Nightmare Mythos

"What the… why are we having a squad talk? There's a day left till our deployment,"

The group gathered around the table in the canteen that Cesar usually, definitely was using most of the time, when he was alone eating. Chopping the bread loaf down on his throat, he looked around his group and they began settling down.

It was an unannounced meeting which is why Cesar was surprised.

"We are curious, Cesar. Honestly, I've asked this question through our group and you're the only one who hasn't answered this survey," Reyna paused as she was contemplating deeply before continuing, "What if we faced a danger that you are even unsure whether we're going to win or not? For example, if you have a chance to survive in return for us being dead, what will you choose?"

Cesar didn't even give a spare moment to think about such a question, and he answered it right away. With a tone as if it was obvious, he replied.

"Of course, I'll choose myself."

The group let out a short groan coming from their lips, and even Jacqueline joined them. Yet their grunt sounded more like what they were expecting coming from him.

But as if he wasn't done, Cesar continued, "In some situations that should be the best answer but not this time when we're a squad. No matter how many disagreements we have, at the end of our deployment and the area we're assigned to, we'll help each other no matter what. If I was going to betray you, it probably signals that I have not much idea left,"

He paused, "So we just need to fight our way through our predicament and confront whatever it is."

Cesar dropped the bread on his plate before touching his chin after wiping down the crust.

"Let's see… We thought of some protocols when we faced some dangers related to them, right? So how about some signs?" Cesar's eyes slightly shimmered "I have this one line that is so cool, an enemy wouldn't expect that we're collaborating with each other instead of me betraying you."

He took a pause, "Yeah, in a situation where you think I'm betraying, I think I will say "No Hard Feelings" in the most serious tone possible."

Cesar shook his head as he sighed, "Man, why am I talking so much nowadays?"

…

"No hard feelings,"

The moment the group heard this single phrase coming from Cesar, their doubts were instantly washed away. Especially for Jacqueline who was on the receiving end of this ploy.

'So, you're out of ideas, huh,' Jacqueline mused inwardly as she channeled her essence throughout her body with a smirk, 'Why didn't you just say so?'

Clank—!

The revolver that Cesar used to shoot Jacqueline never came. It was just a small click from his gun and the bullet didn't come through.

Caw—!

In that next moment, flocks of ravens emerged from their position, covering the group's location to the heretic whose amusement turned into wariness.

Inside the veil of secrecy that was covering his face reveals a discomfort watching the group being submerged into the flock of ravens.

Caw—!

The last thing the heretic knew, the imagery on his front was nothing but ravens with three beaks and one singular eye.

Whoosh—!

Suddenly, hurried footsteps dashed toward him, passing through the ravens that gave way to those people to come towards the heretic.

At the heretic's blind spot, Jacqueline emerged with her sword raised to bring down the heretic with a single strike.

The heretic didn't even notice she was coming as her presence was concealed with the ravens, the power she wielded.

However, everything appeared to be futile as another robe individual emerged at the back of his clothes which made Jacqueline's eyes turn wide.

Grabbing both of her wrists, the mirage of the heretic jumped out from the real heretic and tried to take her down.

As skilled as she was, Jacqueline managed to pull herself away from the mirage and distance a few meters to gaze at the new enemy at her front.

Clank—!

Just as the heretic turned his head around to look at Jacqueline, a revolver was already aiming at his head.

Cesar pulled the trigger.

Bang—!

Yet once more, as if the heretic just couldn't die no matter how many tricks they pulled to finish him off, their efforts were nothing but in vain.

A hand that sprouted out through his shoulder stopped the bullet from reaching his head. There was a hole which was left bleeding but the heretic didn't seem to be affected by it.

"You two are really something. Sadly, your skills still fell short,"

In a standoff as the three of them remain in a pause, the heretic strikes up a conversation as he continues with a chuckle.

The heretic glanced at Jacqueline and added, "I guess your ravens are capable of concealing and attacking only. You can't do both at the same time, probably because your essence control still sucks."

The heretic then shifted his gaze at Cesar and made a statement, "And you. Do you only rely on your gun or something? Let me see your facet, just like every idiot who has shown theirs today!"

The heretic seemed to be excited as his voice gradually increased as he talked.

"Okay! Let's play while we wait!"

In the next moment, he arched his back forward, bending in the most inhumane way possible before dozen of heads, draped in a robe emerged from his back. They slowly reached out from his body until their figures fully manifested, crawling their way out.

The next thing they knew, they were all standing up.

Cesar swiftly left once he saw those heads popping out from the back of the heretic and regrouped with Jacqueline.

"That looks disgusting…" Jacqueline muttered to herself and couldn't help but shake her head, "What now? Killing this guy might be impossible when he's demonstrating his skills as if it was nothing in our front,"

Cesar clicked his tongue, "We buy time for others to escape and see if they can reach some help the outside. We deal with this heretic and… his counterparts that look like him.

Jacqueline blankly stared at him before shifting her gaze at the front where a dozen more, thrice of their numbers, of the heretic slowly walking up to them.

"So we just buy time,"

"Yeah,"

"Understandable,"

Cesar reloaded his revolver as Jacqueline adjusted the way she handled her sword. Once the two of them were done with their preparation, the two gazed over the incoming mirage of the heretic which was gradually increasing their pace.

Six of them went for Jacqueline while the rest went to Cesar.

Whoosh—!

Dodging an incoming attack with a slight maneuver to the right, Cesar swiftly aimed his revolver at the mirage and pulled the trigger.

Bang—!

Hitting the mirage, it didn't make a sound of agony or defeat. It simply slumped to the ground, uneven and unmoving.

But it got carried by another mirage and sucked it at the veil of darkness in its face. Right after sucking the unmoving mirage, the other one went towards Cesar with an increased speed from the apparition.

Swoosh—!

Evading through the barrage of attacks that went seamlessly, Cesar was unable to find another chance to shoot another mirage. This time, as if they had found their track and adjusted, they went full ham and continued pressuring Cesar.

'Buy time…'

On Jacqueline's side, it was way worse than his as she didn't eliminate a single mirage. Adding the fact that the real heretic was on her side dealing damage by simply using primal hand-to-hand combat that she couldn't recognize made it even harder.

It's more like a self-taught technique rather than a precise art that she wielded which is the reason why she's able to hold out for so long.

"Buy time…"

The heretic who seemed to be having a good time answered back after a few minutes of fighting the two rookies who were holding their position well.

"You two really have a bright future. Unfortunately, you landed in here," The heretic turned solemn as he added, "You guys might be trouble if you went inside,"

The heretic's aura soon changed before he dashed toward Jacqueline, not minding her absolute defense to get in his own defense.

It threw Jacqueline off guard but she continued parrying every attack from the mirage and the real heretic himself.

But in a flash, Jacqueline saw an incoming hand reaching out to her face. In quick succession, the heretic pinned her down on the ground, his palm on her face.

She tried to defend herself by attacking the heretic with her sword but he merely shoved it aside with the use of his fist.

Thud—!

Seeing her resisting, the heretic smacked her head on the ground once more, leaving Jacqueline screaming in agony.

"Argh!"

Just as the heretic was about to suppress her, the ravens surrounding them began to disappear, disintegrating into ashes. Violent red flames ate the poor ravens away, turning them into nothing but burnt corpses, most vanishing in the process.

The black scenery made out of ravens changed into a fiery red fire.

Feeling the scorching heat a little bit too late, the heretic found himself wrapped in a searing red flame tightly clutching his body.