High above the ravaged city of Caelumbre, nestled in the royal keep, a grand chamber bathed in moonlight stood silent. The air was still—eerily still—as the city below burned in chaos.
There, in the shadows of the King's chamber, a tall figure stood with hands clasped behind his back, staring through a wide arched window at the devastation. The man's face was shrouded in shadow, but the light of the flames flickered in his unmoving silhouette. He did not panic. He did not blink.
Suddenly—
BAM!
The chamber doors burst open.
A group of knights stormed in, their boots echoing across the marble floor. They carried both swords and sidearms at their hips.
"Glory to the Lord of the Sun!" they announced, bowing. One knight stepped forward and shouted, "Your Majesty! The city is under siege—by Night Crawlers!"
The King remained still, his back to them, watching the flames dance.
The silence stretched too long.
Another knight, unnerved, spoke: "Sire… your orders?"
Finally, the King turned—his face still obscured in the low light, but his presence was like a thunderclap. Cold. Commanding. Eyes that didn't blink—only burned.
In a voice like stone cracking under ice, he spoke:
"Mobilize the Adventurers Guild. Kill all Night Crawlers. Rescue the survivors. And…" He paused. "Watch for… a stranger."
The knights saluted, visibly shaken.
"As you command, my King!"
They turned and fled down the darkened corridor, the door slamming shut behind them with an echo that seemed to chase them.
BOOM!
The world shifted—
BANG!
Aiyan's revolver barked. Her first shot. A clean, perfect shot—straight into the skull of the Night Crawler before her.
The hideous thing dropped instantly.
Aiyan stood there, shaking. Her breath ragged. Her hands trembling around the revolver. She looked down at the weapon, eyes wide.
"I… I killed it… I did it…" she whispered, part horrified, part amazed.
But it wasn't over.
A scream tore through the night. Then another. Then—
ROOOOOOOOOOOAR!!
The remaining Night Crawlers howled in mourning and rage. Their cries echoed through the city, so loud they scraped into the ears of survivors—ripping through flesh and soul alike.
"Ughh—!" Aiyan cried out, clutching her head, falling to her knees.
She crawled to her open briefcase, teeth clenched against the pain. Her fingers found the extra rounds. She reloaded—six rounds in. Only three left to spare.
Her hands still shook, but she stood.
Her eyes were wide. Terrified. But focused.
"I won't let this city fall," she said aloud. "Not while I'm breathing."
With briefcase in one hand and the revolver in the other, she ran into the chaos.
"Is anyone here?!" she shouted. "Adventurer! I can help—please shout if you hear me!"
Then—
"…H-help…"
She spun toward the voice. Rubble surrounded her.
Flames licked the edges of ruined buildings.
Her instincts screamed. Something was off.
Finger on the trigger. Just like her cousin taught her back home—never let your guard down.
The bell rang again in her ear, shrill and haunting. But this time, she used it.
It became her sonar.
Then—movement.
A Night Crawler. Fast. Hideous. Smarter.
It dodged the moment she aimed. Aiyan blinked in shock. "They… they're learning?"
She heard the bell again—right side.
"There!!"
She fired.
BANG!
A hit. Clean and fatal. The creature fell.
She allowed herself a shaky smile.
But that smile died when she realized…
"That voice I heard—it wasn't human… it mimicked someone."
Her blood ran cold. These monsters were mimicking voices to lure survivors.
She ran again, searching for people—and then she saw him.
A knight.
He walked toward her like a vision—silver armor etched in runes and scars, cloak of deep crimson trailing behind him, a lion's insignia on his chest. His sword, glowing faintly, rested on his hip.
Aiyan blinked. Her ears still rang. She couldn't hear his voice clearly—just a dull whine like pressure underwater.
He gestured. Urgently. His expression unreadable.
Then, like lightning, his sword came free.
Aiyan flinched, raising her revolver—but the knight wasn't aiming at her.
BANG!
She shot just past him—striking a Night Crawler rushing his back.
And at the same time—
SCHLLKT!
The knight's blade cleaved another creature behind Aiyan clean in two.
She turned. Another one?! She hadn't even sensed it.
The ringing in her ears faded. Clarity returned.
"You're amazing, Miss," the knight said. "I didn't expect to find someone like you still standing. But there's no time—we've established a safe zone nearby. Follow me."
Exhausted, Aiyan nodded. "Thank you…"
But even as she ran beside him, her revolver stayed in hand—finger on the trigger. Just in case.
The city burned beneath a beautiful full moon. The screams of monsters echoed around them.
Along the way, they passed injured knights, civilians being lifted by mages, and adventurers hauling debris aside with brute strength.
Aiyan sighed with relief. "They made it…"
The Knight stops, and he was shocked about something.
Aiyan halts behind him, confused at first—until she walks beside him to see what had frozen him mid-step.
Her breath hitched.
The street ahead was littered with bodies—civilians, knights, and adventurers alike. Lifeless. Twisted. Torn apart.
Aiyan's knees nearly buckled as she took in the nightmarish sight. Limbs mangled like snapped twigs, faces frozen in terror. She clutched her revolver harder, her hands trembling.
Then came the sound.
Wet tearing. Bone snapping. Like thick ropes of flesh being yanked and twisted together. A squelch-crunch repeated in a grotesque rhythm, followed by the sickening grind of cartilage merging with cartilage.
The Night Crawlers—several of them—began biting into each other. Not in rage, but in unholy unison. They devoured one another, merging.
Aiyan watched, frozen, eyes wide with terror as spines cracked, mouths multiplied, and sinews slithered and fused like worms crawling beneath skin.
The sound was unbearable—a chorus of screams mixed with animalistic gurgles—like the monster itself was birthing its own nightmare.
"W-What in the world…" the Knight whispered, fists clenched.
The final form rose—a towering abomination of twisted limbs, three heads gnashing in different directions, and eyes blinking across its bloated torso. Its very presence felt wrong, like reality bent around it. The air shimmered.
Aiyan dropped to her knees, covering her mouth.
The Knight coughed violently, spitting blood as his body convulsed in rejection of the thing before them.
Aiyan, barely holding it together, raised her revolver and fired—
BANG.
The bullet buried into its shoulder—and fizzled. No impact.
"No… it's adapting…" she whispered. Her spine ran cold. She wanted to scream but her voice wouldn't come out.
"YOULL PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO MY COMRADES!!" the Knight roared, aura igniting as he dashed forward.
He struck with his glowing sword—a radiant arc of light—
CLANG.
No effect.
The monster didn't even flinch.
Then its stomach began to split open sideways, forming a massive vertical mouth lined with twisted teeth that spiraled into a black pit.
It lunged—not fast, but massive, a maw to devour anything in its path.
Aiyan didn't move. She knew she couldn't. There was no escape.
(So this is it… I really tried… it was fun while it lasted…)
She smiled. A tear rolled down her cheek.
Just then—
FWOOSH!
The mouth ignited in an instant, devoured by brilliant Violet flames, the roar of the monster replaced by a howl of agony, as its flesh blackened and crumbled like burned paper.
Aiyan blinked in disbelief, her lungs catching air again.
Even the Knight, barely conscious, stirred. "What…?"
Then came footsteps—steady, heavy, deliberate—cutting through the silence like thunder in slow motion.
The wind around them stilled.
A figure stepped into the flickering light of fire and magic.
A tall man, clad in a long, dark cloak.
A wide-brimmed witch hat shaded his face. The smell of scorched monsters clung to his presence.
Aiyan's eyes widened.
"It's the rude bastard…"
The Mysterious Witch Hat Man!
Chapter 5 has Ended