Nothing in the bloodstained room would shield her from the monstrous creature. Fifteen meters separated them, nothing more. It stared at Shizuku with its blood-colored eyes. Its intimidating glare bade her be still like prey beneath the gaze of a predator. Instead, Shizuku turned on her heel. She pushed the door open and dashed away down the corridor. Already, her heart was racing violently, threatening to fly out of her mouth. “I’m in so much trouble! What is that thing?!” Even with a sword, she didn’t like her chances against that creature. Shizuku had always disliked snakes. She risked a glance over her shoulder as she ran. “Gahhh!” The snake had started to move away from the magic circle, perhaps in an effort to pursue Shizuku. It entered the corridor and proceeded down the hall. Curiously, the giant serpent, the likes of which Shizuku had only seen in movies, didn’t move at an alarming pace. It seemed to maintain the same speed as Shizuku. She feared it might swallow her if it ever caught up, an idea that urged her to run faster. She sprinted down the hallway, pushing her body to what felt like its limit. “I…I hate snakes.” Naturally, Shizuku didn’t like dying in any manner, but being eaten by a snake ranked among her top three worst methods to meet her end. Shizuku teetered on the edge of panic as she navigated the blood-soaked corridors. The sound of the snake slithering behind her sent a persistent chill through her. It was clear that the serpent had its sights set on Shizuku. Still, she charged onward, passing several lifeless bodies on the way. After she’d traveled nearly twenty-one meters, a foreboding sensation compelled her to look back again. “Ahhhhh! This is the worst!” The snake had grown after engulfing the dead bodies littering the floor. It appeared to be moving quicker, too. At this rate, it would catch Shizuku sooner or later. She felt bad that bodies were being consumed, but her own survival had to take priority. A small figure stood waiting farther down the passage. Shizuku recognized her and raised a hand. “Mea! We have to get away! Run!” That was enough information to tell Mea, who’d become a girl again, what was going on. She grabbed Shizuku’s bag, waited for her master to reach her, then joined her running. Shizuku didn’t have time to give her a detailed explanation, and besides, it was pretty clear that there was a massive snake coming after them—the threat was obvious. The pair turned a corner and rushed down the stairs in a frenzy, then followed a first-floor passageway. Unfortunately, the snake, a manifestation of the toxic miasma within the castle, seemed able to track Shizuku even when she was out of sight, and it maintained pursuit. “That thing just won’t give up…” Sunlight poured in through the window at the end of the corridor. It was great that the miasma covering the castle had cleared, but Shizuku wasn’t in a position to celebrate that. She couldn’t afford to be distracted. Her focus had to remain on getting to the northwest section of the palace. There weren’t any dead bodies along the route now, and the snake had stopped growing. Although it chased at a reasonable distance, the longer Shizuku and Mea ran in a straight line, the narrower their lead became. Every time the serpent got too close, Shizuku shrieked and turned a corner, doing her best to put more distance between herself and the monster. Shizuku didn’t know if running would ever solve this, but she did know something else that might. Magic’s limits were a mystery to her, but she knew it was the only means of defeating this creature. And Lydia was the only skilled mage she knew how to find. Shizuku hated the idea of forcing the woman who’d saved her life to battle a monster for her, but she didn’t know many other people. Plus, Tarkis would be there. Maybe they could figure out a solution together. She was heading to the room where she’d left the pair not long ago. On the way, a door in front of her suddenly flew open, and a soldier came out to glance around. “Watch out!” Shizuku shouted. The soldier looked in the direction of the outburst and froze upon catching sight of the snake. He promptly retreated back into the room and shut the door. It was a perfectly reasonable reaction. After being totally ignored, Shizuku ran by, so relieved that she felt ready to cry. The snake passed right by the room where the soldier hid, not showing any interest. “M-Mea. If I get eaten, you’re welcome to flee!” Shizuku said. “I shall serve my master until the very end,” Mea replied. Shizuku was glad to hear it. If possible, she hoped to keep Mea and herself alive. As Shizuku raced around a familiar corner, she pushed her aching lungs to force out another shout. “Tarkis!” she