In a World without God

Chapter 42

A sound akin to nails scraping on glass echoed through the air. It was Mebaba's scream. Ishkur, clenching his fist tightly, gazed at Edulis.

"Was he... always this strong?

Though he didn't show it, Ishkur was filled with fear at the sight in front of him– a pile of skeletons in the corner, bones and flesh scattered across the floor, and Mebaba's ugly, menacing form.

It reminded him of when Tibea had stirred up the Fey family. Ishkur had been powerless against her. It was nothing short of a miracle that Edulis had defeated her.

But Mebaba was a far greater threat than Tibea, as the shadow soldiers could tell. The wolf ant's skin was much harder than Tibea's and its movements were much faster too. A being that could produce an endless supply of such wolf ants was ridiculous.

Ishkur had been dreaming for over a decade the day he would break free from the shackles of the Fey family and find his mother. But he never imagined the horrors he would encounter along the way. When he saw Mebaba, he thought he was facing yet another great wall after Tibea.

But his helplessness was short-lived.

Edulis' body soared into the air, hovered for a moment, and then plummeted downward. Like a waterfall, the blade of a guillotine, or a downpour of hail, he struck the ground. As soon as his feet touched the ground, all of Mebaba's ant jaws fell off.

"How... how could a human...!" Mebaba looked terribly confused. It stomped its feet, waving its broken jaws wildly from side to side. Ishkur was watching the scene and thinking the same thing as Mebaba.

"Is this what a human is capable of?

Edulis stomped the ground. His target was Mebaba's front leg. In her frenzy, Mebaba flailed wildly, but Edulis's sword sliced through the joint with precision.

The human face on the Mebaba's skull contorted.

It was the first crisis it had in eighty years. With Lutea dead and the Apostle out of sight, Mebaba had thought there was no threat. It had been living a comfortable life, lying down and eating the food thrown at it.

It was too late for it to realize that— that Edulis was stronger than itself.

'Damn it! Now that it has come to this...'

Thump!

Mebaba's tail rolled on the ground. She had abandoned her egg sac, which took up most of her size. It began to spit out smaller wolf ants. Using them as a barricade, Mebaba began to run on her six legs, away from Edulis. In a flash, she was out of the barracks, scuttling like a cockroach.

Of all the witch's servants, Mebaba was the most skilled at running and hiding. It was how she had managed to evade Ygraine and the Apostle for so long. Eighty years of age had taken its toll, however. The one leg that had been injured by Edulis, that one leg was a problem.

"I leave it to you, Murjana," Edulis said, and Murjana nodded.

Then Edulis charged at the little wolf ants. Black blood splattered across the floor. He leaned on his sword and stomped the ground. Aiming only for Mebaba. It was a Black Fang move, a single thrust that propelled one forward nine paces, but now Edulis was able to do more than that.

Like a stone thrown across the water's surface, Edulis leaped in front of Mebaba in a single bound. At the same time, he swung his sword and one of Mebaba's legs fell off. Her body was thrown off balance.

Edulis' sword pierced through Mebaba's throat and the human face on top of its head screamed.

"Why! Why does such a person exist?! It's supposed to be Granadilla's world!"