Soul Digger-Chapter 77: CURSES

Caesar warmly gazed at the gap in the shattered set, his face plain and his mind clouded by thought. A sharp squelch from the creature’s sizzling flesh reminded him of the situation and their current condition. Nagita watched him sit up, a worried expression displayed on her face.

Caesar slid his eyes to the deconstructing corpse beside him, lowering both brows in a dissecting manner. The look in his eyes was fragile yet sturdy, glaring at the creature intently with a mix of disdain and pity. Within its dissolving organs, a separate arrangement of bones and nerves aligned together like retracted strings mending a broken doll.

Caesar and Nagita gaped in horror; the scenery was as disturbing as it was intriguing. The limbs and bones poorly merged, twisting into a sight of exposed flesh and partly covered bones in a pool of crumbling internal matter. An incomplete brain formed, then a skull, some veins and tendons, along with tissue and flesh, covered the sizzling bones.

In the end, a female figure emerged, spanning from strands of uneven hair and a melted scalp to her torso and missing limbs. Her face was nearly mutilated by the process, like a rotting corpse being forced back to life. Caesar squinted as he recoiled, a baffled gleam shining in his eyes. He and Nagita slowly approached the creature; Caesar crawled while Nagita crouched beside him.

With a loud gasp, Nagita flinched back, nearly tripping over pieces of wood and aluminum. Caesar shut his eyes. A bitter, rough taste of dry leaves mixed with dirt struck his taste buds, and his heart squeezed like a wet sponge; each beat sent a sharp pain across his body, similar to a stroke but worse.

Caesar opened his eyes to take another glance at the woman’s face. His lips rolled back like a curtain as ugly lines drew across his face. "MRS. BRIAN?" he asked softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

The woman parted her jaw and responded in a distorted voice that sounded like clicking pegs stuck in a grinder, "Help me..." The faint red glow of the creature’s main body steadily dissipated.

Tears dropped from her eyes; her corneas and retinas were diluted by red, with an uneven shape in between. "My... fiancé..."

"The... monster..."

"Dark..."

"Soldier..."

She struggled to produce proper words, let alone a full sentence. Caesar knelt beside her, wearing a dull face as he paid attention to every word. Nagita tucked both hands away and listened attentively as well; her expression was brighter than Caesar’s but highly empathetic.

Caesar bowed in a relenting fashion. He patiently waited for her every word, ignoring his own exhaustion and internal pain. The fact that she was beyond saving stung more than his screaming organs; out of respect for her, Caesar didn’t utter a word until she finished.

Nagita did the same. Occasional flashes of her previous encounter with Mrs. Brian swept through her mind. They weren’t well acquainted, nor did she have any deep remorse for her condition; however, Caesar’s commitment was enough reason to allow pity to bloom in her heart. Otherwise, Nagita would do nothing but empathize with Mrs Brian’s dying moments in a less authentic manner. Even then, Nagita was more interested in the information Mrs. Brian tried to convey.

Her mind pieced Mrs. Brian’s every word together like a puzzle. It lacked clarity, of course, but still served as a decent lead. ’Fiancé, monster, dark, soldier? What do any of these mean? Is she trying to reveal how she ended up like this?’

’In the Indulger world, humans being cursed is as normal as death. Curses can cause people to lose their sanity, destinies, powers, and humanity,’ she thought. ’I once heard an Indulger was turned into a man-eating rabbit as a curse, for stealing a divine artifact and getting caught by it’s guardian.’

’If I remember correctly, the Indulger attacked its faction members and killed sixty people. Curses are like punishments, inflicted by highly skilled Indulgers or powerful supernatural entities; in some cases, they’re used as trials.’ A drop of sweat slid down her face. ’This implies two things: either Rolan is a highly skilled Indulger hiding his powers, which would support Caesar’s assumption of him being the culprit. That would also mean he’s responsible for THIS.’

’Or, though less likely, we’re dealing with more than Soul Drainers. Perhaps a higher supernatural entity is involved, maybe even an advanced Soul Drainer.’

’Where is Rolan Swindler, anyway?’

"Nagita."

