Chapter 3: ‘Humanoid’
As Martina turned her attention to the target of her impending action, an unprecedented chill ran through her entire body. It was as if she had been struck by lightning, causing her entire body to stiffen like stone.
“W-What… is this… What’s happening…”
Her voice trembled, whether from her body physically shaking or from a sense of fear towards something, or perhaps both…
In this classroom, shrouded in darkness, the fear she felt when she was suddenly addressed while tearing Rachel’s textbook, the fear of being stared at by Rachel’s doll-like, lifeless face with its red eyes… Those fears were considerable, but the fear Martina was experiencing now surpassed them by an unimaginable degree, a level of fear she had never felt before.
Is this fear of the impending action she’s about to take—taking a life for the first time—causing her conscience to transform into a terrifying presence, appealing to her through the speculation of her mind about the heinousness of the act?
No, that’s not it. As evidence, merely facing forward causes every pore on her body, from her scalp to the pores of her hair follicles, to prickle and her entire body to break out in goosebumps. Chills run through her back as if it’s been encased in ice, and her heart races so fast it feels like it might burst out of her chest if she opens her mouth.
Martina can’t move, paralyzed by an unprecedented level of fear; she can neither grip the knife in her hand and move forward nor throw the knife away and flee.
In front of her, Rachel lay on the floor, rendered unconscious by Martina’s magic. Despite the darkness of the classroom, nothing else was visible. However, there was “something” there. Martina couldn’t see it, but she could sense its presence enough to petrify her with fear.
Observing Martina’s situation from a different perspective was another entity: Leaf, the small humanoid figure accompanying Rachel. Hidden in Rachel’s hair, she had been blown away to a nearby desk by the wave of Martina’s magic when it struck Rachel.
Leaf’s existence was akin to that of a spirit accompanying Rachel, and she was a higher-level spirit at that. Apart from Rachel, very few others could even notice her existence. She was more akin to a spiritual entity. Therefore, Leaf perceived the situation differently from Martina.
As Rachel lost consciousness and collapsed completely onto the floor, the air in the classroom, previously filled only with the sounds they made, transformed into a tense atmosphere as if the pressure had suddenly doubled.
Then, from the fallen Rachel, a thick darkness, like condensed darkness, erupted and began to engulf her. At first, the outline of this erupting darkness seemed to resist dispersing, resembling particles or smoke, but eventually, it began to maintain its shape like some kind of wriggling creature.
Jara… jara… jara-jara... (TN: can mean jingling, jangling, clinking, chinking)
A sound reminiscent of dragging metal, of rubbing… it was as if the sound of a large chain had begun to echo. Simultaneously, the darkness enveloping Rachel surged, as if something was trying to emerge. It was as if, from a black swamp teeming with black maggots, a humanoid figure was trying to crawl out, still clad in the pitch-black mud and maggots covering its entire body.
Indeed, it was a “humanoid.” Emerging from the overflowing darkness emanating from Rachel, it was taking shape, about to be born. But it wasn’t just any humanoid. The amount of darkness emanating from Rachel increased, and the size of the humanoid grew rapidly. Its swollen body was only visible from the upper torso, with chains connected to its wrists, arms, and neck.
‘W-What… What’s happening!? What’s become of Rachel!?’
Leaf, hiding in the shadows, trembled in fear at the appearance of this monstrous humanoid made of darkness, shrinking back and unable to move.
The humanoid, now several times larger than a human, roared as if in joyous birth. It stretched out to the ceiling of the staircase classroom, its chains tightening with a creaking sound, restraining the humanoid that extended from where Rachel had been.
Restrained by the taut chains, the humanoid seemed to understand that it could no longer roar in joyous birth. Slowly, it began to bend forward, bringing its face closer to Martina as if a giant were to meet eye level with a kitten. However, the humanoid’s face lacked any features typical of a human: no hair, eyes, nose, or mouth—just a flat surface where wriggling darkness seemed to swarm.
“W-What… What in the world is happening?!”
Martina, overwhelmed by an extraordinary fear, trembled uncontrollably, her body stiffening, and her legs refusing to move. Covered in cold sweat, tears, and mucus, she could only move her eyes, which darted around frantically within the wide-open sockets, like a panicked bird trapped in a cage, but she couldn’t capture anything in her sight. Despite feeling the terror of being in the presence of a vicious and fearsome predator, she couldn’t bring herself to meet its gaze.
“I-I’m scared… No, I-I want to run… B-but why… Why can’t I move…”
Overwhelmed by fear, Martina sobbed uncontrollably, emitting childlike whimpering cries. However, even with her cries, the situation showed no signs of improvement. There was no adult here to extend a comforting hand to the crying child. In fact, even if there were adults present, it’s doubtful anyone would possess the means to deal with this “humanoid.”
Reacting to Martina’s distress, a change came over the humanoid as observed by Leaf. The featureless face of the humanoid, writhing with darkness, suddenly revealed a white line extending into a smile-like grin up to the width of its jaw.
For a moment, it seemed like the comforting smile of an adult calming a crying child. But it was not so. As the smiling white line gradually widened, a red outline became visible. When the full extent of its appearance was revealed, its true nature became apparent. The red outline that seemed to border the white line was actually the vivid crimson of fleshy gums, and the initially perceived white was actually the pristine white of teeth.
With its vivid crimson gums and pristine white teeth contrasting against its entirely black visage, the creature’s grin, warped at the corners of its mouth, at such a close distance to Martina, was no longer a situation akin to an adult soothing a crying child. Instead, it appeared as though a mighty predator was about to consume a frightened small animal.
“Uweeh…uwehh… uuu…”
Martina’s sobs of terror were audible. However, unlike before, when her gaze had darted around in a panicked frenzy, she now stared fixedly ahead, even though she couldn’t see anything. Instinctively, she knew that there was something right in front of her, even if she couldn’t see it.
‘It’s going to eat… is it going to eat her!? Run away! Hurry and run!!’
Observing Martina’s reaction and the creature’s demeanor, Leaf prayed fervently for Martina to escape. Regardless of the harm she may have intended for Rachel, she certainly hadn’t wished for her to be devoured by such a monstrous entity.
And in the moment when the “humanoid” creature was about to open its venomous crimson and stark white mouth, something akin to white steam erupted—no, it burst forth—from Martina’s body.
“Eeeeeeekkkkkkkk!!!”
The white apparition that erupted from Martina took on a human form, screaming so loudly that it seemed to shake the entire classroom with madness.
“What!? What on earth is happening!?”
From the shadows, Leaf listened, covering both ears to muffle the screams.
The white apparition that burst forth from Martina climbed up with emaciated arms, its face contorted with fear. Eventually, leaving behind faint echoes of its shrill screams, it dissipated into the air like steam or smoke, disappearing completely.
