Chương 83: More Rust

I was in a place similar to the ship from last time. The environment was crafted from rusted steel, and I could clearly hear the raging waves down below my feet. Wherever I was, though, the waves seemed unable to make the place tremble, but there was a rather loud groan as though the steel was put under heavy strain at nearly all times. It was night, but there was a bright full moon, allowing me to get a good look at my surroundings as strong winds flew past and into me.

Approaching a railing, it seemed that I was on some sort of platform in the middle of the ocean. Once again, I could spot movement beneath the waves far below. I could do so especially well thanks to the moonlight, as the shine seemed to reflect against empty eyes and wet scales. What a freaky nightmare… And what sort of idea is that? Building something in the middle of the ocean is already foolish, considering that sea monsters seem to take great offence at ships just passing by, so a whole structure?

If this were the real world, it would have been torn apart before it could even be constructed. Also, once again, why would it be built out of steel, susceptible to rust? There are many kinds of natural iron that are highly resistant or outright immune to that, and if you couldn't get your hands on it, then you could just call some of those magical craftsmen and they could enchant the steel to be resistant or something…

Although logically idiotic, I had to admit that the place was something I would be willing to call awesome. The ambience was on point. Exactly the sort of natural auditory environment that would have been able to put me to sleep like I was a corpse back during my human days. And whilst quite cool, the place was filled with large objects and contraptions that I had no idea about. Are those some examples of what they usually call mechanisms? There seems to be nothing magical about them.

They just looked like several lumps of steel stuck together that somehow seemed to have been capable of rolling or otherwise moving around in the past. In any case… My prey doesn't seem to be around here. They're probably over there, right? The huge platform also featured an interior, where I presumed people would go to sleep in as I doubted there were any intentions for workers or whatever to just go back and forth every day between here and dry land.

The place might not make much sense, but there was surely an amount of logic somewhere. Indeed, as I descended a set of stairs that seemed to scream with every step I took, I arrived in a lodging area with plenty of small, cramped rooms that looked abandoned. There were no cobwebs whatsoever, and the dust looked different from the kind I was used to. It looked more like a mixture of salt crust and flaked-off rust than anything else… Various items were just lying around.

To me, the place had just been left behind, and thanks to this, I got my hands on a tool that would definitely be of use later… Kept in some sort of casing upon a wall in the hallway was an axe that had curiously remained pristine and untouched by the surrounding decay. The iron head was sharp and shiny, and the wooden handle was firm, unbothered by humidity. It was like it had been purposefully placed here for me to pick up… Or perhaps there were weapons such as this one lying around? I ought to be careful, then…

My prey might try to fight back. This was not a style of axe intended to be used in a fight, nor was it the sort wielded by lumberjacks. It had a sharp point at the back of its head and was supposed to be used in an emergency to break down doors and the like, but it could still very well be put to use for any other kind of axe activities… I had rarely used any kind of axe for its intended purpose. In fact, the only times I had used one properly were during my knight training.

The rest of the time, I would just fetch myself an unused emergency axe to do the job. As a matter of fact, when it came to using weapons for their first and foremost usage… Well, in my human years, I had never actually used a genuine weapon to do the deed, always kitchen utensils, tools, and other items whose primary purpose was not violence. My knightly form was pretty much my first occasion to consistently use actual weapons in their natural environment. Mmh…? That sounded more like a footstep than the rest.

I raised my head to stare at the ceiling. I stood still. My left hand grasped the axe's handle near the head as I focused on listening. The great cacophony of strained steel, waves, and other hardly identifiable noises made it difficult to notice a particular noise amidst the rest, but to me, it truly sounded like something with two legs was walking slowly above me. Being cautious, are we? Unfortunate that I just so happened to go right beneath you… This story has been taken without authorization.

Report any sightings. The only problem was that I had no real idea of how this place was arranged. I thus had no clue how to get to the floor above my head. For now, I merely followed the steps from below. The more of the steps I heard, the more certain I was that I had indeed found my prey. Unless there were some nightmare beings around, but I had heard of no such things when listening to the nightmare-plagued. They are going slow… And it doesn't seem like they are going to stop any time soon.

