LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 24: As Easy as Breaking a Blade of Grass
*ヨ尺ヨヨ~廾丹山*
Two agents were sitting in the security room, inside the FBI building, with a large series of screens in front of them displaying footage from all the camera’s within the government compound.
Neither was really taking the live videos too seriously though. One was lying back in his chair - nose carefully balanced between his upper lip & nose - while the other was carefully eating a fast food burger with one hand. His other hand holding his drink; balancing the paper container the burger came on in his lap in order to catch any mess the burger could make.
The heavy duty door to the room was locked tightly (a security measure) in order to make sure that they wouldn’t be abruptly “taken care of” by anyone who may sneak inside. However, at the same time, they were literally located in the centre of the USA. There was no organisation foolish enough to actually try sending in anyone to sneak inside therefore there was little to actually worry about.
Nothing human at least.
Still, they did pay attention to the camera’s even if they were being very lackadaisical. A good thing they did as soon as the one who was merely balancing a pencil caught the mirror on their floor being broken through before the camera began to heavily distort.
Seeing that made him lean forward with a frown on his face - not paying attention to the writing utensil falling to the floor to echo throughout the room - as the static made it difficult to see. An effect that seemed to be gradually travelling from camera to camera. He could at least see well enough to tell there was shattered glass all over the floor.
“Dammit, what is the ground floor team doing, that dumb idiot who nearly let those Porshi girls receive a bullet must be throwing stones at our damn windows!” Cursing out someone who ‘used’ to be higher ranked than him; a very satisfying feeling to say the least. “Tell them to chase him away while getting some tape or something to block up that damn window before she gets some birds flying inside and shitting on everything.”
“I’m eating; why can’t you do it!” His comrade meanwhile didn’t seem to care as much as he glanced up from his burger to the various different corridors displayed in front of them. Quickling noting how the signal must have been horrible today as he even noticed a slight garbled noise in the background.
Neither of them did much other than glare at one another - soon the latter just continued to eat his burger.
An action that caused his fellow to snort through his nose in irritation. Clearly he was watching the monitors thus it should fall onto the other security guard to deliver the report; not to mention that growing electronic white noise was making both of them feel unsettled. “Then I gue-”
*THUD!*
“-what was that?!” Although he said that, they both turned toward the door with an instinctive unease that slowly growed, not even thinking of looking at it through the cameras. By this point the soft static “hum” had grown to the point it was hard to even think to themselves. Both didn’t know why… All they knew was they were currently shivering while looking at the door.
The one who wasn’t eating on the job decided to look toward the camera after that bang was left without an encore. There was nothing he could actually make out. That screen filled with nothing but static however (just as he was about to look away) through the distorting he saw a looming figure.
*shi~ng*
They simply walked around the corridor but an outstretched claw-like hand held some kind of bladed weapon that they lightly pulled across the wall.
To add to that, the entity's face seemed to be more akin to the skull of some type of elk with matching horns. Only there were three eye holes with lights that inside; somehow remained eerily clear despite all of the abnormalities in the footage. Obviously whatever it was… It was not anywhere close to being a human if it was even alive.
He wanted to scream out in fear - bring his comrades attention to it - yet that creature turned its head away from the camera to some kind of vent. Slashing through the steel with its hand scythe before seemingly being sucked into the ventilation. Making it seem like the entire creature was just some gas.
“M-maybe we’re just imagining it?”
Both came to that same conclusion as there was no other explanation; especially for what was shown on the cameras.
Just as they were about to settle down an all too familiar black scythe flew out from the vent above them to puncture into the head of the gluttonous guard. From above that shadowy figure fell down to the ground hitherto standing up to their full (intimidating) height as they yanked their weapon back toward themself using the attached rope. Unfortunately it was quite deeply stuck in there - causing the still collapsing corpse to fly across the room only for the entity to lift another hand up.
Catching the head of the guard as they looked towards the other; with no sound nor hesitation they clenched their fist to create a meaty *pop*. Freeing their weapon while the remaining security could only watch in horror. Body completely frozen as they could only mumble “this can’t be happening”.
“D-don’t kill me-e, I-I’ll give yo-ou anyth-hing y-you w-want, so do-” Lamentably there was no such thing as negotiation when it came to dealing with a newly born spirit who was addicted to the kill. “工 尺ヨ丹ししと 丹冊 甲凵工卞ヨ 尺凵己卞と; 工 己凵尸尸回己ヨ 乍工レヨ とヨ丹尺己 山回凵し句 几ヨレヨ尺 廾丹レヨ 日ヨヨ几 ヨ几回凵呂廾 卞回 冊丹己卞ヨ尺 卞廾ヨ 片凵己丹尺工呂丹冊丹.”
|I really am quite rusty; I suppose five years would never have been enough to master the kusarigama.|
That garbled speech was all he could hear before it simply swung its sickle - sending his head flying into the air followed by a fountain of blood.
