Chapter 65
Curled up in her boyfriend’s arms, Yomi felt as if her tears had nearly run dry. Anxius kept coaxing her, kissing her, and only after what seemed like a very long time did her mood finally settle.
The earthquake had already stopped. In the distance, monsters and animals were still jumping down from the mountain whales’ backs one after another, dazedly searching for somewhere safe.
Yomi wiped her eyes. Just as she was about to speak, Anxius—who had loosened his hold on her—shifted her onto his back instead. They couldn’t stay here. Anxius was badly injured and unsteady on his feet, yet he still insisted on carrying her toward higher ground.
“I can walk by myself.” Yomi didn’t dare struggle, afraid of worsening his injuries, and could only say anxiously, “Put me down. I can walk on my own.”
“No.” Anxius was stubborn. “If something happens again, we might get separated… It’s fine, baby. You’re very light.”
Yomi wanted to argue, but when she looked at the cracks tearing across the distant earth, and at all the Junk Star people crying out and searching for their companions, she found herself with nothing to say.
She knew that if even Anxius could fall into one of those chasms, then naturally countless unlucky Junk Star people and animals could be swallowed up as well.
Not long ago, Anxius’s sudden disappearance had terrified her half to death. If another accident happened, she would rather stay with Anxius even in the most frightening place imaginable.
“Then let me carry you. You’re already hurt.” The tiny person in her turtle armor wiped her face and said without the slightest sense of her own limits, “Your human form… I should be able to carry it.”
Anxius: “…”
Yomi nagged a little more, but seeing that her boyfriend still wouldn’t listen, she could only take out tissues from inside the turtle shell and carefully wipe the blood from Anxius’s neck. It looked terrifying. Anxius must be in so much pain!
As if drawing strength from her actions, Anxius, whose steps had been unsteady, quickened his pace.
Once they reached high ground, the situation around them became much clearer.
Anxius tried to find a path out of the forest, but this earthquake and collapse had been far too severe. The normal roads down the mountain were unusable now. Nearly every route out had become a bottomless rift, and the remaining patches of ground were treacherous swampland.
If this had happened in the past, Anxius could have simply transformed into his original form and flown Yomi out. But when that giant tree had crashed down on him, the bones in both his wings had nearly shifted out of place. Right now he couldn’t fly at all. Even if he pushed himself to the limit, he could barely rise a tiny bit off the ground, and he might crash at any moment.
He couldn’t risk taking Yomi with him.
At this point, Yomi was no longer particularly worried about herself. For now, at least, she was safe. What frightened her was the thought that something might have happened to Yesi and Linda.
But they had gone off in two completely different directions to gather herbs. After the disaster, reuniting with them would be extremely difficult.
Carrying the anxious Yomi, Anxius found a nearby open space and sat down to rest.
The cloth bag Anxius carried was still with him. Besides the herbs they had collected, it also contained water and jerky. He took out some water and let Yomi drink.
After taking one sip, Yomi immediately frowned and looked more closely at his injuries. “Does it hurt?”
Anxius shook his head. Earlier, he had picked some herbs to stop bleeding, and he hadn’t expected they would come in useful at a time like this. He took some out, crushed them, and directly applied them to the bleeding wound on his shoulder.
“Let me do it. You can’t reach your back.” Yomi promptly asked him for the hemostatic herbs, spread them out on the stone slab she had been sitting on, then lay down and used the turtle shell on her back to grind them by rocking around with her limbs waving in the air. Her eyes were still swollen from crying, yet she looked at Anxius and smiled, as if to tell her boyfriend that everything had already passed.
Anxius’s eyes flickered. He was so overwhelmed by how adorable she looked that he could only stare blankly.
Once the herbs had released their juice, Yomi sat up, gathered them carefully, and gently applied the medicine to her boyfriend’s back.
There wasn’t a single part of Anxius’s back that looked untouched. It was enough to make one’s heart seize in fear.
Just thinking that Anxius had still carried her on his back in that state made Yomi’s heart ache.
After applying the medicine, Yomi was about to inspect the rest of his injuries, but the moment she stepped around to his front, she was suddenly pulled into his arms.
