The accumulated wounds would only worsen with time, so it was necessary to move forward before his body failed beyond repair.
Reforming the mobile shelter, the hunched boy slid across the sands, rejoining the route toward the ruined city. His arrival estimates were thrown out the window, and at this point, he would likely reach the great gates right at the onset of dusk.
It wasn't easy to maintain focus and balance. The concussion he had suffered earlier left severe aftereffects, and even his control over the sand was visibly impaired.
'I won't make it.'
Fear, with its sharp claws, tightened around Giovanni's heart. Doubt began to creep in, forcing him to reflect on everything he had done so far and how it might all have been for nothing. If the outskirts alone hid horrors like that scorpion, what awaited him inside?
The only thing his own hands had managed to kill was a nearly harmless worm, and he had almost died in his first real face-to-face fight, needing to borrow the strength of the climate to survive.
Inside the walls, he would be safe from the merciless winds, but so would his enemies. If only his Aspect could be used to harm something, if at least one of his attributes granted him a body capable of matching foes physically…
There were too many "what ifs," worthless in reality yet inevitable products of despair. His other two attributes had not activated even once since the nightmare began, and he had the sinking feeling that they never would.
That meant sneaking through an immense city in critical condition and somehow finding within it the resolution to the nightmare. After everything he had promised and said, he felt like an idiot.
'And I didn't even talk to Michel before leaving… fuck.'
He slapped his own cheek when he realized he had sworn. Margaret was not there to scold him, so he took it upon himself to punish the slip.
The red-haired kid had been a pleasant surprise in his life from an early age. Michel was one of the first people Giovanni had told about his "wish" back then, because he felt Michel was the last person in the world who would judge him.
They lived in bubbles, in almost entirely different worlds. One was a humble resident of a nearly empty orphanage; the other was the son of the upper class, with access to luxuries Giovanni could only imagine.
Even so, Michel decided Giovanni was someone worth admiring and spending time with.
Whenever they were together, it felt like having a younger brother for the first time.
Still, Giovanni had left without saying goodbye, hiding his infection.
At the time, it had seemed like an act of mercy. He did not want to leave a child waiting for his return, clinging to hopes of a happy ending, because he had been in that place too many times himself.
But now, thinking back, he felt that if his older siblings had done the same, Giovanni would have resented them until the end of his days for stealing his chance at a farewell.
If this was the world teaching him a lesson, it was a cruel method.
Along the way, many creatures like the scorpion emerged from the sand, but none bothered him. They were too slow to pursue the mobile shelter and were left behind within minutes.
The temperature dropped to a pleasant level, and the sun reached the perfect point of twilight.
There was no more time for reflection. His destination lay just ahead. When he closed his eyes, the light emanating from within was blinding, yet warm and welcoming, like a bastion of hope.
Facing the city at the foot of its walls was an entirely different experience from seeing it from atop the dune.
NQSC was undoubtedly many times larger, but it was the scale of each structure that inspired awe.
Peering through the gates, the houses varied in size, the streets were excessively wide, and everything seemed to converge at the center, where structures nestled close to the monumental tower that once dared to reach for the stars.
He entered with utmost caution, expecting some corrupted gatekeeper, but found only silence. If night offered any advantage, it was that camouflage was easier with his shelter.
Everything was buried beneath thick layers of sand, so a small shifting mound was far less conspicuous than a bipedal creature ready to be torn apart.
Every shadow made him tremble. Every movement in the corner of his eye could spell imminent death.
He was paranoid and exhausted, seeing enemies and monsters everywhere, and perhaps that was the best possible outcome. It meant his mind was still working to survive.
At present, he was on the southern edge of the city, a kind of outskirts compared to the massive buildings rising chaotically near the center.
No structures stood intact near the gates, where everything had been reduced to piles of debris blocking paths, hindering movement.
His initial decision was to circle westward, trying to reach one of the other five main streets that connected the city's districts to its core in an asterisk-like pattern.
It was impossible to glean much information about the interior from such a distance, but the way houses and structures were divided into equal sections was easy to recall.
That did not make sneaking any simpler. The main plan now was to rely as much as possible on his ability to expand his senses, scouting paths ahead before revealing himself.
It was the only way to avoid wasting time exploring dead ends and to notice creatures before they noticed him.
More specifically, he could feel their footsteps, giving Giovanni time to hide.
As he navigated the deserted streets, a morbid question arose: where were the city's creatures?
Even after wandering for long minutes, nothing appeared. Even the vast desert seemed more populated. He did not want to sound ungrateful, because it truly felt like a blessing in disguise, but… it was too good to be true.
"Maybe all the monsters migrated out of here? That would make things easier…"
Choosing to believe that for now, he quickly scanned the next corner. Sensing no movement, he turned it and recoiled at the sight of another person lying on the ground.
It was a variation of the desert chimeras, half insect and half human, now in the form of a muscular adult man. What made it striking was the complete absence of several limbs.
Its arms and legs had been brutally removed, reducing it to a living slab of flesh. Its face was handsome, seductive beneath long black hair, yet utterly expressionless.
Its eyes did not blink, and excessive arachnid limbs spilled from its mouth.
Its entire torso had been consumed by the infection, with massive pus-filled blisters swelling around the gut, mixed with blackened skin turned into a carapace.
It made no sense. The monsters were deformed, certainly, but they were whole. The beast's current state was the result of someone else's actions.
