Dark Fantasy’s Extra Chapter 164

“Senior! You’re awake!”

As I opened my eyes, someone suddenly grabbed my hand.

Who…?

“Is that Hilde?”

As I kept blinking, my blurry vision gradually returned to normal.

“Did you just call me?”

I thought I heard someone calling my name….

“Huh? Stop dreaming and wake up now. No one called you.”

Hilde slipped her arm under my neck and lifted my waist to help me sit up.

“Urgh…”

Though getting up helped clear my head a bit, a slight headache came with it.

“How long was I lying here?”

“About a month.”

“What?”

A month?

I was lying down for a whole month??

“Don’t tell me you were the one nursing me this whole time?”

“I wish I could say that…”

Hilde’s voice dropped slightly.

Then who…

Just then, the door opened and someone entered.

“Ah!”

Gerda saw me and started in surprise.

After briefly meeting my eyes, she dropped what she was holding and ran straight to me.

“Brother! You’re awake! You’re awake!”

Gerda kept burying and rubbing her face against my stomach while repeatedly saying I was awake.

When I glanced at Hilde, she nodded.

So Gerda was the one who had been nursing me.

Come to think of it, she is officially listed as family.

Looking at what Gerda had dropped in her rush, it was bread and a towel.

“Step back for now. Senior just woke up.”

Hilde grabbed Gerda’s shoulders and tried to pull her away.

“No!”

But Gerda clung to my waist and refused to budge.

When Hilde’s face showed annoyance as she was about to use force, I quickly raised my hand to stop her.

“Just leave her be.”

“But…”

“It’s fine.”

“…Alright.”

I patted Gerda’s head.

It’s unreasonable to ask someone to stay calm when the person they relied on was unconscious for a month.

“Are you perhaps…”

I said to Hilde who was standing there with a disgruntled expression.

“I’m not.”

There was no need to specify what she wasn’t, but cut her some slack.

Gerda is still just a kid.

“And I also came to nurse you whenever I had time.”

“Thanks for that… Wait?”

“What is it?”

“What about… Zepetia?”

Last time Zepetia did everything…

“Ah…”

Hilde’s face darkened a bit.

Why are you looking so uneasy?

“Miss Zepetia used to come often too, but these days she’s a bit… no, very busy.”

“Is that so? Well, it’s good to hear she’s working hard. If she says she’s busy, she must be doing overtime late into the night.”

I happened to glance outside the window and saw a massive blue moon in the black night sky.

Is it nighttime now?

“Well, it’s late so call the doctor and you two should go get some sleep too.”

“What?”

“…?”

Both Hilde and Gerda showed puzzled looks at the same time.

“Ah… Senior. About that…”

“What?”

“It’s morning right now.”

“…?”

I looked out the window again.

It’s completely dark like night though?

The stars are even twinkling and above all, there’s an enormous moon…

The moon…

…Why is it so big?

“…Was the moon always that large?”

“It’s been about 3 days. Since this started.”

Hilde explained that 3 days ago, day suddenly turned to night and the sun never rose again.

Still, during what should have been daytime, they could see well enough without lanterns to maintain some sense of time.

“The sky has been like this for 3 days?”

“Yes. It’s really strange… We don’t know why either. It’s so absurd we’re at a loss for words. Plus the Order has changed a lot lately too.”

“…Are they preparing for war, no, did a war start?”

“Huh? How did you know? The Saintess herself came out to declare the 2nd Great Holy War.”

As I thought…

“Moreover, we occasionally see members of the Heresy Inquisition Department and 1st-rank hunters out and about… And from what I hear, the Beasts that were already increasing have multiplied beyond belief. Something is definitely happening.”

This must be the magical phenomenon.

Exactly as I know it.

When the seals of witches break, their influence causes the cursed moonlight to fall strongly on the earth.

The moon’s curse is the strongest in the world – even a slight increase can block out the sun like this and create eternal night.

In the setting, though day and night still continued, the moon’s curse acted like a curtain covering the sky, essentially trapping everything in a massive dome.

And in the game, the enemies that appeared in the field had their difficulty increased by several levels.

That was the extent of description in the game, but here…

“I hear some distant branch offices have lost contact… There are so many strange stories going around that even I have trouble explaining it properly.”

Most of those strange stories are probably true.

“Anyway…”

Hilde stood up.

“I’m glad I got to see you wake up before leaving.”

“Where are you going?”

“First I need to get my weapon back from Miss Zepetia, then I have guard duty.”

“You left your weapon with her?”

“Yes. I went hunting in Aubes Village and found some moonstones there.”

Aubes Village was a village you could visit in Blue Paper Moon too.

I think there was a ritual event for strengthening Crescent…

Did I miss that?

But moonstones?

There weren’t any of those there…

“There were several high-tier Beasts so it was quite a tough battle. Anyway, I received some moonstones for my efforts and asked Miss Zepetia to enhance my axe.”

Several high-tier Beasts?

Even after the magical phenomenon in the game there was only one?

What exactly is going on?

Ah wait, let me think about what I can figure out first…

“Hmm… You said you left your weapon with Zepetia? That was good.”

“Yes…”

But Hilde’s expression wasn’t very happy.

