Chapter LI: Flocking Together

            “I wish it hadn’t come to this...”

 

            Armed with a pair of daggers on both hands as a primary weapon, Winston took up a stance with one leg forward, waiting for his current adversary to make the first move. The expressionless eyes of his enemy made it almost impossible to read his moves. This would be his first time ever to be the one being hunted, and the anxious desire to simply turn around and run away started to plague his thoughts. However, as someone whose job requires efficiency in the prospect of eliminating targets, Winston knows that Tristan wouldn’t show himself like this if there were a place for his prey to escape...

 

            A loud thud practically shakes the ground.

 

            One step, and Tristan dashes toward his target, instantly clearing the distance between him and his prey’s body. Even before his disappearance, Tristan has always favored light weapons, and for this hunt, he wields a short curved sword and a combat knife as counterweight for his other hand. If it weren’t for the horrendous sound, Winston wouldn’t have reflexively dodged to the side and evaded the thrust.

 

            Trying not to panic, Winston regains his balance, only to have a sword slashed across his chest. By instinct he throws his right hand toward the sword’s direction and effectively blocks the attack, but then he finds his guard broken when his weapon flew right off his hand. Tristan immediately follows it up with a quick thrust from his combat knife, but he is stopped when Winston’s now free hand grabs him by the wrist. Swiftly, the Nightingale counterattacks using the blade on his left hand.

 

            “Disarmed.”

 

            The unamused words struck him like a bolt of lightning. Something cold tingled his insides when he perceived its meaning: Both of his hands were empty. It must have been knocked off when he took the chance for a killing move, but he knew he was dead wrong when he thought his enemy was going to fall for something so predictable. As if making a mockery of him, his enemy stopped attacking and waited for him to realize the situation he was in. Being neutralized so easily, a scene like this would be an embarrassment for the person who trained him.

 

            “Sh*t!”

 

            Winston had no choice but to defend himself barehanded. It’s as if he had no way out of the situation now that he’s engaged the enemy. Maybe he should have just ran away after all. The city’s not far away from his position, but what if Tristan hacks him up the second he turns tail? The only option he had left was to make an opening for himself.

 

            As Winston forced himself to fight back, Tristan had already drawn a bead and started hacking away with his two blades into a flurry. His prey was unable to go on offensive, but surprisingly the Nightingale was dodging the attacks by a hair’s breadth. On the other hand, Winston was working up a sweat trying not to mess up and get caught up in the assault. He knows Tristan is going to switch tactics soon, and at that moment he may be able to pull off a disable.

 

            “Just a little more... Can’t afford to get hit....”

 

            The moment he was waiting for finally came when Tristan linked his last attack with a thrust from his sword. As his enemy charged, Winston jabbed him right in the neck... or at least he would have until he felt an elbow crunching his belly. Turns out it was a feint. He found himself clutching his stomach and falling over his back. With this, Tristan charges again with his sword aiming right at the center of his chest. Winston had one last trick up his sleeve: He spat right at Tristan’s eye.

 

            The sting caused the Emu to hesitate, and before he knew it he was tripped by a leg sweep just as Winston got back up.

 

            Taking advantage of the situation, Winston headed for the shack instead of the town. Rummaging through his stuff from a duffel bag under the bed, he found two flash grenades and a flimsy shiv. Without a second thought, he collects his items and breaks through the rotten wooden walls with a kick to make an exit instead of taking the front door. He immediately runs for his life by the time he breaks through. At the same time, Tristan had already entered the shack and gone in pursuit of his elusive target.

 

            His eyes were fixated on his prey. For Winston to struggle like this means he’s got something in mind. A normal person would vie to run for safety in the settlement, but the Nightingale is headed for the woods away from Xenovia. He might actually lose his target if he cuts through the place, but luckily he’s already surveyed the area and has already marked down possible escape routes. Before he could keep his target from running, however, a staggering flash of light hit him directly in the eye. A somewhat sharp edge thrusts deeply into his chest, and as the whiteness in his vision faded, something red took its place right when he looked down...

 

            But despite the sting that rips into his skin and the rusted steel poisoning his blood stream, his face remained still with the same expression. His blood slowly gushes from the wound as the object is pulled out, and the perpetrator is completely astonished by the lack of reaction.

