Bailonz Street 13

“I cut off its wing.”

At that moment, in stark contrast to the tense situation, a calm voice spoke to me. It was my voice, yet not my voice. Yes, it was Truth. It must have decided I needed help.

I heard something heavy slicing through the air and falling. There was also a splashing sound of liquid pouring out. A peculiar, pungent scent spread. It wasn’t the usual smell of blood.

‘Wow, talk about perfect timing.’

I panted heavily, gripping the sword with both hands.

What was it? An animal? A bird? No, was there such a ‘thing’ among winged beasts?

The creature, having lost one wing, crashed into the church bell. A resonant ‘dong’ echoed. It flailed with its remaining wing, trying to fly again, but only collided with the bell once more. The sound of flapping and the bell’s tolling continued incessantly.

The voice advised:

‘Now’s your chance. You must kill it.’

Can I kill it? That thing? No, it was strange that Truth thought I could easily kill a monster in the first place. I had slashed a ‘Marauding Raider’ once before, but that was sheer luck. Honestly, this time too, I had reflexively thrust out the sword, and the charging monster just happened to get cut by it.

The voice urged me again:

‘You must kill it to escape. Quickly.’

“Ah, damn it. Let’s do this, then!”

I panted as I leaped up the stairs two or three at a time.

Why did something like this appear in London? Isn’t this insane?

Although I was out of breath, tension and excitement kept me moving without fatigue. Through the cold light created by the sword and ring, I could finally see the creature’s appearance clearly.

“…!”

It was a being with thick leather tightly clinging to its bones, a pair of bat-like wings, and extremely thin and long limbs. It also had a long tail like a lizard. The tail, as thick as a human body, was whipping against the floor – a hit from that would surely break bones.

Moreover, its claws were so long they looked like they could easily tear skin like paper. Between the hollow eye sockets, I could see an eye as big as a fist. The enormous eye, the gaping hole of a nose, and the densely packed sharp teeth – it was a hideous and terrifying sight.

It flailed about, then crawled on all fours and bared its teeth at me.

Even Truth in my head had never seen such a strange creature. More accurately, how should I put it? It was like a hybrid of several known creatures mixed together. If there was a word to define this, it would probably be ‘chimera’.

My body trembled involuntarily at the sight of those massive teeth right in front of me. It was wary of me. One small mistake and some part of me would be severed. I had to handle this in one go without fear.

I chanted to myself like a mantra:

“I can do it, I can do it. I can do it!”

I can do it. Even if I can’t, I have to.

I raised my sword and stabbed at the monster’s neck. At first, it felt like it hit something and wouldn’t go in. Its outer skin was very tough. Fortunately, this sword was sharper than I had thought. I put my whole body weight into slashing with the sword.

Slash!

A wave of heat hit me. Blood sprayed. It took several attempts, but I finally succeeded in killing it.

Only when the monster’s movements ceased completely, after thrashing about and spraying blood, could I lean on the sword and let out a long breath.

My legs were trembling. A unique, pungent smell rose up. It was like the smell of a sewer. The bluish light from the sword dispelled the surrounding darkness. Only then did I have the presence of mind to wipe the blood splattered on my face. I raised my hand to rub it off, and something smeared. It was a viscous purple liquid.

“Ha, haha…”

Oddly enough, although I had been trembling so much just a moment ago, the fear disappeared once I realized I had killed the monster. Perhaps it was because I now knew that even these things die when you cut off their heads.

I heard someone approaching from the side. I knew it was Liam by the way he gently embraced me, hiding me within his cloak. Liam clasped my hands in his.

“I’m okay,” I mumbled.

Liam replied, “I know. You’ll always be okay.”

Yes, what do I have to fear when you’re here?

Swish. When I let go of my hand, the sword transformed into a bundle of light and disappeared. But I wasn’t particularly worried. I knew I could summon it anytime.

“Did you see?”

