[Melas] Chapter 139: Felix II - Secret (Patreon)

The Bredon Forest.

It had a reputation in Tali as being a dangerous place. One where Hunters wouldn’t venture out to. Yet, here was Felix, strolling beneath the dense canopy with vines tangling down and reaching for him like hanging arms. He bore his usual mask and hummed a tune. Each tap of his cane brought him a step forward— a skip and a hop. If it seemed like he didn’t care for the danger here in the forest, it was because he didn’t.

Felix was no Hunter. He was the Plague Doctor. And he had seen monsters far worse than any Monster hidden within the trees.

So, he pressed on. For a simple goal. To save the life of a man’s daughter. It was a noble goal— one which he inwardly despised. Because if they knew what he was, they would surely scorn him.

Monsters emerged from the bushes. Simple Kobolds— primitive creatures no different from rats. He disposed of them easily enough with a flick of his hand. A potion shot out and combusted into a wall of flames. It ate away at the Monsters as he continued deep into the Bredon Forest.

Hamlin, the man who had asked him to do this, had told Felix that his daughter had entered the forest from the northwest. It was there the Plague Doctor found a trail.

He bent over and touched a footprint in the mud. “I see,” he said, nodding to himself. “This is… ah, so she must have sought cover from the rain.” His eyes flickered around him. “But, wherever could she have gone?”

His question was answered by a low growl. The Plague Doctor smirked and stood up to face the Monster stepping out of the bush. It wasn’t a lowly Kobold. No, it was far more threatening. A Horned Ursa. The black, horned bear that stood as tall as the trees of the forest.

Normally, Felix would’ve opted to flee if he saw such a Monster. There was no use risking his life to challenge it when fighting it could be entirely avoided. However, this one was injured. It bled from its shoulders and one of its arms limply hung like a loose vine.

“What happened? I am quite a proficient Alchemist. Perhaps I could cure your wounds,” he attempted diplomacy.

The Horned Ursa hunched forward and roared.

“Is that a yes?”

It charged him.

“Well, it seems diplomacy has failed.” The Plague Doctor swiveled around the Horned Ursa as it barreled straight through a thicket of trees. He raised his cane and aimed at its back, pulling a trigger.

At the very tip of his cane, a mana crystal flashed. A powerful beam shot out, lighting up the shadows beneath the forest. It struck the Horned Ursa in the back. The Monster stumbled as Felix whipped out a flash from beneath his sleeve. A flick of the wrist brought it instantly from his coat pocket to his gloved hand.

And the Horned Ursa whirled around to face him. It snarled, snapping his terrible teeth and leapt at him again. Felix dropped the potion as he rolled to the side.

The bottle broke— a splash of black liquid covered the ground, coating both the foliage and the fur of the Horned Ursa. The Monster tried to stop, but found the forest floor too slippery to walk on. It stumbled to a fall as Felix unloaded at its back. Both shots from his revolver and his cane’s powerful mana blasts.

It pattered the Horned Ursa as it struggled to get back up. However, each time it got to its feet, it slipped and fell back to the ground. The barrage of both bullets and mana bullets kept it down, alongside the black liquid that painted the Monster. It tried to crawl his way, but with only one arm, it could only get very far. Eventually, it just… stopped.

Felix furrowed his brows. “Are you dead?”

A soft groan from the Monster’s body told him it was still alive.

“Well, I could either kill you, or search for this girl— Melinda,” he said. “Considering that you attacked me without much of a reason, I’m tempted to finish the job. But…” His eyes flickered underneath his beak-like mask. “That’s not normally how you behave, now is it?”

There was a little known fact about Horned Ursae— alongside other Monsters of the ‘horned’ species variety. And that was that they were very, very intelligent. They knew when fighting was necessary. They didn’t just kill everything they saw.

And considering how this Horned Ursa kept struggling to kill Felix despite being injured… it probably had been driven out of its territory. It knew it was going to die, so it was lashing out at everything it saw.

“Now, what could’ve driven you out of your home?” he tilted his beak-like mask up as he wondered aloud.

It wasn’t very hard to find the Horned Ursa’s territory. It left behind quite an obvious trail of both blood and broken trees. Felix followed this path into the deepest depths of the Bredon Forest. Until he found a large cave entrance coated in blood.

“Interesting.” He ran a hand through the bloodstained rocks. The Horned Ursa definitely hadn’t been the only one living here— however, it was the only one left now. Whatever family that had stayed with it died here. It was the only survivor.

A set of muddied footprints led into the cave, and Felix couldn’t help but sigh.

“Why would anyone be foolish enough to seek refuge in a place bathed with death?” He shook his head as he took out a glowing bottle. It lit the way, leading him in where sunlight couldn’t reach.

His footsteps were the only thing that echoed in the darkness. It accompanied him as he made his way to the source of the footprints. A shadow huddled in a corner, shivering and whimpering to itself as Felix made his approach. A terrible odor emanated from this figure as the Plague Doctor’s nose wrinkled underneath his mask.

“Hello, young Miss,” he said casually, and the figure jerked back.

A young woman looked up at him with wide, terror-stricken eyes. Her skin was pale and covered in black splotches. She backed up and away from him, screaming.

“Stay away from me!”

He ignored her and slowly approached her. She pointed at him, trying to muster up more energy to scream, but he spoke simply.

“Tell me, Melinda: do you wish to live?” he asked.

And it was that simple question which caused her screams to stop. Her mouth gaped as she stared at him, trying to work her jaw.” I-I…”

“I am the Plague Doctor, and I can give you a chance to return to your family.” He proffered her a hand. “All you have to do is say yes.”

