DTBTHS Chapter 35

Axel ran.

Instinct made the decision before thought could interfere. He turned and fled, survival mechanisms calculating with perfect clarity: staying here means death.

He ran with everything he had, but the speed was insufficient. The sand gave way beneath each step, swallowing momentum. The camping equipment on his back created drag, shifted his center of gravity, compromised efficiency.

Even without these obstacles, escape would have been impossible. The gap in capability was simply too vast.

The heat intensified, pressing against his back like a physical wall. The air dried out completely. His throat burned.

The shadow he cast on the sand ahead grew darker, shorter. The light source behind him was getting larger, closer.

It felt like being chased by the sun itself.

He glanced back, unable to resist checking, and his breath caught.

Flames rolled toward him like a tidal wave.

From the horizon's edge, a sea of fire expanded its territory. Embers whirled through the air like snow.

'Wait, that's—!'

Looking more carefully, he realized they weren't just flames.

They were a horde of beasts made of fire.

Instead of fur, red and golden flames rippled across their forms. Instead of breath, sparks poured from their clenched jaws. Horses, foxes, bears, lions, boars, deer...

Hundreds of beasts filled the horizon as they ran. The sand they trampled exploded upward like food dropped into boiling oil. Pop. Pop. Pop.

The sight was overwhelming.

'So many spirit beasts...'

"While they don't reach the level of greater spirits, they're far stronger than ordinary spirits. Unlike greater spirits who cannot leave their territories, spirit beasts roam freely."

Spirit beasts without riders exist in a wild state.

They don't hunt humans like monsters do. They don't try to kill people like demons do. But sometimes they're more dangerous than either.

Because spirit beasts have no interest in humans at all.

Just as wildfires and floods are dangerous without deliberately targeting anyone.

'Why are spirit beasts that normally travel alone gathered in such a—oh!'

At the wave's vanguard, he spotted a massive wolf, head and shoulders larger than the others.

A long horn protruded from its forehead.

Seeing it, Axel recalled something his teacher had explained recently.

'Sometimes spirit beasts are more dangerous than demons. Because of phenomena like Aeon Flare.'

'Fire spirits—except for a few volcanic gods—are all born either underground or in the sun. That's why fire spirit beasts are few in number, but they almost never go extinct.'

'Why? Isn't it obvious? If the underground fires went out or the sun disappeared, humans would all be dead anyway, wouldn't they?'

'Fire spirits born in other locations all have short lifespans. They die when the fire goes out.'

'You know how when there's a huge fire or a volcanic eruption, an enormous number of fire spirits are born all at once, right? Naturally, many spirit beasts are born then too.'

'Since they're all destined to die when the fire goes out, they're usually not very dangerous. They scatter in different directions, circling near their birthplaces before vanishing.'

'But at some point, one spirit beast started gathering them all together and leading them around until they disappear.'

'Hundreds of fire spirit beasts moving as a horde—it's basically a calamity. That's why the phenomenon was named Aeon Flare.'

'Aeon Flare is also the name of the leader spirit beast. The whole phenomenon happens because of that one.'

'It's a wolf-shaped spirit beast with a golden horn.'

'That thing must have been born from the sun or deep underground, because it doesn't die even when the rest of the horde is gone. Anyone who's tried to tame it gets roasted alive before they can even get close.'

'Anyway, if you ever spot Aeon Flare, run as far away as you can. The moment you see it, run like hell. There'll be a sea of fire coming.'

'What if there's nowhere to run? Then you'll die without even leaving a corpse behind.'

The teacher's cackling explanation was becoming reality.

In the middle of a desert with nowhere to hide, Aeon Flare surged toward him like a tsunami. The distance closed steadily.

The sand beneath his feet began heating up. Axel threw away everything he'd been carrying.

With his body lightened, he ran with all his remaining strength.

The gap didn't widen. Aeon Flare was too fast.

At this rate, they'd catch him soon. The boy, face drained white, scanned his surroundings desperately.

Sand, sand, sand everywhere he looked. No shelter visible.

Then he spotted a tall rock jutting up at an angle.

Without thinking, Axel threw himself at the rock. He kicked off his shoes and climbed, fingers scrabbling for purchase.

At the top, the boy stood gasping for air, looking down.

'At this height, Aeon Flare won't reach me.'

