The late afternoon sun shone through the dense forest canopy, casting mottled shadows underneath. Dead leaves scattered in the air, rustling softly as they brushed against each other until they finally descended onto the forest floor. That was the only movement in the forest-- the humans that had just finished their harrowing encounter with their enemies were still, save for their undulating chests. Different thoughts were in their minds at the moment. However, the common emotion that they felt was relief.
Yu opened his eyes once his breathing returned to normal. The sight of Fulton's dead body greeted him once more. He paused at Fulton's lifeless eyes for a few moments, as if trying to see the man that he once was.
One second passed, then another. To the others who saw Yu, it seemed as if he was in shock or was dumbstruck by the dead body in front of him. In reality, Yu was replaying the previous battle in his mind. He tried to recall the specific moves that he executed beforehand. However, they were a blur. His body moved in ways that he could not comprehend. He felt like he was just a passenger in his body.
Yu furrowed his eyebrows. He did not have answers for his current questions and felt annoyed by the lack of memories that would explain the skills he displayed.
'Perhaps Edward was right, I am a swordsman after all,' he thought as he sighed. Not surprisingly, that statement did not feel foreign to him.
He tried to recall the feeling when he swung the sword and hoped that it will trigger a memory. The motions were so natural that he did not feel anything out of place. Still, no memories came to him as he tried to grasp past the haze that covered them. Frustration arose concurrently with a dull throbbing pain that constricted his head. He even felt like throwing out the sword in his hand out of spite.
Yu finally decided that it was futile to chase after something so fleeting such as his memories. Sighing once more, Yu stood up shakily to his feet. The energy boost that he had from before had dissipated with rest. His body felt sore from being dragged and dropped by the monster. While he rolled his sore shoulders and looked around, he realized that he was inside a half-collapsed wooden dwelling.
The roof was punched through by liana stems. The beams hung precariously, supported by the remaining withered stems. They looked like they would crumble even from a light touch. One of the walls had completely collapsed, allowing one to view the bog without obstacles.
With limited light, Yu saw that there was a gouged up circular pattern in the ground under Fulton's body. He traced the pattern with his eyes and eventually saw lifeless babies with their throats slit. With their flesh gray and their skins withered and leathery; they curled up in fetal positions and had died as the blood drained from their bodies.
Yu paused again at the sight of the babies, blinked once, and let his gaze wander around the rest of the dwelling. He did not notice, but his breath caught briefly before resuming its normal rhythm.
Suddenly, Yu heard a muffled thud behind a door in the dwelling. He snapped his head towards the sound and gripped his sword. A few moments passed before he decided to investigate the sound. His breaths were soft and level as he cautiously navigated around the withered lianas towards the door. He stood in front of the door and listened for any sounds.
Yu was sure that there was someone in the room behind the door. He tried pushing the door open but it would not budge. His eyes scanned the edges of the door and noticed that the hinges were rotting. Then, he took a step back and kicked the door near its hinges.
The door burst open and smashed onto the ground. At the same time, a frightened yell sounded from a corner of the room. A foul stench immediately assaulted Yu's nose. He winced and covered his nose with his hand.
It was dark, save for some sun rays that seeped through the gaps between the wooden planks. There was just enough light to make out the outlines of the objects in the room. Yu allowed his eyesight to adjust to the dark before he stepped towards the source of the yelping. His footsteps were light and controlled. He only managed a few steps before he froze on the spot.
Metal shackles hung from the ceiling with naked bodies dangling upside down-- their feet within the shackles' clasps. Wide, gaping slits stretched across their necks from under their ears. Large empty buckets that were once full with blood were arranged under the bodies. Dried blood caked the metal hoops of the buckets. It was like inside a slaughterhouse.
Among the dead bodies were children. Their eyes were glazed over; some rolled into the back of their heads, exposing only the whites. Their mouths hung open with swollen tongues within them. The long hair of girls that almost swept the ground was stiffened with dried blood.
Pins and needles crept up the back of Yu's neck. His jaw locked into place and his breathing quickened. The edges of his vision blurred as the view in front of him became more vivid. He felt a lump in his throat as his stomach tightened.
Time seemed to freeze as images and phantom sensations flashed in his mind.
Red covered his vision. Terrified child-like screams echoed. A solid cold rested against his neck, sending chills throughout his body.
"Yu!"
Yu snapped back to reality, panting. He reflexively clutched his neck with his left hand, only to feel the familiar leather collar. His back was drenched in cold sweat. He looked around for the voice that called him back to the present, only to see no one. The voice must have come together with the vision that overwhelmed him.
He shook his head to clear it and made sure to avoid looking at the hanging bodies again. However, he was not as calm as before. Something tugged at the corner of his heart. He disregarded the strange experience and continued to investigate the noise. Thinking about it would have to wait. This time, however, his footsteps were heavy and quick.
Suddenly, Yu saw a faint outline of a person half covered by some large barrels. He raised his sword and inched forwards. With only a few feet away, he lunged forward and tackled the person to the ground.
A shrill scream reverberated through the room as Yu grappled with the unknown person to the ground. He eventually held the person in a headlock.
"P-p-please! S-spare me!" A nasal voice pleaded.
Yu stopped but did not release the man.
"Who are you?" Yu asked.
"J-Jop!" the man stuttered.
"What are you doing here?"
"I… I… Uh, m-m-master…" Jop gulped down his saliva nervously.
"What?" Yu asked again, annoyed.
"I know nothin', I swear!" Jop pleaded frantically.
His mind was in a panicked mess and he spouted incoherent sentences. Jop was frightened to the point that he soiled his pants. During the battle earlier, he witnessed that Yu had killed his master with a chilling proficiency. He was scared silly and did not want to end up like his master.
