Ethan swore in a low voice beside me. I looked back at him, puzzled.
“It’s Lord Knox. He’s alive and well. Problem is, he seem to be stranded in the middle of the square right now.”
“What……?”
I took my hand off the catapult and took the binoculars from Ethan, scanning the town.
He was right, I could see human shadows moving behind the large trees in the square.
The problem was, there were monsters all around the square. The man was isolated, unable to get out of the square.
“Why is he in a place like that…….”
“He was probably trying to get out of town.”
Ethan clicked his tongue in annoyance. He stared at the town, unsure of what to do.
I couldn’t help it. I resumed my stance in front of the catapult and steeled my resolve.
“I’ll cover you.”
“What? Cover for what?”
” Mr. Knox. If we’re going to get him out of there, we need to clear a path. Distract the monsters. With this.”
The original plan was to destroy the statue of the girl in the centre of the square where Knox was standing. But to save Knox, we had to modify the plan a bit.
It looked like Knox was trying to escape to the left side of the square, so I decided to destroy the building on the right. If the monsters heard the noise of the house collapsing and flocked to that side, it would open a path on the left.
“It doesn’t look like you have that many stones,” he said, “and you’ll need to shot without fail. Can you do that?”
Ethan asked me, sounding a little worried. I nodded confidently.
“After all, we were trying to get the monsters’ attention anyway.”
If we were going to demolish buildings, we’d try to avoid destroying as many of the town’s useful structures as possible. It would be a shame to destroy a store full of necessities, like a grocery store or general store.
“I think we should start with that stall.”
There was a large stall on the right side of the square, but it wasn’t housed in a building; it was a temporary structure, like a shipping container, that was only open on market days, so it wouldn’t be a problem if it collapsed.
“You’re lucky that thing isn’t broken.”
Ethan muttered as he looked through the binoculars, then signalled to me.
“On my count of three, blow it up.”
Ethan looks at the net, and I groan…….
I don’t know why I’m always the one doing the hard work compared to the bigger guy…
Whatever it is, it’s a sad story.
“One. Two…….”
Ethan gave me the signal, and I pulled down on the catapult with all my strength.
“Three.”
As soon as I got the signal, I let go of the catapult-.
Wham!
A chunk of stone flew high and wide in a parabolic arc into the clear sky, landing squarely on the stall.
Quang-!
The loud noise caused the monsters’ gazes to all turn towards the stall.
“I hit it!”
The thrill of hitting the target was overwhelming. I celebrate for a moment, unable to contain my excitement at my first success.
Ethan smirked at me, then replied firmly.
“Don’t get too excited.”
Ethan had already taken his eyes off me and was scanning the village through his binoculars. I calmed down and followed his gaze towards the town.
Upon closer look, the monsters seemed to be swarming towards the square. The stalls were a good distraction for the nearby monsters, but the sound of the explosion drew even the more distant monsters into the square.
From behind the trees in the square, I saw a black figure move, hesitating to step forward.
Gauging the timing of his escape, Knox sat back down behind the tree, seemingly giving up at the sheer number of monsters.
“See that building to the right of the stalls? I think we’d better blow that one up this time.”
He said to me as he scanned the area with his binoculars. I raised the rock again and prepared to fire.
And just like he said, I directed the rocks to fly. The catapult was practically stationary, so it was impossible to steer it as far as I wanted.
“Use more force.”
If I could just get it to turn and then lock it down with force, maybe it would work.
‘Ugh,I don’t know, I’m strong! They’re all dead!
I pulled the catapult down with all my might.
“One. Two…….”
Ethan counted silently,
“Three!”
On cue, I let go of the catheter.
Whirr-!
This time, a chunk of stone flew through the air in a parabolic arc.
Quang-!
The boulder completely shattered a section of the targeted building’s wall.
“Did you see that? Bam!”
I couldn’t help but shout out in excitement. Ethan quickly raised his hand to cover my mouth.
“Shhh.”
His large, firm palm pressed over my lips.
I arched an eyebrow and looked at Ethan in frustration, but I quickly remembered that monsters are sensitive to noise and sighed.
“I know. My bad.”
I sighed, my hot breath pooling in my palm, and Ethan reflexively pulled his hand away.
Anyway, the monsters that had been lurking in front of the stalls began to move again, this time to the right of the sound.
Finally, there was an opening on the left side of the square. An escape route.
Knox popped out from behind a tree and quickly scanned the area.
“What are you doing, why aren’t you running?”
Ethan muttered in frustration.
That’s when Knox looked over. I reflexively wave my hand, and Ethan looks at me with a questioning look on his face.
“I thought he was trying to find out who threw the rock.”
I don’t see Knox’s expression but he pauses for a moment, looking in our direction. He soon had to leave, though, as the monsters began to approach from a distance.
We saw Knox safely slip to the left of the empty square and enter an alleyway. Once in the alley, Knox’s movements were covered by the buildings.
