Chương 68: You Are The Monster

"You have no voice here." Enel still did not shout those words, nor did his voice even rise. And yet, as soon as everyone heard them, they felt something crawl at the back of their necks.

"Those of you with children will come with us. I will get you help, even if you do not deserve it. I will do it for your children." Enel looked at Mira and Alma, and a little gentleness returned to his face before disappearing as he looked at the cave, then at the dead vemon.

"The rest of you will rot with your god's shadow."

"What if…" one of the parents stepped forward with her child.

"What if we do not want to go?"

"I already told you." Enel looked at her.

"You have no voice here. Not over this. Not over them. But…" Enel blinked, and a smile returned to his face as he looked at the woman's child. He approached, and while the mother pulled back, the child did not, at all. Enel crouched, leaning his head as his smile became even gentler.

"What do you think, Tofa?" he asked, carefully extending his hand toward the child.

"Do you want to go with me? To Widow's Wall? I would like it if you want to go. It is safer there."

"Uh…" The girl slightly flinched at his hand, but she wiped her tears before staring at his face.

"There… there are goats there?"

"Yes." Enel nodded, but as he did so, tears started to fall from his eyes.

"Are… are you also scared, Brother Enel?"

"I am," Enel said, wiping his tears.

"Will… will you be sad if I do not go?"

"Yes." Enel nodded again.

"You can ride horses there. You will have new friends there, too. Do you want that?"

"B-but…" Tofa glanced at the other children.

"I have… friends here?"

"You told me about Arnora, right? How you miss her when she… joined Valir?"

"Y-yes." Tofa nodded, whimpering as her lips trembled.

"I… I was sad when she was gone."

"Well, in Widow's Wall, none of your friends have to walk into a scary cave alone and not come back."

"Really?" Tofa's eyes widened.

"But… but what about being chosen by god?"

"All of you are chosen by the gods, Tofa." Enel smiled, another tear trailing down his cheek.

"So, all of you can be together there. No one has to disappear, and you do not have to see any more scary monsters."

"B-but…" Tofa stuttered.

"You are the scary monster, Brother Enel." Enel's outstretched hand slightly twitched at her words, but his smile did not falter.

"Was I… scary?" he asked, and Tofa immediately nodded. Enel kept silent for a moment, then he bowed his head.

"I am sorry, Tofa. I truly am," he whispered.

"I was wrong. It was not proper of me to scare you like that, and I am sorry. I am sorry that all of this is happening to you."

"You… are sorry?" Tofa's eyes widened.

"But… no adult has said sorry to me before."

"Well… they should have." Enel nodded.

"They—""We will go with brother Enel!" Mira and Alma both raised their voices at the same time. And as soon as they said that, it was as if Tofa had completely forgotten everything else and quickly took Enel's hand.

"I… want to go," she muttered. Enel nodded, gently taking her hand as he stood up. He looked at the other children, and they all wiped their tears and started raising their hands.

"I want to go, too!"

"Will… will I meet Grandpa Axe there?"

"Does… does the wall really reach the clouds?" And as the children's voices filled Valir's Crescent, the parents began to kneel. The first to swear was the twins' mother. She crawled forward with her husband beside her, both of them weeping so hard they could barely even mutter their oath. Mira and Alma watched as their parents pressed their bloody thumbs to the ground and swore under gods they had never prayed to before. Then, the other parents followed. And soon, even those who did not have any children knelt.

Not all at once. Some still hesitated, staring at the dead vemon as if waiting for it to rise again. But when they saw Hadd make his own Oath, the rest finally followed. And Enel… Enel did not really stand over them. He also bowed his head and prayed, almost as if redoing his vow. It took a long time. But slowly, they all raised their heads.

"Parents, as well as those who wish to come with us. Pack your things." Enel ordered.

"We are leaving in a few hours. Those who wish to stay here, you will stay where you are until we leave." Lamb still knelt, unmoving, until Enel placed a hand on her shoulder. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Rise, Lamb." She stood at once, then immediately looked at the Black Masks.

"What about them?"

"Ask them everything they know while the others are preparing their things," Enel said.

"If we cannot find anything, we take one of them with us."

"Of course, M'lord." Lamb bowed, but before she could approach them, Bernard, who had been quiet through all of it, approached. He held a piece of parchment, handing it to Lamb.

"M'lady, I found this next to them," he said, holding it carefully.

"I think it flew when the lord pulled them close."

"What… is it?" Lamb grabbed it from him. Guinevere immediately stepped closer as Lamb unfolded it.

"A map?" Enel and Tiny also approached when they heard that. The drawing was rough, but it was clear enough. It showed Valir's Crescent, then the cave and the mountain. And then…

"Is that… a road behind the mountain?" Tiny said as he looked at the fog.

"Wait… there's a path inside the cave to the other side of the mountain!" The route turned away from the coast, leading toward a black mark farther southwest, almost near the border between the Lorran and Veyrmark duchies.

"We can follow this path," Guinevere said, pointing at a particular part of the map.

"I believe there is a large town near here. We can part with the villagers from there, and hire a convoy to take them to Widow's Wall. It—""How do you have that?!" one of the Black Masks roared.

"Wh—" [Buf!] Before the Black Masks could scream more, Lamb rushed at them and kicked him right on the chin. The others went quiet after that.

"Since we have their map. Do we even need these guys?" she asked. Enel looked at them for a moment, then shook his head.

"Let us take the one you knocked out. Leave the rest here."

"If you leave them here, then they might kill them."

"How? They will be tied up," Enel said.

