Chapter 5: Volume I. Chapter V. – Nightmare Becomes Reality

[March 29th, 863]

The crowd is motionless as though suddenly petrified by their first sight of a demon.

Its human-like menacing grin and large, bloodshot eyes… it almost feels like the creature is staring directly at me.

The crowd jolted awake as the terrible Demon takes one stride forward, crushing through the back of a body that has already been mangled.

Everyone falls victim to panic. The race to get through the academy’s back entrance peaks in intensity. The real pandemonium has barely started.

Without a warning, the remaining students behind us surged through the constrained hallway, separating me from Iris and Himari. Then one of the passing pupils knocks me to the ground, using me as a prop to distract the Demon.

I’m left behind.

I hear my two friends reaching out to me as they are being swept away, but it's all in vain.

I feel something wet wrapping around my hand, tender but also complex and pointy at the very bottom. I’m aware that I have somehow damaged the object beneath my palm.

In a strange sense, it already feels unpleasant as it is, but realization occurs only when I run my eyes down my arm, all the way…

Red... purple… yellow… all these colors intertwine as the yellow and purple fragments are drenched in the liquid swirling around my hand.

My hand is piercing through the lungs of a dead girl as her chest has been torn open. Her expressionless body reveals how painful her demise was. It may be how the word itself is defined.

I vomit almost instantly; there is no longer a way to resist the urge. Slowly, tears start to trickle down my cheeks.

“This is Hell...”

I mumble to myself silently as I slowly fall into despair.

My legs have given out; getting up isn’t an option, and calling for help won’t help.

My body trembles more and more as the beast moves forward, crushing through the corpses with each stride.

The smell of death grows stronger.

A sudden headache deepens me into a sea of visual illusions...

The rear of a white-haired girl’s head. Buildings are engulfed in flames. Blood cascades down stone walls as children cry in the background.

It all phases through so fast that I can’t comprehend what is happening, and once it’s over, I find myself gasping for air.

And what was that? A hallucination? A vision of some kind? I felt like I wasn’t breathing at all for a moment.

The noise in the background is slowly fading away… or is it just my consciousness?

Staring at the ground after being startled by an event I could not understand, two dark and rigid feet appear before me. The tough-looking skin makes the twisted bones beneath it appear even tougher, and the odor…

The contents of my stomach are thrown out once more; I can still make lunch out of the image before me, even if just barely.

Suddenly I can feel an intense scorching sensation coming from the back of my head, and my body is being lifted from the ground.

The Demon grabs hold of me and drags me up by the hair untied out of my ponytail. But it doesn’t pull me up to my feet. It continues and leaves me hanging in the air.

The pain is overwhelming; I grit my teeth, trying to clutch its thick arm while kicking the air, yet I can't help but cry.

Ignored while still streaming down my mouth, the vomit gradually combines with the tears.

The struggle takes away most of my strength, and my arms give out. They are left hanging with the rest of me.

All I have left is to pray for a miracle to occur, and as my voice trembles with the last of my strength, I utter my final faint words.

“I don’t want to die.”

At that very moment, one of the walls next to us gets forced open. Pieces of stone and dust shoot our way when a spear-like weapon and a manly figure just behind it emerge from the artificial smokescreen.

That military jacket, the scar tainting one of his eyes; it’s commander Spriggan carrying a halberd.

The weapon pierces the hellish creature’s side as it gets propelled through the opposing wall, forcing it to release me.

I drop down on my knees and begin to pant heavily. Fear is still controlling my body, but it’s progressively improving as if part of the weight has been lifted.

But that’s only to be expected. After all, the commander saved my life.

I’m slowly regaining consciousness and gathering myself. I need to get out of he-

Someone grabs my arm and pulls me towards the back entrance as I get back on my feet. I then inspect the person dragging me out.

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It’s Iris; she has returned to get me.

Soon a blinding shine hits me directly as we escape our academy's crumbling building.

Iris halts beneath the steps, then diverts her two watery eyes to me. Her face is stained, and her hair is partially covered in dust, but I'm probably the winner when it comes to looking like a mess.

Iris touches me all around, then wipes the fluids off with a tissue. All that while interrogating me.

“Are you hurt anywhere? Has the thing done anything to you?”

She’s worried sick.

My body is still trembling, but seeing her face again brings me great relief. I hug my older sister as I start to cry. In response, she hugs me back and sheds tears alongside me.

I wasn’t the only one who felt anxious. Iris was terrified for me the entire time, if not more so than I was.

Something explodes inside the building and a big cloud of dust is released.

Both of us pause as we look at the same rumbling structure.

“What are you standing there for?! Let’s get a move on, we are still in danger!”

Our attention is again redirected to Himari as she stands behind us with the rest of the group.

They all waited for me.

Iris nods and begins to move down the street. My arm is being held firmly in her grasp. I can feel she doesn’t plan on letting go; it makes me feel at ease.

We are headed for the nearest shelter located about fifty meters away. Running between the damaged buildings, we encounter just a few dead soldiers. It doesn’t appear like much was happening in this direction.

The shelter is probably still intact as a result, but the scenery just makes me want to see my parents again. I’m worried about them, but I don’t want to bring it up. It would only stress the rest of us even more.

Iris and I fall behind as Hiro passes us and takes the lead.

“So what was it like? The Demon? I missed the chance to see it for myself.”

He asks carelessly.

I try looking back at it. Recalling the appearance of that monster, its scent, and the texture of its skin… makes me nauseous.

Ah… I might hurl again.

“That’s enough, Hiro! Shut up, or I’ll personally cave your teeth in!”

Charlotte yells from our rear as she keeps an eye on my condition.

“Alright, alright. I’m just curious.”

He replies and shakes the threat off.

“We are here!”

Iris alerts us as we make a complete stop.

Two obvious metal trapdoors were built in the ground between two houses. The stairs beyond the entrance will lead us underground, one of the safest places in the town right now.

As he asks for the doors to open, Hiro gives the two metal plates a couple of kicks, and soon enough, they are. The way is cleared for us by two powerless regular knights.

Hiro enters first, and after him is my turn, but before I do, another tremor shakes the ground beneath our feet.

I look at the tips of my toes, then spot a shadow. The shadow is mine, and while it first appears as a shadow should, it quickly starts to grow.

No, it’s not that it’s getting bigger. It’s more like… it seems to be surrounded and covered by something with an immense shadow.

I swiftly gaze up at the sky and I see the Demon right above us, and before I get to react in any way, I find myself being tossed by Iris into the artificial abyss, then caught by Hiro before hitting the stairway.

The impact of its landing causes the surroundings to shake rapidly, and a tremendous amount of dust is lifted, impairing visibility for everyone.

“Iris!”

I yell out of the dark, into the outside world. But I don’t get a response as the two shelter guards don’t hesitate to shut the entrance.

We have been separated yet again.

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