Conrad stared at Dean with a dark expression. His mind was in a state of turmoil. Covered in thick pincer blood, his armor was a graveyard of failed strikes.
Since the start of their calamitous journey, he had been stressing himself to the limits. Escorting Dean and Sam out of the nest was already a daunting task; carrying Evelin's battered body around the nest just made it even harder.
He had tried his best to do his best, as fast as possible.
However, he had not been fast enough.
There was a blank expression on Dean's face. In his hands… Sam's decapitated head was lying in his hands.
Conrad couldn't help but turn his gaze away.
'... Damn it. I should've stopped them from going ahead. This… this is my fault.'
Unlike Lian, it wasn't his first day being with Sam and Dean. Being in the same neighbourhood, the entire cohort knew each other from a very young age. It hadn't been a particularly friendly relationship, but they were still his friends nonetheless. It was the same reason why he was chosen as the leader by the rest.
They trusted him to do the right thing, to keep them alive if nothing else.
That trust was nowhere to be seen in Dean's hollow eyes. As for Sam, he wasn't brave enough to look him in the eyes anymore. Otherwise, he would lose it as well, just like Dean.
And with the situation being how it was, he couldn't afford to lose his composure.
"..."
A ghoul breached the radius of his ability, alerting him. The creature was flying so close to the ground that it was baffling. Its human-like skull had dim spheres lodged in its sockets—its long neck stretched forward, its jaws beginning to open.
Conrad didn't move. His hands were loose on the shaft. His shoulders were down, his breathing was slow.
The beast was nearly upon him, it screamed.
He raised the spear.
The ethereal tip came up to meet the open throat. The ghoul had no time to understand what had happened. The spear entered the open maw at the back of the throat. The beast's own momentum drove it forward without mercy. The azure blade punched through the vault of the skull and emerged at the hindhead in a spray of dark blood.
The ghoul came to rest, one wing folded wrong, the other splayed wide, still trembling in diminishing pulses.
In a single motion, Conrad drove the spear toward the ground. Stepping on the beast's thin body, he pulled the spear out.
He squinted his eyes as the ghoul grew immobile.
'These bastards, they're using the lack of light to hunt us. If only we had known there was another nest… No, this is not the time for that. I need to get Dean out of he—'
Something stepped inside his range again. He turned in the direction he had come from and lowered his posture.
'...?'
It was the sound of steps, human steps. They were running toward him, as if they could see him clearly. Which only made him tense; no one in their cohort had an ability similar to his. For the person to have seen him from such a distance in this darkness, they would need to have sharper senses than he did.
And his entire ability relied on his senses.
Just as he was about to lunge forward, he saw the faces of the people approaching him.
Panting heavily, Celia walked toward him. Before she could even reach him, her legs gave out.
"Huff… Huff… I can't… "
Raising his head, he looked at Lian, Evelin still unconscious as he carried her on his back.
Conrad was a bit elated to see that at least the three were still alive. But it didn't last for long.
Clicking his tongue, he spoke roughly.
"You… Nevermind. We need to get out of here."
Lian shook his head.
"We can't. We are already surrounded."
Conrad widened his gaze.
He immediately spread his consciousness even further, pushing it as far as humanely possible. The wider his range grew, the more he felt like his head was about to burst into a million pieces.
He didn't stop until he sensed a ghoul, then another, and even more. No matter how far he searched, all he found were countless ghouls hanging upside down. Some were airborne, circling them like hawks, while the others didn't seem to care at all.
They were stalking the cohort, keeping a close eye on them.
A chill went through his spine.
'... What do we do now? Evelin and Celia can't fight at all. I doubt Dean still has the will to fight anything at the moment. That just leaves me and Lian, but both of us are exhausted out of our wits. My reserve is almost empty; the same should be the case for him. Even if we try to hold out, the two of us can't face them.'
