Chapter 132: Grief, and a Shard of Glass
The White Dome, recreated within the remembered scene.
The memories that flowed into his head next were a series of fragmentary scenes.
A sea frozen solid.
A gigantic cocoon sitting alone on top of it.
The moment he saw it, Walfred understood, through the memories that had just poured into his mind, exactly what slept inside that cocoon.
’The King of the Frozen Sea.’
The so-called King of the Frozen Sea.
Just as Elsa had slept inside the crystal he’d seen at the Nest of the Frost Dragon, a king slept inside that cocoon.
A frost-attribute Boss Monster.
And just as Elsa and the Spirit King had each been attended by Ice Golems and spirits, beings that appeared to be underlings surrounded the cocoon as well.
’Sea drakes?’
He’d seen them mentioned in the Community.
Their appearance was half shark, half lizard.
They looked like young dragons on the outside, but were said to actually be frozen-sea-type monsters.
Meanwhile, the sea drakes circled the cocoon, setting things down as if presenting offerings. Snow of pure mana, glowing blue.
The moment he saw that,
Walfred grasped their purpose.
’They’re waiting for the birth of their king.’
Just like the frost spirits of Philadelphia,
the sea drakes diligently gathered and offered up mana snow, waiting only for their master to awaken.
But the time of peace didn’t last long.
Crack! Crunch!
A building not far from the sea.
The empty air in the direction of the R&D facility split cleanly in two. A gate had appeared.
Seeing it, the sea drakes stirred in agitation. But the drakes had no power to clear the gate, and in the end, the gate was unleashed.
And then.
[─టయ౯ఓగ!]
A familiar shriek rang out.
The A-rank Elite Monster, the Soul Eater.
The moment it emerged, it swept its gaze over the surroundings, and soon discovered the cocoon where the King of the Frozen Sea slept.
[ఉఇఆ౨ఛఱ─!]
Its enormous eyes soon clouded over with greed.
Did they sense it?
The sea drakes blocked the Soul Eater’s path and charged at it ferociously.
However.
Hisssss!
Black fog spilled from the Soul Eater’s body and engulfed the sea drakes. The instant they were swallowed by the mind-corrupting fog, all resistance came to an immediate end.
The drakes collapsed, trembling violently or foaming at the mouth. Having swept aside the nuisances, the Soul Eater slowly approached the cocoon.
Slither!
Then hundreds of tentacles coiled around the cocoon.
The Soul Eater honed the tips of its tentacles to sharp points, then drove every last one into the cocoon.
In that instant.
[────!?]
Horrific screams poured out of the cocoon.
Rage, confusion, bewilderment.
Even against that grief-stricken wail laden with every kind of emotion, the Soul Eater paid no mind. It simply sucked out the contents of the cocoon through its tentacles.
And a little while later.
Bzzt!
With a burst of static, the memory ended.
The surroundings returned to their original scenery, and Walfred silently gazed at the spot where the cocoon had been.
The truth he’d finally learned.
The reason the Boss Monster had vanished along with the White Dome without any formidable foe extermination notice.
It was all exactly as Walfred had guessed.
’I see. So that’s why the Blessing of the Frozen Sea came out as a spoil for exterminating the Soul Eater?’
The King of the Frozen Sea, devoured by the Soul Eater.
Maybe it had squeezed out its last remaining strength to express its gratitude to Walfred, who had exterminated the beast.
’Well, that might be a stretch.’
Walfred shrugged.
Having finished uncovering the truth of what had happened here, he turned to look around the harbor once more, meaning to find Colton.
And just then.
"Aa, aaaaargh!"
A scream rang out from not far away.
Colton’s voice.
Recognizing it, Walfred immediately ran toward the sound. An abandoned factory near the harbor. The moment he stepped inside, a wretched scene unfolded before him.
"Ahh! Aaargh! N-no. No."
Colton, on his knees, wailing.
In his arms was a girl around Elsa’s age. A child shriveling up more and more, like an earthworm left out in the sun.
"Dawn! No, please!"
Colton clutched the child and screamed in a cracking voice. His face said he couldn’t make any sense of the situation at all.
"She was fine just a while ago, s-so why...!"
Because he’d been freed from the hallucination, of course.
That aside, it seemed he’d somehow found the Skinwalker that had been imitating his daughter. Which was why he was crying out so desperately.
Just as Walfred came to that conclusion.
"H-Hunter, sir!"
Perhaps he’d only just noticed Walfred.
Colton came toward him, half crawling. He grabbed Walfred’s ankle and cried out, pleading.
"Please save Dawn, please save my daughter!"
"...It’s already too late."
Walfred shook his head.
At that, Colton shouted, pressing him with an expression of utter incomprehension.
"What are you talking about! What do you mean, too late?!"
"You already know."
"Know what!"
"That’s not your daughter, it’s..."
Just as he was about to speak the cruel truth aloud.
"Don’t give me that bullshit!"
Colton exploded.
He looked ready to lunge at any second.
Eyes bloodshot, he screamed.
"This child is my daughter! L-look at her. How is this not my daughter! Huh!?"
"..."
Walfred didn’t answer.
He couldn’t answer. Letting out a short sigh, he tried once more to put the cruel truth into words.
But right then.
A small, thin voice slipped out from between the withering child’s lips.
"D-Dad..."
"Dawn!"
Colton hurriedly pulled the child into his arms.
The thing imitating a person had nearly reached the end of its lifespan. But it squeezed out its last remaining strength and whispered in a fading voice.
"I’m, cold. Come, closer..."
"It’s okay. Daddy will keep you warm!"
Colton stripped off his cold-weather coat and wrapped it around the child. Then he took off his scarf, his gloves, even his socks, and bundled the child up snugly with all of it.
Meanwhile.
Squelch!
Something abruptly burst out from the crown of the child’s head.
A bug that looked like a small jellyfish.
A Memory Eater. The Skinwalker’s true body.
Wriggle, wriggle!
It crawled desperately toward Colton. It had probably judged that it could survive if it switched hosts.
But shortly after coming out into the open,
the Memory Eater’s body shriveled rapidly. And at that very same moment.
Thump.
The child’s hand dropped limply.
Her body went slack along with it. Was that when he finally sensed something was wrong?
"D-Dawn...?"
Colton’s voice trembled.
His wrinkled hand stroked his daughter’s cheek. Then he gripped her shoulders and shook her gently, but no response came back.
"Ah, aah! No. This is a lie!"
"..."
"This can’t be, this can’t happen. No. No. Please, God. God! Please! Please..."
His pupils had gone completely vacant.
Soon, a grief-drowned wail echoed through the factory.
A sound that hardly seemed like it could come from a person, more like the howling of a beast. It was painful just to watch, so Walfred turned away.
And at some point,
the long, unbroken sound of weeping stopped. Puzzled, Walfred turned back around.
"Hrk! Grgh..."
He saw Colton, blood foaming at his mouth.
A great deal of blood pouring from his neck.
"...!?"
The instant he saw the shard of glass in the man’s hand, Walfred understood. He hurriedly stretched out his left hand and pressed down on the wound to stanch the bleeding.
And then.
Crackle!