Published at 1st of April 2023 12:46 am

Chapter 391 False Skin

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Jaeger finally answered after staying silent, “The ‘Pollution of Iniquity’.”

“Pollution of Iniquity?” He repeated.

It wasn’t a term that sounded familiar in the least; despite the dozens of books he had read that covered Ennage, even if it was the largest continent and the oldest, such a grandiose term didn’t ring a bell.

“It’s not common knowledge outside of Ennage. There aren’t many inhabitants that are familiar with it, either,” Jaeger told him, “I only found out through exploring an abandoned temple that nearly took my life. What I saw there…”

The veteran hunter seemed to remember something unwanted as he recalled the moments spoken, though stopped himself as he ran his fingertips over the prominent scars that lay on his face.

“If it’s something so secretive, are you fine with telling me?” Emilio asked, making sure.

Jaeger breathed out before looking over at the youthful man, “I’m not part of the conservative bunch that try and sweep it under the rug–even if it means killing innocents. Besides, you remind me of myself when I was younger–you might be bright-eyed and ignorant, but you’ve got the spark. Just wonder how long it lasts, though.”

“–” Emilio looked at the weathered, tired-seeming adventurer.

It was clear that Jaeger was worn out from his journeys–especially the current ordeal with the enigma known as “Inconnu”–though the man was undoubtedly capable, humans had their limits. From what it appeared, Jaeger had long since drugged his feet past that threshold.

Jaeger was quiet as the flickering of the campfire reflected in his sharp, yellow eyes before he finally continued, “The ‘Pollution of Iniquity’ is a phenomena that dates back to the first civilizations that inhabited the Continent of Demons; a nameless chunk of land filled only with mindless beasts and nothing to be remembered for.”

Intrigued by this foreign knowledge, he paid close attention past the flickering campfire as their meal cooked.

“The Demon race were purely savages back then; wars were fought endlessly–sometimes over authority and power, but often in the name of their ‘Gods’. It was a period known as the “Era of Null”–enough bloodshed and warfare to wipe out most traces of history of that time,” Jaeger explained.

“They fought each other so much that they wiped out most of their own history? That’s insane,” Emilio added.

It wasn’t a concept he was completely unfamiliar with; such phenomena were present in Earth’s own history, though never to the extent that the hunter was telling him. The idea of it was still concerning to imagine such vast amounts of time, history, and achievements being discarded by bloodshed.

“I’ve spent a lot of my time here studying it. From what I’ve heard, the “Era of Null” is either unknown to most or taboo to some–usually old scholars of this land,” Jaeger said.

“It sounds terrible, but what’s that have to do with this ‘Pollution of Iniquity’ thing? And more…what’s it have to do with why everything is so violent here?” Emilio asked.

Before he could receive an answer just yet, the game that had been caught by the hunter was finished cooking. The middle-aged, gruff man seemed to take his time in a lot of ways, though it served as an annoyance for Emilio, who hardly felt any patience in his current situation.

Jaeger cut up the cooked meat before handing a portion over to him, which Emilio accepted before quickly taking a bite out of it.

“Mmm…”

Emilio hardly seemed to chew before swallowing, finding his stomach far too excited about the prospect of real, good meat after eating so many insects.

The hunter watched him for a moment, noticing his enjoyment of the elk dinner before he spoke, “To answer your question…the ‘Pollution of Iniquity’ was born from the endless wars that plagued this continent all of that time ago. It was the curse of a malevolent being–one sought as a “blessing” at that time to the savages.”

“A blessing?” He repeated with his mouth full.

“It was a curse embedded into this land; the blood of ‘something’ evil and vile enough that it spurred the beasts that roamed the continent to evolve in accordance to the sheer goal of spreading that malice,” Jaeger explained, “That was how the wars stopped: the wildlands became so dangerous that it forced the people living here to stop fighting among themselves and band together against the beasts.”

After getting an explanation, he took another bite out of the cooked elf he held in his hand before swallowing it down. There was something about the story that struck him as odd; nothing directly about it or how the hunter told it, but something he personally was familiar with.