As Conrad racked his brain, Lian turned to his left. He keenly stared at something in the distance, as if he could see it as clear as day.
Narrowing his gaze, he spoke in an unhurried manner.
"There's not much time; they're closing in on us. I can sense a tree a few meters ahead. We can use it to our advantage."
Conrad looked at him for a few moments.
He didn't know why he felt the way he did, but Lian was a peculiar person. It was no exaggeration that he was far from what a normal person was supposed to be. Even now, he came to terms with their situation in an instant, not a shred of doubt or fear in his voice.
It was borderline psychopathic.
But it was true that the ghouls were much closer to them now. So, the best he could do was follow Lian's lead. He could always interrogate him later, when a nest full of mindless ghouls was not trying to hunt them, when one of their teammates wasn't dying.
As if the thought had just occurred to him, Lian asked.
"I forgot to ask, but where are Sam and Dean. I heard you came here to look for them."
Conrad's gaze softened, guilt and regret weighing on his shoulders. Turning halfway, he lowered his head.
Lian finally noticed Dean sitting still a few meters ahead. He was holding something in his arms, something he couldn't see.
Walking slowly, he stopped behind him. Just as he was about to call out to Dean, his gaze fell on Sam's severed head. It was brutal and animalistic—the pale skin and lifeless eyes made him take a step back.
As Conrad helped Celia stand up, Lian simply stood there.
The next instant, he leaned forward… and picked up the sword lying beside Dean. Adjusting Evelin's motionless figure with one hand, he glanced at Conrad.
He looked like he wanted to say something, but he chose silence. He moved ahead toward the tree.
Noticing Conrad's wariness, Celia let out a shaky breath.
"That guy… he gives me the creeps… Ignore it for now, we've got worse things on our hands. Help Dean get there, I can walk myself."
Conrad watched Celia trudge into the shadows.
Sighing deeply, he walked toward Dean and buckled his knees. Resting one knee on the ground, he firmly grabbed Dean's shoulder. He didn't know what to say, nor did he know what to do.
Dean flinched and lifted his head. His eyes had a semblance of persistence in them, but other than that, it looked as if he had already given up.
Looking at him, Dean spoke quietly.
"Conrad… when…"
Just as he was speaking, it looked like he remembered something. He turned to Sam, but Conrad blocked his face, shielding it with his hand.
Steeling himself, Conrad spoke.
"Dean… you… You need to pull yourself together. What happened to Sam…"
Conrad tried to find the right words, but there were no words that could convince Dean. His brother had just died in front of him. He was unsure whether there was something that could help Dean get back on his feet.
"Don't kill yourself."
Lian's voice was as cold as the blade he was holding.
"Sam is dead. You can't change that."
Conrad was about to retaliate, but Lian didn't give him the chance.
"The least you can do is to try to avenge your brother."
Conrad noticed Dean subtly move. His eyes weren't unfocused anymore, a deep-rooted flame rising inside them. It was hard to understand what was happening in his mind. But whatever it was, Conrad had a bad feeling about it.
Clenching his jaw, Dean firmly grabbed Conrad's hand and pushed it aside. As his eyes met Sam's, the rage in his gaze grew further, darker… uncontrollable. The grief he had been feeling till now was consumed by the endless pit of fury.
Before it could swallow him whole, though, Dean regained his composure. The anger towards the ghoul was still there, eating him from the inside like a wildfire. Yet, with each passing moment, he pulled himself back from the pit.
Delicately placing Sam's head on the ground, he violently ripped off a sleeve. Placing the head on the long piece of cloth, he gently shut Sam's eyes. Conrad simply stared as Dean wrapped the decapitated head in his sleeve and tied it across his torso.
Furrowing deeply, Dean looked at Lian with a newfound conviction.
"What do you need me to do?"
Conrad was glad to know that Dean was back in the game. But he also knew that deep down, Dean had nothing left but a seething fire.
And it was only a matter of time before that fire became the reason for his death.