Chapter 45: Recurring Horror
For a brief moment, Morden actually believed he was back in that moment, but when he thought about it again, he knew it wasn’t possible.
At the last moment, he was fighting the Monster and now he was sure, which means the monster Bellow had finally managed to get a hold of him, and now he was experiencing his greatest horror.
"Mor-den," he suddenly heard a low, broken, feminine voice ring out from somewhere on the ground.
"Mom," he felt himself uncontrollably say.
"Mor-den," the voice sounded again.
"Mom," his mouth moved on its own again.
"Why?" she said in a low, fading voice.
Every call and every word from the woman on the ground made Morden’s heart tighten in pain.
At this point, Morden wanted to leave his current spot and actually approach the woman, maybe hold her, but his body remained completely unresponsive.
"It’s not me mom, it’s something else," Morden heard the voice come out of him again.
It was as if he was just here as a spectator, seeing through the eye of the body but having no other power.
"It’s-its... okay, baby, I... know," the woman said again.
"I am sorry, Mom, I am sorry, I didn’t do it."
"Something else is,"
While he spoke, Morden was raising his hands towards his mouth and nose, and soon he was holding them tightly.
His grip on himself grew harder as time passed, making it harder for him to breathe.
’Is he about to choke himself to death?’
"Is this what really happened? why can’t I remember?’ Morden thought while his consciousness slowly faded.
And soon everything faded into a silent darkness. An unknown amount of time passed, and Morden felt light coming up again, though it was still in a dimly lit living room and blood was on his hands again.
’Did it begin again?’
’No no no, it shouldn’t. I don’t want to see this anymore.’
"Mor-den," he heard the woman’s voice again.
From there the scene played over and over in front of Morden, and every single time there was absolutely nothing he could do other than to watch.
It always began with him seeing his blood-soaked hands, and it ended with him choking himself to death.
After the second round, Morden tried to use Boost to increase his [Mind] stat, but nothing responded. There was no Vital Energy in him to even use the ability.
Seeing that there was no other choice, he eventually gave up and just watched; he watched the brutal cycle over and over.
***In the Real World***
"Shit, the two of them are already trapped; now it’s up to me," the girl said to herself.
"Useless,"
The Monster stood in its spot staring at the girl in front of it with very strange eyes. It had used his bellows multiple times, and even the two enemies it just encountered were already down and ready for his pickings, but his one remained unaffected.
"Let’s try again," she said with a smile.
She got back to her feet from her previous crouching pose and immediately sprung toward the Monster like an arrow released from a bow.
She was moving so fast that it grew hard for the Monster to even track. She moved from left to right and then left again, all while her eyes remained locked on the spot she had informed Morden about.
Due to the fact that Morden had fallen under the influence of the Bellow before his attack could actually land, his swords had missed the spot by quite a lot, leaving a sword lodged in its chest.
After a bit more preparation, she suddenly changed direction and charged straight ahead, but this time she had a better strategy.
Seeing her advances, the Hugeman responded with another swipe on his arm, but she had predicted that.
She came to a forceful stop and then jumped straight on the obese hand, using it as a stepping stone to push herself higher.
"Got you," she said as she fell and dove her knives straight into the spot in that area of her chest.
GGGGGRRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHH!
It bellowed again in response, but now it was already too late. Its vital energy was already slowly vanishing, and soon what was left was a dead, giant, gray-skinned Monster.
"Don’t infect me with your disgusting corrupted vital energy," the lady said while jumping away from the body.
With a graceful form, she landed back on the ground before turning to look at Morden and Darlus’s unconscious body.
"These two should be waking up soon; I never expected them to be so weak, especially that flashy-looking one."
"The other one helped, though; if it weren’t for the second one’s attack, I might not have managed to kill it alone."
"I don’t blame them though; they are probably new to all of these," said while going to sit on the rock the two had been previously.
A few minutes later, Darlus slowly rattled awake, but his eyes weren’t as bright as they were not too long ago. He looked extremely dull, and if it was daytime, one would be able to see the tear lines on his face.
"You are awake," the girl said.
"Get up fast and go get your friend."
In response to what she said, Darlus just turned his head to look at Morden before rising to his feet and approaching him.
Probably due to his fall when he lost consciousness, Morden’s coat was already dirty and extremely ruffled, and part was even covering his face.
"When are you going to get up?" Darlus said in a low voice while standing over Morden’s body.
"I need a minute," Morden said before going quiet again.
"Alright,"
After hearing Morden’s response, Darlus nodded gently before turning around to leave him and approach the girl seated on the rock, his eyes slowly changing back into a bright one, hiding his pain under a warm smile.
"Hello, I am Darlus. How about you?" He said while stretching his hand forward.
"I am Lisa, and I am Deaf," the girl responded without a change in her expression.
"What?"
Not too far from the two of them, Morden was currently immersed in his mind as he worried about one single point.
"What was that red-eyed shadow?"