“But… I have the Noxeus,” she sniffled in a weak voice. “If I go back home, Father shall—”

“He will be fine,” Felix said simply. “To be separate from your loved ones— to suffer from such a painful affliction— is no different from not living at all. I am giving you a choice, Melinda. A choice to rid yourself from the plague. To once again find happiness and joy amongst others. Now, give me your answer.”

Melinda hesitated. She was a red-haired woman with hollow eyes. Pretty much dead on the outside. But some life returned to her with this hope he offered. And she nodded.

“Yes.”

“Good. Now take my—” Felix reached out to grab the woman… and paused.

He heard a soft echo coming from further inside of the cavern. A sound that was almost like… a bird chirping. At least, that was what it sounded like at first. Slowly, the sound grew louder— more distinct. And the tweeting oa single bird grew more into a cacophonous chitter. One that washed down the cavern and send a cold chill up Felix’s spine.

“That’s…” His eyes grew wide. “Abominations.” The Plague Doctor snapped to Melinda and snatched her off her feet. “Come on.”

“W-wha..?” she started, but he was already hauling her away from the cave.

“We need to get out of here, now.” Felix ran for the cave exit with the woman in his arms as a horde of Abominations gave chase.

There were hundreds or thousands of the creatures. Corpses of Monsters that were turned into terrible things in their death. It was like they were infected by some kind of wicked fungus that grew spores all over their bodies. These bulbs pulsated in the dark, growing dim and bright with each wild step they took.

Most of them walked on two feet— infecting only a single corpse. However, there were some that merged multiplied bodies together. Amalgams. Not a regular Abomination. And despite their size, they moved faster. Felix glanced back at the horde just in time for a globule of yellow liquid to shoot towards him.

He swatted his cane, deflecting it. It ate away at the paint on his cane as smoke sizzled up, trying to eat away at the enchanted metal. Felix gritted his teeth.

“Horrors, too.” He gritted his teeth.

Those kinds of Abominations were slow, but they could hurl their acid over long distances. And Felix wouldn’t find it easy blocking their attacks as he ran. With a sigh, he reached for his coat and produced three vials. Each one was utterly precious, but he had to use them now.

He tossed them behind him as they all exploded into various different colors. One slowed the Abominations, the other blasted them apart, and the last burned whatever made it through. Melinda gasped and grasped onto him as the cavern shook.

That’s hold them for a minute—

It was long enough for Felix to get out of there. He couldn’t face them. Not without his miracles. And with Melinda here, he couldn’t do anything. So, he made a dash for the cave to exist. He saw it as he turned a corner. A bright light that shone—

Felix paused. No, that light couldn’t be the exit. The thick trees of Bredon Forest blocked almost all light from the sun. That was… a figure.

A deformed, bloated creature— the remains of a Horned Ursa, except only from its waist up. It glowed as bright as the sun in the darkness of the cave, letting out a shriek as it spread its arms wide.

“An Atrocity,” he said the creature’s name.

It looked at him with keen eyes. One that clearly exhibited intelligence. Like a predator staring at its prey. It took a step forward, ambling towards him without a hurried pace. And behind, Felix heard the chittering resume. The army of Abominations came for him, and he wa left without a choice.

Either he died here, or he revealed himself to Melinda. The woman was still conscious, deathly afraid as she gripped the fringes of his coat. If she saw his miracles, she’d surely tell others about it. Rumor would spread, leading to Inquisitors coming after him. Felix would be forced to wear a new mask— don a new identity, abandoning who he was right now. That wouldn’t be much of a problem to him, if not for what it entailed.

He wouldn’t be able to cure others from the Noxeus. Not anymore. They’d know the truth. And he’d be hunted. So, he couldn’t reveal himself. But he couldn’t die. Not if he wanted to keep hims promise. He was left with no other.

Or… was he?

There was another option. A rather obvious one, if he thought about it for more than a moment. Felix looked apologetically at Melinda and said, “I’m sorry.”

She blinked. “W—”

Before she could say anything, he struck her on the back of the neck, knocking her out. He set her on the ground as he stood up straight. He tucked his revolver into its holster and dropped his cane.

“But, alas, no one can find out the truth.” With that, Felix spread his arms wide.

Power and energy coursed through him as glowing green lines formed beneath his coat. It shone brightly, through the knitwork of his clothing— brighter than even the Atrocity’s glow. It halted its approach, light dimming as if to narrow its eyes at him.

“Not even you,” he said, meeting the intelligent Abomination’s gaze. “Now, peri—”

But before he could unleash his attack, the Atrocity quickly spun around and leapt to the side. Felix blinked as a figure darted out from the shadows, clawing the Atrocity across the chest. The figure flipped away before the Atrocity could counter, landing at the entrance of the cave.

“Nn!” she purred. “This seems fun. Hey, random person with weird glowing lines— need some help?

“Hrn, I believe that that question is unnecessary, Rin,” a man said as he appeared behind the woman. “Fight first, talk later.”

“Why do you always have to be so annoying, Shang?” Rin rolled her eyes as her ears— the second set of pointed cat-like ears that poked out of her head— twitched. “Although, fighting first… actually, you’re right!  Let’s do exactly that!”

Felix stared at the pair of Beastkins as they braced themselves for the Atrocity’s next attack. A single thought crossed his mind, even as the fighting resumed.

Who… are they?

Author's Note:

The return of Rin and Shang! If you don't remember them, they're the pair of Beastkin Melas befriended as a slave back in Book 1. Gib thoughts!