Completely Realizing (Part 3)

Ringo’s body became weak as her psyche went haywire when seeing the huge monster before. She could barely stand, but she forced herself anyway.

Dirt stained all over her skirt. Her hands were still trembling, yet she tried to hold herself together. She’s still willing to go and find Ruru Blanche.

“That monster... wherever it goes, I think it’s headed straight to where Ruru is...” said Ringo weakly.

Shortly, she continued running and this time she followed where the knights went off. Coincidentally, the huge Woruven was also heading the same direction as they were.

She kept running through the field despite her condition. She was already far from her garden. She was farther from Astur City. If she screamed for help, there would be little chance and perhaps nobody would come to aid her.

Her ankles were weakened.

Every step she made was nothing but pain, but she battled against it and kept on going, just for the sake of finding Ruru.

After a short run, her eyes discovered an emanating white aura from somewhere. That aura was large and pouring out like a geyser that gradually increasing its intensity. Just by staring at it made her will daunted.

“...Oh, god... is an Arch Demon nearby?” she wondered while panting. “That aura came from beyond that hill... that giant Woruven had climbed that hill. Those troops from before... they went around the hill, don’t they...?”

She eventually followed the trail that led her to that hill. She climbed it with some effort. And eventually, she managed to get to the top. She leaned against a tree to rest herself after an exhausting move.

But what was revealed to her eyes were nothing but catastrophic.

She witnessed the giant aura towering highly into the night sky, lighting everything around it.

Such sightings were only visible to those with the ability of magical perception like Rodan, Nono, and Ringo herself. Those who didn’t have it would not know the horror that Ringo spotted with her eyes.

It was terrifying.

The Asturian Knights were faced off with the giant Woruven, but they didn’t notice of the giant aura near them.

“That Woruven... it’s impossible if those knights can handle it...

...H-Huh? It didn’t care about those people? Hold on, that creature was staring into the center of that aura? What was in that aura, anyway?”

The giant version of the Woruven monster howled loudly into the aura as if recognizing a huge threat. Its scream cracked through the air and could possibly deafen unsuspecting human. Luckily, Ringo wasn’t too affected since she reflexed on closing her ears just in time.

“Eerrgh...!”

Suddenly...

The aura disappeared almost instantly.

In the root of it, Ringo witnessed someone she didn’t think of.

“Ru...ru...?”

Those knights were shocked to see someone suddenly appeared before them. Their attention was taken away by that white humanoid creature which was standing firmly with its eyes closed.

The giant wolf monster roared and attempted to charge against the white creature.

The white girl that Ringo knew as Ruru now suddenly grew long claws. As her eyes opened, revealing all around shining in ruby-red. Inside her two human eyes were three small demon pupils, which made it look like she had four eyes on each side.

“...You... you gotta be kidding me...” said Ringo tremblingly.

Ruru looked calm and composed, even though the demon was aggressively charging at her.

Without even noticing her move, the Woruven had already sliced to pieces, killing it ultimately.

Not long afterwards, hundreds if not thousands of smaller Woruvens were gathering around her, ready to charge at any moment.

Ruru slightly gave a smile while blinking once. When she reopened her eyes, she had disappeared into the fray, rampaging insanely as the monsters got decimated one by one without a trace. Her move was so quickly and unpredictable, making anyone who saw her would greatly fear her. The knights who saw her quickly backed off.

“M-Monster...!”

Not even a minute had passed. All Woruvens in the area were dead. Their essence was absorbed by Ruru in the shape of glinting sparkle.

“Q-Quick, run! Run for your lives!”

When some of the knights attempted to escape, Ruru quickly batted an eye to them. In the next second, she reappeared right in front of those humans and killed them. Their heavy armors couldn’t protect them from the sharpness of her claws.

Some of the knights who stayed still could only watch their friends’ demise. Their lives didn’t last long either.

In a calm voice, Ruru spoke:

“Good... night.”

And in that moment as well, those knights were gone.

Ringo were shocked at how insanely powerful Ruru was. In her last strike, which produced a heavy tremor all around the place had made the hill uneven. When Ringo attempted to escape, the hill crumbled along with her.

“Kyaaaaah!”

Ruru heard a woman’s voice, one that she recognized. She realized there was someone else nearby.

