Chapter 69 - Ashes (2)

"Nice to meet you."

Soon, he greeted me in a relaxed tone.

His flesh continuously dripped and transformed into a thick liquid, and the cold, milky-white substance splattered onto my cheek, causing me to involuntarily grimace. He smiled, gathering the parts of his face that had fallen away.

"I apologize. It seems that consuming several in a short time makes my structure unstable. Since I'm borrowing the body of a greedy one, we won't be able to talk for long."

Gurgle.

"Oh, was the Count choking you? It must have been a crisis, but I arrived just in time, didn't I?"

However, his fingers still clung to my neck, tightening their grip and stroking it with his thumb. I struggled to breathe, my body trembling. My vision faded to black and then quickly turned pale, blinking in and out of focus. Meanwhile, my brain, supplied with oxygen, began to work slowly.

Sub Writer 1, the Count, that thing, the writer, the writer, the writer.

My stuttering brain broke down while trying to reach a conclusion.

"Oh dear. You seem to be in pain."

Can't you tell?

"Hm, given that you're a properly living body… or are you not?"

Am I not? What exactly am I not? It's as if you're searching for someone. The entity loosened its grip just enough to keep me from passing out. It tightened and then released around my throat, doing so repeatedly.

"You can't die yet."

"Cough, huff!"

As I gasped for breath, I felt my lungs tighten, and my insides burned. It hurt. I felt a sense of reality more keenly than ever as I scraped against the floor. Pain really does make you aware of life; the human body is indeed paradoxical in that regard. My fingernails throbbed with a chilling pain, but I didn't even have time to pay attention to that. The entity, wearing the Count's face, continued to look down at me with a broad smile. Something swirled within its gaze. A dazzling halo, like the light surrounding the sun.

"So you know the location of the body. Where did you hide Leovald's corpse?"

"I have no reason to answer you."

"Tell me where it is."

[The opponent is attempting to interfere with your mind using the special ability, !]

[Access error! The effect of is nullified.]

A sharp and stinging pain shot through my brain as if electricity were coursing through it. The agony was not something I alone felt; the ominous visitor before me also furrowed his brow.

The caster of . The 'sub-writer 1' who is currently at odds with the main author. His facial surface split into dozens of strands, each forming a different face. The faces of the count and his minions. The faces of extras it had consumed layered over each other like pages in a book, before finally returning to their original state. It was collapsing more violently than before. The being silently opened its eyes wide and then regained its original expression. That too was grotesque.

"Ah. I wondered what they were trying to achieve by desperately clinging to this twisted play until the end. Where did they manage to bring something like this from?"

His fingers wrapped around my cheek and jaw. They were as cold as those of the dead.

"I'm not sure if this attempt will yield any results, though."

Since the recent attempt at , he swayed as if struck and slowly continued to speak.

"Certainly, I was hasty this time. If you refuse to talk…"

Half of his face began to flow away, transforming into a viscous liquid. With only his jaw remaining, he whispered, "I'll help you a bit."

He reached out and casually knocked over a candlestick resting on the desk. As his face completely melted away, colours flowed back into the world. A thick, sticky laughter clung to my ears. The brutish hand approached again.

Bang!

The door swung open, and Leonardo dashed in. One of his arms hung limply, as if broken, but with the other arm, he swung his sword horizontally. Even with a single hand, the cut was graceful and sharp. The entity possessed by the sub-writer erased its smile and retreated.

Leonardo moved heavily, blocking the space between us. As the oppressive pressure that had been bearing down on me dispersed, I could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Until just a moment ago, even without a hand around my throat, I had felt a constant drowsiness.

No, it wasn't just my imagination.

The inn was ablaze. Thick smoke billowed up, mixing with the already murky air inside the room. The creature closest to the fire caught flame, yet it didn't flinch at all as it burned alive.

The fire soared high, using the inn as kindling, and spread to the wooden roof. Sparks ignited on a thin section, and the logs supporting the roof collapsed. A burning log further widened the distance between it and us.

Leonardo must have judged that the inn was no longer a safe place, as he pulled back. I too steadied myself and retreated. The creature, with only its jaw remaining, turned to look at me and opened its mouth.

"We'll meet again."

In an instant, it twisted its neck grotesquely. The words it had muttered about not being able to talk for long intertwined with its current grimacing expression.

