I feel as if I had just swallowed my heart. Memories of the tales of these monsters come flooding back to me. Their purpose was to exterminate humanity, so I know that I need to escape. I doubt that any of my colleagues (if I could even call them that) would be willing to help me since they treated me like a lesser being not worth their time since I have been here. It is a fair trade that they should not expect me to come to their aid should I hear them call for it.
My dorm room is on the second floor of the dormitory, so a drop likely will not cause any serious injury. A Wight and two Dark Slimes are seen milling about the campus outside my window which will complicate matters, though three panicked students flee past and draw their attention, leaving the area free of monsters for now. I could just open the window and jump out right now, but I prefer to take a more cautious approach and drag my mattress over to it. It is only a matter of time before a monster discovers me or a few others step into my escape route, so I wiggle the mattress through the cramped space until it slips free and lands in the grass with a plop. Before I leave, I slip on a pair of shoes to protect my feet and to add to my already worn t-shirt, socks and underwear.
I drop through the window and land on the mattress bottom first. A window shatters and I spot a student scrambling away from the dorm with a strange blue fiery figure on her back. I rush to the next building and see a scene of utter chaos. Monsters and students are entangled with one another and the few campus security guards present are overwhelmed. There is no blood however, much to my confusion. In fact, I am witnessing large amounts of...intercourse.
Monsters are for certain still moving about, so I back away to go to another building when I hear a blood curdling scream. In a doorway there is a student with pink hair that I recognize as Courtney struggling to exit, but there is a fiery orange glow behind her combined with a furry black hand pulling her back. I make no effort to help her due to her sour history with me and observe as she eventually vanishes into the corridor and the door is slammed shut. Not interested in getting violated and eaten, I make my way toward another building where I see shredded pieces of university uniforms scattered on the ground. In a ground floor window of the building I am approaching, I spot one of the government professors, Professor Muchow backing toward the chalkboard holding a chair.
He is shivering in terror and as I draw nearer I can hear him screaming something. His words are indiscipherable, but I jerk back when he gets pounced by a Manticore and tackled to the floor. Only the spine of the monster's tail is visible, and I can only imagine the suffering that Professor Muchow is experiencing right now. I step foot into the building and find that many of the doors have been torn open. Among the mess of ruined clothing, I notice a student with frizzy auburn hair lying prone in the corridor.
The sensible part of my mind is screaming for me to not approach her, but there is no alternative path available. Screaming and violent thumps can be heard all around, and I know that I must get moving lest I become a monster's next meal. I step down the hall, listening for any footsteps that could be zeroing in on my position. My distance to the fallen victim shortens, and I can hear her mumbling, "I...need it. I...need...dick."
That last word almost makes me stop, but I manage to keep trudging on. A creaking door opening at my rear makes me spin in fear to see what is coming, but it is another student missing portions of her uniform who when she spots the downed colleague shrieks, "Sekai!"
She jogs over to Sekai and kneels by her side. I continue to move toward the other end of the hall where there are two branching paths as the worried student shakes Sekai and says, "Sekai! I think I got that monster, but we're still in danger here! You gotta get up!"
I press forward when I hear the student yell out, "Wait, Gerard!? What the devil are you doing here!?"
Her inquiry is ignored and I am close to the next hallway when I hear a horrified scream and turn to see that Sekai, whose hair is now white has pinned her friend to the floor. I go left down the corridor as Sekai's soon-to-be victim cries for help. A tang of guilt hits my mind for abandoning that student to her fate, but I doubt she would have done the same for me if it was me in that position. There is a window ahead, and outside I spot the appearance of an Order crossbowman. I get a spark of hope that perhaps the Order could beat back the invasion.
None of his comrades are in sight, so I assume they are busy dealing with other monsters. The crossbowman fires off a bolt at an unseen enemy and he goes to reload it. He has just finished readying another bolt when a green blur whizzes past and I hear a ghastly scream that fades as he is whisked away by the creature. His crossbow is lying in the grass and I realize that this could be an ample opportunity to arm myself. The glass barrier between myself and the weapon is not broken, so I enter a nearby classroom and pick up the closest desk.
Writing materials roll off of the desk as I return to the window and slam it against it. The window shatters and I back up to avoid getting nicked by any falling glass. I then use the desk to both brush and break away any remaining glass shards from the windowsill. When I am confident enough that I will not cut myself retrieving the crossbow, I set the desk down and vault through the broken window. The crossbow is picked up, and although it only has one bolt, that single bolt could save my life.
I reenter the building through the window, but right then I encounter the last three people I ever wanted to run into on this campus. Three ladies with a reputation for being jerks even to others with a high status in society. Lucille with the curly red hair and the stern demeanor is the leader with Iesha and Danielle as her equally cunning and ruthless cohorts. The trio is armed and as expected, none of them are thrilled to see me either.
