[ OO..seeker! You have slain a Lahisura, echo. A wanderer of white snow - kimire ]
Moon creatures had their own hierarchy, from mindless creatures to cunning ones, followed by Lahisura, Gzarisura, Naashsura, Uhesura, Kamisura, Rahusura, and lastly Mahasura also known as lords.
V had just killed a Lahisura echo-rank creature, which could be considered a great achievement for someone who hadn't even owned his 'Frame.'
But still, the trial wasn't over, which was a tremendous shock for V. Lying beside that creature, V gasped for more and more air and found himself breathless from taking too much oxygen into his lungs. His pain and exhaustion felt insignificant compared to that pure satisfaction of killing the kimire it was so vast that he even forgot the pain and exhaustion. A moment later, he felt the burning sensation leaving his body.
"The mark—the mark must be fading!" V touched his cheek as if feeling it on his palm, and a second later, the black mark on his cheek vanished, leaving his pale white skin behind.
A few moments later, he forced himself to regain his senses and looked around, trying to assess the situation.
Those guys were still alive... somehow! It was just a matter of how they would die. Would bleeding lead them to death, or would V hasten their demise? He could hear them breathing heavily. After shaking his head, he moved his gaze around the cave, which was painted in red liquid, torn bodies, and pieces of flesh. V turned away, feeling a strong urge to empty his stomach. Beside him, the creature was lying dead, which was good thing. However, he still had things to do.
Getting to his feet, he grabbed the handle of that sword which was thrust into the kimire's neck. Pulling it out led to streams of azure blood flying through the air, which splattered onto V's body. Feeling the warmth of blood, he narrowed his eyes.
"Still ugly, you piece of shit!"
Cursing the dead, his eyes darted to the lying men. For a long moment, he just stared at them with an expression that was hard to decipher it was a difficult decision for him. Thinking of slaying a human was something he wouldn't allow himself under normal circumstances, but... this whole scenario wasn't normal from the start.
Just an hour ago, V, who had thrown away his life like trash, found himself guilty for clinging to his life. But there was one thing he understood from this fight: Even if he was guilty for holding onto his life, even if he had to become guilty of slaying a fellow human, even then he wanted to live with that guilt more than anything he wanted to cling to that guilt of living and being alive.
Gripping the sword tightly, he moved forward with an expressionless face. Upon reaching them and looking at the lying man, V closed his eyes for a long moment and then opened them.
"Death!" he uttered with a malicious face and added, "Death—is agony with a beautiful truth!... Hah, what eloquent words I just said, don't you think—"
Shaking his head remembering they couldn't hear him again shook his head and tightened his grip on the sword and took a heavy breath. Just when he was about to drive the sword into the rough faced guy, heavy thuds started to resonate outside the cave.
What caught his attention the most, though, was the fact that several gleaming eyes with large figures began to move.
"More creatures?"
His eyes widened.
One after another, five more creatures slowly came into view. Each creature looked as disgusting as the first one had and not a bit less deadly. This time, V was too close to the cave entrance the nearest was mere meters away from V.
"Curse it all!" he thought.
And then suddenly, V took a step back. A strange weight filled the air, and one of the creatures turned its head toward V.
V's eyes darted to his cheeks as a warm feeling once again rose to his cheeks, and the black mark appeared once again. Full of hatred, he tightened his grip once more and raised his sword.
"Come at me, you bastards!"
The kimire dashed forward with incredible speed in a flurry of claws, fangs, and terror. V had less than a second to react; however, he was able to react in time and dodge it just before it reached him.
"Damn! This keeps happening again and again!"
His eyes darted past this creature, and he saw the remaining four had started to move inside. However, before he could think anything, a nimble figure moved in the snow, and a sharp sword glowed in the air. A creature was cut in half with one strike and fell gracelessly onto the ground.
V blinked, looking past his own opponent.
"What was that?"
Before he could think much about it, the creature was right before him with its sharp claws reaching for his neck. V raised his sword, taking a defensive stance, but he was sent flying back. V already knew that blocking wasn't an effective way to fight against something this big. Again, his eyes darted past this creature, dumbfounded. He slowly turned his head past the creature in front of him. Standing there with a valorous expression was a middle-aged man with long white hair he looked calm and collected, albeit a little grim.
Looking at that man, V opened his mouth.
"Holy old man!"
He had slain all four creatures in the little time he had. His sword was dripping azure blood onto the white snow. He slowly lifted his head to the sky and exhaled deeply. After a second, he suddenly turned around and gave V a long look. Then, with a swift motion, he started to head toward the cave.
V had no time to look around; he was facing a dreadful creature on his own. In a hurry, he got to his feet and threw himself to the side, avoiding the claws as the creature kept moving its claws in an irritated manner. V leaped back again, avoiding getting eaten by its smelly maw. By the time the middle-aged man had entered the cave and was checking on those lying men, V had gotten himself cornered. With heavy breaths, he raised his sword, glaring at the kimire with fury in his eyes.
The kimire dashed forward with incredible speed in a flurry of claws; however, before V could do anything, blood splashed on his body. The warm azure blood was flying all over like a fountain from its severed body.
Dumbfounded, V looked past the creature's body. The middle-aged man was standing there, holding his sword, and with a swift motion, he moved his sword to clean the blood, then turned to V.
"Relax yourself, kid!"
The middle-aged man didn't look threatening, but V was having the same feeling that he had from those creatures even his smile looked creepy. V lowered his sword and walked past him.
"How are those guys doing?" V asked with a flat and grim expression, standing in front of the rough-faced guy and staring at him. He turned to that middle-aged man and stared at him for a long moment.
"Those guys seem okay overall; they will live with some first aid—"
"Kwwaak?!"
That sudden sound grabbed the middle-aged man's attention, which made him turn. When he did, he was stunned for a second as V was standing after driving his sword into the lying man's heart and was moving forward for the next man. Reaching there, V looked outside with the same expressionless face and turned back to drive his blade into that man's chest.
All of this happened in a moment. V was looking at his blood-stained hands. Illusion or not, it was his first time killing a human. V expected to feel guilt or fear, but actually, there was nothing at all. It seemed that, for better or worse, his hollow upbringing in the real world helped him endure this moment.
Then he wiped his hands against the lying man's clothes and turned back, staring at that man with intensity.
"I never said I wanted them alive!"
The middle-aged man nodded and smiled a little at V, then he got closer to him and said studying V's blood stained hands and the resolute coldness in his eyes, after a long moment, he spoke in a measured tone
"I see ! "
That's all he said and looked for a comfortable place to sleep. V wiped the remaining blood from his blade against the dead man's coat.
As the cold wind hissed through the cave entrance like a dying thing, dragging with it the stench of blood and death, V watched the middle-aged man sit down near the cave wall, as if nothing extraordinary had happened there. Then, shaking his head, V also found a place that wasn't painted in blood. Taking a seat, he leaned back against the wall.
And suddenly, Ray's voice came whispering into his ear
[ OO Seeker! You have slain two humans: rank seeker! ]
Amidst all of this, V found it a little surprising that he had forgotten this. Killing people was also a kind of feat. So V was waiting for more than just a greeting from Ray. After waiting for several seconds, when Ray didn't speak, he was about to call it done.
But Ray spoke again:
[You have received a fruit?!...]