It felt like slaves who had been oppressed for far too long suddenly discovering sharp blades in their hands.
They were thrilled, excited, almost crazed, chasing the ghostly figures at a sprint. Every spray of black blood their strikes drew made their eyes redden.
We can do this! We can!
Even ordinary people can put up a fight against the Eerie!
They were hacking away with growing enthusiasm.
Suddenly.
Everyone...
The mouths laughing wildly were still open, the feet giving chase were still midstride, the screaming Eerie were still writhing...
All stopped at once.
It was as though someone had pressed pause on time.
Then every one of them felt it.
Their hearts.
Their hearts... had been seized in a large hand.
That hand was in no hurry.
It did not seem intent on crushing your heart. It simply held it.
Like you toying with a little trinket, like you stroking a warm egg.
It held the heart gently, feeling it beat in its palm, frantically, desperately, futilely.
Then a vision appeared before everyone's eyes.
Blood.
Blood filling the world.
It surged from underground, poured from the heavens, and crashed in from every direction.
Sticky, cold blood that smelled of rust submerged their feet, climbed to their knees, and rose past their waists.
Things were swimming in the blood...
Their shapes were impossible to make out. You could only feel the slick sensation they left as they brushed past your thighs.
The blood kept rising.
It reached their chests, compressing their lungs, making breathing feel like inhaling thick porridge.
It reached their necks.
Their mouths.
Then... nothing was visible anymore. Only red filled their vision.
The ordinary survivors hacking at the ghostly figures froze in place, one after another.
All color instantly drained from their faces. The weapons in their