"And as fate would have it, we run into the commoner trash!" Lucille announces.
"I'm amazed he's still alive," says Iesha.
"Shouldn't you ladies be getting to safety or something?" I ask, already growing tired of conversating with them.
"We are, the Order is evacuating civilians via the airships west of here, but only the top of society get a ride," Lucille explains as she twirls the wooden board in her hands.
I roll my eyes, but realize the goal in front of me. If I can get to the airships before they all depart, I will be flown to safety. I am not sure if what Lucille claims about the Order being selective about who gets to leave is true, but it never hurts to take the chance. However, I am traveling to the airfield via my own means, not with the trio. My three words to them dripping with sarcasm are, "Well, good luck."
Lucille only scoffs as I back away to go the other direction when I notice an Ushi-Oni crawling through the window. None of the students receive a warning as I turn away and sprint the other way. Behind me I hear Iesha scream, "By the Chief Goddess a monster!"
"Kill it!" comes the panicked yell of Lucille.
This is followed by the shrieks of the trio who I assume lost the battle against the Ushi-Oni. Unfortunate, but they at least brought me time to escape. I lack a clue knowing if the demonic spider is either chasing me or feasting on those ladies, but I dare not glance back. There is another window ahead, but this one is already broken. I turn the corner and move down the hall to see more materials strewn about.
"No no wait! I'm sorry please don't hurt me!" pleads a voice from one of the rare rooms with a door closed.
There is a sinister chuckle followed by another voice saying, "You still tried to poke my eyes out. You need to face punishment for that."
"No no stop!" the first voice begs.
I rush past the door just as it's blown off its hinges with a student in ruined clothing lying on top of it. To my surprise, she does not bear any visible wounds. I back away with my crossbow trained on the destroyed doorway waiting for the monster to come out. A few yellow eyes peek out and stare right at me, sending a chill down my spine. Only one monster has eyes of that sort. A Gazer.
"And here I was thinking that I wouldn't get to see any men in this university," she coos before her full body emerges from the doorway. My heart races as I aim my weapon at the monster. There is a snap of the mechanism and the bolt is launched at the Gazer. One of her eye stalks glows blue and the bolt is stopped dead in the air due to a telekinesis spell. Though, judging from the trajectory of the bolt it looks as though it was going to miss her anyway.
"How cute, you thought that was going to work!" she comments before she allows the bolt to drop to the floor. I drop the weapon and make a run for it down another corridor where a professor is lying slumped against the wall unconscious and a Wight is investigating her. All I hear from the undead when I dash past her is a confused, "Huh?"
On the right is a door that takes me back outside and I kick it open. This results in my leg becoming sore as I stumble back out into open air. My eyes settle on the fastest route out of the campus and I watch some succubi soar overhead. The forest in front of me would allow me a quick exit from the campus, but monsters may already be waiting in ambush there. Another option is the sewers, though the thought of venturing through that waste-drenched underbelly has me retch.
I hear the door behind me open and I feel as though my mind has been made for me as I am soon sprinting toward the cover of the forest. My feet are not touching solid ground however, and I discover that I am levitating in the air against my will. I am swiveled around to face the Gazer and see the eye that caught the earlier bolt once again glowing. She makes a beckoning gesture accompanied by a grin, and no matter how much I struggle I am eventually hovering before her. The Gazer shakes her head and says, "Tsk tsk tsk, that wasn't very nice what you did back there."
"I...I don't want to die," I eek out, fearing the worst from my captor who laughs and says, "Oh, you're not going to. Not for a long time."
Several of her eye stalk pupils dilate in alarm and she drops me as a slew of crossbow bolts zip past her and she snaps, "Shit!"
A squad of Order crossbowmen glare daggers at the Gazer and one of them points to me shouting, "Get to safety citizen! We'll deal with this wretched monstrosity!"
There is no need to tell me twice and I race behind the men as they reload their crossbows. The Gazer holds up her hands without fear and I notice that one of her eye stalks is looking up. She wears a devious smile and warns my rescuers, "You all might want to watch out from above."
"Silence you-...!" one of the men is cut off by screams from the others as they are bathed in a dark purple smoke that reeks of rotting matter. I glance up and to my horror a Dragon Zombie is strafing the area overhead. Scared and with no desire to remain on campus any longer, I dash into the forest. Sharp branches from dead bushes cut into my exposed legs as I run past them, but I am not concerned with minor injuries at the moment.
I am not sure how far I am from the danger zone or if that Gazer is still pursuing me. All I know is that I must reach the airfield before the monsters overtake the city. Fortune favors me for now as I have not encountered any monsters thus far, hopefully being held at bay by Order forces. My luck also improves when I see a large building ahead.