Did something happen with Zepetia?

“Miss Zepetia said this is what you would have liked and she’s working really hard… I think she’s amazing.”

“Ah…”

That’s exactly what Zepetia said, but it’s a bit awkward to be openly happy about it…

“So I won’t lose either.”

“There’s no need for winning or losing…”

“No. If we’re talking about victory and defeat, there is.”

Hilde stared intently at me.

“Because I’ll be the most helpful to you.”

It’s embarrassing when you put it so bluntly…

Even Gerda who was clinging to me flinched, making it more awkward.

“Well, I’ll be going then. Ah, and I’ll call the doctor on my way out.”

“Oh, right. Thanks… Wait.”

“Yes?”

I stopped Hilde as she was about to leave.

“Has there been any news about Vile?”

The magical phenomenon originally occurred right after Vile’s three Beasts attacked important national strongholds.

The Biting Jabberwock appeared at the royal palace to display its presence.

The Snatching Jubjub Bird invaded a conference at the royal library and massacred many brilliant scholars.

The Raging Bandersnatch attacked a military garrison at the border and slaughtered countless young noble men.

All the attacks targeted the royal family and nobility rather than the Order, so not only were they unable to respond properly, but the terror was amplified by the magical phenomenon occurring right after, completely destroying relations between the royal family and the Order.

Being attacked at weak points with political intentions mixed in was unprecedented in 500 years, so they had no choice but to be helpless victims… That was Blue Paper Moon’s story.

“Vile… No. There’s nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Yes. These days there hasn’t been a single Beast identified as Vile’s. It’s like he completely disappeared. Strange, isn’t it? After causing such chaos at the Offenbach branch, to do nothing for a month… Senior, do you have any ideas?”

“No… It’s nothing. I was just curious about the next mission. Anyway, good work.”

“Yes. But Senior, stop thinking about work for now. You just woke up.”

“Haha… Sorry, got it.”

After Hilde left, only Gerda and I remained in the hospital room.

What exactly is going on?

Could the mental attack from Red Hood back then have been too strong?

No, no matter what, a behemoth wouldn’t fall like that.

Then why…?

“…Brother.”

Gerda spoke.

“What?”

“You’re not thinking of leaving already, are you?”

“No, I…”

“Don’t go…”

Gerda pulled me closer.

“You can’t leave too…”

“…Okay.”

* * *

“What… is this…”

Ozwald looked around helplessly.

Everything had collapsed.

Houses, wells, carriages, people…

Above all, that mansion visible in the distance.

No, the mansion that had been visible was now completely engulfed in flames.

“…Oscar.”

Ozwald turned his head toward his disciple following behind.

“…”

But Oscar’s eyes remained emotionless.

Everything captured in those eyes had once been what he called his hometown.

As if this Vale territory and he had nothing to do with each other.

Ozwald turned his head back dejectedly.

Even in this situation, his disciple was…

No, now is not the time for such sentiments.

“Let’s escape for now.”

“…They’re already here.”

“…”

Something slowly crawled out from among the ruins.

A Beast with pale skin, a long snout and neck, and a bizarre appearance like a wolf mixed with a reptile, its red eyes glinting as it stared at the only two living humans here.

Though large enough to swallow a human in one bite, it wasn’t what you’d call gigantic.

Even among low-tier Beasts there were ones this size.

But Ozwald sensed it.

The fact that there was no guarantee of returning alive.

It was among the strongest of all the Beasts he had faced.

“Perfect timing for my welcome party.”

Someone completely wrapped in bandages walked out from behind the Bandersnatch.

Though their gait lacked strength and their voice was hoarse.

But Ozwald immediately recognized who it was.

“You again…?!”

Vile.

But how did he end up like that?

“Ah… Seeing you again like this fills me with emotion.”

Vile’s voice grew thick.

Of course, his target wasn’t Ozwald but the boy standing behind him.

“Alice… my Alice. You’re still so beautiful…”

Vile stretched out a trembling hand.

Even at this distance, that disgusting obsession felt like it was touching their skin.

Ozwald raised his staff as if to shake off that unpleasantness, bringing out a whip made of magical power blades.

“Get lost, you pervert.”

“Hahaha, you’re the same as ever too. You pack mule.”

“Pack mule…?”

“Yes. You’re just a pack mule. Sir Great Mage. Just temporarily holding onto Alice.”

“Take your nonsense to hell. Why did you come here? And Vale territory…”

“I told you. It’s a welcome party.”

“You madman.”

“Don’t get too angry. The Bandersnatch has a good nose for rage.”

The Beast beside Vile, the Raging Bandersnatch, exhaled sharply through its nose as it stared directly at Ozwald.

Just the pressure of that gaze made Ozwald break out in cold sweat.

Big ones are easy to read and have many openings.

But that monstrosity… has no openings.

A perfectly calibrated killing machine…

“Even if I die here, I cannot hand Oscar over to you.”

“Hahaha…”

“What’s so funny?”

“For a Great Mage, you’re wrong about everything.”

“Wrong?”

“You won’t die today. And it’s not Oscar, but Alice.”

“Nonsense…”

“Above all… you absolutely cannot protect him.”