Chapter 68 : Walpurgis Night (68)

Even as it was struck by the sonic waves, the Five-Headed Dragon didn’t so much as flinch, its gaze fixed unwaveringly on the house where Alje stood.

Within its five heads—five minds both unified and divided—countless thoughts and insights surged and flowed in an instant.

Contrary to what humans often assumed, monsters were neither dull nor foolish.

Perhaps trivial beasts might be, but a colossal creature like the Five-Headed Dragon possessed intelligence that far surpassed human reason.

It was simply that no emotion or logic could ever override its loyalty to its mother.

Venomous fangs briefly peeked out from the serpent-like heads.

Droplets of venom fell—drip, drip—hissing as they melted into the earth.

Though the figure within its view was small enough to be swallowed in a single bite, the Five-Headed Dragon easily perceived the nobility and mystery hidden within its kin.

And then, slowly, the Five-Headed Dragon turned away.

There was no reason to fight.

Perhaps if it were elsewhere.

But in this place, prey was so absurdly abundant that there was no need to challenge this territory.

Had they met in the wasteland, conflict might have been inevitable.

Alje stood tall and still, unwavering, until the mountainous creature’s retreating form vanished from sight.

For those long minutes, as rain poured through the open window, pelting her body without pause, and the wind lashed her cheek.

She didn’t blink even once.

Not the slightest movement.

Only after the Five-Headed Dragon had disappeared completely did the girl’s posture finally collapse.

“Haa… haa…”

A languid weakness coursed through her body.

Her throat throbbed dully from having screamed so loudly—so much so that a metallic, briny taste crept up the back of her mouth.

The room, once tidy, was now in shambles from the rain that had poured in through the open window, and Alje’s lovely clothes were thoroughly dampened.

The girl slumped into a puddle with a splatter, her appearance as pitiful as a rain-soaked mouse.

Even so.

Even so, she had protected him.

“Haa, hhh, ha, haaah, hak, ah, aaah…”

Like someone suffering from hyperventilation, the girl couldn’t control her body and kept gasping for breath.

What Alje had just done wasn’t a simple act.

The girl had wielded the mystery of a monster with a human body—and on top of that, had added the mystery of the Saint.

Only Alje herself failed to understand how utterly absurd such a feat was.

Because she had never once, in her life, met a true [kin] in the truest sense of the word.

The backlash hit her.

Her chest, which had been slowly healing, felt as though it were tearing apart again.

So much blood seeped out—more than even monster hide could contain—that it soaked her upper garments a deep red.

And the tiny bead-sized heart tissue that had just barely started to regenerate inside her wound—shattered once more.

But it was fine.

Pain, and enduring it—she was used to that.

“…Mister?”

But seeing Hans lying collapsed— that she couldn’t bear.

Though she could barely control her body, Alje squirmed across the floor, pushing through puddles as she dragged herself toward Hans.

Even if she had adjusted the angle of her roar, even if the window hadn’t shattered—the distance had simply been too close.

Hans had collapsed, unconscious.

Both his eardrums had burst, blood dripped from his ears, and tears of blood streamed from his eyes and nose.

And yet — a faint breath still slipped past his lips.

Her monstrous strength nowhere to be found now, Alje wrapped her trembling arms—so weak it seemed she couldn’t even lift a spoon—around Hans.

Like a mother nursing a child, she gently pulled his face to her bloodied chest.

Of course, all he could possibly drink would be blood laced with poisonous monster aura.

Still, so he wouldn’t slip away even if she lost consciousness, she held him tightly with her whole body.

And with a throat ragged and cracked from screaming, she forced herself to hum a tune.

“[······♪]”

As a faint light soaked into Hans’ face—that was the last thing Alje saw before losing consciousness.

*

“Ugh…”

The severed threads of consciousness reconnected, and Hans slowly opened his eyes.

The moment control over his body returned, Hans jolted upright.

The vividly burned image of the fully-armed Five-Headed Dragon charging in like an unstoppable catastrophe still lingered in his mind.

In that moment, he had sensed death approaching.

There was neither escape nor any place to take a stand in that death zone.

Even though he had tried to accept death with detachment, Hans wasn’t so feeble as to lose consciousness out of mere fear.

Now the fractured memories began to reconnect, bit by bit.