When I am closer, I can see that the building is an apartment complex and there are similar structures nearby. I maneuver around to the front and find a troubling sign. A few pairs of abandoned pants and smashed windows. The adrenaline begins to wear off and I feel my throat being parched. Although getting to the airfield is of the utmost importance, I figure that a brief water break would not hurt. One of the apartments is bound to have a water bottle.
I approach the door and try to open it, but to my dismay it is locked. The pants would be useful for removing any harmful broken glass from the windowsills. Before I can carry out my plan however, I feel my arms and legs get restrained and find them bound in glowing golden spectral shackles. I try to wriggle free, but they do not budge.
"A shirt and some underwear huh? You must have been desperate to escape," speaks a silky voice. An Anubis comes up to me and I say, "Hold on, I still have so much to live for!"
"Lots of people do," the Anubis responds as she rubs one of her furry hands against my cheek.
A fear for my life sparks up once more. I do not know if she plans to experiment on me or worse, and I have no interest in finding out. However, it seems I have no choice in the matter, and there are no Order soldiers around to rescue me either. I sigh in defeat and ask my captor, "Am I going to be dying fast or slow?"
The Anubis shoots me a puzzled stare and asks, "What?"
"The Order said that monsters destroy humans. What's my fate?" I ask her once more.
"We're not here to kill people," the Anubis replies.
This response causes the gears in my head to grind to a halt. I narrow my eyes with suspicion at the Anubis. As if she read my mind, she states, "The purpose of this invasion was to find husbands for ourselves. Extermination was never the Demon Lord's plan and besides, if I wanted to kill you I would have already done it."
"Hold on, you all invaded this land just to get married?" I ask, feeling like I was losing my sanity with each passing second.
"That's what I said. We want to love and be loved, not kill," she answers as she kneels down to inspect the lacerations on my legs and says, "By the Demon Lord, you're bleeding down there."
"It isn't too bad," I assure her, "But then why does the Order fight you and send heroes to slay you if you're looking for love?"
"That is primarily due to the Chief Goddess being upset that the current Demon Lord being a succubus has upset the natural order of things," the Anubis explains as she stands back up and looks into my befuddled eyes, "The monsters you're thinking of existed before her time."
"Well, I'm glad you're not going to torture me and all, but I'm not sure I'd make good husband material. My reputation back at the university I ran from was pretty trash just for being the only male student there," I say.
The Anubis places a finger on my lips and says in a calming voice, "Nonsense, I think you're just right."
I gulp, not being used to being treated so nicely before despite my entrapment. My mind struggles to come up with the appropriate words, but it is a miserable failure. The Anubis strokes the back of my head and says, "I'll make sure I get you treated properly."
"Hang on, monsters of your species hang out in deserts right? What are you doing out here participating in the invasion?" I inquire.
"The proper term is mamono dear. As for my role here? It's part of a joint effort of mamono between regions. The ruling Pharoah of my homeland has dedicated some troops to the cause and I was among them. Normally, I'd be guarding the inside of a pyramid or some ruins, but it's recently gotten drab and I craved adventure," she says.
I nod before the Anubis asks, "What's your name?"
"Gerard Greene," I reply.
"Panya," the Anubis answers.
I turn back in the direction of the university and say, "It's a shame. Despite my lack of friends back at the college, I was making good progress on my courses."
"Not to worry," Panya assures me, "The leaders behind this operation have plans in place to prevent a total collapse of society."
"Oh, well that's good," I say as I motion to my shackles and request, "Could you remove these please?"
"If you try to run, I'll curse you," Panya warns with a smirk.
I shudder in fear, but the shackles dissipate in a golden mist and I am once again mobile. Panya checks out the cuts and scrapes on my legs a second time and says, "Let us get this taken care of at once."
Despite the Order's best efforts, the city ultimately fell to the mamono tide within three days. Of all the airships that were involved in the evacuation, only two managed to escape. The rest were overwhelmed by mamono and either had their engines disabled while they were grounded or were dragged back down to earth by the powers that be. After some time readjusting to the new society, college was indeed back in session with most if not all of the students and staff save for the few male faculty members being mamono now. I have started to warm up more and more to Panya and she even took my virginity at one point.
Many of the newly transformed students no longer treat me like a lesser being and I am actually getting respect and some generated interest in the stories I write for my Creative Writing courses. Panya has been quite bossy however, setting up a schedule every day and insisting that I adhere to it or face "punishment". Though I may break the rules from time to time just to get Panya off her rocker. That Gazer from earlier that I shot the crossbow at often teases me about that. My parents however I have not written to or heard from in days. I wonder how they will take to the new changes.