yelled. “Tarkis! Help me!” “Oh, you’re back, Shizuku,” he replied in a carefree tone as he opened the door. However, when he saw Shizuku running for him and the giant snake coming after her, he understandably went silent. It didn’t take long for him to ground himself again, though. Rather than retreating inside the room, he drew his sword. “Lydia, come on! We have an enemy we need to defeat!” “An enemy?” Lydia replied. “A snake! Hurry up!” “A snake?” Lydia came out into the corridor, head cocked in confusion. When she caught sight of the massive serpent, she went rigid, and the color drained from her pretty face. “I-is this a mass of a miasma?!” she exclaimed. “It doesn’t matter—just put up a protective barrier! Shizuku’s gonna get eaten!” Lydia raised an eyebrow at this suggestion, but she didn’t object. She intoned a chant. The moment Shizuku reached Tarkis, an invisible barrier formed directly in front of the snake. Mea turned around to fortify it. This first act of defiance made the snake stop in its tracks. It stuck out its red tongue and glowered at Shizuku. Shizuku cowered slightly from primal fear beneath the serpent’s gaze, yet it seemed only as potent as it might have before. Feeling like her heart was about to burst, Shizuku placed her hands on her knees and tried desperately to steady her breathing. “What is that thing, Shizuku?” asked Tarkis. “It’s made of miasma…and dead bodies,” Shizuku explained. “And Negativity. Probably.” “It must be an embodiment of the forbidden curse. It looks like those Shula statues, doesn’t it?” “Can you defeat it?” “I dunno. What do you think, Lydia?” “We need to separate the core from the miasma. I’m just not confident I can…” Shizuku was the one who’d announced that she was going to do something about the forbidden curse before leaving Tarkis and Lydia, and yet she’d literally brought the problem back with her. She felt terrible. She tried to regulate her heavy breathing as best as she could, then straightened up and looked at the snake. Its eyes never strayed from her. She was the only person the mass of miasma ever looked at, the only one it deemed worthy of pursuit. She took a few steps in each direction to make sure that was true. As expected, the snake’s head followed her. It even pushed against the barrier to get nearer. Shizuku’s face twisted into an expression of distress. When Tarkis recognized what was happening, he approached the barrier. His sword, which was made of ordinary steel, would have no effect on the concentration of Negativity that was the snake. Shizuku took her bag from Mea and looked down the hallway behind her. Farsas had been contacted shortly after midday. Surely, it had launched an investigation by now. The miasma that was cutting the castle off from the outside world had lifted. People were free to enter. Hopefully, someone from Farsas would arrive soon. Shizuku looked up at the snake and started to back away. “Lydia. Can you destroy the barrier once I’m farther away?” she asked. “Huh? Why?!” “It seems focused on me, so maybe I can lead it somewhere far away. It could buy us some time until help from Farsas arrives.” “Sure, but what if you get eaten?!” “I’ve managed to get this far,” Shizuku replied. “I can keep going for a little longer. Hopefully.” “Hold on a minute, Shizuku! You can’t! There’s no way you’ll win!” Tarkis turned to stop her, but Shizuku had already started running. Mea followed after her master. When it realized that its target was escaping, the giant snake started pushing the barrier farther and farther forward. Lydia’s spell contorted against the force of the serpent’s shove, slowly collapsing inward. As the monster pressed against it, she felt its weight against her own body. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead as she released a pained gasp. “Wait… Argh!” “Please just drop the spell!” Shizuku exclaimed. “Do it, Lydia!” shouted Tarkis. While the pair implored her, Lydia collapsed, having reached her limit. Unfettered at last, the serpent resumed its idle chase for Shizuku. Just as its undulating body was about to send Lydia flying, Tarkis pulled her to safety. He gently set the unconscious woman aside and lunged for the serpent’s tail, attempting to strike it as it slithered past. It felt like he was slicing through mud. There was a squelching sound that resembled the noise of digging through entrails with one’s bare hands. Tarkis’s sword sank deep into the snake’s body, ultimately touching the floor with almost no resistance. The attack didn’t stop the snake. It didn’t even look at him. It merely carried on toward the fleeing girl. The part of the snake’s body that Tarkis had apparently severed rejoined the rest of its body. Tarkis swallowed hard at the