Chapter 96

This couldn’t be helped.

Sheryl thought while wiping her mouth.

The other side attacked, so I couldn’t just take it, right? Yes, this was a justified act. I merely took action to protect my body.

Ptooey.

A finger bone with the flesh picked off popped out of her mouth.

She stared blankly at the pinky bone, then turned around.

Corpse, corpse, and corpse.

Just a few hours ago, they’d been humans breathing and chattering. Now they’d become forms that couldn’t really be called human.

She’d eaten people.

And deliciously at that.

Disgust, nausea. Such trivial things arose inside her body, but overwhelming satisfaction pressed down on everything.

Sheryl realized.

That this was the correct form of life.

Monster.

She was grinning broadly while thinking of that sweet word.

“I thought this would happen.”

She turned her head slightly.

Quilbion was approaching with a displeased expression.

“You came looking for me?”

“Yes, I came looking. I told you. I can find you wherever you are. Because there’s a scent.”

“Ah, a scent.”

Sheryl brought her blood-covered hand to her nose and sniffed.

“It smells delicious.”

“Delicious smells aren’t like this—they come when brewing coffee, when meat cooks, when baking bread.”

Quilbion put on gloves and began gathering the corpse pieces.

“Why? You’re going to eat them? The leftovers won’t taste good.”

“I don’t have a hobby of eating people.”

“Then what are you doing?”

“I can’t erect a grand tombstone, but I can at least clean up.”

Quilbion rummaged through the dead humans’ belongings and brought out a short shovel. He began covering the corpses with dirt.

“Excuse me.”

“Don’t talk to me. I’m busy.”

Sheryl shrugged her shoulders and leaned against a tree. She watched Quilbion working hard, then yawned quietly.

After time passed, a small grave appeared. Quilbion placed the swords the humans had used beside the grave.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“About what?”

“I ate people.”

“Should I praise you? Like ‘oh my, you ate well’?”

Quilbion dusted off his hands and approached.

“Intent is truly frightening. When I knew nothing, I thought what did the mind matter, but now the mind is the most troubling thing. I didn’t give them a proper funeral, but if I did this much, at least they won’t resent me.”

“They’re dead, so what’s scary?”

“That’s what intent is. It torments people even after death.”

Quilbion looked around.

“What are you going to do now?”

“Aren’t you going to kill me?”

“I want to, but there are circumstances making it difficult for the time being. I wish you’d drop dead on your own, but you don’t want that, right?”

“No. I don’t want to die.”

“Then you have to live.”

Sheryl stood up while smiling brightly.

“Becoming a monster isn’t all bad.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It’s this free and ecstatic. I feel like I’m finally seeing a world I didn’t know.”

She took in a deep breath. Who knew air could be this refreshing?

“Is there a village nearby?”

She asked while looking at Quilbion.

“I’m not sure. I haven’t wandered around this area.”

“I want to go somewhere with lots of people, very quickly.”

“To kill them?”

“Yes! I really can’t stand it.”

Sheryl grabbed Quilbion’s arm and shook it like a child.

“Let’s go quickly. Somewhere with lots of people. No wait, should we go back to the city? I think I’d be really happy to meet the sect people again.”

“Let’s leave here first. I don’t want to eat next to corpses.”

“Alright.”

Quilbion took the lead. Sheryl kept swallowing while watching Quilbion’s back.

Such a delicious scent wafted over. Quilbion was an incomparable dish to the humans she’d just devoured.

Heated breath came through her parted lips. She absolutely couldn’t hold back.

She reached out and grabbed Quilbion’s shoulder.

“Sheryl.”

“Yes?”

“If you eat me now, you’ll regret it.”

“No! I won’t regret it. So right now……”

It was when she felt her body heating up and opened her mouth wide. The sweet voice spoke firmly.

No, it said.

“Why not!”

Sheryl shouted irritably. Even that sweet sound was nothing compared to the scent Quilbion gave off.

If she took a big bite of Quilbion, she’d feel like she owned the world.

“It seems you can’t control yourself, Sheryl.”

Quilbion was smiling with his clasped hands hanging down.

“You’re clearly awake, so why can’t you rise to the surface?”

The monster inside responded to Quilbion’s voice. The sweet sound grew louder and louder.

Sheryl covered her ears.

“No, you’re not me. I’m Sheryl. No one can take what’s mine.”

The monster inside should just shut up.

Sheryl licked her lips and approached Quilbion.

“Please don’t resist. If you stay still, I’ll eat you in one go. Then it won’t hurt.”

“I don’t mind the pain, but this body isn’t mine. The owner of this body—though stupid, he lived earnestly. Would it be pitiful if someone who lived like that ends up being devoured?”

“I don’t care.”

“The damned woman doesn’t listen.”

Sheryl rushed at Quilbion while smiling. The moment she thought she’d grabbed his arm, something shot up quickly from under her chin.

It was the shovel.

Clang!

A metallic sound rang out and her head tilted back. She heard ringing in her ears briefly and felt dizzy, but quickly recovered.

Sheryl shouted in joy.

“I love this body so much! I don’t get hurt, I don’t get tired, I can do anything!”

“So it seems.”

“Please just stay still. I need to eat you quickly!”

“Cut the crap.”

Sheryl kicked off the ground and charged. The distance narrowed in an instant. But when Quilbion slipped to the left, her body with momentum attached passed through empty air and rolled on the ground.

Sheryl stood up with a blank expression. She brushed off the dirt on her entire body and looked at Quilbion.

