Chapter 196 - Bloody Christmas (2)

"You…"

The Crimson Paladin's giant sword trembled; almost piercing the ground from how fast it was shaking as he was using it to support himself up. And even with him clearly hurt from the giant fist that swung towards him, the trickle of eyes that could be seen from his knight's helmet was clearly still glaring at Riley.

This white-haired child was playing with him, he thought. And seeing the cheeky and wide smile on his face, it was almost as if he wasn't trying to hide the fact that he was enjoying this– truly, a child of evil.

"You really are Darkday," the Crimson Paladin scoffed, "I have x-ray vision; and although it's not as clear… I know it was you that day just by judging on your features."

"No, I am not," Riley tilted his head to the side; the wide smile on his face slightly shaking as he seemed to be stopping himself from laughing, "How many times do I have to tell you that I am not–"

And before he could finish his words, Riley quickly moved his entire upper body to the side as a wide red beam flashed towards him. He was about to turn his head towards the source of the laser, but his eyes reflected red as another beam from another direction welcomed his face.

"..." His vision, now completely drowned with a red light as he was unable to dodge the unexpected beam; but still, even if he wasn't able to dodge, the beam was unable to reach his skin; stopping only an inch as a sort of invisible armor surrounded Riley.

"..." Riley then tilted his head to the side, only to see the monster with a giant head letting out laser beams from her large eyes.

…She wasn't able to do that before, Riley thought. Were they actually growing stronger?

And as if to answer his question, Aerith suddenly appeared in front of him– her fist, already just an inch away from his face. And like the beam, it wasn't able to move past the invisible armor that seemed to encapsulate Riley.

But with the smile on his face growing wider and wider once more, Riley leaned his head back, and… leaped away. From the view of the news reporters that were scattering like vultures in the air, it looked like Riley was directly hit by the attack, causing him towards a building and… going straight through to the other end as his rolling body destroyed several walls.

And soon, the rumbles and cracks were replaced by screams, resounding in Riley's ears as he finally reached the streets where there were a lot of people.

"W… what's going on!?"

"J… Jeff!"

"..." Riley then looked behind him, only to see a man completely mangled from having been hit by all the debris as well as Riley's body. And seeing the blood smoothly sliding from the invisible armor that surrounded him, Riley was trying his utmost best not to let out a small chuckle.

"That… isn't that one of the monsters that were on the news!?"

It was a good thing that Aerith followed him through the hole he made in the building. Because as soon as the people saw her deformed grey skin, they all quickly ran away in fright.

"They… they're here!"

"Quick, everyone run to the nearest shelter!"

The citizens all started running away; their steps, rumbling louder and louder– only halting as loud roars suddenly echoed through the air and into their ears. The roars almost resonated through their bones, causing their feet to freeze and their heads to turn towards the source of the noise.

"There… There's more!"

"They're here!"

And soon, their organized and almost rehearsed steps became panicked– those who were previously trying to help, now just thinking of themselves.

"W… What is that!?"

Their steps became even more frenzied as the larger monsters appeared; their appearance, truly appalling as they reflected the Christmas lights that flickered with joy.

"Monsters!"

"Run!"

The people started repeating their words as the other clone monsters stepped out of the tunnel that Riley made– some even destroying the walls like styrofoam as they mowed through using their gigantic bodies with any effort.

"Ru–"

And soon, one of the screams stopped. Replaced by a sort of choking noise as the smallest monster flashed through the street– gorging her three arms through the screaming citizen. Head, chest, and stomach, all pierced through.

"D… dad? Are–" And before a little child, who could be assumed as the barbecued man's daughter, could finish her words; her entire body almost disappeared as the monster with a gigantic head mawed her whole– leaving only her feet standing on the ground.

"..." There seemed to be one more left from the family– a mother whose knees have already touched the ground. Her will to live almost completely extinguished like her daughter. Why wouldn't she lose hope? Her family just vanished in front of her in just a blink.