Although I didn’t ask what he saw, Liam nodded.

It was a commotion that shook the night of London. Who would have thought that I, who knew nothing, would end up catching a monster alone?

“I told you. You have a talent for fighting.”

Even Liam, who knew more than me, didn’t seem to fully grasp the situation. I asked,

“Why is something like this,”

“Shh. Jane, let’s quickly get out of here. Before more of them come.”

There are more of these things?

I turned my dazed head to look around. Only then did I see unidentified creatures flying in the reddish sky far away. They were holding something. I thought I knew what it was, but I wanted to ignore it.

Just then, a piercing scream tore through the night air.

“Help me!”

Why hadn’t I heard it before? Below, it was chaos with gunshots and the shouts of officers. I thought it had been peaceful. What on earth had happened outside while we were staying in Greenwich?

As my trembling subsided, Liam whispered in a low voice. It was a voice lowered as much as possible, as if afraid someone might hear.

“It’s strange. If something like this was happening, Meridian’s eye would have surely caught it. There was no anomaly in Meridian while we were staying in Greenwich.”

“…Then there’s only one possibility.”

It seemed Liam and I were in agreement for once. All these terrible events started as soon as we arrived here.

But how did they know we were coming?

“Jonathan. What about Jonathan?”

I hurriedly looked towards Haledon in the distance. It was red there too.

No, that can’t be right. That’s not the east.

And then I realized that we were making one big mistake.

It wasn’t the dawn breaking. The flames rising from various parts of the city were devouring the night and illuminating the darkness. The acrid smell of burning stung my nose. The sound of something exploding came from the direction of the port.

“Ah, London…”

What awaited us was a burning London.

＊ ＊ ＊

We hurriedly descended from the church and ran through the streets.

Broken glass and fallen people were visible everywhere. I ran to check their pulses, but couldn’t feel anything. It’s chilling. They’re all dead.

“Why.”

Why did they do this? Who? The Black King? But why? Did I somehow fail to interest him? Is that why, is that why he did this?

“Why the people…?”

For a moment, I thought I saw yellow eyes glinting in the shadows. As I recoiled, it disappeared again. I couldn’t tell if it was a hallucination due to shock or if the Black King’s gaze was truly following me. I couldn’t distinguish. But I couldn’t dwell on it, so I raised my head and glared at the street.

The London night streets, which should have been dark with the gas lamps extinguished, were as bright as day due to the fires burning everywhere. I could feel my heartbeat pounding in my eardrums.

What should I do? Where should I go first?

Should we go to Bailonz Street, or to Haledon for Jonathan? Or if not… if not… What should I do? I don’t know.

Liam, who was trying to take me to safety, paused. Then he took out his pocket watch. The hour and minute hands were moving very quickly, and it was emitting a light in a color I had never seen before.

“Meridian has also noticed the problem in London.”

“Then they’ll come from Greenwich soon, right?”

“Yes, they’ll have to.”

“Is this happening only in London?”

Suddenly, I thought of Liam’s parents staying in Hisford. What if Hisford has also been reduced to ruins? I should ask Liam if we need to go to Hisford.

However, Liam shook his head.

“Hisford will be fine.”

Then he said that my family was more important, and we should go to Haledon to find Jonathan.

I squeezed my eyes shut. My heart keeps wavering. But I mustn’t be shaken. It will surely hinder me later, at a crucial moment.

Think calmly. Jonathan will be safe. Plurititas is in Haledon.

Judging from Plurititas’s usual behavior, he’s the type to protect his own people for sure. I don’t know why he keeps Jonathan by his side, but I’m almost grateful for it in this situation. At least Jonathan probably won’t die. It’s funny that Plurititas is the only one I can trust now.

“No, we need to go to Bailonz Street.”

The people there have no understanding of this situation, don’t they? Mary, George, Mrs. Mayer.

Even if they’ve already been attacked, we need to go there. We had to find those people.