Chapter 34 – Red Beast And Black Water

Translated by Mecorx, Proofread by Crashouch

As expected, we hadn’t caught a single fish. Besides, neither of us could swim. There’s really not much that non-swimmers can do in the water. We splashed water at each other, nothing more.

“Why did you bring a swimsuit?”

“I thought maybe we’d be passing by Costa del Sol. Does it suit me?” Kyrie put both hands on her hips, and posed.

The water lapped Kyrie’s naval. I raised my gaze. Her stomach, her chest, her face, then to the sky. Where was I supposed to look?

“Cute.”

Kyrie made a huge splash in the water with both hands as she headed in deeper. The contrast between the orange of the suit and the white of her back was dazzling. I muttered that it really suited her. Costa, Costa, I could hear Kyrie humming the advertising jingle. She was out of tune, but it was still good.

“Evan, I’d be ok with heading back, so…” Kyrie looked back.

The smile disappeared from her face. Then, she pointed behind me. I quickly turned around to find a bright red monster. It approached slowly, looking at the car. It seemed to have noticed us.

“Evan, where’s the gun?” She was almost screaming.

I attempted to move slowly towards the shore, incase I startled the beast. It was… a huge, bright red dog, no, a wolf, or maybe a lion. The tip of its tail was on fire… oh, it was watching me. I went to the shore, not taking my eyes off it, crouched down next to the machine gun that was placed on top of my clothes. I reached out and released the safety catch after feeling around for it. The monster attempted to take cover in the shadow of the car. I held up the machine gun, and squeezed the trigger. The ratatatat rang out. White smoke rose from behind the car where the bullets hit.

“Wait!”

I had a feeling that I heard someone’s voice. I released the trigger, and weighed up the situation.

“Did you get it?” I heard Kyrie’s voice behind me.

Then the monster got on the roof of the car.

“Get off!” I squeezed the trigger as I shouted.

The monster opened its mouth. I could see its sharp fangs. As I moved the muzzle to shoot into its open mouth, my target moved from the roof to the top of the trunk. When I followed the figure with my muzzle, bullets flew into the back of the car. I immediately knew that was a bad idea. Just then, the car momentarily lifted off the ground, bursting into flames and spewing black smoke. I was assaulted by the sound of an explosion and waves of heat. I must have fired through the fuel tank, or the fuel can in the trunk. I was the world’s biggest idiot.

“Evan!” Kyrie cried out.

But I couldn’t take my eyes of the burning car.

“Evan, help!”

Help? When I looked back, I saw that Kyrie was desperately struggling to keep her face above the water. When did she get so far in?

“I can’t feel the bottom!”

I didn’t understand. I tossed the machine gun aside and went back into the pond. The resistance increased around my calves, knees and waist the deeper I got. I ran, leaned into the pressure so I could continue pushing onward. But, I wasn’t getting any closer to Kyrie. Instead, it seemed like she was getting further away. What’s going on?

“Kyrie!”

“Eva…” The voice calling me was cut short as she sank into the water. The ripples were black in color. Black?

I couldn’t see Kyrie. I moved forward, trying to get closer. The black water drifted around me. I was as deep as I could go.

Water entered my nose and mouth. I dove into the water, and opened my eyes to search for Kyrie. It was a pitch black world. I became afraid and resurfaced. Even in this situation, the sky was blue, and clouds drifted.

People die easily. And all too quickly. Kyrie is no exception.

“Kyrie isn’t dead!”

I dismissed the nonsensical notion that surfaced in my mind, and dove into the water once again. I felt something pass next to me. I came to the surface of the water in surprise.

“Get back on land!”

It was a while before I realised it was the voice of the red monster.