The Village of Red Eyes (Part 2)

The wind howled through the streets of Asterveil.

Kaien barely noticed.

His mind was still caught on Magnus's final words.

"Then you'll finally learn what real fear is."

They clung to his thoughts like frost that refused to melt.

Yun Yun walked beside him as they left the deserted village square behind.

Neither of them spoke.

Not after what they had just witnessed.

Snow crunched beneath their boots.

From behind half-open shutters, villagers silently watched them pass.

Crimson eyes.

Always those same crimson eyes.

Kaien was beginning to hate them.

Not because they frightened him.

But because everyone in this village seemed the same.

Silent.

Empty.

As though they had given up searching for answers long ago.

Yun Yun suddenly came to a stop.

Kaien halted beside her.

Something was wrong.

She slowly turned her head toward a narrow alley between two houses.

"Yun Yun..."

He studied her face.

"What is it?"

She didn't answer.

Instead, her hand slipped beneath her coat, reaching for the small knife at her waist.

Kaien noticed the movement immediately.

His pulse quickened.

Yun Yun wasn't someone who startled easily.

Yet now...

...her fingers were trembling.

A faint scratching sound drifted out of the darkness.

Like fingernails dragging across stone.

The familiar weight settled over the air once more.

The same feeling he'd sensed in the forest.

The same oppressive presence.

Something was watching them.

A figure slowly emerged from the alley.

A man.

At least...

...he looked like one.

He wore a long gray coat and walked with a slight limp. Snow had settled across his shoulders, while the shadows concealed most of his face.

Only his crimson eyes remained clearly visible.

Kaien let out a quiet breath.

Just a villager.

Yun Yun's reaction told a different story.

Instead of relaxing, she instinctively took a step back.

The man stopped several yards away and remained motionless for a long moment.

Only then did he slowly raise his head.

Kaien felt the blood drain from his face.

The lower half of the man's face was gone.

No lips.

No skin.

Only rows of exposed black teeth.

And yet...

...he smiled.

Or at least, something resembling a smile spread across what remained of his mouth.

"Kaien."

His name sent a chill through him.

How did this man know who he was?

"W-Who are you?"

The stranger didn't answer.

He simply stared at Kaien.

Hungrily.

After several long seconds, he finally spoke.

"You look like him."

Yun Yun immediately grabbed Kaien's sleeve.

"Come on..."

Her voice was barely a whisper.

"...Let's go."

Instead of answering, the man took a single step forward.

Too fast.

Far too fast for any normal human.

Kaien instinctively reached for his training sword.

The stranger stopped at once.

His crimson eyes slowly drifted toward the blade.

A dry laugh escaped him.

Soft.

Rotten.

"You're asking the wrong questions."

Kaien tightened his grip around the hilt.

"What is that supposed to mean!?"

Before the stranger could answer...

...a bell echoed somewhere in the village.

A single, heavy toll.

The man froze.

For the first time...

...unease crossed his face.

Slowly, his gaze shifted toward the North Wall.

His eyes widened.

"...No."

A second bell echoed across the village.

Louder.

Deeper.

The snowfall suddenly intensified until it became a blinding white storm.

The man instinctively took a step back.

"They're coming earlier than expected."

Kaien moved toward him.

"Who's coming!?"

The stranger didn't answer.

Instead, he held Kaien's gaze.

Only then did Kaien notice something unsettling.

The man's pupils...

...weren't red.

They were completely black.

Like endless voids.

"Kaien..."

His voice had become strangely calm.

"If you want to survive..."

A faint smile spread across what remained of his mouth.

"...never go to the North Wall."

The next instant, he turned and ran.

Within moments, the snowstorm swallowed him whole.

Kaien immediately started after him.

Yun Yun caught his arm before he could take another step.

"Kaien! Have you lost your mind!?"

"He knows something!"

"I know!"

Her grip tightened around his sleeve.

"That's exactly why you can't follow him!"

Kaien stared at her.

"How do you know all this?"

He pulled his arm free.

"I'm going after him."

A sharp crack echoed through the empty street.

Yun Yun had slapped him.

Kaien stumbled back, his hand instinctively rising to his cheek.

"What..."

He looked at her in disbelief.

"...What's wrong with you?"

Yun Yun said nothing.

And somehow...

...that silence hurt more than the slap.

She always avoided his questions.

She always knew more than she admitted.

And she was always afraid of things Kaien couldn't even begin to understand.

"Yun Yun..."

His voice was quieter now.

"What are you hiding from me?"

She turned her face away.

Not a single word.

Kaien clenched his teeth.

"For years, all this messed-up shit has been happening in this village, and every single time you all act like it's normal!"

"BECAUSE IT IS!"

The words echoed through the empty street.

Yun Yun's eyes widened.

She looked just as shocked as Kaien.

As though she hadn't meant to say it out loud.

Kaien could only stare at her.

Her breathing grew uneven.

Slowly, she lowered her gaze.

Only then did Kaien realize how hard she was fighting to hold back her tears.

"At least..."

Her voice was barely a whisper.

"...here."

A cold wind swept through the narrow streets.

Somewhere in the distance, a dog barked.

A moment later, a dull thud echoed through the night.

The barking stopped.

