Chapter 2: Chapter 02- The Midnight Monster

THE DOG-WATCHING MAN’S POV:-

The thing before me was an ‘Apostle’, or in simpler words, a monster that was born in the aftermath of the ‘Heavens’ Calamity’ that took place around 21 years ago in the Weinan region of the world when beams of lightning came striking down and hit the earth.

This entire event was even visible to people who were tens of thousands of miles away on different continents.

The event was marked as a turning point in entire human history as new types of monsters, called the Apostles with an intellect equal to or even sometimes more than that of human beings came to be in the world.

The reason why these monsters were being referred to as such was very simple, that is, some of the humans thought that ‘God’ was angry with them and thus, had decided to end the world and recreate it using these nasty bastards.

Well, whatever it is, I don’t really know much about it, and being honest, I don’t really care either.

The only thing I need to know about the apostles is that the ‘Adventurers’ Guild’ offers a load of money for their heads, and I mean literally their ‘heads’ as their entire body disappears after they die only leaving their heads intact.

So, no matter what happens, I’m not gonna focus on anything but that.

Coming back to what was in front of me,
the Apostle before me had the head of a ferocious wolf and the body of a human, it looked terrifying, to say the least, but honestly, I wasn’t much fazed by its appearance.

The monster looked back at me with its eyes curved into half-moons and completely ignored the girl’s existence while focusing all its attention on me.

I guess it wants to have a fight with me or something.

I was about to walk towards the monster when I saw the silhouette of a certain someone slowly sneaking her way, it was the girl that had been screaming earlier.

Taking advantage of the monster’s negligence or dismissal, to be precise, the girl ran away from there without saying anything else. Well, she did flash me a ridiculing smile before heading off.

Shitty bitch.

To be honest, I wanted to catch her up and throw her in front of the monster but considering the direction she was headed in, I decided not to pursue her. I mean, she will meet one of ‘them’ if she keeps heading that way. I can’t wait to see her sorry expression when that happens.

“Ha ha”, with a low laugh I shook my head and kicked any thoughts about her out of my mind, after all, I was going to have so much more fun right here and now with this guy in here, then why the hell should I keep on thinking about some bitch who might die in a few minutes?

So, bringing my focus back to the monster before me, I looked it straight in the eyes.

It stood there smiling and flashing its fangs, doing its best to creep me out of my mind.

But if only this much was enough to disturb me then I would have probably died a long time ago or maybe become a kebab or a grilled steak for these monsters to enjoy.

“Graaaahhhhh!”, the monster looked back at me and issued a roar probably to intimidate me or something, but honestly, I didn't really feel anything much.

The roar in reality was more irritating than intimidating.

Noticing no change in my expression the monster grinned happily and looked at me with interest in its eyes.

‘This guy…it must be thinking that I am a small fry. Well, whatever, go on underestimate me it’s fine for me that way.’, I thought as I unsheathed my sword and pointed it towards the werewolf-like monster.

My sword shone like a piece of jewelry under the calm moonlit night, and then,

“*Clang!!!*”

The sound of metal clashing reverberated in the surroundings.

***

NARRATOR’S POV:-

Running breathlessly in the dark forest where the only thing visible was the moon high up in the sky and the only thing audible was the somewhat quiet gasps of the young maiden who kept on running through the forest like her life depended on it.

The girl was the same one who had just now encountered an apostle and luckily found herself an escape ticket in the form of a man who looked to be in his early twenties.

It was a very short period of time since the girl had used the man as her scapegoat but she had somehow gotten a considerable amount of distance away from the monster that she had first met.

Thinking about the monster, the girl couldn’t help but shiver at the remembrance of its mere shadow.

Standing 2.5 meters high with the body of a human and the head of a wolf, the monster was releasing such a fearsome aura that it almost made the girl faint on spot as soon as she first made eye contact with the dangerous beast.

“Shit! That was a grave miscalculation on our part!”, She cursed under her breath as she recalled how she had made plans about hunting one of the apostles alongside her partner.

At first, she had thought that she would easily be able to defeat the ferocious monster but all of her calculations went to drain the moment her partner got one shot by the monster.

Honestly, she had no idea that someone as strong as her partner would ever find himself dying in such a scenario where he couldn’t even struggle properly in front of the aggressor.

It only sent a shiver down her spine as she thought about the monster again and again, so she spent the next minute or two trying to figure out how to get out of the forest and find a safe shelter but, all her plans went to drain when just a minute after she encountered ‘that’.

