"Shiva-chan, why isn't the village chief dead yet? Even though at that time, I had thrown it with wood."
"No, the wood can't kill him."
"So?"
"It's our fault, we forgot Astral which has evolved into a human. We lost track of him during the village destruction."
I don't know what happened after I passed out there. All I remember is the resigned faces of my parents when they accepted their destiny. So, what happened after that, I don't know.
"Evolution? Can the village chief evolve? Then, before he became a human, he was a fish?"
"No, that's not what I meant. Why do you think he is a fish?"
"So what then?"
"Didn't I tell you that an Astral Being disguised as a village chief?"
"Yeah, you said that there."
"When an Astral Being uses a person's soul, by using his flesh, the Astral Being can change his form into that person."
"Change? So, that monster in my house…"
"Ah, that's also included, but not perfect."
"Not perfect? What do you mean?"
Shiva stood for a moment and glanced back behind this table to see if the village chief had reached this place or not.
"If the person whose soul was devoured has not died, and Astral Being can only change form 5 seconds after it has changed its form."
"Oh..."
"That is why, before the creature was perfected and transformed into one of your parents, we quickly killed the creature. But… but we failed in overcoming this creature."
I can't imagine what if I met my parents again and it turned out to be an Astral Being in disguise, surely my heart would cry again seeing it. So, what she did to that creature, I have to thank her for.
"Thank you… thank you for killing him."
Shiva looked at me for a while.
"Ah, no problem. Don't be sad anymore, Akio."
"You are a very beautiful woman, Shiva-chan," I said, turning to her with a smile.
To praise her for helping me that time, then I did with what I know, which is the beauty of her face is so beautiful.
"W-Why do you say that at a time like this? W-What do you mean by that, Akio." Shiva looks embarrassed by my words.
But what I'm confused about is that Shiva always says "we" in her every action last night. Was she not alone when she killed the creatures?
"Shiva-chan..."
She sat beside me after confirming that our hiding place was safe, in a room filled with chemicals.
"Why?"
"Actually, what did you do after leaving the village? You came with this kind of equipment. What are you doing, Shiva-chan?"
Questions I never asked her I finally asked too.
We are friends since childhood. We often tend to Mrs. Hermawan's livestock, Shiva's mother, together. But when she suddenly left me after the death of Mrs. Hermawan, I had no idea that she would leave the village after what she did to me, constantly telling me to take care of her livestock without her help. And after she returned to the village, her appearance was like this just like a member of the military.
"I…" Shiva leaned back and looked up, "I entered Wlynina Military School for 2 years. And when I got to 2nd grade, I entered the AAT Squad and was assigned to eradicate the Astral Beings in this world."
"So you already know that in the village there are Astral Beings?"
"When I returned to the village, I didn't know anything about it, because my goal was just to go home and enjoy my vacation there. But when I saw the village chief's body in the middle of the rice fields, I just realized that there was something strange about this. I immediately contacted the Forensic Squad to come, to investigate the village chief's body. But when they came, I lost track of them."
"Then?"
"I tried to contact the center, but an electronic wave interrupted our communication. I've tried several ways, but can't find a way out of what's happening in the village."
"Hmmm..."
"But when I saw the village chief suddenly interacting with the residents and bringing them to his house the night before the incident, I learned that the village chief was Astral disguised as the village chief. But it turns out…" Shiva put her arm around her legs, "I'm already late."
What Shiva told was an unexpected incident as well. Her purpose in going to the village was only for a vacation, but instead, this happened to her and made her work hard to find out what was going on there. She too must have had the blame for all of this on her for being too late to find out what had happened. She must be responsible for all this with what happened there.
"I can't save them, all I can do is keep trying to contact the center. But when I saw you still alive on the way to the village chief's house, Akio..."
"Seeing me?"
"I still have a chance to save you. Thank you for still wanting to live, Akio." Shiva smiled at me.
"A-Ah-ha, hahaha." I was embarrassed when I saw her like that. "How do you say it, hahaha." With a serious face, I turned to Shiva and our eyes met, "I'm handsome, right?"
Shiva immediately pushed my face to the floor.
"What are you talking about?!"
After removing her hands from my face, I immediately sat back down.
"So, what happened after you knocked me out?"
"Ah, about that… I'm sorry."
"It is okay. Besides, I'm fine now."
"After that, my squad arrived at the village after I communicated with the center. Quickly, they immediately killed the creatures that were there, including the creature that killed your parents, Akio. After we felt that all areas of the village were no longer present, we immediately boarded the battleship and took you to this hospital. But sadly, we were wrong with that. There are still creatures left there. And now, that creature has come here to kill you."
"Killing me?"
"Because you and I are the ones left and still alive today. So, that creature must be after you."
"No, why didn't you mention that you were also being targeted by him?"
"Do not want! You're the one he should be after, not me."
"You were so cunning from the start, Shiva-chan."
"Bleee..." Shiva stuck out her tongue and her face seemed to be making fun of me.
"Ugh..."
After a while, Shiva re-opened the conversation, "you know..."
"Hmph?"
"When the creature evolves into a human, slowly but surely, the creature has a mind of its own. What the creature does after evolving, the creature's brainpower will slowly increase. Therefore, before the creature's mindset develops, we must be able to kill it before something bad happens."
"Oh, I see. No wonder the creature can talk to me and even call my name. It's terrible."
