Chapter 135: Twelve Hours.
Red. River of red. Carved with my spear. Filled with the blood of beasts.
Day after day. The sun rises, the beasts awaken, we fight, fight, fight, fight, and fight some more. Some days were unlike the others and no monster would show at our door, but those were rare. Far too rare.
Ever since I donned the cape of the Benevolent Moon, all I did was fight, fight, and fight again. The beasts were endless. No matter how many we slay, more would come charging the next day. It was tiring.
The fear was gone, and so was the thrill of each threshold I climbed over. The Souls I harvest were no longer enough. Even if I were to keep killing, keep slaying, my life would end before I reached my next Ascension. Even if I were to Ascend one more time, what about the next?
I despised the beasts. I loathed them. I desired the power to eradicate them. To erase them from the face of the world. Maybe if that were to happen we would no longer be forced to hide. We would be able to walk under the sun, enjoy its warmth, and savor the freedom.
That’s why I still fought despite everything. I fought, and fought, and fought. My spear had pierced their hides and ripped their flesh more times than any human could count. Killing beasts was all that I lived for. But no matter how many fall to my spear, more will always come.
I asked the priest why all of this was happening. Why we have to live our lives hunted. He had no answer. This is how things were. This is how things are.
Is this how things will always be?
The question was foolish, that’s what the eyes he looked at me with seemed to say. Of course, it won’t always be. As long as we believed in the Benevolent Moon, the day when all of us are saved would surely come.
Those words might have comforted me in the part, but now? Now I feel nothing. No. Nothing was what I felt in the past. Now I feel anger. I feel frustration. I feel indignation.
If we believe in the Benevolent Moon, we will be safe. If we pray for her, the sun will one day be defeated, and we will get to walk the land and attain our freedom. Lies. All of it was lies. I found myself thinking that one day, and even as fear sank its claws into my heart, I found myself unable to turn away from the blasphemous thought.