Chapter 47: Almost Dead (4)
The creature is a nightmarish blend of beauty and disgust, a beast that crawled its way from the pits of hell and the deepest abyss. This bizarrely shaped mutant possesses a vitality so overwhelming that it’s suffocating. Whether its abdomen is pierced or its body is cleaved in two, wounds heal swiftly, against all natural order. Its pale blue eyes remain impassive, seemingly oblivious to any pain.
Tegnell discarded his coat, his face and body transforming in an instant, dense fur sprouting forth. His tiger’s roar shaking the forest and the earth.
Tegnell, in his half-beast form, grew immensely in size. His human-like torso with a tiger’s head, a sharp, spiky armor rising from his back, stood as tall as the monstrous mutant. His fierce claws tore the mutant into pieces.
The captain’s head sagged on the split torso, his face with the calm gray-blue eyes still gazed at Kestrell. There seemed to be no pain, no emotion in them, only an unyielding persistence.
It had been sleeping deep underwater for countless years. Now, a clamorous noise had begun ringing in its chaotic mind, urging it to kill the humans who disturbed its slumber. The continuous noise, agitating its drowsy brain, brought confusion and discomfort, robbing it of its peace.
So, it crawled out from the depths of the sea, assembling its twisted body along the way, determined to eliminate the source of the noise and return to its peaceful slumber.
Kestrel’s tendrils started to yell, "It’s no use, run!"
"He’s too powerful, and focused. We can’t control him."
Tendrils could alter some subconscious thoughts of humans, and their subtle, unexpected changes were always the most effective. But if the subject was mentally strong, focused, or stubbornly moving towards a certain goal, they would be hard to sway.
"Is there really no way?"
"I don’t want Birdie, or the big tiger to get hurt."
"There might be a way..."
The monstrous mutant and the tiger were still battling amid the rising dust and smoke.
Birdie fell from the sky, one of her wings nearly severed, her white feathers soaked in blood.
"Muros," she called out to the youngest boy in the group.
Frightened by the intense battle, Muros rushed over, clumsy with panic.
"Muros, I’m entrusting you with a crucial task." Birdie drew out her short sword and handed it to the boy. Her blood-stained fingers held onto his hand and the sword. "You must take Kestrell and go."
"But, why?" Muros stuttered, understanding the implication of leaving them behind. "We haven’t lost yet. Everyone’s still here. Tegnell is strong; we can still fight!" The boy became agitated. "We still have a chance to win, Birdie!"
"We haven’t lost yet." Birdie’s gaze softened. She reached out and ruffled the boy’s hair. "In two years, you can officially join our outpost. I wish I could see you then. But now, I need you to get the beta out of here. That’s an order. As an alpha, you must obey."
Birdie hardened her face, pushing the boy away. She spread her blood-soaked wings again and, with a clear screech, took to the skies, like a cannonball hurling into the battlefield.
They hadn’t yet lost, but they were human, and human strength had its limits. Human flesh and blood couldn’t endure infinite damage, yet their enemy was an immortal monster. It could rise from the depths of hell over and over again, seemingly impossible to kill.
The raging smoke of the battlefield slowly receded, and the mutant that was nearly split in half began to heal slowly within the dust. Its grey-blue eyes were like ghostly lanterns suspended in hell, perpetually undisturbed, forever unwilling to extinguish.
Tegnell had become smaller in stature, Birdie was drenched in blood, and the alphas roared angrily, desperately holding their position on the battlefield.
They couldn’t hold out much longer.
Gritting his teeth, Muros grabbed Kestrel’s hand and started to sprint away from the battlefield. "Kestrel," he stammered, "I, I will get you out of here."
Behind them, the sky was filled with thick smoke, tiger roars, eagle cries, the howls of the alphas, and the cold, indifferent growl of the monster.
Muros was actually unsure of where to run. He headed towards the exit, hoping that there might be other people coming, who would open a portal to escape from here. Then he and Kestrel could get out as well.
He had no choice. He was still so young, and at home, he had a mother and a sister.
He had to escape; it was a situation with no other options.
Sometimes, Muros really wished he wasn’t an alpha. Without the alpha’s exceptional hearing, he wouldn’t have to listen to the sounds of hell.
Now, however, he didn’t need to look back to know that Tegnell had fallen, held down by the monster, his head pressed into the dust.
He could hear Birdie fluttering in the air, letting out cries of despair; he could hear the sound of copious blood being shed.
"Can I really just run away like this?" Muros halted his escape, he turned to look at Kestrel.
"Kestrel," he stuttered, "Can you run on your own?"
Kestrel looked at him. "Where are you going?"
To Muros, Kestrel a beta of her own kind. Her face was mostly expressionless, regardless of what happened; she always appeared calm, indifferent, composed.
"That’s not a bad thing," he thought. "It’s better than weeping uncontrollably."
"So," Muros sniffled and shoved his map into Kestrel’s hand, "I’m an alpha, I still have the ability to fight, I can’t abandon Tegnell and the others. You, you take care."
However, he didn’t get far because Kestrel grabbed his hand.
"If you’re so keen on getting killed," Kestrel began, but then reconsidered her words, "if you’re not afraid of death, then can you cooperate with me? I have a plan."
"A, a plan?"
"You have to do exactly as I say."