sight. “Shizuku!” She was already out of sight. There was no sign of her assistant demon, either. However, the snake seemed to be able to detect their presence—it didn’t even pause to consider as it moved down the hallway. The monster was so grotesque that it would evoke despair in anyone who saw it, yet once Tarkis took Lydia back to a room where she’d be safe, he gave chase. Lydia had afforded Shizuku some time to catch her breath and distance herself from the serpent, albeit only a little. That was the best she could’ve asked for. She ran ahead as hard as she could. She was wearing the same sneakers she’d arrived in this world with. It was a stroke of good fortune she’d been wearing them that day. Had she come with sandals, she would’ve stumbled and been swallowed by the snake already. With every step, she kicked off the ground forcefully. She didn’t know why the snake only pursued her. Maybe it was because she’d failed to answer that one question. Shizuku slowed to take a corner but kept her momentum going as best she was able. Red light poured in through the windows in this new passage. The sun was beginning to set. Every now and then, Shizuku caught a glimpse of a soldier who’d come to check out what was happening. “Run!” she’d yell as she sprinted past. Initially, the soldiers would frown at the suspicious pair, but upon noticing the humongous serpent, they always fled. Shizuku just needed to keep running around the castle until the representatives from Farsas turned up. It sounded like a simple task, but her legs and knees were already trembling. She’d spent the entire day running, after all. Shizuku glanced at her assistant demon, who was running beside her. “Mea,” she said. “What is it, my master?” “Do…you think…we…can get away?” “Trust in yourself.” “Okay.” Shizuku had no choice but to believe. Her legs were so overworked that they didn’t even feel like hers anymore, but she forced them to keep going as she turned yet another corner. The next thing she knew, she collided with a court lady who’d been immediately around the bend. They both collapsed in a theatrical manner. Shizuku tumbled to the ground with such force that it felt like the entire world was tipped on its head. “Master!” “…I’m fine.” She pushed herself back up, and when she lifted her head, she saw two glowing red eyes. The snake reared its head, fixing its gaze on its prey. “Gyahhhh!” the court lady screamed. Shizuku shoved her to one side of the passage without thinking and hurled herself in the opposite direction. Although an instinctual action, it proved the right one. In a display of frightening agility, the snake’s head lunged for where Shizuku had been a moment ago. Gleaming white fangs pierced the floor. Had the monster caught her, it wouldn’t have been pretty. Shizuku managed to stand, but the serpent had reared back up just as quickly, its dark-red tongue flicking from its mouth. If she tried to run, it would catch her with its fangs the moment she moved, and a similar fate awaited if she remained staring at the monster. She was out of options. Shizuku stood frozen for a few seconds. It felt like forever. Shizuku couldn’t think of anything or anyone. Is this defeat? That was the only thought that crossed her mind. “Master!” It was Mea. The angry yell that followed set time in motion again. The snake let out an agonized cry, writhing in discomfort. “Don’t just stand there, Shizuku!” someone shouted. Their voice sounded unusually severe. The words brought Shizuku back to her senses. She saw a man behind the great snake. Tarkis wore a stern look. Shizuku had no idea how he’d managed to catch up to her, but he had. The dagger that he’d thrust into the snake’s body looked different from the sword he typically carried. Black smoke was smoldering from where he’d plunged the dagger in. As the snake turned back to him, its eyes filled with malice, Tarkis pulled his weapon free and leaped backward. He assumed a defensive posture with a fearless smile. “This should do the job,” he said. “This dagger was forged by a spirit sorcerer.” The serpent lifted its head to strike at the mercenary. Either this was the first time it had been hurt, or it didn’t like his hostile attitude. “Tarkis!” Shizuku called. “Run!” he barked. “I’m gonna buy you some time!” As urgent as this command was, Shizuku couldn’t bring herself to move right away. She felt unsure whether it was really okay for her to leave him there as her scapegoat. Tarkis, however, was insistent. “Go! If you run away, this thing will have to ignore me!” “Sorry!” Shizuku replied. “I owe you one for this!” Shizuku turned to resume her sprint, her assistant demon keeping close. Tarkis forced a smile as he watched the girl disappear into the