Byakhee

Many black dots appeared around the cracks in the sky.

Initially, there were only a few dozen, tiny and almost invisible, so many people didn't notice them.

But they were growing.

Faster and faster.

A few seconds ago, they were just blurry lumps of flesh; a few seconds later, their silhouettes were clear.

The young tourist's camera remained held mid-air, unmoving.

His body began to tremble.

Through the lens, a black dot was constantly enlarging.

He saw wings—things that possessed wings extremely similar to a bat's, yet dozens of times larger.

The torso was an indescribable mass of flesh covered in wet fur.

The head merged certain characteristics of a crow, a mole, a vulture, and an ant, looking like a collection of all of them crushed together and then kneaded back into a mess.

Several eyes of varying sizes were scattered in chaotic positions—some on the head, some on the torso, and some on the wings.

Those eyes were all looking at him.

Every single eye was staring directly at him.

Crack.

The camera slipped from his hands and smashed onto the ground, the lens shattering into several pieces.

He collapsed to his knees, feeling a buzzing in his head as if ten thousand insects were gnawing on his brain.

His stomach churned, and stomach acid surged into his throat, choking him.

"It's not real... it's not real."

"It's a hallucination. I'm definitely just scaring myself."

He wanted to run.

But his legs wouldn't obey. His teeth chattered, and he couldn't even force out a word.

So he closed his eyes, like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.

As long as he didn't look, it didn't exist.

If he didn't look, everything would be fine.

A sudden boom rang out.

His whole body jerked.

A warm liquid splashed across his face.

He opened his eyes.

Before him was a stranger's back. The person stood in front of him with their back turned, swayed slightly, and then fell forward.

The moment the person fell, he saw the wound in their chest.

A massive, gaping hole that had been punched straight through.

Blood surged from the hole like a fountain.

Then the person hit the ground, revealing the thing standing behind them.

The monster wasn't looking at him.

It was flapping its massive bat-like wings, slowly rising into the air to pounce on its next target.

The young tourist looked down.

A thick, warm liquid was flowing down his forehead.

He reached up to touch it and then held his hand before his eyes.

His hand was covered in blood.

"Aaaaaaah!" he finally screamed.

The sound was shrill, like the final wail of a small animal before death.

"Calamity approaches; all things shall cease."

"Blood sacrifice to avert disaster; rebirth in the Pure Land."

Someone shouted from within the crowd.

More voices joined the cry.

Over a dozen figures charged out from the throng, dressed in black-and-white clothing and wielding short swords, their blades glinting coldly in the sunlight.

They rushed into the crowd, targeting those who hadn't even had time to react.

A blade fell, and blood splattered.

A head rolled onto the ground, its face still frozen in an expression of terror.

Screams of agony rose one after another.

The people in black and white acted like madmen, hacking at anyone they saw regardless of gender or age.

Every strike was lethal; every strike drew blood.

More and more people collapsed.

Monsters falling from the sky, madmen slaughtering on the ground, and a populace fleeing in all directions with nowhere to hide—Dusk Island seemed to have turned into a literal slaughterhouse in an instant.

The young tourist remained slumped on the spot. His legs had completely failed him, yet he was lucky enough to still be alive, witnessing one person after another fall as blood flowed into rivers on the ground.

He didn't know why he was still alive.

Perhaps it was because his face was covered in blood, making him look like a corpse.

He didn't dare move, or even breathe, only able to stare with wide eyes at the purgatory before him.

"Calamity approaches; all things shall cease."

"Blood sacrifice to avert disaster; rebirth in the Pure Land."

The shouts echoed over Dusk Island, mingling with the screeches of the monsters.

Snap!

A playing card whistled through the air, striking the back of the head of a mob member who was indiscriminately killing in the street.

The force was significant.

The mob member staggered forward several steps, nearly falling flat on his face.

The card was embedded deep into the flesh at the back of his head, blood seeping from the edges.

"Who's there!"

The mob member spun around, the flesh on his face twitching and his eyes bulging with bloodshot rage as he raised his short sword high, ready to strike.

In the next second, his perspective shifted upward.

He didn't look up voluntarily; his head was forced up.

A foot kicked out directly at him, the sole of the shoe expanding in his vision until it occupied his entire field of view.

Thump.

The kick landed squarely on his face.

