forcing me to brace myself against the floor with my hands.
Crack!
I gritted my teeth as I saw a large hole torn in the tarp covering the wagon by the tail of the creature shaking the driver's seat. I leaned back against Leovald's coffin, bending my knees before extending them. The heavy rebound caught at my toes, and the wide soles of my shoes pushed objects away.
A heavy wooden barrel that I had kicked rolled out and bounced off the side of the wagon, and the monster reflexively bit it. The barrel crumpled as if it had been caught in a compactor, releasing its distinctive odour into the air.
The smell of oil.
I borrowed a flame from the lantern and attached it to the end of an arrow. The fire flickered at the arrowhead like will-o'-the-wisps, mesmerizing my vision. I steadied my breath and pulled the trigger of the crossbow.
Whoosh!
A flash of light streaked across the forest. Soon, a bright flame blazed up, driving away the darkness. It was a direct hit. The oil-soaked flame burned fiercely even in the rain, producing smoke. The smell of something cooking filled the air.
Boom!
At the same time, Leonardo succeeded in slashing the creature on the driver's seat. Ash scattered through the air like a tapestry. We had barely taken down two monsters, but I couldn't feel relieved.
"There will be more coming," I said.
The monster wave had only just begun.