 

            Winston breathes a small gasp before he pulled out the shiv. That little incident at Mount Madre showed him how resilient Tristan is when Violet was able to land a killing blow. It doesn’t seem like Tristan feels pain, and from the looks of things, he doesn’t seem to be dying from a deadly blow where the aorta connects with the heart. And the reason for this...

 

            “You... You’re not Human anymore. You’re one of them now.”

 

            Tristan gives no response to Winston’s remark. He merely observes as his prey quivers at the sight of him still breathing from such a strike... All the more reason to take him out as he cowers in fear.

 

            “F*ck!”

 

            In the blink of an eye, Tristan vanishes from where he stood. The Nightingale throws another flash grenade as he cursed... but as the light subsided, he finds himself partially disabled. His enemy was going for his neck from the left, and by pure luck, he raised his left arm to shield himself. The result was a cold strip of metal digging through the bone in his forearm. Before he had time to think, the blade is retracted and a sharp side kick causes his intestines to hug his stomach. He tries not to fall on his back, so he inversely falls to his knees from the force. The pain devastates his resolve to get back up.

 

            Meanwhile, Tristan prepares to execute his enemy. He stands behind Winston and hovers the sharp edge of his sword toward his prey’s nape. A feeling of euphoria excites him when he thinks about how his mistress will shower him with affection for his efforts... but it doesn’t show in his face. His eyes remain empty as he lifts the blade and prepares to execute his enemy.

 

            Little does he know, Winston has already won.

 

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            In order to resolve the incestuous situation, Solis was forcefully made to go out and explore Bania with Credo. Meanwhile, the ladies of the group were sitting in the living room, Naiya being the center of attention, and they’ve been discussing ways to solve the matter at hand.

 

            “So...” Mea summarizes the subject they’ve discussed so far. “You were trying to get intimate with him simply because you wanted to have his offspring?”

 

            “Yes, and I would not have resorted to incest if it weren’t for...” Naiya looks at Anna.

 

            “What? What did I do?”, Anna asks defensively.

 

            “When I discovered that there are only two male candidates, I decided to go for the one that did not break basic morality, but it turns out the man is already taken.”

 

            “T-That’s right! Credo is in love with me, and I’m in love with him! You can’t have him!”, Anna spouts with confidence while thinking: “Thank God!  This little b*tch was planning on taking you away from me but I’ll never let her have you, Credo!”

 

            “Which is why I had to compromise on having to bear my brother’s child.”

 

            “Still”, Therese retorts, “Your objective is to have a child whose father has the gene of an Elemental in order for him to be strong, but since you’re doing it with your fraternal twin, doesn’t that make the offspring twice as vulnerable to whatever weakness is in your gene?”

 

            “That’s true... I had not taken that into account. Perhaps there may be a better compromise.”

 

            “Does that mean you’ll give up on Solis?”, Sierra asks eagerly.

 

            “Yes. I realize that the child may suffer from such a conception, not to mention the state of common morality.”

 

            “That’s great!”

 

            “As such, may I request Miss Anna to allow me to have intercourse with-“

 

          “No way in hell!” Anna slams the chair’s arm rest. “Why are you so persistent in getting pregnant?”

 

            “Oh, dear... Is it not our duty to reproduce in order to preserve our race?” Everyone paid close attention as Naiya continued. “As a matter of fact, I think it would be best that we all carry a seed from either of the two. It would deviate common good from a moral perspective, but I believe it would be better if our offspring were all pure Elementals. Rather than have the two males pair up with one female each, why not let them pair up with all of us? Quite frankly, I am surprised that none of you even thought of restoring the population of our kind. There are only eight of us left and you keep insisting on keeping everything clean for yourselves. How petty all of you are for not giving the matter any decent thought!”

 

            Her rhetorical question gained no rebuttal. It was all very logical, if you ask me, but then again, my R-16 policy is still in play, so to keep us from going for the Harem Route, Mea comes up with something.

 

            “Naiya, do you know what sex is?”

 

            “Yes”, she promptly answers.

 

            “Have you ever experienced it?”

 

            “No.”

 

            “Come with me.”

 

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           After wandering around town, Solis and Credo decided to check up on their Human companions at the inn. Maise was sitting there getting her hair braided by Lanette, but Elias wasn’t there anymore. According to the ladies, Elias went out to try to fix his ship yet again, so the two guys went out to meet him at the crash site.

