Chapter 13 - Fire
A few dozen of the strange beasties stood guard. Some were eating and others seemed to be mating with the biggest, who appeared to act as their leader. When it saw me approach, its legs trembled and shook violently.
I unsheathed my weapon, transforming it into its bow form—Diabolic Longshot—and targeted the giant beast. Pulling the string back, I released the projectile, piercing the tentacle creature straight in its eye. Blood gushed out in spurts as it howled in agony.
Three more monsters approached from behind, and I quickly released three consecutive arrows into the beasts, killing one after another. I haven't learned the abilities of this weapon yet, but for now, it worked fine.
"Haaaah!!!" Scarlet jumped onto a giant one, stabbing it right through its center with a knife, splitting the monster open. After a moment of struggling and flailing wildly, the monster succumbed to the fatal blow and ceased to move. I glanced toward my partners and realized that the other sisters were dealing with another cluster.
Lepa wielded a pair of slender, silvery chimes, each having a sharp, bladed end, which she used to cut through her enemies and impale them in various ways. She danced amongst their mass, sending ripples and tremors along the ground with each swing, making the bodies slide across the ground. Melodies rang from her metallic instrument of death. She was graceful and deadly all the same.
Lepu was a lot less gentle, though, and in fact, seemed quite savage. She was like a beast ripping apart anything unfortunate enough to approach, with a set of drumsticks, adorned with razor-sharp blades. Her attacks seemed to cause ripple-like shockwaves that disorientated the enemies.
"What a weird fighting style. But I like it," I mused.
Loading a few more arrows that materialized from the bow itself, I shot the rest of the horde. They easily ripped through their slimy skins, allowing the momentum to carry the ammunition through the other targets behind the initial one. In an instant, the enemy dropped to the ground with a heavy thump and became dead meat. The smell that emanated was similar to rotting eggs mixed with sulfur, almost choking me, and causing a coughing fit.
"Uh, gross!" Scarlet grumbled, covering her face.
"Lepa! Lepu! Are you all right?"
Both nodded, their bangs damp with sweat. "I'm not injured!" one of them exclaimed. "Did we get all of them?"
"Yup," Lepu cheered. "Let's head to the other side and check if there are any."
"Wait!" Scarlet warned. "Your Highness, something is off."
I surveyed the surrounding areas, eyeing carefully every shadow created by the houses and debris scattered around. "What's off?"
Scarlet turned her gaze to the twins. "You girls said that you haven't seen monsters like those appear in the slums before?"
"No. They just showed up recently," Lepa answered, adjusting her weapon.
Scarlet had an inkling of doubt, "These monsters are most likely Razflames. Their bodies release a special element when they die which makes their corpses extremely flammable. They don't just appear out of nowhere. Someone must've intentionally brought them."
"What?! But who?" Lepu wondered aloud.
"And why?" Lepa added.
Scarlet marched forward and continued questioning them. "Maybe you're involved with it? Either way, someone is trying to erase the slums of this country. Probably, to replace this area with their property. By creating an infestation of Razflames, no sane merchant would dare set a shop around here," she suggested, pausing and taking a glance around her surroundings, eyeing the tall buildings.
The twins remained silent. They stayed still for quite some time before giving their answer. "How could we be related to any of that?" Lepa expressed, "Plus, wouldn't that mean it was a plan from one of those greedy bastards inside the capital?!"
"True... It would make sense," Scarlet agreed.
The blond twin intervened. "Fuck, what should we do then? We can't kill these Razflames, but we can't let them roam and multiply either. We have to get rid of their bodies completely."
"Yeah, and if one of those corrupt noble idiots did create the swarm of these fuckers, we need to teach them a lesson," Lepu muttered and adjusted her hair. "Any suspects, sis?"
Lepa snorted, "No, but we'll find them. We'll figure out and confront the asshole if he tries messing up with us."
"Then, do you girls have a plan?" I asked. "There's so many of them. How do we clean them all up?"
The bunnies stepped back a couple of paces, then stopped. They gazed up and down their surroundings, then began counting how many Razflame corpses lay upon the ground. "Let's start by moving these away. As much as I want to throw them into the city, I've not fallen that low yet."
"How do we even move them? They're so huge and nasty. Plus, they're way too heavy for us to handle," I pointed out.
Lepu rubbed her forehead in thought, staring at the gigantic corpses. "True... These things are no joke... Maybe we can get a cart or wagon of some sort to haul it away? Let's hurry up before they begin igniting these things."
"A good idea, sis," Lepa admitted, patting her sister's head gently. She scanned the abandoned village, watching the lonesome street ahead. It was littered with a few old, damaged items lying in the dust. She hurried and approached the first pile of trash. She rummaged through the stuff and brought out a rickety wooden cart, barely capable of holding the weight of a single body. She pointed at the Razflame corpses, indicating her discovery.
"Come on! Let's get go..." she trailed off.
"What's wrong?" I asked, turning my head to see what was behind me.
An enormous whirlwind of flames had suddenly sprung up from nowhere. Flames billowed outwards. They licked the air, dancing and swirling around the remaining bodies of the creatures. The air smelled awful, of burning rubber and charcoal, making me wince in disgust. The twins stood petrified, horrified at the sight. I couldn't help but scream myself. "W-what the hell?" I exclaimed, nearly losing myself in fear.
This wasn't a natural storm. This was intentional.
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