Another chill crawled down Kaien's spine.

The village suddenly felt even more unsettling than before.

Yun Yun pulled her scarf higher, hiding the lower half of her face.

"Just come with me."

Kaien followed without another word.

The farther they walked, the emptier the streets became.

The houses grew older.

Darker.

Their weathered wooden walls stood so close together that they seemed to press in from both sides.

Many looked abandoned.

Some windows had been boarded shut.

Others were covered in strange black symbols.

One, in particular, caught Kaien's eye.

A circle.

Crossed by jagged black lines.

Almost like claw marks.

"Those symbols..."

"Don't look at them."

Kaien frowned.

"You always say that."

His eyes remained fixed on the markings.

"'Don't look.'"

Yun Yun offered no reply.

Instead, she stopped in front of a small house.

Kaien looked up.

He knew this place.

Or at least...

...he thought he did.

It stood at the very edge of the village, where hardly anyone ever came.

Most people believed it had been abandoned for years.

Yet Yun Yun quietly pushed the door open.

Kaien blinked.

"Wait..."

He looked from the house to her.

"...You live here!?"

"Sometimes."

Kaien stared at her.

"What do you mean, 'sometimes'!?"

Yun Yun ignored the question and stepped inside.

After a brief hesitation...

...Kaien followed.

Warm air greeted him the moment he entered.

A small stove crackled softly in the corner, filling the room with the scent of burning herbs.

But it wasn't the warmth that caught his attention.

It was the walls.

They were covered from floor to ceiling with drawings.

Not ordinary sketches.

Monsters.

Dozens of them.

No...

Hundreds.

Towering black creatures.

People with their bodies torn open.

Crimson eyes staring through the mist.

And everywhere he looked, the same strange symbols appeared again and again.

Kaien felt his stomach tighten.

"...What the hell is all this?"

Yun Yun quietly closed the door behind them.

For several long seconds, she simply stood there, her eyes resting on the countless drawings.

"The truth."

Kaien froze.

For the first time...

...she had answered without trying to avoid the question.

He stepped closer to one of the drawings.

It depicted something enormous.

A black creature with unnaturally long arms.

No face.

Only a single eye in the center of its head.

Beneath it, one word had been written.

Demons.

That familiar weight settled over Kaien's chest once again.

The same word.

The same feeling.

"What are demons?"

Yun Yun didn't answer immediately.

Instead, she crossed the room and lowered herself into the chair beside the small wooden table.

The firelight danced across her red eyes.

This time...

...they looked tired.

Truly tired.

"Monsters."

Kaien slowly shook his head.

"I'd already figured that out."

"No..."

She lifted her gaze to meet his.

"You don't understand, Kaien."

"What do you mean?"

Her lips parted slightly.

"Humans."

The stove crackled quietly between them.

Kaien let out a short laugh.

Not because he found it funny.

Because his mind refused to accept the answer.

"No."

"Yes."

"That thing outside wasn't human."

"Not anymore."

A wave of nausea washed over Kaien.

His gaze drifted back to the drawings.

The twisted bodies.

The black eyes.

The shattered bones.

"How does someone become..."

He swallowed.

"...something like that?"

Yun Yun slowly closed her eyes.

"That..."

She hesitated.

"...I still don't know."

That answer again.

Kaien was beginning to feel as though everyone in this village knew the truth...

...except him.

"Then tell me what you've figured out so far!"

Yun Yun slowly opened her eyes.

For the first time since they'd met...

...Kaien saw genuine fear in them.

"It's not that simple."

Outside, the wind grew stronger, rattling the old windows.

"Demons are creatures of darkness..."

Her voice had dropped to little more than a whisper.

"They're always hungry."

Kaien frowned.

"They eat people."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Of course it doesn't."

Tears welled in her eyes as she rose from the table.

Without another word, she crossed the room to an old cabinet and carefully pulled out a thick book.

Its cover was black.

Strange symbols had been carved into the leather.

The pages looked ancient.

Almost burned.

She carried it back and gently placed it on the table in front of Kaien.

He carefully opened the first page.

For a heartbeat...

...his heart seemed to stop.

The illustration showed Asterveil.

But not the village he knew.

No walls.

No guards.

No red eyes.

Instead...

...ordinary people.

Ordinary eyes.

Ordinary faces.

Children played in the snow.

People laughed.

Kaien stared at the illustration in disbelief.

"Th-That's impossible."

Yun Yun gave a slow nod.

"A very long time ago..."

Her eyes lingered on the faded page.

"...Asterveil was an ordinary village."

Kaien turned the page.

The following pages told the story of war.

Fire.

Black mist.

Enormous creatures.

People began to change.

Their bodies twisted into grotesque shapes.

Their eyes turned red.

Their skin blackened.

Kaien felt his hands begin to tremble.

As he turned another page...

...he suddenly stopped.

His breath caught.

A woman had been drawn across the faded parchment.

Blue eyes.

Red hair.

A rusty sword.

Kaien froze.

She looked like him.

Far too much like him.

Slowly, he lifted his gaze.

"...Who is she?"

Yun Yun remained silent for a long moment.

The storm rattled the windows.

Only after it had passed did she quietly answer.

"The last human who tried to wage war against the Demon King."