Yomi lifted her head and sniffed. The smell of blood on Anxius had nearly been covered by the scent of the herbs, and that reassured her a little. “Is there anywhere else that feels bad?”
Anxius shook his head. He was too tired. Holding Yomi, he leaned against a nearby rock to rest.
Yomi hugged him tightly too, though from the corner of her eye she kept watching the wild beasts fleeing in panic in the distance. She murmured, “I wonder how Yesi and Linda are doing…”
Anxius said, “They can fly. They should be alright.”
The disaster had struck too suddenly. Everyone was barely able to look after themselves, so all Yomi could do was think in the most optimistic direction possible.
People kept leaving, and others kept coming back. All over the wilderness there were cries and wails. In Anxius’s arms, Yomi shivered faintly.
If Anxius hadn’t climbed back up, she might now have been one of those crying and searching for a missing companion.
Even giant aliens, in the face of such terrifying natural calamities, were as small as dust.
The sky grew darker and darker. Yomi woke from a hazy drowse and looked up. Red light filled the sky. It was sunset.
Anxius’s eyes were shut. He had lost too much blood and was still unconscious, but the arms holding her were incredibly tight, impossible to pry open.
Yomi turned her head to look around. She was deeply afraid that after nightfall some beast might smell the blood and come.
Anxius was hurt. Even if he woke up, Yomi couldn’t let him fight wild beasts. She was truly afraid Anxius would die here…
With countless worries in her heart, Yomi touched her little horns and then nodded heavily: she had to shoulder the responsibility of protecting her boyfriend.
Thinking that way, she felt even more grateful for the turtle armor Black Feather had sent. If a beast really came, she would stand in front of Anxius and retreat into the armor. She refused to believe any beast could break through it!
With that plan in mind, Yomi got to her feet with great seriousness, intending to patrol the surrounding area in case of a sudden beast attack. But the moment her body made the slightest motion to leave Anxius’s arms, his arms tightened around her even more, and she couldn’t move at all.
Yomi didn’t dare force it. Pulling on him might make his wounds worse. After thinking it over, she simply wrapped her arms around her boyfriend helplessly: fine then. If a beast really came, she’d turn into a sheep and headbutt it to death!
Bathed in the glory of the sunset, they leaned tightly against one another. Seeing Anxius’s brows tightly furrowed, Yomi went up on tiptoe and rubbed her cheek against his. “Dear, with me here, don’t worry.”
…
When Anxius woke up, the sky was already nearly dark. His baby boyfriend was in his arms, turning her head back and forth in alarm at every little sound. In one hand she clutched a strip of jerky, but she had only nibbled off the very tip, clearly unable to eat in peace.
He froze, then lowered his head and rubbed against Yomi with his own. When she turned back toward him in surprise, he took the jerky from her hand and fed it to her.
Yomi, fighting back tears, ate all of it. “Are you hungry? I still have lots more jerky.”
Anxius shook his head, his heart aching for her. “I’m sorry. I fell asleep.”
“You keep sleeping. I’ll stand guard!” Yomi knocked on her armor. “I’ve got armor. I’m not scared.”
“…”
The moment Anxius imagined how frightened his baby boyfriend must have been while he slept, he couldn’t bear it. Lowering his head, he kissed Yomi’s cheek, then stood up with her in his arms. “I’m not sleeping anymore. I won’t sleep again until we’re home.”
“How can that be okay?” Yomi objected. “You’re hurt. You have to rest properly.”
Anxius was just about to carry her somewhere safer when he had only gone a few steps before he heard the sound of wind. Instantly alert, he looked back.
At that moment, the sound became clearer—the flapping of wings!
Yomi followed his gaze and looked too.
In the dim yellow sky were several figures flying toward them.
“Isn’t that… Yesi? Linda!” Yomi blurted in surprise and joy. “They’re alright, thank goodness!”
And behind Yesi and Linda, there were even more figures flying toward them…
At first the approaching shapes startled Yomi, but once they came close enough, she realized they were Black Feather, the lord of Skull State, and his subordinates!
