A handso man walked through the dead streets of a city consud by nature.
If Samael t him now, he would probably take a few seconds to recognize him.
That was Yuji.
Or rather...
A very different version of the man he had t at the governnt headquarters.
His hair held a strange mixture of brown and crimson.
His eyes shared the sa color.
Behind him, upon the cracked asphalt covered in roots, dozens of corpses lay scattered.
Nightmares.
All Fallen Rank.
All dead.
And all completely dry.
Not a single drop of blood remained inside their bodies.
Yuji sat atop one of them.
Watching the corpses.
— Weak.
His voice echoed through the empty streets.
Slowly standing up, he kicked the dried carcass of a creature and started walking.
As he advanced through the abandoned city, his gaze swept the surroundings.
"How strange..."
He frowned.
"Why are these Fallen creatures only slightly stronger than Awakened?"
It made no sense.
Compared to the creatures he had faced during his Second Nightmare...
These things were practically hatchlings.
The mory of the Second Nightmare caused his expression to harden.
A dark glint crossed his eyes.
— There isn't a single cigarette in this damn place...
he muttered.
It was a personal tragedy.
Murderous monsters?
Fine.
Lost continent?
Fine.
But running out of cigarettes?
That was truly cruel.
Continuing his walk, Yuji crossed streets overrun by vegetation.
Broken buildings erged among gigantic trees.
Roots pierced through concrete.
Nature had completely devoured the city.
Then...
He felt it.
Sothing was watching him.
Yuji raised his eyes.
And saw it.
A creature.
It stood motionless atop the roof of a ruined house.
It resembled a grotesque mixture of bat and reptile.
Its folded wings partially wrapped around its body.
Its red eyes remained fixed on him.
Watching.
Silently.
The hairs on the back of Yuji's neck stood up.
His entire body reacted.
Arms.
Legs.
Muscles.
Everything beca tense.
Instinctively.
As if his instincts were screaming.
Danger.
Great danger.
Even so...
Yuji smiled.
— Gonna keep admiring my beauty?
The creature did not answer.
— Sorry...
Yuji took a step forward.
— But I prefer won.
A crimson sword appeared in his hand.
Liquid blood took shape.
Red tal.
Elegant.
Deadly.
At that sa instant...
The house beneath the creature simply collapsed.
BOOM!
But it had already disappeared.
Yuji's eyes narrowed.
"Fast."
Very fast.
A sensation crawled along his side.
Tingling.
Instinct.
Death.
CLANG!
His sword rose by pure reflex.
A monstrous impact exploded through his arms.
Yuji was launched backward.
His feet tore through the ground as he struggled to regain his balance.
"Absurd speed."
"But physical strength..."
His eyes glead.
"...doesn't match the speed."
Around him...
Hundreds of blood arrows appeared.
Floating in the air.
The next instant...
They shot forward.
CRACK!
CRACK!
CRACK!
The creature reappeared.
Its claws shattered the arrows one after another.
Its wings flapped.
And it vanished again.
Yuji didn't try to follow it with his eyes.
It was useless.
Instead...
He read his instincts.
Felt the danger.
Moved his sword.
CLANG!
Another impact.
Violent.
But this ti he was ready.
His body spun.
Redirecting the force.
Without being thrown away.
The crimson blade slashed toward the creature's neck.
SLASH!
It hit.
But not deeply.
The creature had dodged at the last instant.
The wound was shallow.
Almost insignificant.
"Durable."
Yuji's hands trembled.
Not from fear.
From the impact.
— Sorry.
He smiled.
— I still can't die.
His sword rose again.
— I promised soone.
Then...
The creature smiled.
The world seed to freeze.
Yuji's bones turned cold.
That smile was wrong.
Deeply wrong.
Malicious.
Conscious.
Intelligent.
It wasn't the smile of a beast.
It was the smile of sothing that understood exactly what it was doing.
And enjoyed it.
The creature beat its wings.
Rose into the sky.
And landed atop a distant building.
Watching.
Always watching.
The smile was still there.
Displaying enormous fangs.
— That thing...
Yuji felt a chill.
— What the hell is that?
In his entire life...
He had never encountered anything like it.
Never.
He shoved his hands into his pockets.
— Arica really is sothing else...
he muttered.
— Don't you think, Anna?
Silence.
No answer.
Only the creature watching.
Yuji searched his pockets.
Then sighed.
— Ah.
— Right.
— I'm out of cigarettes.
And resud walking.
The creature continued following him from afar.
Without attacking.
Without approaching.
Without leaving.
Simply watching.
Minutes passed.
Then hours.
And Yuji noticed sothing strange.
No other Nightmare Creatures appeared.
None.
As though the entire region had been emptied.
His gaze t the creature's red eyes once more.
— Are you scaring them away?
The creature remained motionless.
Watching.
Always watching.
— Hm.
Yuji crossed his arms.
— You're more jealous than my girlfriend.
The comnt escaped naturally.
Then he froze.
His expression weakened.
"Actually..."
"...my late girlfriend."
The pain ca like a blade.
Old.
Familiar.
Still sharp.
Yuji looked away.
— Great timing to rember that.
He laughed.
But there was no humor in that laugh.
No joy.
Only exhaustion.
A lot of exhaustion.
Because, in the end...
It was hard to relax when an intelligent and unknown creature was watching his every step.
And it was even harder when his own mories were more frightening than the monsters.
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