Her face went pale as if all the blood was drained from it as she started shivering uncontrollably the moment her eyes fell onto the entity before her, it was none other than the creation of heavens that was sent down to the earth to purify the world, it was another Apostle.

Standing around 2 meters high, this one too looked like the monster from earlier, the only difference was that it was a bit smaller.

She was confused, she was aggrieved, and she didn’t know what to do anymore.

It was then, that a sudden thought came to her mind, ‘why did that man not chase after me?’

She was thinking about the man she had met earlier.

She still remembered the man’s expression when she used him as a scapegoat to run away from the Apostle.

At that time rather than looking scared, angry, or confused the man rather looked relaxed, no, she noticed that his expression was similar to when someone tries to stifle a laugh.

‘But why? He surely didn’t know I would encounter another Apostle on my way here, would he?’, she thought as dots started connecting in her head.

And just the moment this happened she started feeling an immense amount of hatred towards the bastardly man who knowingly plunged her into the claws of death. Even though she was the one who used him as bait first, I guess shamelessness is a part of being a human too.

But something still strike her as odd, if the man truly did know about the presence of the other Apostle then why didn’t he use it as an excuse to make a temporary alliance with her?

‘Could it be…that he was strong enough to defeat an Apostle?’, her mind went blank as she thought of this possibility but she soon discarded this thought, ‘an Apostle isn’t something that a man who is around the same age as mine can deal with’ is what she kept on repeating over and over again in her mind.

She didn’t believe, no, she didn’t want to believe in this possibility because if the man truly turned out to be strong enough to defeat that monster then she is going to suffer a fate even worse than death if she gets found by him.

The girl knew all too well about humans, she knew just how monstrous a human being could actually be. She knew that the monster inside a human being could be way more terrifying than a mere apostle, after all, she too was a human.

Just the thought of that man coming back carrying the severed head of the Apostle in his hand sent shivers down her spine as she involuntarily started shaking.

“Graaaaaahhhh!!!!”, snapping the girl out of her thoughts was the roar of the monster before her as it looked visibly irritated by the girl who seemed to have been ignoring it for the last few minutes.

The Apostle looked at the girl in the same way a butcher might look at a lamb that is about to be slaughtered.

His mere gaze was enough to tell that it wasn’t taking its opponent seriously, that it could easily deal with her anytime it wanted, that she was nothing but an inferior prey in its bloodthirsty eyes

The monster’s gaze caused the girl to lose all her strength, and her hand holding the small sword started shaking.

Her eyes started tearing up and it seemed as if she would drop to the ground any moment now but then suddenly all the shivering and shaking stopped.

“No! I can’t die here!!!”

She shouted to motivate herself, a strange fire lit in her eyes

The girl bit her lips, a trail of blood dripped down from her lips, and she rushed at the monster before her with determination apparent in her eyes.

“Haaaaaa!!!”, With full force behind her body, the girl swung her Qi-clad sword at the Apostle.

The girl had converged all her strength and Qi in her short sword as if it was her last attack and ran towards the monster. She had a determined expression on her face and looked certain that she will hit her target.

But,

The moment her sword was about to hit the monster it easily dodged the strike by moving to its right side and then just casually punched the girl in her face.

She got sent flying away from the impact of the punch and finally came to a stop after crashing into a tree, *Bash!!!*

The girl collided with the tree and slumped on the ground, she was bleeding and she had probably broken a few of her bones.

The girl, with her fearful eyes, looked at the monster standing before her with a smirk on its beastly face. She kept on mumbling ‘I don’t want to die' repeatedly as if she was trying to escape reality by chanting those words.

“I don’t want to die! Not yet! Not yet!! Not yet!!! I cannot die, I can never die!!!”, the girl started shouting, protesting, and crying. Tears filled her eyes and her entire face got drenched by her tears.

On the other hand, the monster looked as if it had gotten bored, so it leisurely walked towards the girl and raised its arm to tear apart the girl but before it could do that, it was interrupted by the arrival of a certain stranger.

“Whoa! How pathetic~!”

It was a voice full of derision.

It was a voice unbefitting of someone noble.

It was the voice of the protagonist.

***

THE DOG-WATCHING MAN’S (PROTAGONIST’S) POV:-

“Gaahhhh!!!”, The monstrosity in front of me fell to the ground with a thump as it kept on looking at me with fear and horror in its eyes.