It turned out that when the earthquake struck, Yesi and Linda had transformed into their original forms in time and flown into the air. Once the trembling stopped, they hurried down to the vehicle at the foot of the mountain, but after waiting a long time without seeing Anxius or Yomi, they realized something must have happened to them.
At first they had wanted to go search for the two immediately, but on second thought knew that would be reckless. Their original forms were light and agile, and even if they found them, they wouldn’t be able to carry them back.
After discussing it, they decided it would be better to go and fetch reinforcements. The quake at the farm hadn’t been very severe, and there was an underground shelter, so no one there had died. Still, many were injured or ill and in no shape to help. On Karl’s suggestion, the couple went to seek out Black Feather, the lord of Skull State.
Black Feather had many bird-type monsters under his command, all skilled fliers. He had always wanted to build a close alliance with Yomi, so there was no way he would refuse help at a moment like this.
Sure enough, Black Feather readily agreed, and even insisted on coming himself.
Once they had recruited help, Yesi and Linda immediately led everyone into the forest, following every clue they could to search for Yomi and Anxius… Thankfully, they found them before night fell!
Anxius didn’t want to be separated from Yomi. Knowing his human form would be easier to carry away, he shifted into that form and held Yomi in his arms. Black Feather stuffed the two of them into a large sleeping bag, and several monsters together hauled them into the air and flew toward the foot of the mountain.
Halfway up in the air, Yomi couldn’t help looking down at the Junk Star people huddled below in all directions.
Flying beside them as escort, Yesi seemed to understand what she was thinking and sighed helplessly. “These people are all over three or four meters tall, whether in original form or human form. Even for Black Feather’s men, rescuing them would be extremely difficult. And what if halfway through the flight they proved too heavy and fell into the swamp or those chasms? Black Feather can’t ask his men to risk themselves for strangers.”
Yomi answered softly, “Mm.” She understood.
Yesi continued, “Every few years on Junk Star, countless people die in disasters like this. Even if Black Feather’s men could bear the weight of these people, no one knows when the next quake will strike. If another earthquake happens while transporting them, even saving themselves would be difficult… It’s not that they don’t want to help. They simply can’t. And don’t worry too much. If the quake really has stopped, then once daylight comes, they’ll be able to find their way out little by little.”
Though deaths and injuries would inevitably happen.
The little one lowered her eyes in silence. Looking at the monsters below, she pressed her lips together tightly.
Those monsters looked so strong and massive, yet in helplessness, they were really no different from her.
The heart-rending cries, the trembling frightened shouts, the wails for companions whose fate was unknown… Yomi understood all of it deeply.
Yomi wanted to help them very badly, just as she herself had desperately wished someone would help her when she had been helpless.
If this had been the homeworld she once knew, then in a situation like this there would certainly be rescue teams. But Junk Star could never have rescue teams.
…Rescue teams?
The thought struck Yomi like a spark. She clutched tightly at the longevity lock around her neck, suddenly feeling that she had come up with a way.
When they reached the foot of the mountain, Yomi took a deep breath, raised her head, and stopped Black Feather and the others just as they were about to leave with a single sentence:
“Don’t go yet… I—I have a way to save everyone!”
An hour later.
High in the forest, countless Junk Star people had taken shelter wherever they could, lying there numbly. No one knew how much time had passed when they began to hear a great rumbling sound approaching.
At first they thought another earthquake was coming. They were terrified. Even Junk Star people who had fallen asleep jolted awake, hugging themselves and trembling. Others, too exhausted to struggle, simply cried and waited for death.
Until someone suddenly shouted, “N-no, it’s not an earthquake! It’s mountain whales! The mountain whales are moving this way!”
Everyone stared in astonishment and scrambled up to look.
The mountain whales, which looked almost like extensions of the mountains themselves, were somehow all moving toward the same direction, as though drawn by something.
One sharp-eyed Junk Star man quickly spotted the giant birds in the sky. Hanging from the birds’ claws were plastic bags full of trash—and clearly, it was that trash that had drawn the mountain whales over.
