The r inferno that engulfed the manor painted a mesmerizing danes against the pitch-bck vas of the night. Daisuke’s back was aglow with the fiery hues, his frenzied sprint bringing him in the dire of the house barn.

  He somehow had a feeling the distra was no longer for the butler, but for the monstrosity Reginald had let loose upon humankind. It was only after arriving in the courtyard and spying a trail of corpses—both humans and Bearhound—did Daisuke e to a startling realization: while he was busy setting fire to the kit, the beast had already pinpois colle of prey and abahe manor.

  His eyes widened in horror when he suddenly caught sight of Sheba up ahead fag off against the bloodthirsty fiend. Its cws and snout were stained with the fresh blood of its victims. Sheba stood with her arms extended protectively, April c in fear behind her.

  Before Daisuke could utter a single word or even form a coherent thought, a suddeion of blood filled the air. In that heart-stopping moment, time itself seemed to slow to a crawl. Amidst the crimson torrent, Sheba’s presence dimmed, her life force slipping away.

  In those fleeting seds before her light extinguished, her gaze found Daisuke’s. Her fragile smile held a bittersweet mix of emotions—a hint of relief, perhaps a subtle decration that she could finally be free from a stain she had been uo se. It was a moment suspended in the swirling maelstrom of chaos, etg itself into Daisuke’s memory as a poignant farewell.

  But the bloodbath wasn’t over.

  April cried out in anguish, desperately trying to gather the bloody remains of her friend. It was a futile endeavor, and the beast now fixated its gaze on the despairing child. Before her life could be swiftly snuffed out, light footsteps and a pair of fluffy white ears emerged on the se. April’s eyes widened in shock as a familiar female enveloped her in a protective embrace, using her own body as a shield.

  “B-Big Sister Mia!”

  Mi-Mia? Daisuke thought in surprise. When did she…? Did she follow us here by trailing the sve traders?

  Driven by his unwavering sense of chivalry, Aldric arrived and mirrored Sheba and Mia’s act of self-sacrifice, immediately positioning himself in front of the c girls. With both hands unfurled, he stood against the encroag threat.

  GGG!

  But instead of flesh and bohe creature’s monstrous cw collided with a sword, the resounding etal against keratin eg through the chaos.

  Feng had pried the on from the lifeless grip of the sve master’s corpse, and in doing so, was able to protect the children from being cleaved in twai, as sparks ignited from the on’s tact with the beast, he realized the sword’s limits were fast approag.

  “Go now!” his voice was strained with urgency, his gaze fierce as he held the creature at bay. “I ’t keep this up for much longer!”

  “R-Right!” Aldric stammered, but mao steady his grip on April and Mia’s trembling forms despite his quivering legs and the chaos surrounding them.

  Keeping a firm hold on his bdder, he sed the surrounding area. In the distance, he spotted Daisuke sprinting toward them with Sylvia in swift pursuit.

  “Haxks!” she called out from behind him.

  “Sylvia?” Daisuke didn’t look back but reized her voice immediately. “I need a favor!”

  “Yes, anything!”

  “Do you know a safe pce away from here?”

  Sylvia got an ominous feeling, but there was no time to ask questions. “I only got caught and sold into svery because I ran away from that safe pce.”

  “Perfect.”

  Without hesitation, Daisuke retrieved the hairpin he had taken from April and gripped it tightly as he unched himself at the monster with reckless abandon. The acet its target with lethal precision, plunging into the fiend’s eye.

  The creature emitted a pierg howl, its massive frame vulsing in agony, but Daisuke g on tenaciously, driving the hairpin deeper. “Take the kids and go!” he bellowed without looking back. “Feng, you know what to do! Protect them!”

  The Wolfkin clicked his tongue ruefully, casting o g Sheba’s motionless form befning himself to the task at hand. Don’t worry, he muttered inwardly, determination burning in his eyes. I’ll keep my promise to find them, even if it’s the st thing I do.

