Chapter 574-Face The Monster Now
Clementine:
"What do you all say?" Lady Sylvia uttered, watching everyone’s face for a reaction.
"Since you all think she is the only one who can save you, why not let her fight?" she continued with a mocking grin on her lips.
"Will you fight for the people?" Roberto asked.
He would usually stay silent and let his sister cause chaos.
But then he would not miss a chance to snap out of it just to support his sister’s nonsense.
"I would love to fight for the people. That is what I was born to do, to fight for what is right," I declared loudly, watching everyone look at me with smiles on their lips, except for my friends.
They did not look very happy.
"Well, then there is nothing for us to fight over, right?" he said, while Sylvia clapped her hands excitedly, almost giving away his excitement a little too openly.
"If we fight, we fight together," Ian snapped. "This is not a game."
I knew what he was saying.
He had suffered a devastating loss only hours ago, and now this.
There was no peace for any of us.
"Ian is right, you’re not going to do this alone," Leysa yelled, making me close my eyes and take a deep breath.
"Yeah, we are all going to fight with you," Troy and Haiden shouted in unison.
"Why can’t your best crusader fight one monster alone?" Lady Sylvia commented, causing my friends to almost hiss at her to silence her.
"No, you don’t get to decide. If she’s going to put her life in danger, then we are with her," Leysa yelled back.
"Yeah, we will all be with her," Fauna said, agreeing with Leysa.
It started to get too much, to the point that I began to feel heat rush through my head.
"Stop," I intervened.
Everyone stared at me.
All eyes turned to me.
I cast a quick glance at everyone before clearing my throat.
"I will fight this monster alone," I declared. "I will prove I am not a monster. A monster does not kill its own kind."
I turned and locked eyes with Sylvia.
A smirk crossed her face, as if she thought I was speaking nonsense.
As if it were impossible for me to fight a Dark Side monster alone.
"What are you saying?" Ian demanded, grabbing my hand and turning me toward him. "You’re falling into her trap."
"I am not doing this for her, Ian. I am doing this for myself," I told him, trying to make him understand that it was important for me to fight the monster in front of everyone so they would know I am not on the monster’s side.
"That is what she has pushed you to do. You don’t have to prove anything to others. We know you, and you know yourself. Why do you have to prove yourself?" Ian argued, holding my hand and shaking it.
Before I could respond, I saw movement behind him.
The monster was charging toward us.
"Move forward. Do not stampede," I shouted to the crowd. "The more chaos you create, the more you’ll fall behind. One step at a time."
When they saw the monster approaching, they listened.
"Everybody, listen to me," I screamed again.
All eyes were on me.
I realized they needed someone to guide them to safety.
They had always been guided by the council leaders or the alpha of their packs.
Even if they now wanted to do the right thing, it would still take time before they knew how to make the right decision.
So I decided to guide them.
"Haiden, Troy, Fauna, Mariana," I ordered.
"Everybody, listen to me," I screamed, and my friends turned to me obediently, knowing I was about to say something important.
"Form four lines. Move them forward quickly." I yelled.
"If the monster shifts direction, pull them back. Keep enough distance so they can retreat."
After I finished giving instructions, my friends nodded and did exactly what I had asked.
They moved to get everyone’s attention and took their spots to form four different lines they were going to lead.
These people moved instantly, following every instruction my friends were giving them.
"Listen to me," Ian said again, grabbing my arm to force me to face him. "You are not doing this alone."
"Why? Are you afraid?" Lady Sylvia’s voice called from behind us.
Before Ian could turn and strike her, Roberto pulled his sister aside.
Everyone panicked as the monster moved closer to the stage.
They followed my orders.
My friends led the people away, heading in different directions to clear the area quickly.
Two lines followed Haiden and Fauna.
Another moved to the right behind Troy, while others followed Leysa to the left.
"Clementine, this is not a joke," Ian said, grabbing my arms again, trying to make me aware of the danger.
"I know it is not, Ian, but let’s do it right now. This changes everything," I replied, looking back at him.
He began to shake his head in refusal.
"Come on, please," I urged, my eyes shifting to the monster.
It had come far too close now. I held his hand and stared into his eyes.
"Listen, you want to help, right?" I asked, realizing he would not let me go alone to fight the monster.
And I guess he was right.
It would be extremely dangerous to do so.
Lady Sylvia watched my face, along with her brother.
I could tell they wanted me to make this decision, to go alone and fight the monster.
At the same time, I knew Ian was never going to let me go alone.
In order to defeat Lady Sylvia, I had taken on the role of fighting the monster by myself, but at the same time, it could be Lady Sylvia’s way of striking my ego and making me commit a mistake.
"So do one thing. Distract the monster for me," I told Ian, giving him a task, and it finally seemed like something he could agree to.
"Together, we can get rid of the monster quickly," I said, watching Ian let out a deep breath of relief.
"Okay, let’s do it together," he commented, as if to remind me that it was exactly what he had wanted all along.
He nodded and stepped beside me.
The warriors pointed their guns at the monster.
I jumped off the stage with Ian running with me.
We stopped on the road and turned to watch the monster slowly lower its body to look at the people on the stage.
I guess Lady Sylvia and Roberto did not expect the monster to go after them first.
The moment it lowered its body and let out a resonating sound, I watched Lady Sylvia drop to the stage instead of running away.
She began to crawl back.
"No, no, no, no, no, please do not eat me. There are people over there. Go eat them all," Lady Sylvia screamed, pointing toward the crowd.
The crowd had stopped at a distance to watch the hollow men and the entire fight.
Some of them were even recording it.
Ian and I stood in silence, not helping the woman.
She even looked at us as if demanding that we come and save her, but very soon she realized we were not idiots.
After what she had put us all through, nobody was going to help her.
Heck no.
The warriors opened fire.
The monster retreated only to swing its arm.
The entire upper part of the stage flew into the air, likely thrown far away.
The sound the monster made grew louder.
"No!" Lady Sylvia screamed.
"Come on, what are you doing?" Roberto shouted as he rushed toward her, trying to reach her.
Suddenly, the monster swung its arm again.
Within seconds, it wrapped its fingers around Roberto and lifted him away, leaving Lady Sylvia’s eyes wide in shock.
This was the first time I was going to watch the monster kill someone without simply stomping on them.
It held the man in the air.
Everybody watched and recorded every second as it pulled Roberto, who was screaming and begging it to let him go, closer to its mouth.
I had never seen fear on the leaders’ faces until now.
This was probably how they were finally going to understand how innocent crusaders felt when they were left in the North, facing ugly monsters.
"No, not my brother, please not my brother. Take anyone else. They are useless anyway," she screamed, crying as loudly as she could.
We stood there in silence, watching it happen.
Not a single person stepped forward to save the two who had never cared about anyone else’s safety either.
Finally, the monster pulled Robert too close to its mouth.
The sound it made began to grow louder and louder.
Everybody screeched. We covered our ears, squirming in pain.
I watched Robert as he screamed, far too close to the sound, before his body burst into tiny pieces of flesh, blood splattering everywhere.