It was the Werewolf-like Apostle that had foolishly tried to fight me earlier. And here right now it’s on the ground screaming and shivering in pain and fear.

I had already cut down its legs and gave it a grave wound on its torso.

The Apostle looked at me with fear and caution in its eyes. Then it did something unthinkable for a monster to do. It joined its hands as if it was begging me for mercy.

Where did this creature learn something like this from?

It was a pretty obvious answer, in my opinion, it learned the universal art of begging from its victims.

I don’t know how many humans must have begged the same way in front of this monster.

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I didn’t waste any time further and swiftly cut down the monster’s head. The monster didn’t even have the time to make any sound as its body kept on twitching for a few moments before it eventually turned into ash and disappeared into thin air as if it hadn’t existed, to begin with.

“Graaaaaahhhh!!!!”, it was then that another roar resounded in the atmosphere as I turned my head towards the source of the roar.

‘Hm? Has she met that guy already? Now that was fast, I never expected her to be so quick on her feet, looks like she wasn’t completely incapable after all.’, I thought as I sheathed back my sword and picked up the monster’s severed head.

After that, without further ado, I ran towards the girl mustering the highest speed I could.

The girl, although, she looked weak, was a very fast runner. I can’t believe that she was able to run so far in such a short amount of time.

It took me a while to catch up with her and just as I expected, she encountered the other monster.

There was no need for me to do anything, so I decided to sit back and enjoy the show.

The girl looked to be scared out of her wits, she was shaking and shivering so badly that even I felt a bit of pity for her.

But then suddenly her shivering stopped and she almost shouted, “No! I can’t die here!!!”, and looked at the monsters with her eyes full of determination.

I guess she has her reasons to not die as well.

“Haaaaa!!!!!”, issuing a loud roar filled with determination the girl ran towards the monster, looking like she had just used each and every bit of energy in her body.

‘Whoa!!! That’s nice, got get im’!’, I inwardly cheered for her victory as the girl was about to clash with the monster.

The girl raised her short sword, enveloped it with Qi, and ran towards the monster.

The attack seemed pretty decent, but the power behind it wasn’t enough.

‘Looks like it’s her last attack… too bad, this much is not enough to kill a monster of this caliber’, I predicted, and just as I expected the monster easily dodged the attack and punched her in the face.

The girl got thrown away and finally collided with a tree and collapsed. She was bleeding heavily and it looked like the collision had claimed a few of her bones as well. I guess it’s over for her now.

Now then, what will she do now?

Will she fight or run away?

Or maybe she will start begging?

“I don’t want to die! Not yet! Not yet!! Not yet!!! I cannot die, I can never die!!!”

Ah… so she started crying and throwing a tantrum.

The girl started shouting, protesting, and crying. Tears filled her eyes and her entire face got drenched by her tears.

Looking at her I almost involuntarily opened my mouth and said the words, “Whoa! How pathetic~!”, making sure not to hide even a bit of contempt that I held for her when I said these words.

The monster and the girl looked at me.

The girl’s tense face became even tenser when her eyes met mine.

‘Hnnf!”, I couldn’t help but snicker as I saw her terror-stricken face. She must be thinking about what I would do to her after I defeat the monster that was about to kill her.

Not minding the girl anymore, I brought my attention back to the monster that was about to kill her.

It was looking at me with wary eyes, no, actually, it was looking at the severed head of its comrade in my hands.

The monster looked at me and then it looked at the girl. Then it looked at me again with the kind of face as if it was waiting for my reply.

Understanding the meaning behind its actions I said, “You want to trade your life with that girl’s? Is that what you are trying to say?”

In response to my question, the monster just nodded and started looking at me with expectant eyes.

‘Whoa this guy is talented’, I thought as the thought of making it my pet crossed my mind but then I dropped the idea almost instantaneously as I doubt that a man-eating beast like this one could ever become someone’s pet, so not paying much attention to it I looked it in the eyes once again and said,

“No can do, she’s not my companion do whatever you want with her, I don’t really care”

The look in the monster’s eyes changed and it charged at me without thinking anything else.

‘Foolish guy…you should have at least tried to take the girl as a hostage first. What if I had just been kidding to buy time?’, I shook my head and threw the other Apostle’s head at the one that was approaching me.

In response to me throwing its companion’s head at it, the monster just dodged it and came at me.

Its long nails, strong enough to destroy trees and boulders aimed at me, for a moment I felt the hairs on my arm stand up, yep this was a thrilling sensation for me.