According to Nara, the trial's objective was the same as last time. My target merely needed to stay alive for a certain period of time. And from what I gathered, it wasn't a short amount of time either, so I could afford to merely stalk them for a little while. I was hoping that they would lead me to stairs that would put them within axe range. My wish was fulfilled, as from the sound of things, my prey had been looking for stairs to begin with.

I could hear them ascending what seemed to be a tower, judging by the number of steps they were taking. I do remember seeing an elevated tower of sorts, presumably a place someone would go to give directives to those below by using the high ground to get a better look at things. That's not the brightest idea… They know that something is after them, so why would they put themselves somewhere where the only way out is falling to their death?

It was pretty much a gamble that their pursuer would just not go there at all for the entire duration of the trial. I guess it could work, for what I understood, my nightmare double wouldn't run unless it spotted a target, so if it walked relatively slowly… Then it is true that it wouldn't check quite a lot of places, but I had heard that it could apparently smell trails as well, so… They must feel that their doom is close as well… Are they committing a mistake, or…?

The nightmare creation process is also a lesser version of what the full form provides. It isn't impossible that this particular nightmare is one that our prey already ran into, and perhaps survived by going up the tower Oh… So some of my prey will have the advantage of knowing the layout. That's problematic. I slowly ascended the circular staircase, being careful to make as little noise as possible, and eventually poked my head into the room at the very top.

It was rather small and cramped, featuring a sort of circular balcony to allow the person here to get a good look over the entire platform. Apart from these, there were horribly stained glass windows, and a room that only had an old chair that was so rusty it would probably crumble into fine particles if sat upon, and some of a big lump of steel that wasn't as badly eaten by rust as the rest. It had a bunch of levers and buttons.

I figured it was some sort of advanced mechanism that could control circuits of lightning current and other things of the sort. It truly seemed like, to some extent, the nightmare worlds were taking inspiration from me. One thing I did not see was the prey I was supposed to have followed up here, and so naturally… My gaze fell on the rather big sliding doors on the front of the big panel. There were small holes upon its surface, from which the would-be victim was most certainly watching out from.

I suppose it means I can stop trying to be stealthy…

"Hello?" I acted confused as I finished walking up the stairs, keeping the axe hidden behind my back as I made my way onto the balcony, looping around on it to get out of my prey's line of sight. They weren't responding, so either they were too scared to do so, or they were assuming that I was dangerous despite being a sexy young woman instead of an abominable monstrosity. I got back into the room from an angle the holes couldn't give sight upon, and from there… I listened for breathing.

There were three things which could slide open, and if I got the wrong one, chances were that my target would take off running like a cockroach, and although I was fairly confident in being able to catch up, I preferred that the situation was in my control from the start. For several long seconds, I listened with my ear pressed up against the side of the panel.

Hearing nothing, I crossed off the possibility of my prey being in the leftmost compartment and quietly backtracked to approach in the same manner but from the other side. I did not hear anything from the rightmost side either… In the middle, huh? Rather than holding my axe the typical way, since my prey wasn't unlikely to try and rush past me, I held it in a manner that I could use the sharp side to punch within close quarters.

Springing forth, I forced the middle compartment open, and a swift figure came crawling out immediately. My axe strike met the top of their head hard, but only the dull sound of iron striking iron rang out.

"Aren't you a smart girl?" My prey had found and put on a helm of sorts. I had seen some of those lying around in the rooms. They covered the top of the head and a bit of the side, but basically everything below the ears was left unprotected. To her credit, my soon-to-be victim did not bother listening to my comment and tried to make a beeline for the stairs, certainly understanding that it was the only way out of here, but I was way faster than she was.

I tackled her with my shoulder, sending her into the fragile railing of the circular balcony. She was visibly pained by the impact. My grip slid down the handle of the axe, as I analysed her posture, finding out which of her legs she wasn't putting as much of her weight upon to strike from the side she wouldn't be able to dodge, no matter what. She did manage to avoid the attack, though, by leaning backwards even more in fright.

The railing broke, parts of it coming off as she grabbed onto it, resulting in my prey dangling above certain death. Even if I did nothing, she would lose her grip and fall, or the railing would finish coming off, taking her down with it. I did not intend on staying put, however. I positioned myself at a good angle, ignoring my victim's pleading like it didn't even exist, and threw the axe right into her chest.

"So long… Whatever your name was, Girlie"