Awakening of the Weakest Slayer

Sezel clenched his jaw, his grip on the katana's hilt so tight his knuckles were bloodless. He gestured for Mari to stay back, a silent command she obeyed without question. Then he slowly moved forward with cautious, stealthy feet, focused on not disturbing the creature.

His boot came down on a dry, brittle twig. It snapped with a sound of whip-crack that tore the fragile silence to shreds. The lizard, which had been methodically tearing at its meal, froze. Its head twitched, alerted by the noise. It turned around, its yellow, reptilic eyes fixed on Sezel.

Sezel gritted his teeth and straightened, ready to face the beast. The beast turned its full body toward him, its skin a slick, shimmering obsidian, like volcanic rock dusted with chips of bone-white. Its tongue flicked out of its mouth like that of a snake.

'What is this thing?' Sezel wondered. It had the build of an iguana, but its coloration was that of something born from shadow and rot. The lizard attacked, its maw gaping wide, revealing rows of needle-like teeth. Sezel took a step back, placing his legs firm, left in front, right in back. A stable, aggressive stance. He swung the katana in a clean, horizontal arc.

The katana moved through the air and met the lizard's neck, but it didn't cleave it. The lizard hardened the skin around its neck, making it feel as if he had attacked metal.

'Shit.' Sezel felt the shock of the impact reverberate up his arms, a painful, numbing vibration. His attack had been utterly ineffective. The lizard continued, with its mouth wide open. Two balloon-like sacs on either side of its jaws began to pulse, inflating with a sickening, yellow-green liquid.

"Poison, damnit." Sezel clenched his jaw, stopping his hands. He attacked again; the lizard seemed to notice the incoming sword and again hardened the skin around its neck.

But the blade never fell. Sezel halted it mid-swing. The beast, its simple mind registering the lack of an attack, relaxed its defense, its armored scales loosening as it surged forward to finish him.

SLASH!

This time, the blade met no resistance. It sang through the air and cleaved the beast's neck in two. The headless body tumbled to the ground. The head rolled into the dense wilderness at the side of the road. Sezel let out a long, ragged sigh of relief, his shoulders slumping.

[Congratulations, You have Slain a Blackthorn]

'Blackthorn, first time hearing that.' He gave the beast's body a squinted eye, then jerked his blade free, flicking a spray of black, viscous blood onto the nearby grass.

There was something more important than the beast right now—the thing it had been devouring. Its food lay hidden on the ground. He parted the tall grasses with his hands, and the scene that greeted him sent a wave of nausea through his gut, so powerful his vision shimmered. His face twisted in a mask of disgust and shock.

The beast had been devouring human bodies, apparently slayers who got transported in this area. There were three bodies, all dead. Their skin had turned a waxy, unnatural yellow. Two of the bodies were relatively intact, but the one the beast had been eating was a ruin of chewed flesh and exposed viscera, its stomach cavity ripped open.

Its skin rotten, blood spilled on the ground. And it smelled so foul that Sezel's vision shimmered. "Fuck," he choked out, stumbling back. "It hasn't even been a day. How could they smell this bad already?"

Sezel deduced that it was because of the poison and that Blackthorn had killed them. Looking at their faces, Sezel could only feel remorse, their features slack and empty. They were young, not much older than him, and yet their journey had ended without them accomplishing anything.

"Is everything okay, mister?" Mari's voice, small and worried, drifted from the shade of the trees.

"Yes," he called back, his voice strained. "I found water. I'm coming." He couldn't let her see this. He stood over the bodies for a moment longer, then bowed his head in a quiet, fleeting gesture of respect. "I wish you had a proper burial, but I am sorry."

They wore different clothes than what the Blood Bound Slayers wore. These folks had a completely black attire with brown jackets. He slowly removed their jackets; they were of no use to the dead, but they could shield him and Mari from the coming night.

Their backpacks were closed and untouched. He opened one and felt a surge of genuine shock. It was a treasure trove, freshly packed food, sealed water flasks, a kit of medical supplies, even a folded parachute. "I really should have gotten one of these," he muttered, a bitter laugh escaping him.

He quickly transferred the essential supplies into one bag. As he stood to leave, he stopped abruptly and turned back. "How could I have forgotten that?" Crouching beside the dead bodies, he retrieved the assessment devices from the pockets of two of the fallen Slayers.

He traced back the way he came and found Mari waiting for him under the shade of the tree. Her worried expression melted into pure relief the moment she saw him, and she ran to him, hugging him hard.

Evening descended quickly. The sun hid behind the shore, painting the sky in hues of orange, purple, and bruised blue. They sat under the same tree, having shared a single sandwich and some water. They were limited on the stuff, so decided to eat less and save more.

Sezel had carefully extracted some of the poison from the dead beast—the jaundice-colored liquid confirmed Sezel's speculations that it had really killed them. But it didn't quite fit with Sezel. A single common beast, and Rank 2 at that—how could it kill the cohort of three people with two Rank 2 Slayers and a Rank 3 Slayer?

"Guess power doesn't mean anything when you're stupid," he quoted, his gaze lost in the beautiful, dying light.

Mari sat beside him under the tree, wearing the jacket Sezel had brought. It was a bit too big for her and nearly covered her whole, but it was warm.

"The sky here is more beautiful than on Earth," Sezel said, the words surprising even himself.

"How so?" Mari asked, her curiosity a small, bright spark.

"It's all grey there," he said, his voice distant. "Covered in dust and smog. At least, the parts I saw. But here… without anyone to ruin it, it's so bright."

"I don't know how it looks on Earth," she replied, her voice soft. "I never saw it."

Sezel's heart clenched, but he managed a small, sad giggle. "Just look at it here, then. You won't see it so bright once we get back," he said, embracing the moment of relief. He knew in the back of his mind, night will fall soon, and with that, the most dangerous part of the day was yet to begin.