It was as easy as snapping a thread of grass for the being. Something so simple they didn’t linger on either of the corpses they had created; looking through the cameras as if to try to find something. Soon nodding their heads as they once more turned into a shadowy mist.
“工 冊丹と 丹己 山ヨしし 己卞ヨ丹し 己回冊ヨ 工几乍回尺冊丹卞工回几 山廾工しヨ 工’冊 廾ヨ尺ヨ…”
|I may as well steal some information while I’m here…|
Wandering through a few hallways; luckily there was nearly no one around at this time of day so there wasn’t any more bloodshed. At least until they turned to enter a computer room. Lowering themself just to fit under the frame, using those claw hands to pull itself, causing a surprised exclamation from a man on the other side of the room.
The room itself was just filled with several rows of desks that had computers on top - the beast did not bother wasting much time as they produced a memory stick. A reaction that confused the man enough to not notice the sickle that punctured straight through his eye and into his brain.
Just then a girl stood up from behind one of the desks, not asking any questions, she fired several shots into the creature… Those shots just passed straight through. Causing smoke-like ripples in it’s dark cloak as it slowly tilted its head to the woman. ‘Eyes’ wanderer's wandering over her body & bountiful breasts only to let out a sigh.
This display was enough for the woman to drop her weapon; only being able to look on in horror as the monster turned its body to fully face her. After putting in a memory stick into a console. “丹 己廾丹冊ヨ 卞回 尺ヨ冊回レヨ 己凵亡廾 丹 山回几句ヨ尺乍凵し 日回句と 乍尺回冊 卞廾工己 山回尺し句, 工 山回凵し句 廾丹レヨ しヨ卞 と回凵 し工レヨ 工乍 と回凵 勹凵己卞 己卞丹とヨ句 句回山几… 冊丹と日ヨ.”
|A shame to remove such a wonderful body from this world, I would have let you live if you just stayed down… Maybe.|
With nothing more to say, it could only act. Slinging the body (attached to its weapon) over to the girl - only to have both of them explode into a gory pain for the wall. The entity didn’t care anymore as it reeled its weapon back with one hand as the other began to dance across the holo-keypad.
Soon pulling out the memory stick - heading out the room after having stolen all the information that was present on the network. An easy feat. They weren’t quite done however as they still had one more place before they could call it a night. A place where the security was far higher; anybody or door in their way was simply cut down and phased through any traps.
It didn’t take too long to find themselves standing in front of a cell; even through the metal door the pained moans & maddening wailes broke through.
Using their bare hand to tear the hinges from the war, taking out the weakest link, to have the door fall to the floor. Entering the room allowed them to see a white man in rags huddled into a corner. Rocking back and forth with facial hair that had obviously been grown out after a few days or no grooming.
The biggest surprise was that their legs which were covered in counted cuts - developing necrosis despite fresh blood occasionally breaking through the scabs - were far too uniform to be random. Even with the monster looming over, the man didn’t seem to notice, he just mumbled to himself “death is real, death is real, death is real, death is real” over and over.
Although it was the face of the man that the entity recognised more than any of that; the lights in its eye holes narrowed with suspicion. Instead of focusing on that, though, it decided to rip anything off those wounded legs to study them more intently. Only taking a little while to study them before realising that this was a language - certainly making it impossible to be a random injury.
He watched, then he waited, yet he still isn’t dead.
A curious sentence repeated over & over. Meaning little by itself however, to the spirit, holding something far more profound just under the surface level. Lifting its malformed limbs up to study - only to slowly turn toward the man. Sounds of approaching agents reached its non-existent ears yet it was certainly in no rush to head out.
Reaching a clawed hand out to grip the man by his neck; lifting the supposed criminal up just as several guards burst onto the scene. Screaming out something or another before getting sick of their own voices thus filling the room with the sound of gunfire. Those bullets just phased through the spirit's shadowy body (some even hitting the man) as its alabaster arm began to form a black surface with crimson cracks.
In front of the vision of a dozen federal agents - the insane man's scream got even louder as moisture seemed to be sucked from his body. A few moments later his body gruesomely turned to dust layer by layer until he was gone. Leaving naught but a floor of dust as the one responsible slowly walked up to the wall opposite of the door; moving their weapon to easily slice through the concrete surface.
Those security personnel weren’t even able to come back to their senses before the creature leaped into the city below.
This didn’t mean this would be the last time it would be seen…