The wind whispered through the ruins of Mirrors, or atleast what used to be the town of Mirrors.
Broken stone, splintered wood, and pools of dark, congealed blood were draped across the landscape like twisted decorations.
What should’ve been a gentle breeze felt ominous, as if carrying the anguished echoes of those who had perished.
Steve’s boots pressed into the soft, blood-stained earth. Every sensory warning scread at him to look away—yet he couldn’t.
His gaze anchored on the ground as if in denial—until sothing tugged him upright. A breeze brushed past his cheek, rustling fallen leaves and stirring a low hum in the air that was sohow alive.
And that’s when he saw it: flickers of motion out of the corner of his eyes, distant yet suffused with a dreadful purpose.
He looked up. Every pair of eyes around — The Rookie Magic Guards, as well as the B-Rank Magic Guards —had grown wide with terror.
They stood frozen, voices hushed, breaths caught in throats as they all gazed upon the dreadful scene in disbelief.
Steve stepped forward. And that’s when he saw it- the head.
Staked into shattered pieces of rubble upon a pool of blackened blood, the head was grotesque—a tableau of violence. The jaw was dislocated, smashed inward. Several spikes of bone jutted from the skull as though soone—or sothing—had impaled it. The eyes, wide open, were vacant but unrelenting; the eyeballs still held sothing of exasperation, but without a doubt, it was utterly unrecognizable.
But still, the fine tone of the hair which cascaded freely upon the spike gave an ever so familiar feeling for Steve, and upon realizing it, he stumbled slightly.
"...That’s Maggie." he choked out, voice ragged and low.
Fiona and Tonya stood beside him, and the others behind. One by one they exhaled collectively—pain mingled with disbelief.
Fiona collapsed to her knees, hands shaking, tears spilling over.
Steve’s steps ca quicker, as if hope might still linger. But the closer he got, the harsher the truth. The skin around the neck was gone, strands of flesh intertwined with tal spikes. The decapitated head looked horrible—sloughed and hollowed, as if half of it had been consud.
He reached out, so instinctual need to touch, validate, protect. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t bear what it whispered.
"I—I don’t know." he said, voice trembling.
"The face... Maggie was a healer. She could’ve recovered from most attacks...yes, she definitely could. She’s a pretty decent healer. There’s no way in hell she’d end up like this...maybe..." He swallowed.
"...So maybe it’s not her?"
Behind them, the B-Ranked Magic Guards swept their gaze. Their hands glimred faintly as they tapped mantras of detection into the air. Light pulsed softly under their palms, probing, seeking traces of lingering mana, but none answered. Their faces were unreadable.
One of them muttered, voice too soft to be carried on the wind.
"It’s like... nothing happened."
But it did. All of it. Hos and markets burned. Walls collapsed. Streets cracked and buckled underfoot. And bodies... bodies were strewn like broken dolls in every little corner. The town of Mirrors had been utterly decimated.
’None of this makes any sense. I can’t find a single trace of Magic energy. With this much destruction or carnage, there’s no way a magic beast wouldn’t be behind it....damn it!’ One of the B-Rank Magic Guard thought inwardly.
"We make our report to the capital now." the magic guard said as she flickered her eye to her fellow B-Rank guard, voice steady as steel.
"After that, we organize hunting parties. Whatever did this... it’s still out there."
The other mage squinted. "No tracks. No footprints. No magical residue. Not even a tremor of mana... I don’t think it’s-"
The other sorceress shook her head slowly, eyes grim.
"That’s exactly why we need to act fast....If whatever did this was human, we would have easily found footprints. This was not human. . We need to contain it before it moves again—before more die."
The implication was clear. Nothing less than a colossal being or a hideously powerful creature could pull this off and leave no trace.
Steve backed away, voice a whisper again.
"Why—they died... the entire town—" He swallowed the lump in his throat.
"I busted my ass for a year to get stronger...strong enough that I could protect those in my harem...or hell, everyone... So why the hell do I feel so powerless right now?! Fuck...Fuck..."
The wind shifted, carrying the soft chant of mana detection spells. And then, amidst all that, a far, distant whisper in his mind.
He sensed sothing. A tremor of faint mana drifting across the stones. A pulse as thin as spider silk—but alive. Hunger and annoyance lay in it, as if the mana itself wanted to be found.
He blinked. Nobody else had reacted.
’ Hmmm...Am I... the only one sensing this?’
He inhaled sharply. Sothing was drawing near. Not a ripple on the ground. Not a rustle in the trees. But a current, a scent of mana creeping closer.
He looked at Fiona. She was still huddled on the ground—pale, trembling. Her tears wetting the dust. He opened his mouth to urge her to stand, to get away. But words caught in his throat.
Then, everything changed.
A distortion shimred through the air next to her. A thin line of shimr. The world wavered... and in that instant, a cloak of invisibility collapsed like a torn curtain, and sothing burst forth.
Before them materialized a creature—a hobgoblin, ragged and massive. Its skin was green-gray, mottled and knotted with bulges of muscle. Eyes burned red as internal flas. Jagged fangs protruded from its mouth. One arm clutched a tortured, serrated axe that dripped fresh crimson blood- displaying its ruthlessness in a single glance.
Ti slowed in that mont.
Steve’s heart stopped—then it exploded in his chest. He lunged, breath caught in his throat.
The hobgoblin lunged too, fast as thought.
And in less than a mont, its steel flashed, as it lunged its attack right at the vulnerable Fiona.
"Fionaaa!!!"
Steve yelled out her na as lunged further, but unfortunately, before he could make his way on ti —
Slash.
Reviews
All reviews (0)