“Why do you keep dodging?”

“Would you stay still if you were me?”

“Yes!”

“What can I say to a crazy monster?”

She charged again. Her body overflowed with strength, but she couldn’t use it properly.

When she thought she’d caught him, Quilbion dodged, and when she thought she’d reached him, the shovel intervened.

Swoosh!

Sheryl felt her cheek. The place the shovel had cut was in tatters.

“It hurts.”

“It would hurt.”

She placed her palm on it and gently rubbed her cheek. She could feel the torn flesh attaching.

“It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“I’m sure it doesn’t.”

“And I think I know how to use my body now.”

She crouched low, then put strength into her thighs. Her body flew like an arrow.

Quilbion’s face enlarged instantly. She stretched out both arms and snatched Quilbion’s body.

The shovel fell on her lower back and split her spine, but it was okay. The pain was nothing compared to the reward that would soon come.

“I caught you.”

“You’re damn fast.”

Quilbion’s face was right in front of her nose. Sheryl stuck out her tongue and licked Quilbion’s cheek.

“It tastes sweet.”

“Really?”

“Yes. How can you be this fragrant? You’re different from other humans.”

“The ego is different but the taste seems the same.”

Quilbion’s two hands wrapped around Sheryl’s cheeks.

“Are you trying to break it? It’s useless. This body won’t die. What the High Priest said was true. The calamity has come. I’m the calamity that will ruin this world.”

“No, it’s not you.”

“Are you ignoring me? Mr. Quilbion, you don’t know. This omnipotence. I’ll wage war. Corpses will pile up, right? An endless feast!”

“Listen carefully. You can’t become the calamity. Because you’re just a pitiful woman. The calamity is that monster inside you.”

Sheryl looked into Quilbion’s eyes.

He was looking at her as if she were truly pitiful.

His eyes were unpleasant.

“I’m sorry. If I hadn’t come here, a monster wouldn’t have nested inside you. If that were the case, you would’ve lived reasonably well as a saint.”

“What are you talking about? I’m having fun now. I’ve never been this excited in my life.”

“People are easily swayed. I was too. They seem like complex creatures, but looking at what they do, they’re really simple. Plus they break easily. Your head gets slightly damaged, right? Then you become a completely different person.”

“Excuse me, now isn’t the time for that talk. Mr. Quilbion, you’re going to die now.”

“If that’s what you want, then I have to. Just like you devoured those people earlier. Right?”

Quilbion stretched out his neck.

As if telling her to bite quickly.

He still looked delicious. One bite would send her into ecstasy. Tearing off the neck bones, digging into the organs would bring incomparable happiness……

“I ate people.”

“I saw.”

“Before that, I ate a wolf too. It was really delicious.”

“I’ve eaten wolf meat until I was sick of it. But it wasn’t delicious. It has a strong gamey smell.”

“I’m not human anymore.”

“That’s probably true.”

“How, how can a person eat a person? Right? That’s right, isn’t it? So I’m a monster. A terrible monster. Really…… really……”

Her face contorted completely.

Dry heaves kept coming. Tears blurred her vision so she couldn’t see properly.

Sheryl pushed Quilbion away and stepped back.

“Mr. Quilbion, I know it’s a shameless request, but will you listen?”

“Tell me.”

“The people I ate, go to their families and tell them the news. That they died to a terrible monster. In the luggage the sect prepared, there are quite a few valuable things. Share them.”

Sheryl moved her hands. Left hand on the top of her head, right hand on her chin.

“And?”

“To the sect people…… please tell them to come to their senses. I’m not a saint, so stop following the wrong person. Kidnapping me was wrong in the first place! I said no so many times.”

She spoke while huffing, then made a clumsy smile.

“And just one more thing.”

“So many requests.”

“I’m sorry. Um…… can you make the grave in a place with lots of flowers?”

“I’ll try.”

“Thank you.”

She gradually put strength into the two hands holding her head. She could feel the bones twisting.

Sheryl spoke while crying.

“I must have become like this because I was a bad person, right? No, because I’m a monster, not a person……”

“I told you. You’re just a pitiful girl.”

“I hope that’s true.”

Sheryl looked into Quilbion’s eyes and squeezed out the last of her strength.

*

Quilbion looked at the fallen Sheryl.

Her neck was twisted in a direction it shouldn’t twist.

Instant death.

“Your intent is intense. There’s no way someone exposed to it could maintain sanity. Going crazy is normal. That’s normal, but this girl died while still being human at the end. Your will couldn’t break her.”

Sheryl’s body stirred.

Her body slowly floated up and the twisted neck found its place.

Her closed eyes opened.

Quilbion sneered while looking at her eyes.

“It can’t be pleasant. Your toy escaped from your hands at the last moment.”

“……”

Sheryl silently looked around, then gouged out her own heart with her hand.

“You’re leaving?”

“Yeah, I’m tired. You finished talking with Veild?”

“Yeah. Finished.”

“Are you two planning to catch me together?”

“I want to, but it’s not easy. I’m too powerless to go find your main body and settle things.”

“Wait. When my treatment is done, I’ll come find you. Then I’ll devour you both.”

Quilbion answered while smiling.

“You seem angry somehow.”

Sheryl didn’t answer and pulled her hand from her chest.

Blood gushed out and Sheryl’s eyes, which had been overflowing with vitality, became murky.

One person died, and one monster departed.

Quilbion looked at the corpse with a bitter expression, then raised his head.

“Damn it, the cleanup is my job.”