The mob member was sent flying backward, his body tracing an arc through the air before slamming into the wall behind him.

Another dull thud followed.

Dust fell from the wall as his body slid down it, turning into a limp heap that never moved again.

Kraken pulled back his foot and stood in the middle of the street, his chest heaving heavily.

His gaze swept over the corpses scattered around. The mob had murdered too many innocent civilians—the elderly, children, women, and tourists who hadn't managed to leave in time.

Blood pooled on the ground in small patches, the red color exceptionally piercing.

"This is too much!" Kraken gritted his teeth, squeezing the words out from between them.

As a member of the Order Alliance, he had seen many bloody scenes.

But he could never get used to this kind of indiscriminate slaughter. Never!

"Kill him!" a low growl came from nearby.

Several mob members in black and white turned their heads. Seeing Kraken standing in the middle of the street and their fallen comrade, they were also pushed to a boiling point.

They abandoned the civilians they were chasing and turned to sprint toward Kraken.

Four of them.

Kraken did not retreat.

He ran forward two steps and leaped into the air.

His right foot stomped directly onto the face of the first mob member.

Crack.

The sound of facial bones shattering rang out.

Not only was the man's face crushed, but his legs also gave way under the immense force, causing him to kneel directly onto the street. His knees hit the floor tiles with a boom, creating several cracks.

His head tilted at a bizarre angle as his body swayed and then collapsed forward.

Kraken used the momentum of the kick to stay airborne, spinning in mid-air as his other foot kicked out.

The strike landed on the face of the second mob member behind him.

Before the man's sword could even fall, his neck had already snapped to the side.

The sound of the cervical vertebrae breaking was drowned out by the chaotic noise on the street.

The mob member didn't make a sound as he fell straight down, the short sword flying out of his hand and clattering in the distance.

The remaining two mob members froze.

They looked at the young man before them, the ferocity on their faces gradually turning into terror.

"You..."

They didn't get to finish.

Two playing cards had already flown from Kraken's fingertips, tracing two arcs as they simultaneously buried themselves in the men's throats.

Thwip, thwip.

The two clutched their necks, their eyes wide with indignation as they slowly sank to their knees.

Kraken didn't look at them again.

He looked up, gazing into the distance.

At the end of the street, more mob members were still on a killing spree, their victims' screams rising one after another.

The monsters that had fallen from the sky were circling at low altitudes, occasionally diving down to snatch up a living person, flying into the air, and then letting go.

Bloody flowers bloomed upon the street.

Kraken gritted his teeth. He wanted to rush over, kill all those beasts, and save every innocent person.

But he knew he couldn't.

He had a more important task.

He leaped onto the roof of a nearby building and, with a few jumps, stood on top of a small apartment block.

Looking out from there, thick smoke billowed from the streets, fires raged toward the sky, and the fleeing crowds resembled a swarm of mindless ants.

Monsters circled in the air while mob members hunted on the ground; the crying and roaring blended into a hellish symphony.

Kraken's gaze bypassed all of this and looked further away.

The cracks in the sky were still expanding.

The edges of those fissures, spanning dozens of meters, were constantly writhing and expanding, and he could faintly see more things squeezing out from within.

Directly beneath those cracks stood a skyscraper.

The building was half a head taller than the surrounding structures, and something on its roof was glowing.

The light was very faint, almost invisible under the sunlight, but Kraken saw it.

In fact, the moment the cracks appeared in the sky, Kraken had noticed it.

And when he turned his gaze toward the forming fissures, he naturally saw the light radiating from that skyscraper.

Combined with these mob members who had suddenly appeared...

This was absolutely no accident.

This was a conspiracy.

Someone was pulling the strings behind all of this.

The most important thing to do now was to get to that building, find the source of the cracks in the sky, and close them.

Otherwise, even more monsters would descend upon Dusk Island.

How was he supposed to get up there?

Run over and then climb the building?

No.

Aside from the chaos on the streets with mob members and monsters everywhere making movement difficult...

Even if he could rush over, the enemy would surely have numerous arrangements inside that building. Charging in blindly without knowing how much stamina he would consume just climbing the stairs was essentially walking into their trap.

Kraken narrowed his eyes, looking at the monsters circling in the sky.

They looked somewhat familiar.

He had seen an identical illustration in the Order Alliance's archives before.