"I was talking about the villagers killing them." Lamb looked at those who chose to stay.

"I have already compromised." But Enel did not even glance at them at all.

"Everything else is already up to them."

"... And if they try to free them? Now that I am looking at them again, that seems more likely." Enel looked at the Black Masks.

"There are still more chains. We would be long gone by the time they free them." He then turned to Guinevere and looked at the map.

"Are you certain there is a village there?"

"Yes."

"Very well." Enel nodded.

"We will travel through the cave. Let us get our horses, and two more carts if possible. I… will pull them until we reach the village… and then after, we go to where that map leads." The party looked at each other, then nodded. It took time for those leaving to gather what they could. They did not bring much, as most of them did not really have any other belongings other than what Valir's Crescent allowed. Some adults cried while packing, some even cursed Enel's name. Enel could hear all of them, their hate…

but he did not care at all. Soon, they all started returning in front of the cave one by one. Hadd remained where he was, kneeling with the others who chose to stay, kneeling before the dead vemon until Enel finally stopped beside him.

"Brother Enel…" he whispered.

"No. I am not your brother." Hadd flinched, and he lowered his head again.

"I… what are we supposed to do now? You… you have destroyed us." Enel stared at him.

"You are alive, are you not?"

"What am I… what am I supposed to do?" Enel looked at the others who were still kneeling, then at the children being lifted onto the carts.

"I knew a man who had killed children before, ravaging and pillaging villages," Enel said.

"I executed him. He was… my friend."

"We… we are nothing like that!"

"Do you truly think so?" Enel looked away. He was about to say something else, but just shook his head and walked away without another word to him. He moved to help the others carry the children into the carts, some of them scrambling for him to lift them. Hadd saw this, and he could really only watch as they all slowly entered through the fog. The children all held each other's hands, most of them closing their eyes. Even the adults walking beside the carts closed their eyes, some of them crying.

"There… there is nothing to be afraid of," Alma said, leaning over the cart and reaching for her mother's hand as she noticed her crying.

"Brother Enel will keep us safe, Mama. Focus… focus on my breathing." Her mother turned to look at her as the fog thickened, and a small whimper escaped her throat.

"Y-yes…" she whispered, nodding her head several times as she held her daughter's hand. Mira held her, too, patting her mother's hand. The group moved deeper into the cave, the fog brushing against their faces as it thickened further. And soon, they passed the path filled with flowers.

"Wow…" Some of the children leaned over the cart to stare at them, with a few trying to reach for one. Guinevere picked one up and gave it to the child next to her. And then, they reached the grotto. The baskets were still there, filled with food and all stacked before the altar.

"Should… we take them?" Lamb asked.

"Take only what we need," Enel said, gently letting go of the carts.

"Leave the rest."

"What? No. Fuck those people. Do not leave them any food."

"There will not be after today. Take only what we need." Lamb stared at Enel for a moment, then bowed her head.

"Tiny, let's go." Tiny quickly helped Lamb grab some baskets, but then moved closer to her to whisper.

"So… was it just me who saw the lord's eyes glow red?"

"No. We all saw it."

"And… we are not going to talk about it?" Tiny narrowed his eyes.

"What is there to talk about?" Lamb shrugged, giving the basket she was holding for the children to arrange on the cart.

"He is a Blessed. Did you not hear his story about that hisker who could breathe fire? They are weird like that."

"Is… it truly like that, though? It—""W-what is that?!" Before Lamb and Tiny could finish packing up their supplies, a scream tore through the cave. Lamb quickly moved to the voice, only to see the woman pointing at something. Everyone looked, and there, they saw it. Beyond the altar were even more chains. Some hung empty from the walls, while most were wrapped around… bones. There were others, however, that still had flesh on them, rotting. …

They were all corpses similar to the vemon Enel had brought outside the cave. The children gasped at the sight, and Tiny quickly covered the eyes of the one closest to him.

"Do not look," he whispered.

"L-look at me instead. I… I am much uglier." Lamb saw that, and a smile crept on her face. The smile did not last long, however, as she lightly kicked one of the skulls away.

"Tch…" she scoffed.

"Valir's Shadow, my arse. So, that was why no vemons were attacking your little cult—those Black Masks have been tying them up."

"Yes," Guinevere said, crouching as she poked one of the rotting ones with her pen.

"They used them for the voices. This practice must have been done for more than a hundred years, and yet no one discovered them. Food… truly is enough to make people not ask questions." Enel only looked at them, not saying anything at all as he continued pulling the carts. Bernard lightly whipped the reins, too, following behind him with the rest of the children. And of course, the rest followed. They continued in silence after that. But soon, they could hear wind whistling from further down the passage.

And they could smell it, the scent of damp earth.

"We're near," Tiny whispered. Before they continued, however, Enel slowly let go of the carts once more, then turned back toward the way they came.

"M'lord?" Tiny asked.

"Wait for a moment." Enel walked back to where they came from, and then they heard the sound of thunder explode through the cave as he vanished.

"What… is going on?"

"Did he go back to—" Before any discussion could build, they heard the cave groan. Dust fell from above them, and the ground trembled. The sound rolled through the path for a while. And after several more moments, Enel returned. He did not say anything at all, and just grabbed the carts again and started pulling. But… everyone there knew what he did. Tiny swallowed and walked behind him.

"M'lord… you might have offended a god." Enel glanced at him, then focused on the path ahead.

"There was no god here, Tiny," he said.

"And if there was…"

"M'lord?"

"It… is nothing." Enel shook his head.

"Let us… just leave this place."