distance, but he sprang to action without delay. He leaped to the right, moving alongside the serpent’s body. It wasn’t human or a demonic spirit. Its presence made him nervous. He focused himself against the sensation as he tried to read the creature’s demeanor. It left him warier than when he’d sneaked into the castle. The monster’s eyes betrayed nothing, even as they peered at Tarkis. Quite suddenly, its long body began to coil up. Tarkis’s well-honed agility carried him through the air as he evaded the snake’s attempt to thrash him with its body. This repeated several times. It didn’t go on for very long, but every moment was one Shizuku could use. She was already at the end of the passage by the time Tarkis had a moment to check. He smiled, but the expression was short-lived. The great serpent’s figure abruptly began to waver. Its outer skin faded, and black miasma spewed into the air. The shed substance coalesced into a second creature resembling a panther. “No way…” The panther sprinted after Shizuku, not even sparing a glance at Tarkis. The mercenary instinctively tried to stop it, but the serpent blocked his path, tripping him. Tarkis clicked his tongue as he was forced to evade death from the giant monster’s fangs. This was a critical moment. His own life was at stake. One wrong decision would mean his doom. What has he meant to do? Tarkis sighed. And then…he abandoned the idea of catching up to the panther. Panic would accomplish nothing. For now, he needed only to focus on the enemy before him. Despite the terrible danger, he found himself growing excited. Tarkis held the dagger at the ready. He regarded the serpent, a manifestation of a forbidden curse, with an arrogant look. “Come on, then.” The snake swayed as it prepared to lunge. The atmosphere grew tense. A castle had been caught in a disaster, and now the irrevocable consequences would follow. Shizuku had once heard that “in times of suffering, you should distract yourself by imagining what it’d be like when it’s over.” Thus, when sitting at her desk day and night studying for her college entrance exams, she’d thought about what kind of things she’d get up to once she was admitted. Now, however, she was a world away, wrapped up in a problem she didn’t wholly understand while being chased by a mysterious monster. It was the most painful situation she’d ever been in, and she had no idea what to envision for comfort. The fantasies of fun summer vacations that she used to imagine were all gone. She couldn’t bear to think of her family and friends. They felt too distant from this harsh reality. Her lungs and heart were on the verge of giving up. Eventually, her mind settled on a scene of her drinking tea at an inn somewhere, reading books and conversing with Erik. What will we talk about if I survive this? Shizuku certainly didn’t know, but she clung to the idea as she raced around a corner. Sensing a dark shadow out of the corner of her eye, she looked back. “Wh-what’s that?!” A jet-black panther hurtled toward her. Mea narrowed her green eyes. “It’s the forbidden curse,” she said. “It’s changed form to catch up to you.” “This thing never stops! At least it’s not a snake, though!” The panther, which was considerably smaller than the serpent, raced for its quarry with incredible speed. Despite being unarmed, Shizuku recklessly turned toward her enemy and raised her bag above her head. The panther leaped off the ground, jaws ready to close around Shizuku’s neck. “Mea! Stop that thing!” The assistant demon complied with her master’s orders and unleashed her power, restraining the creature in an instant. Immediately after, Shizuku hurled her bag down onto the panther’s head. The impact caused its head to disperse like mist. The panther fell to the ground. It made no noise, nor did it bleed, perhaps because it wasn’t a real animal. The miasma that had scattered into the air slowly reassumed its shape. When Shizuku noticed what was happening, she kicked the panther in its torso. “Stop!” Her foot traveled straight through the panther’s abdomen, but it accomplished little. The panther was already recovering from the second attack, so Shizuku turned and ran. “I—I need a vacuum cleaner… An industrial-sized one…” Although she was grateful it wasn’t a snake anymore, this new form was much quicker. Worse yet, ordinary blows clearly wouldn’t work. In the blink of an eye, the panther was whole and resumed the chase. Since it resembled a mass of smoke, she thought a vacuum cleaner might suck it up, but such devices didn’t exist in this world. “I guess I have no other choice!” Shizuku stopped and turned around. The panther was already preparing to pounce. As Shizuku reflexively shielded her head and her chest with her