Volume 7, Chapter 168: Reasons to Halt
Volume 7, Chapter 168: Reasons to Halt
The monster looked like a pile of meat in Filaret’s black eyes. This monster was something that was even more terrifying and hard to understand than a demon beast. It was hard to believe that this became the end of the human being named Mordeaux Gon.
Involuntarily, Filaret raised her face and stared at a part that seemed to be the face of the lump of meat. The horrendous face had just a dent, which probably was the wide opened mouth of the lump of meat. There was no tongue and no esophagus leading into it. Therefore, it was not exactly a mouth. It looked like a fissure in the meat rather than a mouth.
A horrifying thought struck the insides of Filaret’s viscera. Not because of the awful appearance of the lump of meat that stood in front of her. Not because of the flesh in the shape of a beast that clearly showed hostility towards her.
Filaret’s horrifying thought. Just by imagining the existence that shaped that beast, Filaret’s body trembled relentlessly without stopping. Humans could not naturally reach such a figure by any means. Such nauseous work did not happen without the intervention of a different entity.
In other words, someone was behind this horrifying transformation.
Someone who shaped this lump of meat into a terrifying beast was in this world. Its existence must be almost completely uninterested in life per se. Said someone must not have any dignity or sympathy toward human lives. No matter which life it may be, this someone easily transformed it with its fingers, just like a child playing with mud or clay. The presence of the deformed beast in front of Filaret made her understand the frightening reality that surrounded human beings. Filaret desperately restrained her throat from screaming.
The beast lifted his arm slowly and at a sluggish speed. The thick arm, whose flesh looked tense, had a dark blood color. Feeling her eyebrows squeezing, Filaret jumped while taking a step back.
“I don’t feel any special threat. However, there is no doubt that I felt the primitive fear. A fear of the approaching mass of meat towards me.”
Filaret tightened her black eyes and closed her eyelids for a moment when the beast swung down its arm.
*bang*
That moment. A roaring sound that tore one’s ears apart engulfed the entire surroundings. The sound itself became like a shock wave and approached Filaret’s body. She couldn’t even stand properly because of the enormous momentum. Unknowingly, Filaret opened her eyelids, shaking her entire body.
Crushed walls and corridors reflected in her field of vision. The destruction in front of her made her realize that that monster’s powerful strength would have killed her immediately if she had remained within its grasp.
“This is no good.” Filaret’s chest warned her of the danger that spread in front of her.
“This monster is not an existence that humans can even imagine. Like living in some twisted logic, so to speak, an entity outside the realm of reason.” Such an idea was born in Filaret’s mind. The birth of that idea grew louder and faster, filling her brain in no time.
“There is no doubt that this monster is not something that humans should face. But should I escape?” Somehow, Filaret didn’t know what to do. An idea was beginning to surge in her mind.
“Of course, I believe that I should run away.” Filaret, who was someone devoted to knowledge and intellect, was unwilling to fight anything that stood outside the framework of wisdom. She felt it was too pointless and too reckless to take on this opponent without knowing the countermeasures and weaknesses.
“I’m sure the right decision is to run away. No. Using the expression ?running away? is not the appropriate term for this monster. I am feeling in my body a terrifying notion of a disaster itself. Avoiding a disaster is not ?running away?.”
However, Filaret forcibly raised her knees, which were about to break, and clenched her teeth. Her black eyes gazed at the beast made of flesh, as her loose black hair swayed in the darkness.
“…But Lugis will surely come here. Once he sees this monster, will he escape obediently?”
The answer was clear.
In order to hide the legs that were likely to jump from this place, Filaret kicked the floor strongly on the spot. Her feet ached as if they were numb. She felt her heavy breath slowly exhaling from the depths of her chest.
「Be resolute, but natural, huh. I think I can do it a little, too. Yes. 」
The teachings of the Volgograd family, which Filaret tried to avoid thinking of since she took Lugis’ hand in Garoua Maria, came to her mind. Her cheeks swayed slightly. Underneath her abdominal area, she found a tremendous amount of magical power wriggling around.
“This is the end of Filaret. I shall sacrifice myself and spit it out to the world the magical power stored in the city of Belfein. I know it is not possible to use that magical power freely, nor can it be used as a medium of magic. Besides, I know it’s not appropriate to use it as a weapon to confront that monster. Of course, I lack talent. But I guess I have no other choice.”
However.
Again, the beast’s arm swung up with a slow movement. The flesh-looking arm looked so terrifying that Filaret could even feel tremendous nausea. Surely, those misshapen fingertips could squeeze her body with just one grip. If she did not do things right, her arms would be blown away and her intestines would stain the remains of the destroyed corridor.
“I don’t like this situation. It feels scary to confront such a monster. I want to run away from here right now.”
“Ahh, but. I don’t want to see Lugis fighting this monster after I run away. That even feels way scarier.”
In the darkness, the glow of the explosion danced in Filaret’s hands. The movement of the beast’s arm was too slow. She had enough time to develop magical power. Of course, whether or not she could survive from that deadly place was a completely different story.
“Ideally, it would be better to stand behind, take some time, and put magic into my hands. However, is it something that I can easily do? I am sure that once I have stepped back, I will be able to stand up to this monster. But I am not a brave person, so how can I fight this monster with such dexterity?” Filaret gritted her teeth while thinking about it. Nonetheless, she still did her best to chant magic and devote her breath to the world. Flames shimmered in one palm of her hands.
“There is no doubt that this monster is made of human flesh. Maybe I can fight it by burning it down. Fire is a great weapon that burns human hair and body fat like fuel. There is no doubt that flames are more suitable than anything else to annihilate this terrifying existence.”
「…Go through the canopy. Hectic Vermillion Snake, show your fangs from the time you were born.」
The flames devoured Filaret’s magical power and ran in the air, making a ferocious movement. A red light glittered in the air.
This red light even engulfed the surrounding air. Then, the flames wrapped around the beast’s arm fiercely like a snake. “That should be the end. My attack should work on mediocre demon beasts. I can only wait for it to do the same for this monster.” Filaret’s instincts rang inside her. She held her breath while witnessing the results of her attack.
The vermilion snake, wrapped around the monster’s arm, swallowed the meat-looking beast’s arm with its big red mouth open. Filaret stared attentively at the scene as if her black eyes were praying for attainment.