CHAPTER 71: DAYS WITH SELTHIA

I activated my thermal vision, and it only confirmed what I first thought: bloodmoths. An entire swarm descended upon us. It was as if the scent of my blood drove them wild. There were five of them flying at high speed towards me.

The first one to get to me opened its mouth wide, revealing its sharp, pointed fangs. I didn’t use much effort; just a solid swing of my hand was enough to put him down, and it was the same with the others. I made sure not to use my claws in front of Selthia.

I killed them as they approached without giving them the chance to fight back. Soon, their bodies lay before me.

"Wow, you’re very strong, mister," Selthia commented, looking at me in awe.

I then used the chance to rip out their hearts and handed them to Sylthia. I thought she would eat it right then and there, but instead she grabbed it from my grasp and dove under the water without a second’s hesitation.

A few seconds later, she emerged with a cute smile on her face as if nothing had happened.

"I’m sorry, it’s just embarrassing to have anyone see me while I eat."

"What doesn’t embarrass you?"

She puffed out her cheeks and began to pout.

"Lots of things don’t," she grumbled, then grabbed another heart from my hand and dove back underneath the water.

When she returned, it was as if nothing had happened. She repeated the same thing until all the hearts had been eaten, but then she had a gloomy look on her face.

"I’m sorry, mister, this is still not enough. I’ll need way more if I am to get my strength back to heal you. It’s just that these creatures are far too weak."

I couldn’t help but sigh, but there was nothing else I could do. I sat quietly as the mermaid floated in the water in beside of me.

"Selthia, tell me something," I finally spoke after some time. "What is a mermaid doing this far out here?"

"Well, that’s..."

Selthia looked at me shyly before lowering her head.

"That’s a bit complicated... I kinda ran away from home," she answered. She looked as if she didn’t want to talk about it. "Let me ask you a question: why did you look a bit relieved when you saw the bloodmoths? It’s just that it looked a bit strange."

"I was relieved because I knew that there are worse monsters to encounter than a bloodmoth. Especially with the state I’m in right now."

"Like what?" She asked, tilting her head. She looked a bit confused.

The monster I was really afraid of was a monster with a stronger death perception than even me.

"A wraith. That’s what I was worried about finding us. Whenever a supernatural creature is on the edge of death, especially a powerful supernatural creature, a wraith will almost always make an appearance to finish them off."

They were like the vultures of the supernatural world. One wraith held immense power. I remember it was said that there was once a creature so powerful that when it died, a hundred wraiths showed up to take him to the underworld.

I wasn’t so powerful that I would need a hundred wraiths. Just one would do the job easily. I just hope my slow dying didn’t catch one’s attention.

"Oh, so that’s why you were so worried. I would be too, mister Liam. These wraith creatures do sound like trouble; I can see why you would be worried," Selthia smiled. "But... I think it will be some time before we get out of here."

"I thought so too," I answered. There was no way I could go out in this condition with the Nyx pack looking for me. My only choice is to wait until Selthia is strong enough to heal me. As long as I keep bleeding, I will continue to attract bloodmoths, and all I have to do is kill them and feed their hearts to Selthia.

With nothing else to do for the time being, I decided to get some rest, but as I began to fall asleep, I heard a beautiful singing voice.

"♪Hm~ hm hm... hm-hmm♪"

It was Selthia. She had the voice of a goddess. She was perched atop a rock while combing her hair with one of her shells. Listening to her now, she indeed had a beautiful singing voice, and just hearing it made my entire body relaxed. I no longer felt anxious about the future; I was completely at peace just from hearing her sing.

It was well known that mermaids had a beautiful singing voice that would make sailors at sea go crazy. It would make them fall in love in an instant.

But that was far from the truth. Not every supernatural creature lived up to their legend. Mermaids didn’t possess a beautiful singing voice like those you would normally hear in the stories. But there was one creature that did...

...

The days passed with me and Selthia together. To be honest, I didn’t know how many days had passed. But during that time, Selthia and I got closer to each other. We spent the days talking, though I couldn’t get any information from her about her origin.

In truth, I was the one who talked the most. Selthia had a strong curiosity about the human world, and so I told her stories. She looked at me in awe at some of the things I described, like school or even something as simple as a phone. She was amazed by the concepts.

I guess I would be amazed too if I was hearing about these concepts for the first time too.

"Sadly, the sun drains a lot of my energy, that’s why I’m forced to stay in the water most of the time," she said with a hint of sadness in her eyes.

Just then, an idea formed in my mind. Selthia was sitting at the edge of the water next to me, looking at me with sparkling eyes as I recount tales of what had happened in the past since the apocalypse and even before that.

I suddenly grabbed her by the arm and wrapped my hand around her waist.

"Hmm, what are you—"

Before she could protest, I lifted her up out of the water, carrying her like a newborn. She wrapped her hand around my neck and held onto me tightly. This was also the first time I had touched her tail. It felt similar to that of a fish. Thankfully, it didn’t smell like one. Instead, it smelled a bit salty.

She looked shyly at first but when she realized she was out of the water, a smile bloomed on her face.

"Thank you, mister human," she whispered into my ears as I held her in my arms.

From then on, whenever I told her stories, I did so while holding her in my arms or with her sitting in my lap.

More days passed, and soon Sylthia was finally strong enough to heal me. I could feel the power practically oozing off her, and I knew right then and there just how powerful she was. When the time came, she looked at me with a wide grin on her doll-like face.

"I’ve really enjoyed my time with you, mister human..."

Just then, her teeth began to change into sharp canines and her radiant skin grew as pale as snow. Her beautiful ocean blue hair turned black in an instant and her once soft skin began to turn into jagged scales.

"Sorry but I must kill you now."