"Huh! Did you call me, Caesar?"

Caesar pasted a pained gaze on the rubble-littered floor.

Snapped out of her daze, Nagita realized Mrs. Brian had gone silent, and clenched her fists.

"She’s dead," Caesar relayed in a cold, grieving voice. "Before she left, Mrs. Brian kept repeating the words ’monster’ and ’her fiancé’."

"Do you think she was cursed?" Nagita asked, her tone more stable despite what had happened.

Caesar paused, taking in a deep gaze of her withering body and melting flesh. "That seems highly likely," he uttered, forcing himself to stand firm on his shaking feet. "As though she were targeted by someone for having knowledge."

’There’s a possibility we were careless with our earlier conversation, and whoever was spying on us heard and attacked her. That means she was aware of something. Is it perhaps related to Rolan? The trial? Or something else?’ Nagita pondered. ’She didn’t strike me as someone aware of the supernatural world.’

Caesar stood at attention and gave Mrs. Brian a lengthy, heartfelt salute. He didn’t know her personally, nor did he have any reason to treat her as well as he did; regardless, he decided to honor her—not as an Indulger to a civilian, but as an ex-soldier to someone of higher rank.

Nagita didn’t feel much for Mrs. Brian apart from surface-level empathy, so she was slightly bewildered by Caesar’s actions. Nonetheless, the non-verbal clarity between them was as prevalent as the falling snow.

Nagita broke the silence. "Do you think Rolan Swindler was responsible?"

"I don’t know," Caesar responded in a monotone.

Nagita then turned to the sky, staring at the large hole in the set. Snow from outside poured in like water from a broken bucket.

The city of the North Pole was bullied by uneven lighting; the parts remaining in unaffected portions glitched instead of displaying a blaring warm sun, and those beneath the hole were blessed with cold snow and fallible sunlight. A truly gloomy sight to behold.

Meanwhile...

Sylzao climbed the mountain of broken shards, rubble, and reeking corpses just to get a better view of the new topology. The shattered remnants of the set stood like pillars at awkward distances, facing each other. From where he stood, Sylzao could see the majority of the North Pole as though on a wide screen. Marter and Frank stood beneath him as they observed.

On top of that, Sylzao spotted Nagita and Caesar not too far across him. At the same time, he also saw a mob of fifteen people heading towards them. Interested, he took a seat and spectated with a pleased grin.

The people wore full white attire, from coats to trousers, boots, and even hats. Their steps were coordinated; from Sylzao’s perspective, they acted more like an organized group than a mob.

’Wait just a moment...’ Sylzao reasoned.

He felt a low, lurking presence leaking from them despite the distance. The aura they exuded gave him a warm yet tickling feeling he was familiar with.

"Do you guys feel it too?" Sylzao turned to his two group members below him. Marter and Frank exchanged odd looks before nodding in agreement.

Sylzao chuckled lightly for a bit, then turned back to watch. "Who would have thought..." He grinned like a mad hyena.

CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

The sound of cracking and colliding material drew Caesar and Nagita’s attention. Nagita raised her guard, shifting beside Caesar in a single movement. Since he was still drained from his fight with Mrs. Brian, Caesar was more of a burden at that point.

Though weak physically, his stare was still harsh and energetic. Even if he couldn’t help by running away, Caesar wasn’t willing to add more stress on Nagita.

She set up a stance and guarded him, waiting for the people to expose themselves. Since Nagita and Caesar were on a slope of detritus, waiting for them to climb up was the best option. A few seconds passed, and figures of different people became visible from below. Men and women in white garments appeared; in front of them was a man wearing a bright white fur hat and trench coat. On his blazer were three silver chains bound to the coat pockets, and his sparkling boots were shaped similarly to bulbs.

Nagita and Caesar froze in their spots.

’Are these people... Indulgers?’ they thought.

Their question was affirmed by the wavelength oozing from them and their uniform-like attire, as well as the presence of magic hanging above them upon their arrival—perhaps the result of an ancient artifact they carried. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"Blue hair," the man at the front spoke in a smooth yet dictating voice. "For your actions, you’re coming with us."