 

            Once the two got there, Elias invited them to perform a certain ritual. This ritual started a long time ago from the old world, and it seems the Known Regions has picked up on it during the re-invention of the PC. Yes, this ritual is a standard among men who are too lazy to partake in physical activities.

 

            The LAN Party.

 

           And the chosen game... Left 4 Dead. Blood Harvest. Hard. Solis as Louise. Credo as Francis. Elias as Zoey. They killed Bill with friendly fire to disable the bot.

 

            The feeling of having a minimal amount of teammates against hundreds of f*cked-up, ravenous sick freaks could put a tingle in an average man’s balls. ‘Tis a thrill to see such loathsome creatures who were once Human fall before you, and as the bodies pile up and the stench of iron and smoke accents the ambience, a smile forms on your face with every bullet fired. It doesn’t matter if it hits or not. As long as your blood is pumping, just remember the official instructions: Kill all sons of b*tches.

 

            “Why didn’t you tell us you had an entire set-up in this ship?”, Credo asks while killing off a Charger using a Cricket Bat.

 

            “I didn’t even know these were here until I tried to scrounge from the wreckage”, Elias replies. “I had these PC’s when I was in training for being a Macromage.”

 

            “Good thing it’s still functional”, Solis remarks. “The last time I had a LAN Party, there were ten of us playing DotA. We could go for a nice 4v4 if we could invite people from the village to play- Whoops. Jockey’s on me.”

 

            “He’s down”, Elias says as he shot it off with a tactical shotgun.

 

            “Thanks.”

 

            “So where’d you two learn how to play?”

 

            “My old buddies from the Hunting Guild used to take me to shops for a couple of rounds.”

 

            “I played a few games with Anna back when the shops at Xenovia were still available.”

 

            “I see.” Elias then spots a special type of ammo. “Too bad we don’t have enough players. Would’ve been nice to have someone holding onto the incendiary rounds right now.”

 

            “Today’s your lucky then.”

 

            They all look toward the wreckage of the ship to find someone standing with a friendly grin on his face and a hat that makes him look like a musketeer. Next to him is a kid who looks just as innocent as Solis except his innocence matches his age.

 

            “Who the hell are you?”

 

            “Very funny, Elias”, he humors him.

 

            “How the f*ck do you know my name?”

 

            “You seriously don’t remember who I am?”

 

            “Look, I’m trying to enjoy my game here, so if you wanna join in, open up the PC and connect. We’ll restart the game after this.”

 

            “It’s me! Crisostomo!”

 

            “I don’t remember anyone named-“

 

            “I was the other victim of Violet’s education!”

 

            “Oh... I’m sorry. I think I remember now. What did you say your name was again?”

 

            “We were classmates for three years and you don’t remember my name!?”

 

            “No, I remember people by experiences with them.”

 

            “You’re Captain Crisostomo, right?”, Solis speaks up.

 

            “Yes! Thank you!”

 

            “Here you go” Solis stops playing for a moment and boots up the PC next to him.

 

            “Thanks... But can Sticky play too?”

 

            “Who’s Sticky?”

 

            “I am!” Sticky raises his hand.

 

            “Yvaine’s cousin? Are you a gamer too?”, Credo asks him.

 

            “Yes, of course”, he replies with a smile.

 

            “What kind of games do you play?”

 

            “[1] Candy Crush Saga!”

 

            ...

 

            In response to his answer, the three dignified gamers shout at him!

 

            Credo: “Got rot in your filth, heretic!”

 

            Solis: “Crucify the blasphemer!”

 

          Elias: “You dare claim yourself as one of us! You are not worthy of this ritual!”

 

            ...

 

            “I... uh... I also play [2] Minecraft mods sometimes.”

 

            The three look at each other and nod in agreement.

 

            “Very well”, Elias accepts. “Find your place and play.”

 

            Sticky sits at the PC far away from them and boots it up to play some Minecraft.

 

            “Wow”, Crisostomo says, taking his spot. “You guys are too fanatic about games, you know that?”

 

            ...

 

           Credo: “This ritual does not tolerate such cretins. He should have realized his mistake.”

