The refugee district lay in ruins. Everything was covered in gray smoke as tall and small buildings, one by one, fell apart, their debris shooting into the air.
Many had been trapped inside the buildings while their loved ones screamed their names. Others walked into the street with empty souls, their faces filled with trauma. It was a disaster none of them had expected.
They never did.
Because the worst was yet to come.
KRAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!
A ferocious roar rolled across the entire district, pinning the already devastated crowd in terror.
A shadow began to emerge, shrouded in a cloud of dust.
Looming. Unmoving. Waiting.
And when the dust finally cleared, a towering monstrosity revealed itself.
The crowd went silent. Some fled without thinking, their bodies moving on pure instinct before their minds could catch up. Others remained frozen in place. Not out of courage, but out of sheer terror.
Fear. Dread. Despair. Call it what you will.
Everyone felt the same tension creeping into their bones, as if judgment had already arrived. As if they had always been guilty.
And they were right to feel it.
Because they knew what stood before them. Something that shouldn't be here. Yet here it stood, carrying a presence that could only belong to one thing.
A Hollowed Beast.
--
Chapter 05: Strangers
Kandril's gaze was locked on the monstrosity before him.
The Hollowed Beast.
But unlike most of the people in the district, not a trace of fear showed on his face. Instead, he scrutinized it, taking in every detail.
The creature stood around fifteen meters tall. It had a skinny torso and four limbs like a grasshopper's, connecting at odd, angular joints. Its face was that of an anglerfish, its jaws lined with jagged teeth. From the waist down, spiked tentacles unfurled and writhed across the ground, scraping against concrete.
Then there was its chest.
That unmistakable void.
The mark of every Hollowed Beast.
But near the monster's shoulders, Kandril noticed something unusual.
'Uh?... What is that?' He squinted. 'Those aren't bones...'
His eyes widened. A cold shiver ran down his spine. 'A-are those... people?'
Then the shapes moved.
Two figures.
Strangers.
The first was tall and thin. Let's call him the 'lanky one'. He stood with a lazy slouch next to the smaller figure, barely the height of a toddler. Let's call her 'toddler-like'.
They stood atop the Hollowed Beast's right shoulder as if it were nothing more than a hill of stone.
Both wore matching dark robes that swayed in the wind. The upper halves of their faces were hidden behind plague masks cut cleanly in half, leaving their mouths bare and exposed.
And their eyes... they were burning.
Purple. Fiercely. Unnerving.
"Jeez... that was rough," the lanky one groaned, stretching his arms above his head. His voice was deep, carrying the unmistakable drag of someone who found effort deeply inconvenient. "We really had to dig a hole just to get inside, huh?"
After a beat, he turned to the toddler-like girl. "...Why couldn't we just destroy the wall instead? Right?"
The toddler-like rolled her eyes at him. "You, dum-dum?"
Her tone was childlike, words clipped and syllables shortened.
"It make Ark-Knights know."
The lanky one paused, tilting his head as if genuinely thinking it over. "Ah. Right. That makes sense."
Not long after, he jumped atop the Hollowed Beast's head and began scanning the district as if looking for a lost child. But all he could see was debris and people scattering in every direction. Nothing interesting.
"Uh... are you sure she was here?" he asked. "I can't see her anywhere."
The toddler-like girl tilted her mask up slightly and sniffed the air.
SNIFF.
"Nose o' me... no wrong," she said. "She just here."
The lanky one scratched the back of his head. "Ehh... you sure?"
Then a wide grin.
"Because—"
His face scrunched. Lunatic. Maniac. Psychopath.
"ALL I SEE IS THIS BEAUTIFUL MASTERPIECE IN FRONT OF MEEEEE!!!"
"DAAA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HAAAA!!!"
The toddler-like clicked her tongue, annoyed by his bragging, or perhaps just the lanky one's laugh. She dismissed him with a roll of her eyes once more and continued scanning the district.
She looked left, then right, then down.
Then—
'hmm?...'
Her eyes squinted, locking onto a single figure standing in the middle of the street.
Still. Unbothered. Staring straight up at them.
It was Kandril, watching them with wide, unblinking eyes.
Without looking away from him, she called out to the lanky one. "B'lo us. He threat?"
"...Uh? Where?" the lanky one asked, his head swinging left, then right.
A tentacle curled beneath the girl, lifting her and dropping her directly onto the lanky one's head. Her tiny fingers clamped onto his temples, dragging his head downward toward the streets.
"There... one standing."
The lanky one blinked. His eyesight seemed blurry; he could only see Kandril as a vague figure.
"Hmmm?"
Then, "...Oh."
"A human?"
He tilted his head, the way someone notices a stray cat sitting in an odd place and finds it faintly curious.
"Is he lost? Did someone forget their kid down there?"
The tentacle swung the girl back to the beast's
shoulder.
"No kid," she replied. "He no normal."
The lanky one's grin returned. "Really?"
He stretched his arms with a yawn, looking amused. "Interesting..."
He placed both hands on his hips, tongue out like a player going for a dunk, his right eye closed in a wink while the other locked onto Kandril.
"Look at him still standing in front of us like that?" He chuckled. "Kinda brave... or stupid. AND I LIKE—!"
But before he could even finish the word, something shifted without warning.
Like a switch had been flipped, his state of mind suddenly inverted. The excitement vanished. The grin faded. Something heavy settled in his chest.
Dreadful. Irritated. Almost... offended.
He was confused by the sudden shift in his own emotion. It was like a glitch in reality buzzing in his own thoughts.
"Why do I feel something strange? Why am I feeling angry?" he asked, his voice low and calm, but carrying a quiet, restless displeasure.
The toddler-like didn't respond. She just kept staring at Kandril. She felt it too, something strange coming off him. Like a toxic stench clogging her nose. The longer she stayed with it, the worse it got.
Until her face scrunched into sudden disgust.
"BLEGH~"
The lanky one was now beyond pissed for no reason. He couldn't control the emotion.
Then—
He vanished.
No wind. No sound. Just... gone.
He reappeared right in front of Kandril, his fist driving into the kid's abdomen without warning.
The instant it connected, an inexplicable force surged through Kandril's body, rattling his bones and crushing the air from his lungs.
"BWAAAAGHKKKK~"
He was launched backward like a ragdoll, skidding across the street as dust and debris erupted around him. He slammed into the ruins so hard it left him broken and gasping.
But Kandril staggered upright.
"W-what... the hell is that?" he groaned, clutching his abdomen.
Pain shattered through him, as if his organs had been wrung like a wet cloth. His knees buckled. His body screamed for him to stay down. But he refused to give in. He forced himself upright and raised his guard.
The lanky one stared back at him.
Same expression. Same irritation. Like two people who had accidentally bumped into each other on a crowded street and were both equally annoyed about it.
Neither moved.
The air between them went dead quiet. No wind, no sound, nothing. Just two sets of eyes locked on each other, each waiting for the other to blink first.
The lanky one suddenly straightened, eyes still fixed on Kandril. No words. Just pure, unknown emotion.
Then he raised his arm.
One finger. Extended. Aimed.
Then—
Vwwwmmmmmmmm...
At the tip of his index finger, a small orb bloomed. Crimson like mixed into deep blue. It pulsed softly, shimmering with quiet menace.
Then it grew. Three times its original size, swelling with energy that pressed against the air itself.
Kandril could feel it. Deep in his chest. Down into his bones. A single shot from that thing and there'd be nothing left of him. Not even ash.
But then something stirred. Not in his muscles. Not in his instincts.
Somewhere in his mind.
Then—
BZZZT.
His body moved anyway.
TBC…