Chapter 15: Colony

Chapter 15:
Colony

 

EARLY THE NEXT MORNING, before the sun had risen over the capital, Linus ducked out of the guild before anyone had a chance to notice. It was likely that no one would have tried to stop him if he explained what was going on, but he felt guilty about having motives of his own beyond stopping the Children.

“I’m going to find you, Maria!” He clenched the letter she left behind tightly in his hand.

No matter how much she might refuse his help, he still refused to give up on her.

The church knights were nowhere to be seen, though he still saw the occasional resident out in the open, too attached to the city to abandon it or too resigned to dying there. He couldn’t hold it against them: the more people who died off, the easier it would be to find Maria.

Linus let his finely tuned senses take over as he walked the derelict streets. He let his hand drag along a wall as he walked through the rough-and-tumble West District. After a few moments, he felt a warm, wet sensation on his fingertips.

“Yuck, what is this?”

It was an incredibly sticky substance that looked like blood. He ran his gaze along the wall until he spotted the shape of a small human-shaped figure stuck to the surface. A moment later, he realized that he was looking at a baby about the size of an outstretched hand.

“Someone really needs to find better hobbies. The city goes to shit, and suddenly it’s pageant season for the most loathsome creatures to walk the earth? Gah…!”

Linus surrendered to his anger and punched the wall before drawing his bow and dashing ahead. If a third-generation horror were to rear its ugly head, he had the resolve to put it down now.

Stepping into a main road, he ran into a middle-aged man. He was no church knight, just another person who chose to stay with their home in the capital.

“Huh, a human,” said Linus. “Listen, sir, you really should get out of here. There’s a creature lurking nearby.”

“I know, I know. I’ve been meaning to…!”

Linus noticed that the man was pale and drenched with sweat. His breathing was shallow, and he scratched at his neck with blood-stained hands. He didn’t seem to be injured, suggesting that the blood wasn’t his own.

“But, I mean… Dammit, I worked so hard! I did everything I could, so why…??”

“Calm down, calm down. Were you the one who smashed that tiny creature farther down the road?”

“Yessir! Before I knew it, they were in my home, and my wife and son… I mean, I wanted to help them! But it was too late by the time I noticed, so I ran and…gaaah! Worthless, it was all worthless!!”

“You still have your life. I’m sorry for your wife and child, but at least…”

“It’s too late…uga…plup…glog, glog…ngyah…hyua…ouh…gooooooaaar!”

“Wh-whoa there! You okay?!”

The man hunched over on the ground, his hand clasped tightly over his mouth. A thick, transparent fluid poured from between his fingers. Linus considered running to his side but stopped himself. Looking closer, he could make out the twitching heads, arms, and legs of countless tiny creatures trying to crawl free.

“Kyii, kyiiiii, kyii!” the disgusting creatures cried out as they poured from the man’s mouth like insects, falling to the ground with a wet squelch.

“What in the… What were those things doing in your body??”

“G-get…ngyauh…kill…me…hnaugh!”

The torrent refused to let up, beginning to flow out through his nose and ears. His eyes began to bulge until the pressure burst them, providing yet another exit, and then finally, his skin relented and tore open. All it had taken to transform him into a giant egg sac was for one of the things to get inside him.

It was disgusting. The smell was nearly unbearable.

Linus was no stranger to death, but this was beyond his limits. He choked back a tide of bile.

“Hyack… I’d heard something about a giant baby, but nothing about there being so many of them!”

Linus had found one of the third-generation Children. The swarm surrounded him in such multitudes that he couldn’t imagine how one man’s body could ever have contained them. What’s more, there probably were more victims out there as well, and now they were all closing in on him. More and more tiny babies crawled up out of gutters, out of homes, from the rooftops, and between the gaps in paving stones.

The scene was reminiscent of all the eyeballs that poured out of Ink’s body—her multiplication ability.

“I doubt all you little guys have cores of your own. All I have to do is find the main body and kill it!” With his decision made, Linus immediately drew back on his bow and let loose with a rapid barrage of arrows.

 

***

 

By the time Flum woke up, Linus was already gone. No one was terribly alarmed, figuring he was likely off searching for Maria.

“His absence doesn’t change anything.”

“He’s not the type to neglect his duties, anyway. Just leave him be.”

They had built up a lot of trust for one another on their journey, after all.

Flum wasn’t too worried about whether he’d carry out the task assigned to him either, though she was concerned about the possibility of him running into multiple enemies on his own.

“Why such a long face this early in the morning? Here, eat up.”

“Th-thanks, Y’lla.”

Y’lla handed over some bread from the guild provisions to the party. Though it was a rather dry, flavorless baguette, it still provided Flum with a modest pick-me-up. She was busily gnawing on the bread when Gadhio slid an envelope over to her.

“I found today’s letter placed neatly in front of the entrance.”

Flum looked down at the envelope inquisitively. “But Mute’s gone…”

She began to worry that she’d been wrong the whole time as she tore the envelope open. Unfolding the letter, her concerns washed away.

“Wow…”

“How can anyone even read that?”

“The handwriting is awful.”

And it was. But there wasn’t much they could do but puzzle it out. Flum decided to give it her best shot.

“One day remains. The seeds are grown and have blossomed. Mother will see to it that these succeed. And I will also put an end to you. I hope you’re ready.

“They really tried hard to mimic the other letters with all this talk of seeds and flowers, but it looks like they gave up halfway through,” said Gadhio.

“I didn’t sense anyone’s presence last night,” said Eterna. “They must’ve delivered the letter magically.”

“I think Luke’s the author, especially considering the line about putting an end to me. I guess he picked up the task now that Mute’s gone. But wow, that handwriting…” Flum traced the barely legible letters with her finger.

“Strange that there’d be such a difference, seeing as they grew up in the same place,” said Eterna. “But I’d say you’re overthinking it.”

“I’d say it’s in line for an eight-year-old.”

Considering Gadhio had spent so long watching Hallom grow up, Flum felt inclined to defer to his judgment. But what if Mother had, for some reason, intentionally done something that led to the difference in handwriting? She couldn’t put aside that possibility.

I can’t get sentimental about someone I’m about to fight to the death—not now. It’ll just make things harder.

She knew that logically, at least, but she still couldn’t shake the feeling. Of course, Nekt might very likely show up and try to put an end to their fight, but she still had to prepare herself to kill if the opportunity presented itself. If she wasn’t ready to do that, then she’d be the one to die.

“If Luke is the author, then that adds further credence to the idea that he’s after you.”

“Right. I’ll stay behind like we planned.”

Gadhio and Eterna were just about to leave the guild to head for the Central and East districts, respectively, when they heard a massive explosion that shook the building.

DASHOOOM!

“I guess that’s Linus then.”

“We need to stay on our toes.”

Eterna thought for a moment about reworking the plan to have everyone team up together on a single monster, but one look to the east changed her mind: there was a massive pillar of smoke in that direction, too.

She summoned Fenrir, hopped on, and set off east while Gadhio ran toward his own objective.

Alone in the guild, Flum took several deep breaths, summoned her Souleater, and waited.

“I wonder when Luke’ll show…”