I swung my arm around to free myself and squared my shoulders.
“There you go. Let’s get this game begin.”
Beside me, Ethan looked at me as if he saw through me, but all I had to do was do my job perfectly. Right?
With a brisk motion, I lifted the rock onto the end of the catapult. Now it was finally my turn to hit the girl statue.
An hour before Cherry used the catapult.
After wandering the streets to escape the monsters, Knox was stranded in the square.
The number of monsters that surrounded the square was so massive that he couldn’t time his escape.
He’d been running and hiding for two days, sleep deprived, but there seemed to be no way out of the small town of Brunel.
The streets were full of unidentified monsters.
Knox remembered the first time he faced this madness. It was shortly after he’d made small talk with Cherry in the town square.
It had happened shortly after she had left Brunel, claiming to have business in Kitne. An unidentified monster leapt out of a carriage hire and began devouring people.
It was as if the world had turned to blood.
The people who were bitten by the monster would turn into the monster and devour people again, and in between they would barely escape and hide.
It was a hellish time.
It was, indeed. Knox had seen hell, and he was still at the bottom of it.
“What the hell is going on, damn it!
He ducked behind a huge tree for a moment, but he couldn’t stay like this forever. It was too easy to be exposed to the monster.
But then.
Suddenly, huge chunks of stone flew out of nowhere. It blew away a stall on the right side of the square, then travelled a little further and knocked down the wall of a bookstore.
“I did……! I did……!”
I could faintly hear a woman’s voice shouting from somewhere. It was unclear if she actually shouted it. The distance was far.
Knox, who had been hiding behind a statue, glanced back.
He could see a mansion on a hill. In fact, the trees and bushes were so thick that all he could see was the roof of the mansion.
But there were people on it, two of them.
The shorter one was jumping up and down with his arms in the air. She looked a little crazy, to be honest.
“That’s Cherry Sinclair’s Happy House…….
It suddenly occurred to Knox that it might be Cherry Sinclair who was jumping up and down in her seat.
Looking ahead again, he saw a brief opening to the left of the square, surrounded by monsters. A flying rock had distracted the monsters from the other side.
He didn’t see it the first time, but the second time he did. The tiny human scrambled to her feet and sent another rock flying with what looked like a catapult.
Knox thought as he left the square and quickly ducked behind an alley.
If that’s Cherry Sinclair…….
‘What the hell is she doing?’
Ethan swore in a low voice beside me. I looked back at him, puzzled.
“It’s Lord Knox. He’s alive and well. Problem is, he seem to be stranded in the middle of the square right now.”
“What……?”
I took my hand off the catapult and took the binoculars from Ethan, scanning the town.
He was right, I could see human shadows moving behind the large trees in the square.
The problem was, there were monsters all around the square. The man was isolated, unable to get out of the square.
“Why is he in a place like that…….”
“He was probably trying to get out of town.”
Ethan clicked his tongue in annoyance. He stared at the town, unsure of what to do.
I couldn’t help it. I resumed my stance in front of the catapult and steeled my resolve.
“I’ll cover you.”
“What? Cover for what?”
” Mr. Knox. If we’re going to get him out of there, we need to clear a path. Distract the monsters. With this.”
The original plan was to destroy the statue of the girl in the centre of the square where Knox was standing. But to save Knox, we had to modify the plan a bit.
It looked like Knox was trying to escape to the left side of the square, so I decided to destroy the building on the right. If the monsters heard the noise of the house collapsing and flocked to that side, it would open a path on the left.
“It doesn’t look like you have that many stones,” he said, “and you’ll need to shot without fail. Can you do that?”
Ethan asked me, sounding a little worried. I nodded confidently.
“After all, we were trying to get the monsters’ attention anyway.”
If we were going to demolish buildings, we’d try to avoid destroying as many of the town’s useful structures as possible. It would be a shame to destroy a store full of necessities, like a grocery store or general store.
“I think we should start with that stall.”
There was a large stall on the right side of the square, but it wasn’t housed in a building; it was a temporary structure, like a shipping container, that was only open on market days, so it wouldn’t be a problem if it collapsed.
“You’re lucky that thing isn’t broken.”
Ethan muttered as he looked through the binoculars, then signalled to me.
“On my count of three, blow it up.”
Ethan looks at the net, and I groan…….
I don’t know why I’m always the one doing the hard work compared to the bigger guy…
Whatever it is, it’s a sad story.
“One. Two…….”
Ethan gave me the signal, and I pulled down on the catapult with all my strength.
“Three.”
As soon as I got the signal, I let go of the catapult-.
Wham!
A chunk of stone flew high and wide in a parabolic arc into the clear sky, landing squarely on the stall.
Quang-!
The loud noise caused the monsters’ gazes to all turn towards the stall.
“I hit it!”