"I don't know, I don't know! Please… please! Spare me!" Jop pleaded hysterically while tears streamed down his face.
Yu narrowed his eyes and moved from a headlock to a chokehold. Jop immediately choked and gasped for breath. He struggled and hit Yu with his flailing limbs.
"Listen. I want to know what you're doing here, not the nonsense you're spouting. I'll ask you once more: What are you doing here? Now, I'm going to release you and you'd better answer me well. Do you understand?"
Yu's icy and leveled voice struck added fear into Jop's heart. However, despite the fear, the voice managed to put sense into his head. Jop nodded repeatedly despite himself choking.
Yu released Jop and the latter collapsed, coughing and sucking in the air that his lungs so direly needed. Suddenly, he felt a cold blade by his neck. He froze, his eyes wide with trepidation.
"Speak."
"M-m-master brought me here, t-t-to… to… to…" Jop stuttered and was unable to continue.
Yu sighed at the frightened slave that was kneeling in terror. His mood got worse at Jop's stuttering and inability to speak coherently. The uneasiness in his heart only got stronger.
"Your master brought you here?"
Jop gulped and nodded his head. His eyes were so wide that they looked like they were about to pop out from their sockets. Yu glanced past the splintered door.
"That's your master?" Yu gestured with his head towards Fulton's body.
Jop nodded.
"His name?"
"Mmm-master Fulton."
"Where is he from?"
"I… I don't know."
"What about the liana monster?"
"I don't know."
"What are your master's motives? His plans?"
"I don't kk-know..."
"You don't know?" Yu asked, his voice deepened as he tightened his grip on the sword.
The edge of the blade dug into Jop's neck. It stung and blood trickled down his neck. Jop winced and shrieked. He shrunk backward and shook his head rapidly.
"No! No! I really don't know! Mm-master brought me here last month! He-he only asked me to collect blood from people every day! I don't know anything else!" Jop said, his tears flowing uncontrollably.
"You killed them? The children?" Yu's eyes widened, his grip tightened. The tugging in his heart crept closer to the back of his mind, threatening to overwhelm his logic.
"Y-yes, Master told me to!"
"Why?" Yu's voice sounded almost guttural. His breaths shortened.
"I-I don't know… Uh… uhm… ahh… t-to collect their blood? Master taught me how to do it. Feed them with the black liquid, hang them by their feet, and then cut their throat. Oh, he also said to make sure that the cut is deep enough that the jugular and windpipe are severed completely. After that, set the bucket under the bodies and drain the blood into them..." Jop recalled his master's instructions while he ran his mouth off.
Yu listened to Jop's explanation halfway before he lost it. Words like "hang", "severed", "drain", and "blood" jumped out to him the most. The rest of the sentences were muffled. The uneasiness that hid at the back of his mind broke free like water bursting through a dam roaring-- blotting out all sound.
"… finally, collect the bodies and--" Jop stopped mid-sentence. His skin crawled. He snapped back to reality and got a good look at the boy in front of him.
The light in Yu's eyes had changed. Intense bloodlust lit his eyes. He raised his sword high.
Jop screamed. He was terribly terrified that he borderline screeched. Jop shrunk further backward, scrambled to his feet, and ran. The sword crashed to the ground behind him, missing by a hair's breadth.
Yu, mad without sense, picked up an empty bucket and flung it towards Jop. The slave had just run past the door when the bucket smashed into his head. He fell facedown onto the ground and skidded forward. Without waiting, he scrambled up on his fours and crawled.
Another shiver shot up Jop's spine. He flipped onto his back and saw the bloodshot eyes of the boy.
"Please, s-spare me! I didn't mean to kill them! Mm-master told me to! He'd kkill me if I didn't!" Jop pleaded.
Yu looked down towards the slave. The latter's dirty and disheveled hair was plastered to his face by his tears. Snot flowed into his mouth and spattered as he spoke. His clothes were dirty and tattered that they looked like rags. Jop's appearance was pitiful.
However, Yu was not fazed by the seemingly pitiful slave. He only saw red. Once again, he raised his sword.
Seeing this, Jop panicked further. He knew that he could not outrun the killer in front of him. He was under Yu's mercy.
"Pl-please! N-nn-no no no no! Spare me! I-anything! You! Slave… you! Your slave! Please!" Jop kneeled and begged.
The words were incoherent but his hands were frantically gesticulating: left hand clutching his chest, the right touched Yu's right foot before tapping his own head with the same hand. It was the ultimate gesture of servitude for slaves. This gesture meant that the slave would do anything for the master, even giving up his own life.
Yu did not care. He raised the sword above his head, tensed, and brought it down in one swift motion. Jop screeched and jumped backward. Alas, this time, he was not quick enough.
The sword chopped through Jop's neck and severed the bones, arteries, veins, and anything else that ran through the neck from the head to the body. Dark, sticky blood spurt out from the base of Jop's neck in beats, matching his still-beating heart. His head plopped to the ground and rolled away; blood oozed from the base of the head. Finally, the body dropped to the ground with a thud. The muscles twitched for a little as blood poured out from the neck. The body was finally still.
Blood dripped from Yu's sword. He stood in silence. Some warm blood had splashed onto his pants. It felt almost hot, scalding his skin. Clarity gradually returned to his mind. He panted with widened eyes.
"Y-Yu...?" A nervous voice sounded.
Yu raised his head. Elise stood before him, her hands clutched the tunic by the chest. She took a step backward when their gazes met. Her eyes were wide with shock. She did not expect such a bloody scene.
They stood in silence; Yu in the cover of shadows, Elise under the golden rays of the sun. Yu opened his mouth to say something but no sound came out. He did not know what to say and could only look at the decapitated body in front of him blankly.