I covered my sword in Qi and aimed it at the monster’s head, the monster seeing my sword approach him jumped backwards and looked at me with caution apparent in its eyes.

I pointed my sword clad in Qi at the monster and aimed the sword’s tip towards the monster.

The monster, knowing full well that it won’t be able to escape by any means finally made up its mind and lunged at me.

And then,

***

GIRL’S POV

This guy… he is a bigger monster than that Apostle.

I don’t think I can escape from this place even if I were to run right now, I should focus on healing myself first.

Taking out the rejuvenation pill and swallowing it I started circulating Qi in my body to heal all the injuries that I had received from my earlier clash and started watching the fight before me.

This fight, although I don’t want to admit it, I know for sure that this fight will eventually decide my life. I have to watch it until the end and then plan my moves carefully.

The Apostle jumped at the man and tried to tear the young man apart using its claws but the man instead of facing the attack just moved to his right side, turned around 180^o using his right leg as a hinge while his left leg was up in the air, and slashed his sword at the back of the monster.

“Kshaa!”

His attack was so casual and flawless that it almost seemed natural to me.

How can that man fight against such a strong monster with so much ease?

I wanted to get up and ask this question but I didn’t have the guts to do that, I had a feeling that I would die if I even try to leave this spot.

“Shhhh”, blood kept on pouring out of the monster’s back at a very fast rate.

The monster was panting heavily as it glanced at the man, the man on the other hand was just standing there with a confused expression on his face.

“Graaaahhhh!!!”, The monster growled and yet again ran towards the man, this time the monster aimed at the man’s head. In response to the attack, the man just ducked and used his left leg to kick the monster’s knee.

The monster fell to the ground and started wailing in anguish but it didn’t stop there, ignoring the pain the monster kept on attacking the man but no matter what it did, he wasn’t even able to land a scratch on him.

On the other hand, the man kept on inflicting wounds on the monster without stopping at all.

It was an unreal sight, something that seemed to be out of a fairy tale that my mother used to tell me before I went to sleep, in that fairy tale the monster aiming to kill the princess was usually slain by a great hero.

Well, of course, I was no princess, and the man in front of me, judging by the way he acted was no great hero either, honestly, it wouldn’t be wrong to call him a monster straight away as the cruelty that reflected from his actions surprised even someone like me who had just a few hours ago robbed an innocent man by calling him for aid and then backstabbing him.

Tch! Why am I thinking about that right now? The dead are dead, I can’t do anything about them, right now the only thing I should worry about is the fight, not someone who died by my blade.

So, bringing my attention back to the fight, I found the monster once again getting up and running towards the man at a very high speed but just as it was about to reach the man it all of a sudden fell to the ground.

‘What happened?’, I was left perplexed by the sudden turn of events.

I had no idea what happened to the monster but there was one thing that I knew for sure, it was the man’s doing! Only he could have done something like that to such a strong monster.

Snapping me out of my thoughts, a voice suddenly resounded in the surroundings, “You sure took your time, didn’t you?”, the source of this voice was the man whom I saw slowly approaching the monster with a relaxed smile on his face.

He continued,

“Honestly, I underestimated you. I didn’t think you’d be able to take so many of my attacks, I knew I got them in clean. No wonder you’re confident to put on airs”, he stated plainly as if it was just a matter-of-fact.

The monster looked fearfully at the entity in front of it and joined its hands and bowed its head as if it was begging for mercy.

The man looked at the monster, his eyes reflecting disgust and contempt at the mere sight of the monster begging before him.

He didn’t say anything else, he just walked forward and cut off the monster’s head with a slash from his sword.

*Kachak!*

Blood splattered dying the ground red.

It was then that the man looked at me.

His expressionless face and his sharp gaze made me gulp unconsciously.

The man didn't say anything to me, he just turned around, picked up the two apostles’ heads as proof of killing them, and then turned around to leave without saying anything.

‘Is he really going to spare me? Looks like he was just another soft-hearted moron’, I couldn’t help but think of him as a fool for his decision of not killing me.

I mean I did set him up to save myself, if I were him, I wouldn't have been so merciful, no, I probably would have tortured him before finally killing him as he begged me for mercy.

Well whatever, I hope that fool dies a horrific dea..gghk!

The world before me turned upside down all of a sudden and the next thing I saw was the twitching body of a girl that seemed to be still shocked by the sudden development.

Ah, is that so? I see, what a monster.

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