The thrill of hitting the target was overwhelming. I celebrate for a moment, unable to contain my excitement at my first success.
Ethan smirked at me, then replied firmly.
“Don’t get too excited.”
Ethan had already taken his eyes off me and was scanning the village through his binoculars. I calmed down and followed his gaze towards the town.
Upon closer look, the monsters seemed to be swarming towards the square. The stalls were a good distraction for the nearby monsters, but the sound of the explosion drew even the more distant monsters into the square.
From behind the trees in the square, I saw a black figure move, hesitating to step forward.
Gauging the timing of his escape, Knox sat back down behind the tree, seemingly giving up at the sheer number of monsters.
“See that building to the right of the stalls? I think we’d better blow that one up this time.”
He said to me as he scanned the area with his binoculars. I raised the rock again and prepared to fire.
And just like he said, I directed the rocks to fly. The catapult was practically stationary, so it was impossible to steer it as far as I wanted.
“Use more force.”
If I could just get it to turn and then lock it down with force, maybe it would work.
‘Ugh,I don’t know, I’m strong! They’re all dead!
I pulled the catapult down with all my might.
“One. Two…….”
Ethan counted silently,
“Three!”
On cue, I let go of the catheter.
Whirr-!
This time, a chunk of stone flew through the air in a parabolic arc.
Quang-!
The boulder completely shattered a section of the targeted building’s wall.
“Did you see that? Bam!”
I couldn’t help but shout out in excitement. Ethan quickly raised his hand to cover my mouth.
“Shhh.”
His large, firm palm pressed over my lips.
I arched an eyebrow and looked at Ethan in frustration, but I quickly remembered that monsters are sensitive to noise and sighed.
“I know. My bad.”
I sighed, my hot breath pooling in my palm, and Ethan reflexively pulled his hand away.
Anyway, the monsters that had been lurking in front of the stalls began to move again, this time to the right of the sound.
Finally, there was an opening on the left side of the square. An escape route.
Knox popped out from behind a tree and quickly scanned the area.
“What are you doing, why aren’t you running?”
Ethan muttered in frustration.
That’s when Knox looked over. I reflexively wave my hand, and Ethan looks at me with a questioning look on his face.
“I thought he was trying to find out who threw the rock.”
I don’t see Knox’s expression but he pauses for a moment, looking in our direction. He soon had to leave, though, as the monsters began to approach from a distance.
We saw Knox safely slip to the left of the empty square and enter an alleyway. Once in the alley, Knox’s movements were covered by the buildings.
I swung my arm around to free myself and squared my shoulders.
“There you go. Let’s get this game begin.”
Beside me, Ethan looked at me as if he saw through me, but all I had to do was do my job perfectly. Right?
With a brisk motion, I lifted the rock onto the end of the catapult. Now it was finally my turn to hit the girl statue.
An hour before Cherry used the catapult.
After wandering the streets to escape the monsters, Knox was stranded in the square.
The number of monsters that surrounded the square was so massive that he couldn’t time his escape.
He’d been running and hiding for two days, sleep deprived, but there seemed to be no way out of the small town of Brunel.
The streets were full of unidentified monsters.
Knox remembered the first time he faced this madness. It was shortly after he’d made small talk with Cherry in the town square.
It had happened shortly after she had left Brunel, claiming to have business in Kitne. An unidentified monster leapt out of a carriage hire and began devouring people.
It was as if the world had turned to blood.
The people who were bitten by the monster would turn into the monster and devour people again, and in between they would barely escape and hide.
It was a hellish time.
It was, indeed. Knox had seen hell, and he was still at the bottom of it.
“What the hell is going on, damn it!
He ducked behind a huge tree for a moment, but he couldn’t stay like this forever. It was too easy to be exposed to the monster.
But then.
Suddenly, huge chunks of stone flew out of nowhere. It blew away a stall on the right side of the square, then travelled a little further and knocked down the wall of a bookstore.
“I did……! I did……!”
I could faintly hear a woman’s voice shouting from somewhere. It was unclear if she actually shouted it. The distance was far.
Knox, who had been hiding behind a statue, glanced back.
He could see a mansion on a hill. In fact, the trees and bushes were so thick that all he could see was the roof of the mansion.
But there were people on it, two of them.
The shorter one was jumping up and down with his arms in the air. She looked a little crazy, to be honest.
“That’s Cherry Sinclair’s Happy House…….
It suddenly occurred to Knox that it might be Cherry Sinclair who was jumping up and down in her seat.
Looking ahead again, he saw a brief opening to the left of the square, surrounded by monsters. A flying rock had distracted the monsters from the other side.
He didn’t see it the first time, but the second time he did. The tiny human scrambled to her feet and sent another rock flying with what looked like a catapult.
Knox thought as he left the square and quickly ducked behind an alley.
If that’s Cherry Sinclair…….
‘What the hell is she doing?’