Soon, the composure and leisure in the Count's movements faded away, and I sensed that some consciousness that had been dwelling within it had departed. It would no longer measure distance or attempt to talk; it wouldn't act human anymore. I immediately warned Leonardo.

"It's coming!"

With a monstrous roar, it charged at us. Leonardo scooped me up and dashed straight outside. Crash! Again, the flames shot up, and one of the supporting beams of the inn collapsed, crashing down to the floor.

My heart remained anxious, directed towards the underground. Leovald's body was down there.

Coincidentally, the creature's body was pinned beneath the collapsed beam, giving us a moment to catch our breath. I couldn't help but suspect that this, too, was some sort of manipulation by the writers who were watching all of this unfold.

The smoke was rising, making it hard to breathe, especially since I was already struggling for air. Leonardo, too, seemed to lack the luxury to catch his breath amid his frantic movements, gasping for air. It was clear that we were both struggling. Reflexively, we reached out to support each other, finding a way to brace ourselves together.

[Scenario weight: 19.70%]

"Are you okay?"

As his gaze shifted towards my neck, his eyebrows furrowed sharply. I blankly watched him shout with a metallic sound.

"Underground!"

The fire, which had started from the desk and spread to the wooden furniture, blazed with an almost terrifying ferocity. This was wrong. Even if they brought a fire truck, they couldn't extinguish this fire. Thoughts of the basement flickered through my mind.

"We need to secure your body first."

I grabbed him and whispered urgently.

"It has to be done."

Since I had already drawn suspicion as a messenger of the gods, I might as well make use of it. Leonardo's title was quite divine, after all. I'd never heard him referred to as a paladin, but Leonardo nodded in agreement.

Together, we rushed down the clattering stairs and found the coffin in the underground storeroom. Looking at the peacefully resting corpse, it felt as if the words of those who praise death as a liberation from everything weren't entirely wrong.

As we lifted the coffin and made our way out through the back door, we spotted a wagon left behind by the Count's henchmen. We loaded the coffin onto it. Meanwhile, the fire had grown even larger, engulfing the entire building.

Lavender curtains, wooden furniture, window frames, and roofs were all consumed by the licking flames. The rising fire, illuminating the dim dawn, was bright enough to be seen from afar.

"The inn…"

Sparks flew up, decorating the sky. The place that had become my means of survival in this world was turning to ash. The loss here always seemed to scatter like ashes, and it pained me.

With the burning down, the crucial elements that defined my role as the had come to an end.

The stage moves mercilessly, leaving me unable to hide my dazed expression. People gather around the rising flames. The anxiety escalates as citizens, unaware of the monster's presence, approach. Inside the inn, consumed by fire, strange sounds of movement can be heard.

It seems that whatever it is, it won't tire and continues to chase us.

While I shout at the gathering citizens not to come this way, Leonardo struggles to grip the blood-slicked hilt of his sword. Despite having one arm broken, is he really planning to face it head-on?

He shows no signs of retreat. The option to jump onto the wagon and flee evaporated the moment the citizens, drawn in by the flames, started to gather. He merely sharpens his prayer, taking a combat-ready stance. Even the broken arm, which hardly moves as he wishes, is used without hesitation.

So, I hurriedly harnessed the frantically kicking mule that was excitedly trying to distance itself from the fire. I didn't know how to drive a mule-drawn wagon, but was this really the time to be picky about it?

I jumped onto the driver's seat of the wagon and pulled the reins tight. After all, I didn't need to steer carefully; the mules were filled with the instinct to flee from the flames.

"Over here!"

I shouted as I untied the ropes that secured the mules. It tilted its head and spotted the coffin of Leovald, quietly positioned behind the wagon. The creature became extremely excited and immediately shifted its target.

While it was crucial to handle Leovald's corpse with care and not let it be taken, what good would it do if the original owner, Leovald, was already dead?

I pulled the reins tightly, and the agitated mules bolted forward, causing me to lurch backward. As I reached out, Leonardo, who had been in the path, quickly grabbed my arm and climbed onto the driver's seat.

"It's too dangerous here. We need to move somewhere else!" 

Leonardo nodded. The mule-drawn wagon turned its back to the burning inn and crossed the street.