And so, her eyes started to close as she accepted her fate. She could feel the warmth of the gigantic mouth slowly eating away her life. She was, however, not yet allowed to die as she was suddenly grabbed by a civilian. No, maybe not quite a normal civilian as she carried the mother and started running across the walls of the buildings.

"Snap out of it!" The random female super then said; her face slightly twisting as the veins on her arms started to swell.

"Let… let me go!" The mother struggled, "I want to be with my family!"

"I… I can't carry you if you're moving around! Please stop!"

"No, leave me with my family!"

"Kh!"

The female super then lost balance as the mother accidentally hit her on the face; unfortunately for the female super, her leg landed the wrong way and completely snapped her ankle in half.

"S… shit."-- was the only word she could utter as the shadow of the gigantic head slowly wrapped her entire body. She looked back, only to see a set of teeth already sharpened to eat her and the woman she just rescued.

"Fuck."-- was the last word she said before being mangled into pieces by the gigantic jaw.

"R… Run!" The rest of the people continued to scream and run for their lives– each of the noises that escaped from their lungs, however, attracted the monsters even more. And even more, they added to the statistics of daily deaths.

As for Riley who was responsible for luring the monsters here; he was trying his best to hide the arching smile slowly crawling on his face. His ears, finally once again being serenaded by the screams of death and despair.

There was one, however, that distracted him from this impromptu concert– Aerith. Unlike the others that were being attracted by the noises that the frenzied people were making, Aerith was completely focused on him.

Is it possible… she was, in a way, programmed to target only him? Even before when Hannah and the others were still present, 10 of the clones wanted to charge him even though he wasn't doing anything to attract them.

Of course, right now, they weren't even seeing Riley anymore as they attack anything that makes even the slightest noise. Is it because they are still young that they're distracted?

Even Dark Millenium was the same– with her memories slightly altered and innately manipulated; unlike Silvie, who was just brainwashed from birth.

All this cloning business… was starting to become more and more complicated. The Government, the Reubens… are they working together? Or–

"..." Riley's thoughts were disrupted as he quickly leaned his body to the side, avoiding the long claws that suddenly grew from Aerith's fingers. He couldn't even enjoy the scenery around him with all the thoughts that were pestering his mind.

Riley then finally shook his head of the thoughts; letting out a sigh before grabbing Aerith's flailing wrists and kicking her away… ripping out her entire arm in the process and propelling the rest of her into a wall.

This did not seem to faze Aerith, however, as she quickly shrugged herself out of the wall. But before she could take a step, her dismembered arm suddenly shot straight towards her heart, once again pinning her on the wall– the flesh on her dismembered arm, peeling away as it was shaved off by her ribs.

Aerith did not seem to feel any of these, however, as she just continued to step forward, allowing the bones of her dismembered arm to completely pass through her chest as it pinned the wall.

"Help!"

"..." Riley then once again looked at the other monsters, who were still ripping out and terrorizing those who even dared to utter even a whisper of a noise. The Crimson Paladin was now also there, trying his best to help as many people as he could.

There was also civilian supers present– but they were either just running away, or quickly dying as soon as they tried to help someone.

"R… Run! Faster, don't let go of my hand!"

"..." Riley then turned his head towards the voices that were nearest to him, only to see a pregnant woman running alongside a small boy– trying to escape through a small alley so that the larger monsters wouldn't be able to easily chase them.

Sadly for them, however, the one that was chasing them was the smallest monster.

"K… Keep running, baby! Don't look ba–"

And before the pregnant woman could finish her words– she felt a strong pressure from her son's hand; almost pulling her back from her previous steps.

"...Bryan?" The pregnant woman then said as she looked back, only to see her son just standing still, "What are you doing!? Come on!"

"I… I can't," the little boy's voice trembled.

"What do you mean you can't!?" The pregnant woman then quickly rushed towards her son… only for the palm of her hands to lay flat on some kind of invisible wall…

…separating the two of them.