Chapter 92: A Monster Incomprehensible
’What the Fuck is happening!?’
Edgar couldn’t understand why there were so many ape-like Nightmares rushing to the front.
’Was the Western Wall breached?’
He immediately grew anxious and tried to connect with the Soul Guardians, but much to his dismay, he could only connect with one.
The familiar presence of the other Soul Guardian had vanished completely, as though someone had severed the connection with a blade.
’Destroyed...’
The surviving Guardian’s vision flooded into his mind.
The broken tower, the headless body of the other Guardian, and the back of an enormous gorilla.
’A Commander!’
Edgar opened his eyes and, sure enough, he saw it.
The towering albino gorilla was charging across the battlefield with terrifying momentum.
Behind it, hundreds of ape-like Nightmares surged after their leader toward the Headless Nightmare.
"Damn it..."
Edgar wasn’t optimistic enough to think that the two Nightmare Commanders would fight each other.
He was preparing for the worst-case scenario; a dual assault on the Fortress Wall.
Even with the Fortress’s defenses, surviving that would border on impossible.
’Fuck! Fuck!’
Edgar immediately told all the other Soul Guardians to come back to his side, though he still left the hidden one out.
At the same time, Edgar was thinking of a way to turn things around.
While he was debating his next course of action, the albino gorilla quickly reached the front.
"ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAARRRRR!!"
The massive being slammed its fists against its chest and roared from the top of its lungs.
Its announcement made everyone turn to look at the Nightmare.
The six-metre-tall giant skidded to a halt before the Headless Nightmare.
Its massive chest rose and fell with each heavy breath.
Edgar frowned.
’...What is it doing?’
The answer came a heartbeat later.
The monster raised both of its massive hands and slammed them down over the Headless Nightmare.
A deafening shockwave blasted outward, flattening the surrounding grass and hurling shattered rocks in every direction.
The soldiers atop the Fortress Wall instinctively shielded their faces.
"...It attacked?"
For the first time since the battle had begun, confusion overtook him.
’They really are fighting?’
The cloud of dust swallowed both Commanders.
For several seconds, nothing could be seen, but the next instant, the dust cleared.
The Headless Nightmare was still standing with its sword raised high.
A translucent screen protected it from the attack.
The confused look on the gorilla reflected that of Edgar’s.
They both couldn’t understand how the Headless Nightmare had survived the blow.
Just as the tension was at an all-time high, the Headless Nightmare slowly began to lower its sword.
"NO---!!"
The crimson Ritual Circle flared up like glowing blood.
The countless corpses surrounding the formation convulsed and burst open, turning into scarlet mist.
Thousands of streams of blood essence spiralled toward the centre of the formation.
The earth shook violently.
The crimson light expanded outward in a perfect circle.
The albino gorilla instinctively leapt backwards, its massive eyes filled with alarm.
The Headless Nightmare also rushed away from the Ritual Circle.
DONG!!!
In the silence of the Eternal Night, the loud sound of a bell echoed.
From the scarlet mist over the Ritual Circle, hundreds of long, hairy legs emerged.
Each one stabbed into the earth with a sickening crunch.
The enormous mass suspended above them slowly descended.
At first, it resembled nothing more than an ancient bronze bell, but slowly the thing twitched.
"HAHAHAHAHA."
DONG!!!
From the mist, the sound of the bell, as well as the laughter of hundreds of humans, echoed.
Slowly, with hundreds of legs supporting it, a bell-like structure walked out of the mist with hundreds of faces all over its body.
Their joyous laughter merged into a single horrifying chorus.
DONG--!!
The bell rang again whenever the thing moved.
This time, every face changed expression simultaneously.
Laughter became weeping, which soon turned into shrieking.
The sound alone made the air distort.
Edgar felt a splitting headache explode through his skull.
His knees nearly buckled.
’...What is that...?’
Even the Nightmares surrounding the ritual unconsciously retreated several steps.
The albino gorilla lowered its enormous head despite the furious look on its face.
The Headless Nightmare slowly knelt upon one knee, as if paying respect to something far above itself.
The enormous bell took another step.
THOOM.
Hundreds of hairy legs moved in perfect unison, like they were meant to.
Edgar and the soldiers by his side could only look at the thing in disbelief.
"...What the hell is that?"
"I-is that a God?"
"Such a thing...."
Under the broken voices of the soldiers, Edgar couldn’t think of anything.
His mind was too occupied with what he was witnessing.
’...A monster? A Nightmare? A Demon? What the hell is that?’
As though answering his unspoken question, the ancient bell-like organism came to a halt.
Silence descended over the battlefield once more.
The countless faces stitched across its surface slowly began looking around.
Each face moved independently, as if every one possessed its own consciousness.
Then, slowly, they all began to warp and change.
Some of those faces turned into Drakes, some into ape-like Nightmares, some into wolves... and some into humans.
One of those faces even resembled the albino gorilla that was standing frozen in place.
From the gaps between the faces, long, brittle hands began to crawl out as though they had always been a part of it.
"Huh?"
One of the soldiers standing by Edgar’s side let out a startled cry.
"....Why is my face on that thing?"
He turned to look at Edgar. "My lord, why is there--"
His words came to a halt when two of the brittle hands began to enter his face stitched onto the bell.
Those two hands came out from the mouth of the real soldier standing by Edgar’s side.
They moved to either side and grabbed both the upper and lower jaw of the soldier.
...And right in front of Edgar’s eyes...
Snapp!!
They tore the soldier’s face open in opposite directions, splattering brain matter everywhere.
With a silent thud, the soldier’s body fell onto the patrol path.