As the crowd stood there stunned, a clear young voice suddenly rang out from the sky through a loudspeaker: “Climb onto the mountain whales’ backs! The mountain whales will carry you out!”
The tallest monster was the first to spot the speaker—a tiny horned person holding a megaphone.
It was Lord Sheep Asura!
“Sheep Asura! Lord Sheep Asura has brought the mountain whales!”
No one knew who first shouted the words, but the despairing crowd looked at one another, and little by little, excitement rose.
In their eyes, Sheep Asura had come from hell and could command anything, and now, Sheep Asura truly had brought the mountain whales to save them!
It wasn’t as if no one had ever thought of using mountain whales to escape before. But mountain whales never willingly strayed far from the forest. Most of the time, the Junk Star people sent truckload after truckload of trash into the forest for the mountain whales to deal with, and the mountain whales never had to leave in search of food.
Under those conditions, if you rashly climbed onto a mountain whale’s back and it carried you to some even more dangerous place and threw you off, it would be too late for tears.
Once everyone confirmed that the mountain whales were indeed following the giant birds in the air, all hesitation disappeared. In frantic haste, they began climbing onto the mountain whales’ backs.
The mountain whales were enormous, and so many of them were moving together that there was plenty of space. No one needed to fight and scramble for a place.
For safety’s sake, most people naturally helped one another and sat together, so on the back of a single mountain whale there would generally be at least three people sitting hand in hand.
In the sky, the giant birds turned and slowly flew out of the mountains, their claws gripping the light bags of trash. Seeing this, the mountain whales slowly turned too and began moving forward steadily.
The mountain whales were gigantic, like little mountains themselves. Even when their feet landed on cracks, they did not easily fall in. Even if they wanted to jump into the chasms and die, their massive bodies would probably only get stuck.
Lying in the cloth pouch, Yomi used the megaphone to tell everyone not to move around. At the same time, she carefully watched the situation below. If anyone were unlucky enough to fall, she would signal at once for the giant birds to stop. Then the mountain whales would stop too, and people below would have a chance to climb back up.
Fortunately, in moments of crisis everyone knew to help each other. If someone began to sway and nearly fell, their companions would quickly grab hold of them.
In a vast, sweeping procession, the mountain whales marched on, unknowingly resisting this terrifying disaster under the guidance of the giant birds.
Nature could bring endless calamities to this planet, but it also quietly left behind the means to resolve them.
Lying in the pouch and gazing down at the earth below, Yomi slowly smiled.
About half an hour later, all the mountain whales reached the foot of the mountain.
The giant birds promptly handed over the trash to the heroic mountain-whale rescuers, and the whales, chewing contentedly on the garbage, left without the slightest trace of attachment.
Once everyone reached the ground, the rescued Junk Star people instinctively began to cheer. But very quickly, some of them fainted from their injuries. Since Yesi was a doctor, he immediately went over to treat them.
Others helped each other as well. Once they were out of the forest, the problem of getting home was no longer such a difficult one…
They had all gone into the mountains to gather herbs when the earthquake struck, and most of them still had medicinal plants on them. For the wounded, all Yesi had to do was tell them how to use those herbs, and before long, everyone began limping home, supporting one another with exhausted bodies.
Under the moonlight, people kept turning back again and again, frequently looking toward that tiny figure.
Sheep Asura, the demon said to come from hell… and yet he had dragged them out of hell with his own hands.
In truth, Yomi had already been exhausted beyond words by the time they left the forest. The moment the rescue ended, she slumped into Anxius’s arms and fell asleep.
Anxius held her, removed the hard turtle armor from her body, and replaced it with a fluffy soft blanket draped around her shoulders. After that, he kept holding her in his arms without letting go.
The night grew deep, and everyone climbed into the vehicle.
Yesi and Linda drove. Anxius, Yomi, and Black Feather sat in the back.
Black Feather’s subordinates rode in another vehicle.
After the truck had been moving a while, Black Feather slowly drew his gaze back from the window. He saw that all the dirt on Sheep Asura’s face had already been wiped clean by Anxius. In contrast, the still-conscious Anxius himself was covered in blood, a terrifying sight.