  Throwing April over his shoulder, Feng began running toward the edge of the forest while Sylvia and Mia herded the rest of the kids behind him.

  “Please don’t die!” implored Mia tearfully, her voice trembling with emotion. “e and find us, no matter what!”

  “Big Brother!” April cried out, her small fists pounding on Feng’s shoulder bdes in a frantic plea. “No! Stop! Put me down! Haxks! We have to help Big Brother Haxks!”

  Aldric’s jaw ched, his shoulders hunched in frustration and guilt. Yet, it was Sylvia, eyes brimming with sorrow as they met Daisuke’s, who broke the grip of indecision. Her hand found its p the small of the boy’s back, gently guiding him into the sheltering shadows of the forest.

  Daisuke allowed a twisted smile. He may have allowed everyoo escape, but he had absolutely no iion of surrendering his life to the miserable beast.

  His gaze swept over the fading figures of April and Mia before settling on the unmoving Sheba. Even as he allowed himself a fleeting sidelong gnce, he kept ging onto the thrashing monster, a vengeful rage burning inside him.

  Suddenly, his grip tightened around the hairpin and with a resounding roar, he summoned every ounce of his strength to wrench the bloodied on free and thrust it into the creature’s remaining eye. Kig his feet off the monster’s chest, Daisuke dropped and rolled on the ground before ung into a full-on sprint into the dense forest.

  Without eyesight, you’ll have to depend on your sense of smell to track me down—and I’ve got a pn for that.

  Wasting no time, he grabbed a fistful of his shirt, intending to rip and scatter its fragments along the forest floor to disorient the fiend. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t tear it. Instead, his face turned blue and then purple. “What the hell is this fabric made of—Kevr?”

  “RAWRRR!”

  Daisuke’s heart thundered.

  From the cealing shadows of the undergrowth, the monster lunged, a grotesque form hurtling toward him. In a split-sed decision, he dropped and slid beh it, barely esg the ravenous jaws that snapped inches away from his face. The creature shifted its body around the moment its limbs touched the ground. Driven by its heightened sense of smell, its head snapped around, already log onto its retreating prey.

  Each ragged breath that tore from Daisuke’s lungs felt like bile. Foliage and twigs ched underfoot, a jutting branch sliced his cheek. Every swaying tree brand shadow looked menag. He navigated the frightening expanse of the ominous woods, using slivers of moonlight that filtered through the tangled opy to guide his desperate retreat.

  But the predator ersistent; running on all fours to quickly narrow the distaween it and a hearty meal. The beast poised for a lus instincts honing in on the bundle of st that marked its prey. Yet, in that critical moment, it detected a swift flicker of movement—a disruption that crashed into it like a battering ram.

  Daisuke snapped his head around. He felt another presend heard a chaotiotion—snappih, ferocious tussles, and the whimpers and h of a e.

  Just a sed too te, he failed to watch his step. His body lurched over the edge of a precipice, hurtling down a steep ine. Helpless, he collided with pnts and shrubs, desperately searg for something to grasp onto, but nothing could impede his momentum.

  Suddenly, his head collided with a rock, his eyelids growing heavy as darkness enveloped his senses, and he slipped swiftly into unsciousness.

  ***

  Uhe cover of night, iermath of the fmes that had ed the manor, a shadowy figure moved through the sm wreckage. The hooded individual, a retive inald’s, followed an urail that led to the cealed entrance of a hidden chamber.

  Amid the chaotic backdrop of soldiers iigating the fire’s devastation and the grim discovery of lifeless bodies, the figure ventured into the dark unknown with undisguised fidence.

  With gloved hands, he deftly brushed aside debris, revealing the remnants of a grimoire, its empty pages scorched and tattered by the fmes.

  Suddenly, a chilling smile etched itself upon his cealed visage, a sinister curl of lips that foretold of a malevolent agenda.

  Fear of monsters & the unknown: 16%