She stood there, her tendrils all ran out behind her, filling the sky, dancing in the smoke-filled air. They looked no weaker than any alpha’s psychic incarnation.
...
At some point, rain began to fall from the sky. In this world, even the raindrops were radiant, like stars constantly falling from the sky.
Stunned, Muros crouched in front of a dilapidated shelter, behind him laid five unconscious alphas.
Birdie, Tegnell, they were all there, though severely injured, they were still alive.
Up to this point, Muros was still somewhat unclear how he managed to accomplish all of this, or rather, how Kestrel guided him to accomplish it.
In the wilderness, the gigantic monster continued its aimless wander. Its soft ventral feet crawled forward, leaving long water trails on the ground.
It had lost its target. Its grey-blue eyes were aimlessly open in the rain, slowly advancing without purpose.
It approached their direction, slowly, almost grazing past the shelter where Muros was hiding. The massive, soft, and bizarre creature slowly passed in front of his eyes.
Muros crouched there, motionless. The creature left, then suddenly turned back. Its silver braid with a captain’s hat dangled down, the grey-blue eyes stared at him for a while.
Muros remained still.
It was a scene of extreme terror. The monster was so close that he could even smell the stench of the sea on its slimy skin.
But he didn’t feel fear. He felt like a stone, a piece of iron, a piece of wood, no ripples in his heart. He was not scared, not fearful; he just sat there blankly, devoid of any emotion, as if he was an inanimate object.
The monster looked at him for a long time, eventually giving up. It moved its body and slowly walked towards the distant sea.
Muros knew that with his psychic power, it was absolutely impossible to perfectly hide all emotions. He was amazed that Kestrel could do it, to shut down all of his emotions.
In his compliant state, those tendrils closed off all the emotions emanating from him and the alphas behind him. They felt like lifeless objects, unbelievably deceiving the seemingly invincible monster.
Just a short while ago, Muros and Kestrel ran back. Under the monster’s watchful eyes, they cooperatively rescued their heavily injured comrades.
One of them attracted the monster’s attention, while the other seized the opportunity to rescue the injured alphas.
When the monster was about to approach, the one attracting the monster would become a "stone," and the other one in the distance would take over to attract the monster. Through this back-and-forth distraction, they rescued their dying comrades during the brief intervals. Once out, they closed off their senses, completely hiding them.
This required very tacit cooperation. The monster was extremely fast, a slight delay could result in total annihilation.
At that time, instructions kept echoing in Muros’ mind. Almost without hesitation, he completely abandoned his own thoughts and acted entirely on Kestrel’s instructions. Although the process was extremely risky, they made it.
Even now, when the monster had already left, Muros still sat there like a stone, hardly daring to believe that they had succeeded.
It was insane, but they succeeded.
"Who, who came up with this crazy idea?"
"So exciting, I really like it"
"The inspiration came from the big fish"
"Do you remember the experience of the big fish hiding in the dark ducts?"
"At that time, the big fish also deceived us, closing up its emotions and senses."
"That reminded me of wonderful memories"
"How did you know that the monster distinguishes enemies by sensing them?"
"Do we have to say? It’s very similar to us, isn’t it?"
"Poor sea monster. If you have to blame someone, blame the big fish."
The tendrils were chattering.
Rainwater was falling on the canopy, crackling.
Kestrel squatted there, reaching out to catch the rain. The alphas were all worn out now, and Kestrel couldn’t find a way to get out.
"So miserable? Are you all almost wiped out?" In the rain curtain, a mocking voice sounded. A strange alpha had somehow sneaked nearby, standing not far away, laughing at them.
Muros had seen this alpha before. Not long ago, the guy was in the team of alphas who had looted them on the beach.
Muros immediately stood up, drew his short sword, and protected Kestrel. Now that all the alphas who could fight were down, only he was left in their team and could protect Kestrel.
In the dim rain, a whole team of alphas appeared one after another. They were those people, the evil ones who had looted them on the beach not long ago.
Rainwater fell, and the tall team of alphas stood far away. Looking through the revolving curtain of rain with obscure vision, they looked like a pack of wolves in the night.
"I will protect everyone with my life," Muros thought.
"Can you help?" At this moment, Kestrel stood up from behind, asking in a mild tone, "My alphas are all injured, can you help carry them for a while?"
"Kestrel, you are too innocent, too kind," Muros almost wanted to cry, "Do you think everyone in this world is as gentle and kind as you?"
The pack of wolves, a group of bandits who had just looted their treasures, stood silently in the rain curtain. After a while, the leader of the alphas walked out of the crowd, looked at them coldly for a moment, and said in a businesslike tone, "By rule, pulling a person out costs fifty ashcredits."
"That’s absurd," Muros shouted. "The compensation for Tegnell and the others to come in is only fifty ashcredits."
Kestrel stopped him, speaking gently, "It’s okay."
She even extended her arm, asking the other guy, "Do you have an opticomputer? We can add each other, and I’ll transfer the ashcredits to you as soon as I get out."
The tall and thin alpha on the other side silently looked at Kestrel, then turned his head, replying, "No, I don’t have one."
Kestrel’s tendrils started to chatter excitedly again, "Hey, little fish"
"Well, well, what a proud little fish."
"He’s clearly having a smug face, isn’t he?"