Yes, he had heard something.

A roar.

A sound so terrible, so incomprehensible, that it shouldn’t even exist in this world.

That was when he had passed out.

Was it the roar of the Five-Headed Dragon?

The last time he heard it, it hadn’t been this horrifying, or this overwhelming in power—but maybe that’s to be expected when it’s a familiar serving a witch.

Concluding as much, Hans looked around.

“…”

Thankfully, it seemed the Five-Headed Dragon hadn’t come this far.

He was still inside the house, which remained intact and unbroken.

Though some water had leaked in.

And amidst the wreckage, there was a girl collapsed by the window.

Rain and blood had pooled beneath her, mixing into a dark puddle.

“Alje!”

Hans shouted her name in alarm and rushed over.

Thankfully—or perhaps it was wrong to call this “thankfully”—Alje hadn’t sustained any new injuries.

It was just that an old wound had reopened.

Hans removed her upper garments and peeled away the bloated, soaked monster hide that was oozing with blood.

Squelch.

Under the thick, congealed blood that was beginning to rot, a hollow wound revealed itself.

Stifling the rising nausea, he wiped away the dark clumps of flesh and shattered tissue.

He should have been used to such gruesome sights by now.

Splurt.

A severed artery pulsed and sprayed fresh blood across Hans’s hand.

Something that should be dead was moving—its very existence provoked instinctive revulsion.

But thanks to the familiarity he had developed with Alje, Hans managed to suppress his disgust.

He patched her wound with new monster hide, and even helped dress her.

Even after seeing the beautiful girl’s bare body, he felt not a trace of lust—it almost made him feel like a Guardian Knight.

“Alje.”

“…”

“Hoo…”

After cleaning her body and laying her down on the bed, Hans slumped down onto the floor beside her.

It was still raining outside, but the great monster had seemingly gone elsewhere.

Not even a shadow of it remained.

The city was deathly silent…as if every soul had perished overnight.

Walpurgis Night.

The great calamity triggered by the death of a witch.

The rampage of mystery, the release of familiars, the silent complicity of witches.

If the witches truly set their minds to it, they could evaporate the storm clouds and rein in the unleashed familiars with ease.

However, the moment Walpurgis Night begins, all witches return to their towers and go into seclusion.

During that time, the city becomes a lawless zone, under no one’s control.

Until when?

No one knows.

That’s entirely up to the witches.

But how could anyone fathom the hearts of witches?

“Ugh…”

As Hans was deep in thought, he quickly turned his head at the groan he heard from the bedside.

“Alje! Are you awake?”

“Mister…”

“Yes, it’s me. Thank goodness…”

Hans let out a sigh of relief.

He had tried hard to stay calm when even Alje had collapsed, but the unprecedented situation had pushed his mental state to the limit just the same.

If anything, he might have stayed more composed if he’d been alone.

It seemed that, without realizing it himself, the girl had taken up a place in his heart.

“Haha… Were you worried about me?”

“Of course I was!”

Though Hans hadn’t forgotten that Alje was a monster, it wasn’t as if monsters were invincible.

Hans himself was a monster hunter, after all.

And Alje looked even worse off than he did, so of course he had no choice but to worry.

He grasped the girl’s hand tightly—the same hand that once always brimmed with wit and energy, now so feeble as she smiled faintly.

“I thought something terrible had happened to you…”

“So… you were worried about me.”

“Yeah. Especially that roar.”

“Ah, mister… that was…”

“It was… terrifying. Like something that shouldn’t exist in this world was howling.”

“I knew witches created all kinds of cursed creatures, but I didn’t think they’d go so far as to use that as a familiar.”

Seeing the girl collapse back onto the bed just as she was about to sit up, Hans felt a pang of regret.

If someone with superhuman strength couldn’t even support her own body, how great must the damage have been?

“…”

“It’s been a while since I fell into this Labyrinth, but… I’ve never heard a sound that bizarre and alien in my life… Alje? What’s wrong?”

Hans felt her grip weakening in his hand and held it tighter.

Was she really okay?

From above, the look in his eyes held nothing but worry and kindness.

Knowing that all too well, the girl forced her dry lips to move into a clumsy smile.

“It’s nothing, mister… I’m okay.”