Bound and Broken: An Isekai Adventure Dark Fantasy (Melas Book 1) V.A. Lewis (feel good books to read .TXT) 📖

And saw the Abominations passing me. The Abominations came and went in droves, crossing through the courtyard to somewhere further in the city. They were ignoring me!

I watched in silence as the Abominations continued on, heading to some point in the city. Then, the ground shook. I felt myself stumble, and fell to the ground.

My gaze shifted to the source of the rumbling; at the direction of the coming Abominations. I watched a massive figure make its way through the city.

A giant amalgamation of countless bodies of Humans and Monsters crawled through the streets of Bys. It stood at over 60 feet tall, held together by the blue bulbs that all Abominations were infested with, and with a massive yellow core in the center of its being. Dozens of massive blue tendrils dragged the massive monster into the city, shaking the ground as it did.

But something was different about this Abomination. While all Abominations were a single or handful of bodies joined together, all of their bodies' faces were covered. However, with this many beings meshed up into a single mass, it was impossible to block out all their faces.

And what I saw was eyes. Countless eyes from countless bodies, all of them looking out of the single mass. But they were not normal eyes; they were all glowing red.

I stared at the Abomination, and it stared back. All it’s eyes locked on me as it made its way past me, then turned away. But as it did, a single tendril lashed out towards me.

I flinched and covered my eyes. However, I was not it’s target; the Abomination struck at the statue behind me, toppling the nearly equally tall figure, collapsing it to the ground.

That was it.

The ground trembled from the destruction of the statue, but it continued on. I was alive.

I’m alive!

I threw my hands up in the air and fell on my back; I was so happy, I was laughing maniacally! I did not know why they ignored me, but I was saved!

A glint of red shone at the corner of my eye, interrupting my reprieve, and I turned around to face it. I looked up at the massive clock tower before me, and saw him.

On the giant machine used to tell time. On the device made possible with the workings of many cogs and gears for it to function. On the clock tower, stood a titan.

A giant dressed in silver armor. Someone I had seen before: my twice savior, and a messenger of the false god.

There, on that clock tower, stood one of the three men who visited me the night my mother died. And the message to me was clear.

Was it something you’d understand if you were from this world? Or would only someone from my world get it? I did not know.

I turned my head to a building in the distance; to the ziggurat of Bys under siege from the massive Abomination and countless smaller ones. Then back to the messenger standing atop the clock tower— a giant contraption made by men. A machine.

The message was simple. Meant for me to understand. To comprehend.

Deus ex machina.

God from the machine.

I got up, and limply made my way out of Bys.

The End of

PART TWO

Chapter 23: Interlude II - Hunters

"Do you see it?"

"Uh, I think— I see it."

"Nn, now aim carefully. And don’t miss this time!"

"I’ll try."

"No! Don’t try. Just do it!"

"I— yes."

"Good, now shoot!"

The young man nodded his head, and pulled the trigger. There was a sound, then a bolt of bright blue energy flashed through the air, flying straight at its target.

A four legged animal, standing at around four feet in height, and almost twice as long across, snapped its head to the side. The deer heard the gunfire echo through the forest. It saw the bullet whizzing past trees and bushes. It only took a second to blink, then it jumped to the side.

Blue energy splashed on the ground where the deer once was. A loud sigh came from the thicket where the young man was, and he watched as his quarry fled into the distance.

"Damn it!" Feri dropped his rifle, threw his hands in the air, and slumped over. "That’s the third one today." He turned to his companion and exhaled. "I’m sorry, Rin. I should have—"

"You did great, Feri!" the Cat Beastkin interrupted him. Rin placed a hand on the young man’s shoulders, and grinned. "Nn, not everyone can just pick up a gun and become a master at hunting. Not everyone is like me, after all!"

"I know. But if you weren’t with me— you’d have got them all by yourself. And you’d be back at camp by now. And we’d all have food! I’m not a Hunter, like you. I’ve just been a... burden… to all of you..." The former slave trailed off.

The catgirl blinked, and looked at Feri. He was crestfallen.

His face was overshadowed by his long hair, obscuring part of his face. He had one arm crossed around his chest, tightly grasping at the other. And his gaze kept flickering away from the young woman to the floor, never lingering in one spot for more than a second.

Rin sighed. Then she smacked him hard on the back.

"What are you talking about?!" the young woman nearly yelled. She grasped the former slave by the shoulders, and forced him to make eye contact with her. "How can I be wasting my time when I offered to come with you? I mean— sure, I’d have been done hunting an hour ago if I went by myself— but I’m literally spending my time on something I wanted to do! I’m not wasting my time at all!"

Feri recoiled from both the hit and the