'It's an opportunity… I might gain another memory.'
He moved closer, gripping the shard tightly in his fingers. His presence was noticed, triggering a violent reaction from the beast. It thrashed and tried to crawl closer, driven by the only instinct it had left: to extinguish human life.
"May your soul find rest in the kingdom of God…"
He raised the weapon above his head, ready to deliver the mercy blow. A few seconds later, the beast was still alive, convulsing.
'Move! Finish it already!'
That face had once belonged to a person. Even in desperation, Giovanni could not bring himself to look someone in the eyes and kill them.
"I'm a failure, haha."
So he closed his eyes, allowing himself to bathe in the golden light behind him. The exit was so close; he only needed to follow the light.
Unable to see the face he was about to split in two, he remembered Omar's words once more. Mere puppets, created in a false, fantastical world. What lay before him was a marionette, not a person.
The shard sank into the chimera's brain. Its movements ceased entirely, and not a single drop of blood flowed from its body.
[You have slain an awakened beast, Grafted Soldier]
Nothing. He received nothing as a reward. A shiver ran down his spine, followed by a wave of nausea. Before he realized it, he was vomiting onto the sand.
Most of it was the remains of the worms he had eaten the previous night, but mixed in was blood, a lot of blood. He could not understand why. Were his wounds really that bad?
As he desperately examined his body, he noticed the signs. Red blotches are spreading across his skin. The cuts were not the cause, but something just beneath the surface.
He was infected with the same disease that had consumed this region. Memories of rolling through the sand and being lacerated by storm-driven grains came rushing back.
Yes. That was when the plague must have entered his blood. Soon, he would become just another aberration in the sand.
'I won't let it come to that. I swear.'
He remembered the memory he had gained. It would be painful, but he should be able to set his body ablaze. That should avert this fate, at least.
That had been almost two hours ago, and the infection had progressed significantly. It could claim his life before the wounds that caused it ever did.
'I just need to reach the light. Nothing else.'
Abandoning caution, his shelter accelerated once more. He no longer tried to detect footsteps or dead ends. He gambled that since he had not encountered any wandering creatures so far, the chance of running into one was minimal.
That was when the entire city trembled with a roar. The profane sound was not that of an animal, nor of a person. It was like the wrath and despair of tormented souls crawling straight into his ears.
Giovanni forgot to breathe for a moment, his body paralyzed by the mere sound of the thing roaming the same city as him. His instinct screamed to run into the rubble, hide until night's end, and do nothing else.
'The sound is far away, IT'S FAR AWAY!'
He had to reaffirm it to himself. No matter how dangerous something was, if it was out of reach, it was as good as nothing.
If he delayed, he would only increase the chance of their paths crossing. His shelter sped onward, never looking back.
At last, he reached the great southwestern avenue. Now it was just a matter of how fast he could move in a straight line toward the central tower. He closed his eyes, and there was the light in all its glory.
Compared to the distance he had already traveled, this was nothing. His feet propelled him forward, ignoring all pain and fatigue.
It would all end. The freezing nights, the scorching days, the food that would haunt his nightmares from then on, and the few sips of water he had endured.
Soon he would smell fresh food in the kitchen, lie on his soft bed, and hear Michel singing the same song for the hundredth time. All the despair of the past days, the moments when he swore he would not make it, felt foolish now.
He wanted to laugh at his past self and call him a crying baby. The light was within reach. His body collapsed before the colossal gates of the central tower. Though its upper portion had been shattered, the lower stood perfectly preserved.
Its gates were not made of gold, but of solidified light, as if a small piece of the sun had been shaped by an artisan.
"I'm free!"
Both hands reached forward, pressing against the gates to open them.
Nothing.
No message echoed in his mind.
He had arrived. He stood at the final objective of the nightmare.
So why had it not ended?
Desperate for answers, his eyes closed once more. There was the light… but something was wrong.
It still seemed a little distant.
Only then did realization strike. The light had never come from the tower, not even once.
The light moved.
Circling the magnificent, divine structure and emerging from behind the tower, a colossal shadow covered the street. It was larger than any animal Margaret had ever described, rising more than thirty meters high. Its body was that of a centipede, immensely long and segmented.
Every inch of it was composed of arms, legs, breasts, thighs, and entrails, all fused and grafted together to form something functional. No chitinous exoskeleton remained, replaced instead by noble, flowing tissues that draped its body like a royal veil.
Its legs, formed of toes and tendons, functioned perfectly, contrasting with the erratic, dysfunctional movements of the desert chimeras. It did not crawl. It paraded with grace.
The front of the aberration did not end in an insectoid head. It rose and tapered, connecting to the torso of a man. Its muscles and curves looked sculpted, genuinely more beautiful than a marble statue.
Its arms were open, inviting, calling for more people to join it. Hair flowed over its shoulders and back, a deep blue like the ocean.
All of this served to hide its disfigured, sinister eyes, burned and melted deep within its skull.
The aberration wore only two accessories. The first was a laurel crown bathed in light, a symbol of its status, of someone who once tried to be divine.
The other was a medallion bearing the same symbol displayed on the banners outside, shining like a beacon of hope and warmth. Its light was gentle, whispering that everything would be all right for Giovanni.
That vision was reflected in the boy's delicate green eyes, burning itself into his mind.
His eyes trembled with pure terror, for the pilgrim had found his guiding light.