Those wings similar to a bat's, the torso covered in what looked like rotting wet fur, and that disgusting appearance merging the features of a crow, a mole, a vulture, an ant, and a human corpse.

They were Byakhee.

The Order Alliance's archives contained detailed records about them.

Including their habits, weaknesses, and what they were attracted to.

The corners of Kraken's mouth tightened slightly.

"To think they are Byakhee. What a coincidence."

"I happen to know how to tame these damn things."

He raised his right hand, a dozen playing cards appearing between his fingers, and he snapped them upward!

The cards soared into the sky and exploded in mid-air, turning into countless tiny points of light that scattered in all directions like a rain of light defying gravity.

Standing atop the building, Kraken looked up at the circling monsters and raised a hand.

"Decree: Assemble!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

His voice wasn't particularly prominent on the chaotic street, drowned out by screams and roars.

But for those Byakhee, it was enough.

In mid-air, the monsters that had been aimlessly patrolling simultaneously stopped their movements.

They turned, all their heads snapping toward the same direction.

The direction where Kraken stood.

Dozens of Byakhee flapped their wings at once, diving toward Kraken.

The sight was overwhelming, like a moving black cloud covering half the sky.

Their wings made a muffled flapping sound as they beat the air, and they let out bizarre screeches, all their eyes fixed firmly on the tiny human atop the building.

The wind howled.

A strange odor wafted toward him.

Kraken stood on the roof, several playing cards spinning rapidly around him as he looked at the largest Byakhee in the lead.

That large Byakhee was a full size bigger than its kin, and the wind generated by its wings was already enough to make a person lose their footing.

Now!

Kraken leaped up, lunging toward the largest Byakhee!

The monster clearly hadn't expected this tiny human to charge at it voluntarily, and confusion flashed through its several misplaced eyes simultaneously.

But its body was faster than its consciousness; it opened its mouth filled with sharp teeth and snapped at Kraken.

Kraken twisted his body in mid-air, narrowly brushing past the large mouth, and his right hand grabbed out.

Got it!

He grabbed the Byakhee's tail.

The texture was slimy and wet, a bit disgusting, like grabbing a piece of waste.

But Kraken didn't let go. Using the forward momentum, he performed a nimble flip and mounted the Byakhee's back.

"Woo-hoo!" Kraken couldn't help but let out a shout.

The Byakhee twisted its body frantically, trying to buck off the human who dared to ride on its back.

It spun in the air, performing various high-difficulty maneuvers.

But Kraken's legs were clamped tightly around its torso, one hand gripping the fur at the back of its neck while the other was ready to throw a card at any moment.

Steady.

Sturdier than he had imagined.

Kraken's eyes lit up as he dodged another buck from the Byakhee, his body firmly attached to its back.

"The Alliance's records were right. These damn things really are mounts!"

The Order Alliance's archives contained a detailed record about the Byakhee.

It was from many years ago when a senior member of the Alliance had accidentally witnessed these creatures.

He had luckily survived and recorded everything about them.

Byakhee, also known as Sky Ghosts or Wind-Walkers, were suspected to be otherworldly creatures. They usually appeared near spatial rifts and could be summoned to the real world through certain specific rituals.

Their forms mixed the characteristics of various creatures—wings similar to bat wings, torsos covered in wet short fur, and several eyes of varying sizes and chaotic positions on their heads. They fed on flesh and blood, with a particular preference for humans.

But in those archives, there was a passage that had been specially highlighted.

【Although Byakhee are evil ghosts, they have the potential to be tamed. Their backs are broad and their flight is steady; once mastered, they develop a strange loyalty toward their rider.】

【It is speculated that this is related to their pack habits. In the otherworld, they often serve as mounts for certain great beings, and over generations, being ridden has been etched into their instincts.】

That senior member had even added a personal note at the end: "If one can overcome the disgust, they are actually excellent mounts."

When Kraken had first seen that passage, he had thought that senior must have been crazy.

Now, as he rode this Byakhee that was twisting frantically yet couldn't shake him off, he felt that the senior was a genius.

Kraken patted the Byakhee's neck, and seeing that it still wouldn't obey, he changed the patting to slapping.

The monster let out an indignant screech but gradually stopped its resistance. Its wingbeats became steady, and its flight posture returned to normal.