Injured by the landslide, Ringo couldn’t get up at all. Her gravity magic didn’t activate once again. She felt like her magic was cancelled when she wanted to activate them.

“Drat... why the hill suddenly... nngh?!” she said while holding off the pain. She was crushed under the weight of the boulders of the hill.

But when she was warding off the sense of pain, suddenly Ringo spotted her.

...Ruru was standing close to her...

White aura was emanating from all around her body. Her eyes were shining menacingly. But unexpectedly, she crouched down and lent her hand to reach for Ringo.

“Miss... Ringo...”

She called her name with a smile.

But Ringo didn’t perceive it as a warmhearted smile Ruru usually showed.

“No...! Don’t you... come close... ahack!” she said weakly as she coughed out. Ruru’s expression shifted into concerned yet seemingly looking down at her pitifully.

When she saw her pitying face, Ringo’s past suddenly triggered in her mind.

She saw a massive wildfire in her mind.

She heard multiple screams.

She heard footsteps everywhere.

She saw a house was burning down.

She saw the entire forest was burning. It was all in terror.

And ultimately... she saw a white figure standing before her.

Her memory that was supposedly gone suddenly pouring back to her mind like a bombard hitting her head. It was crystal clear of the white figure she saw in her memory.

That creature crouched down to her, lending their hand to her with the same pitying expression.

That memory... looked exactly as what she was experiencing now.

Ringo’s eyes trembled crazily. Her breath became unstable. She sweated profusely. She couldn’t even grasp the ground firmly. Cold of the night grazed her skin. She couldn’t scream. She couldn’t call for help. Only fear was in her mind.

It felt like she was experiencing death.

Then...

She ultimately remembered it. Many voices rained down to her head. She remembered it clearly:

“Don’t look at it.

Don’t listen to it.

Don’t bother it.

Don’t talk to it.

Leave it alone.

Leave it as far as possible.

Run when you see it.

Hide when you notice it.

In the end it’s for everyone’s sake.

Beware...

...of the White Nightmare.”

Her eyes could no longer show reflections. She couldn’t avert her tears from running down her messy face. The weight of the rock that crushed her was unfelt anymore, overwhelmed by the intense horror she’s experiencing.

Ruru reached for her. “Miss Ringo...” she called calmly. “Are you okay...?”

Her supposedly kind words should’ve moved anyone heart who heard her. But in Ringo’s eyes, she saw nothing more than the catastrophe that led to her horrifying memory to rekindle.

“Stay away from me!” she screamed out loud.

“Stay... STAY AWAAAAY!”

Ruru was extremely shocked by her scream.

“M-Miss Ringo... it’s... me...!” Ruru tried to assure her. But any words she spoke will not affect her mind anymore. She was uselessly trying to talk things out.

“What’s the matter...?” she asked in fear. “It’s me... Ruru...!”

“You’re not the Ruru I know...

No... you’re not Ruru...!

You are... You are the WHITE NIGHTMARE!”

Ruru was astounded and her mind went numb. She instantly stepped back once as she heard that horrific title. Her eyes went blank as thousands of memories started to flow back into Ruru’s mind like waterfall filling a jar to the extent of too much. Her mouth was agape, revealing her sharp teeth to Ringo’s eyes. She stepped back once again before finally crumbling by the weight of the memory that filled her brain.

“I... no...” she voiced out lightly. “White... Nightmare...?”

Ruru caressed her head with her claw hands. Both of her arms were revealed to have changed into spiky hides like the ones she had back in the circus. Even worse, now she had grown a pair of horns.

Ruru disbelieved.

Ruru didn’t want to believe it.

“No... grrrgrrrgh! I am... nngh... not...”

Ruru’s pupils became shrouded entirely. Her eyes turned completely red. In the expense of her memory flowing back to her, she went insane.

“Aaagh! Gaaaahh!”

Her identity of her present time was buried. She no longer identified herself as Ruru Blanche. Because of her insanity, she went to kill Ringo with her claws. Her actions now based on her instincts alone. She couldn’t think clearly, but her instincts told her that Ringo was the source of her pain so that she must be removed.

Ringo could feel how deadly her power was. It terrorized her. In that moment as well, Ringo knew she won’t be breathing in the next few seconds.

“Ah... so this is how it ends...”

