After sitting under the palm tree for a while, Sami remained silent, observing the strange men. After some time, the men stood up.
Four of them stepped into the lake, beginning to swim in the clear waters. It seemed as if they wanted to rest for a moment—or so Sami thought.
But just moments after they entered, the surface of the water shifted, forming strange ripples, and misty shapes emerged. Sami's eyes widened in shock.
In this desolate desert, amidst the glassy waters of the lake, several women emerged from beneath the surface. They were unnaturally beautiful, more than ten of them.
Damn… they're mermaids, Sami thought.
They began approaching the four men.
Unlike Sami, who was struck by awe and shock at the sight, the four men's eyes reflected pure terror.
Before they could even comprehend the situation, one of the mermaids let out a horrifying scream, sounding like rusted iron scraping against itself. It was not a sound one could imagine coming from such beauty.
Sami sighed in frustration.
"What a waste."
Suddenly, the water beneath the four men moved, silently pulling them under the surface.
Sami turned his gaze toward the others standing at the edge of the lake.
In a rush, the massive man drew his axe, leaped forward like a cannonball, and smashed it down on one of the mermaids, reducing her to a grotesque pulp of flesh. He leapt to the next, and the next—an unstoppable, terrifying veteran warrior.
Meanwhile, another swordsman with long, flowing hair, tall and lean, drew a long sword from the sheath at his waist, slicing through the mermaids one by one.
The third man, positioned on the shore, supported his friends with arrows that shot swiftly, piercing the mermaids' heads as if they were soft clay!
But the mermaids were not mere decorations. Suddenly, they twisted their forms, their beautiful faces morphing into grotesque, fish-like mouths.
They opened their jaws, spewing dark liquid at the warriors, while their arms transformed into deadly scythes.
In an instant, the battle turned against the mercenaries—they were in grave peril.
Sami chose to remain a spectator.
He felt a desire to intervene, but he had no justification.
Even if he joined, he knew he had no chance in this horrifying fight.
After a grueling exchange between the two sides, the mercenaries were in a dire state.
The swordsman sat on the ground, having lost an arm earlier to one of the swinging scythes.
Blood cascaded from his severed limb.
Behind him, the archer was worse off.
His body was grotesquely mangled, a gaping hole cracked through his skull. He had initially ignored the strange liquid that struck him, but its terror was absolute.
Strangely, the massive warrior seemed to be holding up better.
He continued fighting, and the number of mermaids began to dwindle.
After delivering a decisive blow, a terrifying sound emerged from the depths of the lake, a sound indescribable in words.
Suddenly, grotesque bodies fell onto the palm trees across from Sami. He looked and saw a sight that made him retch.
It was something humans should never witness.
Four torn corpses. But what caught Sami's attention was not the massive wounds, but their heads, which looked unnaturally hollowed out. Their skulls were intact, yet seemed entirely emptied of all contents. The shapes of their heads were grotesquely warped.
Sami tried to look away, screaming internally:
"What kind of horror lies beneath to create this nightmare?!"
"I never want to imagine meeting it!"
He glanced toward the massive warrior, who had lost an arm, a gaping wound on his chest bleeding torrents of azure blood.
Sami assessed the situation. After a moment, he stepped out from the palm trees.
While the massive man was eliminating the last mermaids in a desperate attempt to drag them to death, Sami approached a corpse, drew a sword from it, and moved behind the giant warrior, facing the mermaid at the center.
Looking behind him, he finally saw the eighth man he had been searching for.
His disappearance had seemed suspicious. The eighth man stood by the front carriage, peering through the window.
He seemed to be signaling something, but when he noticed Sami, he fell silent.
His gaze met Sami's in confusion.
Sami had no time to think.
Without hesitation, he plunged into the lake.
He lacked stamina. He knew he had only one strike. Sami darted, hiding behind the massive warrior, then made a swift spin, raising his sword high, pulling it back, and striking straight toward the mermaid.
Before she could react, the cold steel pierced her skull, creating a majestic, terrifying scene.
She fell into the lake.
The massive warrior seemed to collapse as well. Suddenly, Sami sensed something enormous emerging from beneath—a creature he had never seen before. The hidden horror had finally decided to reveal itself.
As it surged upward, the terrifying form broke the surface of the water, freezing Sami in place with sheer horror.
…To be continued