Return of the Fallen Volume 13 Chapter 30
*SHHHRRREEEEEEEEEE!*
A ghoulish shriek pierced the ears as it ripped the open air apart.
Kazuki and Monsuta’s heads snapped in one direction as they looked for the source of the terrifying screeching.
Kazuki was shocked and looked all around. The blue sun was starting to set but there was no burning of the green fires. There was no indication for the shriekers to appear beside that insufferable, horrific shrieking. Kazuki couldn’t help but wonder and hope that this was some kind of false flag.
“Monsuta I thought you said those damned things only come out when the green flames burn brightest. There’s no green fire, so what in the Seven Realms of Hell is going on!?”
Monsuta shook his large head with a sense of doubt.
“No…it can’t be them. I didn’t lie, Kazuki. The shriekers really can’t come without the green infernos erupting from the vents in the ground. See look. The fires are merely smoldering beneath the surface, nothing more. That…That shrieker must have just been a strange one. It’s far too soon for the shriekers to crawl out from the underground.”
There were a few open vents in the ground nearby. These vents were merely large holes connecting strangely curving tunnels from the surface of this world to somewhere unseen. In these holes, a few flicks of green and yellow flames burned at a constant rate. Kazuki had only seen the fires blaze up once. This was enough to convince him before, but now he was unsure.
Right now, the fires are just barely there. One could see only a faint glow coming from the vents so both Kauzki and Monsuta were confused by this monstrous shriek.
“Whether it’s strange or not doesn’t matter. Something feels ominous. Let’s return to the cave as swiftly as possible.”
Monsuta would not argue with that. He had never before heard the shriekers so soon before the green fires burned. Even if this was just an off-the-norm situation, Monsuta did not wish to take the chance. He scooped Kazuki up with his aura and was just about to take off when once again a howling shriek ripped across the sky.
*SHHHRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!*
This time it was louder and obviously closer. The sound of which contained a sliver of aura. Kazuki felt his soul tremble after hearing this, and the two couldn’t help but freeze for a moment.
…
The entire world seemed to have grown quiet. There was not a hint of sound. No creatures of any kind made even the tiniest bit of noise and even the wind came to a complete stop. Monsuta and Kazuki shared a look with one another and the two almost wanted to laugh from pure the pure nervous energy they both felt.
Before they could calm down, just as the tension was at its absolute peak. It was at this time that it happened.
*FWHOOOOOOSH BOOOOOOM BOOOOOOOOOOOOM BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*
As far as the eye could see, all at once, the countless vents erupted with pillars of green infernos. The ground shook uncontrollably and the heat rose to dreadful unholy heights.
Then, all at once the pillars fell rapidly and maintained a height of only a few feet above ground. The fires caused a constant tearing noise to spread across the land.
Underneath the sound of fire burning, the sound of shrieks hit the shepherd’s tone as they grew and grew and grew. At first, the sound of only one or two echoed out here and there. From one second to the next, it became more and more. In less than a minute, the sound of hundreds became thousands.
“FUCK! Monsuta we have to leave this place right now!”
…
“Monsuta.”
Kazuki noticed Monsuta was frozen stiff, like a deer caught in headlights.
Monsuta was equivalent to a God in terms of strength and yet this god-like beast was shell-shocked and unmoving. Kazuki tried to get his attention but Monsuta was completely out of it. Finally, Kazuki’s hands moved with blurred speed as he gathered the element of wind in his lungs. His abdomen and chest expanded slightly as he roared directly into Monsuta’s ear.
“RUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNN!”
Monsuta snapped out of it and his feet pounded away at the ground as he took off at his fastest speed. The word slow no longer existed in Monsuta’s head as he raced forward like a beast made of pure momentum and velocity.
They had only just begun to run when the green fires once more burst up and into the sky. The fire raged before falling. Rise fall and rise and fall. This happened a few times before finally what was feard came true.
Just as they passed one of these open vents a few shriekers clawed and crawled their way out of it. Monsuta locked eyes with one for a split second and the shirkers instantly released their ear-piercing howling shrieks.
Kazuki had never seen one but they were exactly as Monsuta had described. Some of them were a little more than half the size of Monsuta while some were only around a third of his size. They looked like the upper torso of a humanoid creature made up of a bone-like texture. There were no legs though. Instead, it looked like a tail of some sort. Kazuki could not say for sure as their bodies seemed almost as if they were fading in and out of existence.
Loose pale skin was torn and ripped across their bodies like the skin had been caught on something. It looked similar to tattered and torn cloth rather than skin but skin it absolutely was. With arms nearly as long as their bodies and hands that were webbed and nearly as big as Monsuta’s head. They gave one a disgusting feeling just by appearance alone.
The shriekers all spotted Monsuta and after releasing their ugly cries, they instantly gave chase.
“NO!”
Monsuta released a small roar in fear as he kept running. Looking back, Kazuki saw how these things moved. Even though they had long tails like a snake, they moved primarily by pulling themselves across the terrain using their oversized webbed hands. Sharp nails like swords dug into the ground as they pulled themselves along.
Thankfully their speed was no match for Monsuta’s but Kauzki knew instantly he would be dead if he had to compete in terms of speed.
(Those things are fast, much faster than me but at least they can’t catch Monsuta.)
As soon as he thought this, two of the shriekers opened their bone-like mouths and sprayed a foul-looking green energy. This green energy shot forth like a small meteorite and came close to hitting Monsuta directly in the back.
“Monsuta!”
Kazuki’s quick warning allowed Monsuta to sidestep this green sludge-like attack. The green ball of goop slammed into the ground and immediately dispersed or transformed into a mist. It spread out by nearly 20 feet in diameter. The moment it reached this range, the ground instantly melted.
Kazuki could sense the amount of power in that one attack and knew just how damaging it could be.
(If that were to hit me, I would instantly be reduced to a red puddle.)
As soon as they dodged the spew of green goop, another green meteorite came crashing down. Now that Monsuta was aware, he did not need a warning this time and moved out of the way himself.
The green splash zone landed on a nearby beast. It was another white ape. it had been hiding behind a couple of large boulders. Its movements were unrefined and so it moved too slowly. The green goop mistified and melted the rock instantly and quickly dissolved the ape’s skin. It released painful cries and tried to flee but it was already too late. the green mist melted off large chunks of muscle here and there on its body and it collapsed into a pool of its own melted flesh.
The group of shriekers saw this opportunity and took it. They all pounced upon the white ape and with their large hands they gripped it from several different spots. With unnatural strength, they all pulled apart the beast and began stuffing their skull-like faces with handfuls of white ape meat.
The white ape continued to scream and release weaker and weaker roars as it was pulled apart and eaten alive. Just as it looked as if it were about to die, one of the shriekers, the biggest among this group stood face to face with the ape before its eyes released a strange yellow light.
Kazuki could sense something similar to aura coming from this yellow light. The very next instant, a light escaped the ape’s eyes and it went limp. The light entered the shrieker’s eyes and the skull-faced creature smiled wide as if it were satisfied.
Kazuki was horrified.
(Did it just consume its soul!)
He couldn’t say that’s what happened for sure from this distance but from the looks of it, it seemed that way. Right now though there was no time to worry about such things. In the distance, more howls filled the sky as the blue sun finally set.
The green night had only just begun.
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