The guards took defensive stances.
Because those two didn't look normal at all.
One of the guards asked,
"Identify yourselves!"
One of the two replied,
"Well, we're just two merchants who came here.
My name is Charles, and this is Steve beside me."
"Show your identification!"
The two men took out their IDs from their pockets and handed them to the guard.
After handing over his ID, one of them asked the guard,
"Can I ask something? How did you survive the monsters?"
The guard looked confused and said,
"Monsters?"
"Yeah. Didn't the monsters attack you and destroy your entire city?"
The guard replied,
"Hah, no. A flood and a storm hit the city and destroyed all our homes."
The two men were surprised.
The man standing behind—who seemed to be the leader of the pair—gestured toward the one in front.
He stepped closer to the guards.
The guards raised their weapons, preparing to defend themselves.
But this person was no ordinary human.
They tried to attack him, but in the blink of an eye, he vanished and appeared behind them.
"So unlucky."
When the soldiers turned around, an overwhelming pain suddenly surged through their arms.
In a single moment, that man had severed both of their arms.
Both guards collapsed to the ground, screaming in agony.
The one standing in front finally stepped forward.
"So you don't want to talk, huh?"
The sound of bones cracking echoed from his face.
His face transformed into a monster they had never seen before.
The guards began screaming, but without hesitation, the monster devoured one of their heads.
After eating the head, it closed its eyes.
(Memory Demon
After consuming the head of a victim, it can see all of their memories.)
He entered the memories.
A city ravaged by storms and floods.
Houses destroyed.
Elders and merchants had fled because of how massive the storm was.
Only a few people remained.
The rest either died in the flood or escaped.
He opened his eyes and immediately ate the other head.
The exact same memories.
The monster said,
"It seems their minds were either washed—or they truly believe the flood destroyed this place, not monsters."
The other monster replied,
"Looks like we'll have to go inside and see what really happened."
He nodded in agreement, and they entered the city.
After eating several more heads, they realized that everyone truly believed a flood had occurred.
"It seems they really think it was a flood."
"There's no choice. We have to report it as it is."
"Yeah. After the report, they'll probably send monsters to completely erase this place."
Nearby, a little girl had frozen in fear after seeing humans being eaten by monsters.
But somehow, she managed to hide.
After the monsters left, she pulled herself together and ran to her mother.
"Mom, we have to leave now! Monsters are attacking!"
"What? Did you have a bad dream?"
"No! I really saw it! Monsters were eating people, and they said they'd send more monsters to completely destroy this place!"
Her mother quickly stood up, holding her child, and said,
"We have to report this to the commander."
As they headed toward the city center, they saw headless corpses—neighbors, friends, people they knew.
An intense fear overwhelmed them, and their legs felt weak with every step.
They barely managed to reach the command center.
But it was empty.
No one was there.
Seeing that no one was present, they thought the commander had been eaten as well.
They were about to turn back in complete despair when the commander suddenly appeared before them.
The girl immediately ran to him and told him everything.
After hearing their story, the commander was deeply shaken—but he had to keep himself together.
He told them to stay there.
He searched the entire city and only found two or three survivors hiding inside their homes.
Everyone else had their heads eaten.
The old guard.
The apple seller.
Even the thief.
All of them were dead.
Only six people remained alive.
The commander gathered them together.
After some talking and calming everyone down, they made a decision.
They would leave the city as quickly as possible.
Taking whatever belongings they could, they left the city behind.
They ran as far as they could and reached the top of a mountain.
Their city was now so far away that it looked no bigger than an ant.
Night fell.
Darkness covered everything, but with the moonlight, they could barely see.
They hid inside a cave.
It was midnight.
After eating, they took turns keeping watch.
While everyone was asleep, someone suddenly said,
"The monsters are attacking the city."
Everyone woke up.
The monsters had reached the city and completely destroyed it.
The commander clenched his teeth as he watched the city he had protected his entire life being erased.
He gripped his sword tightly.
Everyone was crying.
The bodies of their loved ones were there.
Their homes.
Their belongings.
But there was nothing they could do.
Within minutes, the city was completely destroyed.
It was as if a city called Moon City had never existed.
The monsters returned to where they had come from.
Only six people survived.
Unable to sleep, they stayed awake until morning.
When dawn came, they headed toward the central city, hoping to begin a new life there.
(Meanwhile)
The Master and Rio were crossing the desert, approaching a new city.
Rio was practicing martial movements, while the Master walked silently beside him.
Several hours passed like this.
Finally, Rio stopped practicing and said to the Master,
"Master… can you teach me how to use the Core?"
End of Chapter 23