After letting a drop of tear fell off Ringo’s cheeks, Ruru swung her claws in a blinding speed right at the apple girl’s head.

But in the last second of her terror... a sparkle of hope flashed brightly.

Ruru’s attack was blocked completely. A bastard sword whereas its blade lighted in red radiance managed to defy the inhuman strength of the white-haired girl. As the sword and the claw met, a massive shockwave struck around the area.

When Ringo opened her eyes, she saw the person who saved her life.

It was Rodan. He landed in front of the apple girl and managed to block away Ruru’s attack from ever causing a mortal blow to the apple girl.

“Ro...ro...?”

Ruru’s sanity recovered when she recognized Rodan’s smell. She was shocked to see the red-haired man appearing right before her as the person who blocked her unconscious attack. She wanted to hide her demonic looks, but she couldn’t do it at all. She immediately retook control of her body and jumped backwards.

“No...! R-Ro...ro...! This is...!”

Ruru was panicking. She greatly worried that Rodan would not believe what she had done to Ringo. She worried that he would never believe in her and began to look at her not the same way again.

She gasped as she tried to retain sanity. She was letting her tears fell off unconsciously. Her tiny heart didn’t want to lose the trust of the man she cared of.

But surprisingly, Rodan never showed any fear. He stood unperturbed even in front of a scary and overpowered creature. Instead, he gazed her with his sincere look, the same one Ruru saw when she rampaged in the circus.

In a comforting voice, Rodan spoke to her. “Calm down, Ruru.”

He approached her. Every step he made as he went closer to her caused Ruru’s heart to thump. She couldn’t bear his presence. She was beginning to freak out.

Ringo wanted to stop him from ever going closer to her.

“S-Stop... don’t you go, Roro...! She’s... she’s the White Nightmare...!” But her voice was never able to reach his ears. Moreover, Rodan was focused on Ruru entirely. Other things wouldn’t catch his attention.

“Calm down, there...” Rodan stated softly. “Don’t you worry, Ruru. I will not be scared by your looks. You are still who you are. You are still the Ruru I both know and love.”

“No, I am not...! I am... not that person you know! I’m... I’m a filthy creature!” said Ruru denying while holding her head in distress.

“Don’t filth yourself like that, Ruru...” said Rodan while stopping his move. He knew he must be careful at picking words here. “I will never look at you that way.”

“No... please don’t... come any closer...”

The stressful pain was still writhing within Ruru’s head. She couldn’t express it to him. But without her saying a word to him, he already noticed how she felt.

“It’s painful, right?”

“E-Eh...?”

“That sense of destruction seething in your head. You just want to let it go even though for a second, don’t you? Even though you could not express it to me through words, I can tell how you felt just by simply looking at you.”

“H-How...” she said while holding against the aching pain. “How did you... know...?”

Rodan gave a smile to her. Even though his mouth was covered by his mask, Ruru could see him smile just by looking at how his cheek bone rose. He was smiling sincerely to her.

“...because you are my disciple.

It is my responsibility as a master to understand my disciples and take care of them. Therefore...

Please calm yourself for now... let the pain flow off your body—”

“—ARGH! No-no-no-no-no-no-no! I don’t... I... urgh... get away... I... aaagh...!”

“What the heck’s happening with her?”

The pain nearly made her insane again.

Ringo tried to get herself out of the rocks, but failed anyway. Instead, she stretched her left arm out as if trying to reach Rodan’s back.

Her scream was finally heard to Rodan…

…and was the ultimate nail in the coffin for Ruru’s sanity.

“RODAAAN!

Stay away from her!

She’s…

She’s the WHITE NIGHTMAAARE!”

Rodan’s eyes widened instantly as in extreme dismay.

“White Nightmare…?” he whispered to himself.

Ruru went insane as soon as she heard Ringo screamed out that wicked title. She instantly swung her arms in her and Rodan’s direction, causing a strike of claw-shaped wind to her. But Rodan managed to activate his barrier immediately and blocked the strike.

The aftermath of the attack causedRuru turned her attention away from him as she began to take step to run away.

“Ruru!”

The moment Rodan called for her, it was too late. She blasted off like a missile through the field in super speed. She left a massive crater as she launched herself away.

The albino girl had escaped.