Infestation VIII / To Cinders, to Ashes

The Fragment was driving me further back with each strike, and the lack of space in these catacombs meant my margin of error was practically zero. Even buying just a few more seconds to think would be risky; I would need to go all-in on the one plan I already had.

Here goes nothing! If I survive this, I’ll have to thank Professor Seris for forcing me to do all those drills…

The Fragment flapped upward and twisted the mouth on its tail, aiming to sink its fangs into my neck. Rather than maneuvering around it, I crouched and flung one arm behind me.

“Anfuniosor!” I repeated verbatim a spell Shina had cast during our last battle.

My body lurched toward the beast, propelled by a great force blasting out of my extended hand and a certain Newtonian law that thankfully held true in this world. I flew past the swinging tail and slammed into the Fragment’s torso, tackling it to the ground.

The wind spell, funios, had been one of the only basic incantations I’d found any success in. However, its simplest form was more or less useless in combat, so I had to rely on the variation Shina used, praying it would give me the oomph necessary to evade.

But that was only the first half of my big gamble.

I ignored the mana-induced migraine and bounced my eyes back toward Anita’s.

“I’m pretty damn good at wind incantations. If you ever need some tips, I’m your girl.”

The second was whether she’d act on my “message”.

“Y-you can use magic? Damn…” Raplin hesitated for a moment, but he soon capitulated and thrust his dagger hand outward, aiming to take me down with a spell of his own.

“Lyosv—arghhhh!”

The moment he presented her with an inch of leeway, Anita sank her teeth into his other arm, and he let out a pathetic whelp.

“Funiostere!”

A sphere of air burst forth from Anita at her call, sending Raplin stumbling backward.

In the same instant, I kicked off the Fragment’s body and bolted toward her. Even if she was a brilliant spellcaster…

“Why the hell would you do that!?”

… mages struggled with rapid-fire, and he was still armed.

I ignored my sword on the ground and sprinted as fast as my body would allow me to. As soon as I was close enough, I lunged ahead.

“I just told you! I have to do this, or they’ll kill me!”

The crazed man lurched forward and tried to grab ahold of her once more, but I was too quick. I stretched my arm out and seized one of hers, yanking her body away from his grasp. With her entire weight crashing into me, however, we tumbled to the ground.

In a way, everything had gone perfectly. Every aspect of my “plan”—if such a long shot could even be considered one—had come to fruition.

But this is as far as I got. What do we do next!?

We were pincered, and the hallway wasn’t big enough to slip past either target without being intercepted. Anita had her spells, but I was unarmed. And even if she tried, she wouldn’t be able to affect the Fragment.

Far more than earlier, I could feel panic setting in. We were well and truly cornered.

“Get out of my way!” Raplin let out a primal roar and charged toward us, the trajectory of his blade threatening to rend open my skull.

I pushed Anita behind me, and…

“Everett!”

Something metal and familiar flew overhead and struck Raplin in the face, sending him recoiling backward. I might not have been able to come up with a plan myself, but I certainly wouldn’t hesitate when an opportunity like this was granted to me.

I couldn’t help but smile, despite the circumstances. Through it all, I never lost hope in this possibility.

As the shield-turned-missile smashed into the ground, I leapt up and kicked Raplin in the stomach. The dagger slipped from his grip as the wind was knocked out of him, and I snatched onto its handle from midair before he crashed into the floor.

I twisted around the next instant and bounded in the opposite direction, rushing past Anita and toward our other enemy. Raplin would be out of commission for a short time, so I’d use the opportunity to rescue our savior before it was too late.

I finally scooped up my sword with my free hand as I passed it. Normally, it required at least two Inheritors with decent offensive power to take out a Fragment of Ames Nori, but I had seen it done by a single person before. For Vandan…

… two weapons can function like two people!

The Fragment was swiping downward at Kerne, its lethal intent bleeding into the air around it.

“Raaarrrgh!” I screamed as I swung a sword into its flank, the force sending its whole body toppling to the side.

The exhaustion must’ve caught up with me, as only a few scales broke off from the impact. But that was all I needed.

I jabbed the dagger into its exposed flesh and tore an opening into its hide. Fragments were quite fragile when it came down to it, but to seal the deal, I thrust my blade into the gash I’d carved, tearing through its innards from an angle.

As I slid the weapons from its carcass, it slumped to the ground. My attention turned toward Kerne, who looked to have suffered a small laceration on his upper torso, probably while he was occupied with throwing the shield.

“Are you oka—” I couldn’t even finish the words before he interrupted me.

“Raplin is escaping! Go!” He pushed on my good shoulder to spin me around.

“Shit!” He was already turning the corner. “Anita, take care of Kerne!” I called out as I dashed after our attacker.

Only Raplin knew the way out, and I had the best chance of catching up to him. I ricocheted into the next corridor, and he once again entered my sight for a brief time before darting down another hall.

Unfortunately, my energy was all but spent, and I struggled to close the distance between us as we raced past corner after corner. I began to worry I might collapse before I caught up, but just as my fears felt like they were coming to fruition, I noticed a sliver of warm light leaking out from the same direction as the echoes of his frantic footsteps. The magical lanterns glowed an unnatural blue, so this couldn’t have originated from them.

Sunlight!

With a second wind arriving on the back of that surge of hope, I sprinted into the juncture to spot one final turn, from which a flood of reddish sunset emerged.

You won’t get away!

And as I finally ran free from the horrors of that catacomb…

“… What… is this…?”

My heart sank, and a terrible stench struck my nostrils, like grilled steak marinated in rotting sulfur.

A black heap of something was slouched against the entrance’s archway. The something was oddly person-shaped, like a mannequin. And yet, I knew it wasn’t.

The something was the source of the rancid smell, but I couldn’t figure out why it had such an odor. I didn’t want to accept why.

But most of all, the something looked hot. Boiling hot. Impossibly hot, as if it had just been pulled out of an oven.

I dropped to my knees and expelled the vomit flooding up my throat.

My stomach fluids, splattered across the ground, smelled far better than the something.

What…? How…? Why…?

My brain had short-circuited. I understood, but I wanted to pretend like I didn’t. I knew what the something was, but my mind couldn’t handle the reality.

Who could’ve…?

I couldn’t turn my gaze away.

Stop looking at it.

It was unnatural. It was wrong.

STOP! STOP! STOP! STOP!

It was grotesque. It was evil.

Please stop. Please look away. Please. Please. Please. Please.

I was going insane.

But I couldn’t look away.

Maybe it was a sense of guilt. Maybe I felt like I had, in some way, caused this.

Or perhaps it was merely the base human instinct to gaze at the repulsive, the abhorrent, and the revolting in wonderment.

This is wrong. It’s so wrong…

I wanted to forget. I would give anything to expunge it from the annals of my mind.

And yet, I could not look away.

My gaze remained fixed on that spectacle, up until the last of the red hairs on its head were singed away, melted from their contact with the still-smoldering flesh.

* * *

Later that night, I learned that the corpses of eight other students were found across campus, their bodies magically scorched beyond recognition in the same manner as Raplin’s.

For better or for worse, all three of the suspects Shina had identified in our investigation were among them.