Black Feather stared at the little one for a while, then couldn’t help reaching out a hand. “You’re in such a state already. Let me hold him.”
In his heart, he had already surrendered himself completely to the little sheep lord.
If once upon a time his reasons had only been benefit and self-preservation, then now, if someone told him that handing over Skull State to Sheep Asura would help Sheep Asura unify Junk Star, he would absolutely offer Skull State up gladly.
Not for any selfish reason, but solely because of what he had witnessed today.
Earlier, while staring out the window, he had actually been holding back tears. It had all been far too moving, wu wu wu…
Anxius ignored him completely, lowering his head to gaze at Yomi.
For a very long while, Anxius stayed in that same position, staring down at his sleeping baby boyfriend with eyes full of love.
Just when Black Feather had begun to suspect he too had fallen asleep, the road ahead became uneven and the truck lurched violently.
“Ow!” Black Feather hurriedly grabbed the handle to steady himself, then looked up again—and instantly froze from the sight before him.
The little person asleep in the monster’s arms had, at some point, turned into a plump white cocoon!
The cocoon was swelling larger and larger, bigger and bigger still, wrapping around the monster’s stomach and chest in layers. It seemed as though it wanted to keep expanding, but at last the outer edge reached its limit, gave one final quiver, and stopped… The cocoon could do nothing but cling tightly around the monster.
By then the truck had already stopped jolting and was continuing on smoothly again.
The cocoon remained a cocoon.
Black Feather’s eyes darted rapidly around as he tried to find the little person, but all he could see was the tiny cocoon baby. After a moment, his eyes widened. “He… how could Lord Sheep Asura…” He even had the strange intuition that if it had been able to continue growing, that cocoon would have wrapped around the entire truck to protect it!
Thump.
From inside the plump white cocoon came the sound of a heartbeat.
Only then did the frozen monster seem to snap back to himself. His fingers trembled as he stroked the cocoon. “Don’t be afraid. It’s not an earthquake.” He lowered his head and pressed it gently against the cocoon. After several silent seconds, droplets wet the surface of the cocoon. “Baby, you protected everyone so well.”
Thump thump thump.
It seemed as if Yomi, transformed into a cocoon, was answering him with those cheerful heartbeats. Clearly, she was very pleased.
After some time, the truck finally stopped in front of the farm.
Yesi got out with a flashlight. The instant he pulled open the rear door, his entire body seemed to freeze in place.
Inside the vehicle, Black Feather looked at him somewhat at a loss. “What do we do? Sheep Asura, he…”
Yesi abruptly came back to himself. He quickly climbed inside, trying to stop Anxius, but the moment he got close, one of Anxius’s blood-covered wings slammed into him and knocked him back hard.
Linda, hearing the commotion, rushed over, but before she could speak, the sight before her made her clamp a hand over her mouth in shock.
The huge monster had, at some point, peeled back the scales over his chest. Using the blood seeping from there, he was feeding the weakly beating cocoon in his arms.
At a glance, the monster and the cocoon looked almost as though they had become one.
When Karl heard the vehicle stop, he dragged his still-weak body out to meet them. As he walked, he gradually realized something was wrong with the scene around the truck. He hurried over, flashlight raised, and the moment he got close, his expression changed.
Compared with everyone else’s horror, Karl seemed much calmer after drawing in a deep breath.
“…Is it Yomi?” he asked the crown prince quietly, staring at the cocoon.
The harsh flashlight beam forced the monster to raise his head and look at Karl and Yesi.
Karl asked again, “…Is it Yomi?”
Yesi said, “Th-this… how…” How could Yomi have turned into a cocoon?
Cold wind poured into the truck. The monster’s savage golden eyes fixed on them, as if he were some wild beast whose beloved cub had been harmed. A terrifying aura, almost berserk in its intensity, radiated from his body. But the moment the cocoon in his arms gave another heartbeat, those blood-smeared arms began trembling gently as they soothed the cocoon baby.
Afraid of waking the little white cocoon in his arms, Anxius reined in that destructive power with all his strength and spoke softly:
“Yesi, prepare the symbiosis surgery.”
