Noises from the ongoing march gradually receded as I went into the damp and dirty street. The warm sunlight was replaced by the shadows of buildings. The small figure of the flower girl could be seen beckoning to me from afar.
Following her, I met with shadowy gazes and limping figures. They're not my problem. And I refuse to acknowledge them as my problem. I am not the Count and even though I transmigrated into this body, I am still me and that's that. I refuse to take care of such stuff because in this world my dream is to survive and live life relaxedly.
As I became immersed in my thoughts, the small figure of the flower girl suddenly stopped.
"What's the matter?" I asked.
She refused to give me an answer. Instead, she put her index finger in front of her mouth, signalling me to shut my mouth. Of course, being the genius I am, her message was not lost. I inched towards her as quietly as I possibly can until I'm beside her.
"So, why are we stopping?" I whispered.
"...Look ahead." she pointed at the alley's intersection ahead of us.
Two shady figures could be seen. They're wearing those kinds of standard fantasy bad guys cloak. I figured that it would be crazily tiring if I deal with them, so I tried to search for alternative routes near us.
Alas, I have no time to observe any possible routes because the shady figures had finished their business. Looking at the two of them parting in opposite directions, I gestured to the flower girl to follow me. Looks like our path to the prison is unimpeded.
True enough, no obstacles are waiting for us in the slums area. That's what I thought at first. Because after a few minutes walking in the alleyways, we found a cloaked figure laying on the ground.
It's unclear whether it's dead or just unconscious. I gestured at the little girl to back away, firstly to shield her view from something that's possibly mentally scarring. And secondly to shield her from anything dangerous. I don't need any sacrifices after my "dreaming" experiences.
I uncloaked the figure, and it's clear that such a view is not for any young girl to bear. Its face was ripped by someone using some kind of tool, leaving behind exfoliated muscles and empty eye sockets. Its neck was rotated at least three times, but still bizarrely intact and became elongated.
"Let's go." I covered the body with its cloak and went to the girl's side.
Perhaps noticing the cloak that was placed on top of it, the misshapen figure groaned.
Like holy shi*, I'm startled. Well, at least it didn't start to move.
F*ck my mouth. The thing started flashing light, and it vibrates violently like a s** toy!
I grabbed the flower girl by her hands and started running. The bad news is, the place we're at is a long narrow alleyway.
"Ouch!" A small cry was heard.
The girl tripped. As I looked afar, the body is vibrating at a very high frequency, as if it would explode any time soon. Because it looks like there's no time left, I carried the flower girl and went inside one of the doors there.
splat
A sickening sound was heard, and I don't want to open the door. So, I sneaked a peek. Outside, bits of flesh and droplets of murky blood stained the cobble path in the alleyway, while bones and harder parts embedded in the walls deeply. As I closed the door, a name of such phenomenon appeared in my mind. Corpse explosion. A familiar skill of the Necromancer class in the Diablo franchise back in my world. Although I already knew this world is f*cked up, if such diabolical skills are widely available in this world, then my dream of a relaxed life had just become a lot harder to achieve.
As I'm thinking about life, an irritated voice could be heard.
"F*ck! Who had the time to set off other's corpse bombs!"
Welp, I'm not going out there. Looks like the guy outside is the one who had cast corpse explosion on that body. And going by that logic, it could be presumed that he had enough power to blast a young (going to be) ex-noble and a little girl to oblivion.