bag, the shadowy creature lunged for her legs. She couldn’t get away. “Arghhh!” She hadn’t expected the panther to attack her calf. It took her a moment to decide what to do. As the panther sank its teeth into her flesh, Shizuku shrieked, “Mea! Get it away from me!” Her assistant demon’s attack lopped off the panther’s head, which disappeared all too easily, but Shizuku’s injury remained. Blood poured from the round holes the animal’s teeth left in her skin. Shizuku lifted her long skirt to take a look. “That hurts…” “I’ll get rid of the pain,” Mea told her. The demon sounded calm, but there was a tinge of frustration in her voice. She seemed annoyed that she’d let her master get injured. Worse, she was incapable of true healing magic. Once Mea had numbed the pain, Shizuku took off again. The shock from the bite refused to be ignored, however. Breathing rapidly became difficult. How long would Shizuku have to keep this up? Was there really an end to this? Was rescue coming? The forbidden curse had said that Shizuku wasn’t supposed to be there. Was that why it was so hell-bent on pursuing her and nobody else? Was it trying to eliminate her because she hailed from another world? Was her free will redundant here? Shizuku didn’t know what manner of country Farsas was or if any representatives were coming. She couldn’t even guess. Sensation had left her leg. Despair ran from her wound. It had apprehended her thoughts, leaving her unable to go on. She forced her sluggish legs to move, yet she found she didn’t remember how to run anymore. Shizuku was being chased. She came to that realization just as she approached a corner. It wasn’t that she’d heard or sensed anything—she’d merely recognized a pattern. She tried to stop but swiftly understood that her body wasn’t obeying. Fear overtook her. She didn’t want to turn around, to let it attack her. The thought spun wildly in her mind. Her hesitation only stalled her for a few seconds, yet she screamed: “Come on, move!” She put all her strength into her aching legs. As she launched herself forward, she looked over her shoulder and pulled the sword from her bag. The panther had caught up and looked ready to lunge for her again. Its sleek, dark body leaped into the air. “Master!” Mea conjured a barrier, but as a manifestation of the forbidden curse, the panther cut straight through the shield with no trouble. As the animal’s menacing white claws bore down upon Shizuku, she made an attempt to strike first with the little sword. However, the panther twisted through the air and effortlessly evaded, landing back on the floor soundlessly. Shizuku cast her bag aside and gripped the hilt of her weapon with both hands. “I might have come from another world, but…” Glaring straight into the panther’s red eyes, Shizuku started to yell: “…I’m not going to die! I’m staying right here!” The panther pawed the floor, but Shizuku charged forward before it had the chance to act. A surge of power from Mea forced the panther’s head up, and while its chest was exposed, Shizuku plunged her blade into its heart. The creature’s body swallowed the weapon. Then its form burst into black mist. “…!” Shizuku looked around as miasma drifted through the air. Had she managed to pierce its core? A cold chill coursed down her spine as though in answer. “Master!” A second later, the panther returned, and right at Shizuku’s feet, no less. Red eyes glared at her. Oh, I guess this is where it ends for me, she thought. And that’s when someone took her by the hand. Shizuku found herself being dragged away. The panther jumped for her, its fangs cutting through the air. Shizuku heard someone chanting—a young man with a low, comforting voice. A magic circle had appeared on the floor. A red circle. The panther was being drawn into it. Once within the circle’s perimeter, the monster stopped moving. It seemed tied to the array on the ground. After confirming that the panther couldn’t escape, the young man led the girl down the hall and away. His deep-blue eyes looked out a nearby window. “This will be over soon. A spirit has arrived.” “Erik.” That was all Shizuku could manage. No other words took shape. She would’ve collapsed had Erik not been there for her to lean on. Shizuku had dreamed of returning to normalcy for so long. Now some semblance of it had finally found her. Tension drained from Shizuku, and she felt the overwhelming urge to sit on the floor. Erik kept her upright, though, practically holding her. He pointed toward the end of the hall. “Come on. It’s not much longer now.” Shizuku turned around in a fluster. The panther writhed within the circle in an attempt to break free. It watched Shizuku all the while. She shuddered beneath its gaze.
Chapter 13
21 min read