Please just pass by. Axel pressed himself flat against the rock, praying.

The sun-heated stone was hot enough to burn him, but he endured.

Uuuuuu. The low howling of beasts and the pop-pop-pop of scattering sparks approached.

The horned wolf at the vanguard came right up to the rock.

It passed by indifferently. Scorching heat whipped past like wind.

Axel watched the massive spirit beast running alongside him, transfixed.

Yellow, red, orange—rippling flames of intermingled colors. The sleek wolf wreathed in those fires.

The golden horn on its forehead wasn't really a horn, strictly speaking—it looked more like a finely honed blade.

The metallic edge, heated by fire, gleamed brilliantly.

'Magnificent.'

Absurdly, that impression surfaced first despite his near-death situation.

After Aeon Flare passed, smaller spirit beasts surged forward.

Axel observed the spectacle in a somewhat reassured state.

The sea of fire split and flowed around the rock. The smoothly flowing flames suddenly began circling in place.

Like water flowing into a drain, creating a whirlpool.

The center of the whirlpool was the rock where Axel stood. The boy panicked.

'What's happening?'

Suddenly he remembered something the teacher had said while explaining Aeon Flare.

'Come to think of it, with those cursed eyes of yours, you probably won't even be able to run if you encounter Aeon Flare.'

'Why? They're fire spirits too, so they'll love those eyes of yours and follow you.'

In the heat grown suffocating, his spine went ice-cold as if someone had poured freezing water down his back.

Axel reflexively covered his eyes. Squinting between his fingers, he looked down.

Fire-made beasts circled the rock. Leaping flames and sparks caught in the heat wind, forming whirlwinds.

Eyes like pools of lava in volcanic craters all turned toward him on the rock.

'They're watching me.'

They didn't leap up or attack, but every spirit beast was looking at him.

Sweat dripped steadily from his entire body. All exposed skin burned.

The heat was terrible. Worse, the temperature kept rising. It felt like being trapped inside a furnace.

The air grew thin, making breathing difficult.

Fire surrounded him on all sides. There was nowhere to run.

'Am I going to die like this?'

Little one, have you ever looked closely at your eyes?

Yellow in the center, growing redder toward the edges.

Your pupils are like bright red flames.

That's why spirits born from fire follow you around!

Lines from that irritating fairy tale book clung to his ears like a song.

Axel ground his teeth. Click.

These damned eyes.

If he gouged them out and threw them away, would these things leave?

He roughly shoved his hand into his shirt to pull out his dagger. Paper rustled.

'This is...'

The boy pulled out a black envelope instead of the dagger.

『Open only in a moment of danger.』

A prophecy-like instruction.

He stared at the envelope blankly, then opened it.

Inside was a single thin letter. Written in red ink, the letter contained only three lines.

『Why did 'the red-eyed boy' survive alone every time?

Those with red eyes die young because of fire. But not by burning.

Aim for the leader.』

The message was cryptic.

Axel nearly crumpled the letter, then froze.

The first line struck his mind like lightning.

The fairy tale <The Red-Eyed Boy> tells the story of a child who caused fires around himself until finally burning down an entire village.

The boy in the story experienced fire incidents seven times. Fire always started near him.

The last time, a massive conflagration large enough to consume the entire village occurred while people had him locked up.

'Tied to a barn post when such a huge fire broke out—how did that boy survive?'

It's a made-up story. Of course such things could happen in fiction. Until now, he'd simply accepted it.

But seeing Adrian's letter, which seemed to anticipate this very moment, made it feel profoundly wrong.

Axel looked down at the letter he'd been about to crumple.

Those with red eyes die young because of fire.

"......But not by burning."

His gaze shifted to his own arm.

Drenched in sweat, flushed bright red, burning hot—but not blistered. Not burned.

He realized something.

When he opened his mouth to breathe in the thin air, swirling embers entered with each breath, but they didn't scald his mouth.

'No way.'

Axel shoved the letter into his shirt and walked to the rock's edge. He reached his hand into the rippling flames.

'It's hot.'

The glove caught fire. He jerked his hand back reflexively.

Through the gaps in the glove crumbling and falling away in burnt pieces, he could see his skin—completely unharmed.

It stung and ached, but there was no injury.

Axel finally understood with certainty.