 

            Solis: “I shan’t allow such loathsome creatures to taint its name.”

 

           Elias: “There is an unspoken rule among us, and to compare that... simony of a program to a real game requires a more adequate indoctrination. Luckily he was able to redeem himself at the last minute.”

 

            ...

 

            “Just restart the game already”, Crisostomo impatiently bids.

 

            And so they ended up playing Left 4 Dead 2. The Parish. Expert. Solis as Elis. Credo as Nick. Elias as Coach. Crisostomo as Rochelle.

 

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            Somewhere at the outer regions of Origami Canyon, the plants that Echidna made to turn the place into a lush forest are now slowly wilting. The canyon doesn’t exactly have fertile soil, and with the source of their nutrients gone, the leaves are slowly falling from the branches. The smoke that contained the whiff of Echidna’s consciousness is long gone, along with the various monsters that spawned from her wake.

 

            “Those kids really did a number on this place...”

 

            A shadowy figure spoke with a feminine voice as she walked through the bed of fallen leaves. The moonlight shines a spotlight along the hooded cloak she wore, trailing toward a pair of worn out boots. A smile forms on her face as she thought of an idea.

 

            Pulling back her hood, she scans the area around her to see if anyone’s looking. Her eyes were a deep shade of violet that left a trail of color as she looked around. The writer told me that this woman’s vision can change to tracking heat signatures or something like that, and as she went full circle across the radius of sighting, she closes her eyes, and it switches into a lighter shade.

 

            Confirming that there was close by, she... collapses with her face up? Her arms were open as she fell flat on her back. The surrounding leaves flew up and plummeted back in an instant. She had a satisfied look on her face as she lay there like she had no problem in the world. The dark blue spotlight of moon-shine lit up her body, revealing her tan skin wrapped around a combat vest and a pair of trousers. Her outstretched arms each ended with a silver gauntlet on hand, shining amidst the gloom of the dying forest. She shuts her eyes for a second, for a minute... for an hour....

 

            She finally came to her senses when she felt cold from the puddle of drool she made.

 

            “Oh, crap!”

 

            ‘Oh, crap’, indeed! You’re about to be late for your meeting, Violet! Get your butt over to Bania A.S.A.P.! It’s almost 0500! Move it, soldier!

 

            Violet pushes herself back up and sprints like an over-fed [3] Udyr.

 

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            Near the edge of Xenovia’s Mirage Field, a man can be heard whistling the theme of Don’t Starve as he drags a paralyzed body toward his shack. The body was immobile from the neck down but his head was struggling like a mad dog trying to bite the one that was dragging him.

 

            “Take it easy, Tristan”, the man says as he pulls the body by the collar from the vest he was wearing.

 

            “I’ll kill you! I swear I’ll kill you!” The paralyzed man’s voice was horrid, but his eyes were completely dead as he said this.

 

            “Yeah-yeah. Maybe later once I make another poisoned shiv.”

 

            “AAAAAAAHHH!” The man screams with rage.

 

            “Dude, you’re the one who let your guard down! Just because your wounds heal the instant I stab you doesn’t mean you’re not immune to cytotoxin! That poison takes thirty minutes to set in, but since you’re a dumbass thinking he can’t be killed by a strike through the chest, you ended up going down in ten seconds!” Winston laughs to himself whilst dragging his old comrade closer to the shack, his left arm still dripping with blood. “Somebody must’ve messed with your brains out when you disappeared, and to think I actually beat you one on one! Where the hell have you been staying all this time?”

 

            “I’LL KILL YOU!”

 

            “You don’t sound very threatening when you’re-“

 

            “I WILL MURDER YOU AND MUTILATE YOUR CORPSE!”

 

            “Okay, then...”

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References:

1. Game by King Digital Entertainment

2. Game by Mojang

3. Champion from League of Legends

Everything else that isn't annotated (Except for DotA) is from Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 by Valve

Reviews

[❀Subaru_Nyaa!
..]

That ending, hehe

Confirming that there was close
I am not sure about if it is a mistake or not but it felt like it. It doesn't hurt to consider checking.

To me the best part of this chapter was the fight scene at the start and the end scene. I thought you are going to keep the cliffhanger of the fight scene to the next chapter (which is already out) so I was happy to see it at the end.