‘The ‘Pollution of Iniquity’–a curse that caused the beasts of Ennage to evolve into powerful magic beasts and become inherently violent towards people. Why do I feel like this has the mark of a Primordial written all over it?’ He questioned.

It wasn’t clear to him how he should feel about the land now; it was one thing to simply believe that creatures were hostile due to their feral minds, but it was another thing altogether to know the reason for it was much deeper, and much darker.

Something stood out to him as he watched Jaeger eat; the man seemed repulsed by the food he ate, yet held a straight face, turning around periodically to spit out the elk meat.

‘What is he doing…?’ Emilio questioned.

There wasn’t much space for rest, as the moment they both were finished with their meals, they both headed out again through the Scarlet Forest. Jaeger had packed up some of the elk meat, bringing it with them.

“–” Emilio followed close behind the hunter, keeping an eye out.

It seemed the deeper into the Scarlet Forest he had gone, the more its eerie aspects made themselves known. Flowers that resembled roses bled from their cores as the petals contracted as he walked past them.

The natural scent that lingered around the deep-red forest was that of a coppery sweetness; a contradiction of aromas that made him question if it was gross or pleasing. What he noticed as he followed the man was that the dirt road they had been following along was becoming more obscured by the environment.

“Is it just me or is the road getting more…absent?” He asked.

“—” Jaeger didn’t respond.

There was definitely something abnormal occurring; they both moved in a light jog, running down the Scarlet Forest as Emilio looked at the silent hunter’s back. As he kept watch of the man in front of him, Emilio found himself surprised by the sudden new scenery of wild, colossal “blood roses” that now surrounded him.

Each of these crimson-leaking roses were wrapped around trees, as if sung their thorny roots to ensnare the trees themselves.

‘What’s this?’ He questioned.

—Just then, the air hissed against his ears at that very second he looked to the right to investigate the abnormal area. He ducked his head down just as the blade that tried to cleave through his skull missed, countering with a flick of his fingers.

It was Jaeger; the yellow-eyed man had wordlessly tried to assassinate him, though failed as the counter from the Dragonheart manifested a dozen bullets of air that pierced forward.

SQUELCH

“—” Emilio stood there.

The hunter had been pierced by the projectiles of air, which were unforgiving in their speed and power, drilling a series of holes through “Jaeger’s” arms, legs, and even his torso.

Yet, the darkly-dressed, bristly-bearded man remained standing, staring towards the Dragonheart as his own face contorted—revealing its true monstrous shade.

“So, that’s how it is…? I knew you were a little too trusting for the type of adventurer you posed as,” Emilio remarked, “Let me guess—you stole that body.”

A grin stretched across the lips of the entity that pretended to have been his very own companion, though that pale complexion instead was revealed to instead be mossy, grass-like skin.

There was no longer any semblance of a man, but a mossy, humanoid dressed in the clothing of the hunter.

‘I had my suspicions, but I’d be lying if I said I expected this. This whole time, Jaeger was a monster that was using his body to deceive me, waiting for a moment to strike,’ Emilio realized,

“Sharp human. I was sure I played this body’s memories correctly,” the body-stealing creature spoke in a low, broken voice.

By what the unsettling creature said, the amethyst-eyed man understood how he was able to be deceived so thoroughly: it was able to tap into the memories of the body it had stolen, it seemed.

It was certainly a creepy existence; the grass-skinned stood there with its hole-filled outfit, like a scarecrow amidst the rain that befell the scarlet forest.

“…Let me guess: you lured me into this forest–this is your ‘hunting grounds’, isn’t it, monster?” Emilio asked, “Are you the one that wiped out that city, then?…”

The mossy-skinned creature moved as though it had never piloted a human body now, letting its arms dangle as its knees reversed in a grotesque fashion, having no need to follow the anatomical restrictions of the human form.

“You’re mistaken,” the unsettling creature said, “The massacre was not my doing; I truly wish it was. Oh, how I do. I’d love to snap those bones, crunch them and gnaw them–break the children in half. But…it was not I.”

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