If what Shiva said was true, then why didn't she fight him and kill him right now?
Ah, it was because she didn't have a weapon to fight him and because she was stupid, she usually left her weapon in her dormitory.
But that's not what makes me curious about what I'm thinking right now. What makes me curious is how to kill the creature?
Judging by the circumstances, I've hit it once with a stick and even Shiva has shot it in the head, but the creature didn't die at all. So, how to defeat the creature?
"Shiva-chan..."
"Why?"
"If the creature must be killed, in what way can the creature die? You know, I killed him with the wood I threw at him, but the thing is still alive."
"What's dying?! You didn't do anything."
"No, I think I killed him that time with that wood."
"No, you didn't make him die with that wood."
"No, no, no, I made him die that time."
We debated whether I killed the creature or not.
And in the end, I gave in.
"OK, I didn't make him die. So, how do you kill the creature?"
"Heart...."
"Heart?"
"Ah. Just like humans, that creature also has a heart in its organs."
"Then, why didn't you shoot him in the heart back then? Why even shoot him in the head? Can't you shoot, huh?!"
"That's not the heart I meant."
"Then what heart? Fish heart? Fish don't have hearts, they only breathe using gills."
"Why did you come back with more fish? What's the problem fish with you?"
"Oh... that..."
I can't say it for fear of hurting her, because when Shiva left me, I secretly took all the fish she kept and even fried them for me to eat. So, I'm afraid her heart will be hurt by that.
"Why did your face turn pale for a moment? Is there something wrong?"
"N-No, there's nothing wrong. Hehehe."
"So suspicious."
"Hehehe."
Shiva returned to the topic.
"That being does have a heart in its body, but the position of the heart is different."
"Different? What do you mean?"
"The position of the human heart is in the chest, but the creature has an uncertain position, sometimes in the head, legs, arms, sometimes also in the genitals."
I looked at her with a straight face.
"Why are you talking about something so gross?"
"It's not something dirty, it's a fact about the position of their heart."
"Then, what about that creature that has evolved into a human? Is the position of the heart different?"
"Yeah, that's right, the position of the heart is different."
"Oh, I see..."
"The creature's heart is smaller than the size of a human heart, which makes it difficult for us to kill it. If we want to kill the creature, we must attack all parts of its body so that it can be killed."
With what Shiva said, I came to know that killing that creature, an Astral Being disguised as a village chief, had to attack him while finding out where his heart was. So, with just a random attack, it won't be able to kill the creature.
"I understand."
Shiva knows a lot about that creature, but I don't know it. Likely, all the information that was given to me, Shiva got from that school, the Wlynina Military School. So naturally, I know nothing more than her.
"So, how long are we here for?"
"We're waiting for help to arrive."
We've been hiding here for a long time. Even after being here for so long, the statue has all its organs visible.
A few moments later, a radio sound rang in my ear.
Shiva took something from her uniform pocket.
"What is that?" I'm confused about what she's doing.
When Shiva had picked up his communication device, she started to put on the earphones
"This is Shiva from AAT Squad, change."
"Oh, Shiva. Are you still there?"
I couldn't hear what they were talking about, so I just looked at it and saw what was in front of me.
"Yeah, I'm still in here."
"Come out! The Cop Squad has arrived outside. Lure the Astral to come out."
"Alright, I'll do it."
"Be careful."
After hanging up the call, Shiva turned to me.
"Akio, we have to get out of here."
But unfortunately, what she saw was a statue with visible organs.
"Kyaahhh… W-What are you doing, Akio? You just startled me."
"Yeah, after all, you were talking to other people without paying any attention to me, so I made fun of you with this statue."
"Put the statue back in its place!"
"Okay." I put the statue back in its place.
I saw Shiva already standing while looking at me and opening her mouth.
"Let's get out of here, Akio. There's help out there waiting for us."
"Okay."
We walked over to the door, pushed the door open, and were startled by humans lying on the floor with all their skins peeled off as if someone had eaten them.
I covered my nose.
"It's like this again. Stench."
"There have been a lot of casualties here."
The number of humans lying along this corridor numbered more than 10 people and it was certain that they were already dead.
After Shiva checked the pulse on the hand of one of the people lying down, she shook her head at me intending to convey that the person was dead.
After she got back on her feet, I turned around and saw a shadow there, right at the crossroads of the corridor.
"What is that?"
"Why?" Shiva stood beside me and I pointed in that direction.
"There's someone's shadow over there."
What we saw was a shadow that was reflected on the wall. The shadow was shaped like someone was eating but was eating it directly.
"Grrrr...."
Hearing that voice, we slowly retreated backward intending to escape from here.
However, when I stepped on the hand of one of the corpses lying on the floor, I stopped backing away and looked at the corpse.
"..." I fell silent when I found out that the corpse lying on the ground was the obaa-chan I had previously met in her room.
My lips trembled, my legs and my whole body also trembled at the sight.
"O... Obaa... Obaa-chan... Damn creature!!! You took my family's life again!!!" I shouted with a crying heart, causing the shadow to move.
"Akio, calm down! We have to get out of here." Shiva grabbed my hand and pulled it and ran.
I, who looked behind me, saw that the creature was already in the same corridor as me.
"You..."
"Akio, let's have a party. Where else do you want to go? Why do you always run away from me, Akio?"
"I WILL KILL YOU!!!"