Carl also blamed himself everyday for not being strong enough to protect the people around him. He blamed himself for being weak. For being human. The only way he could come up with a possible solution was if he restarts everything in a different world.
There was another wave of people rushing towards his direction. Carl watched as they stumbled over the cold floor, picked themselves up and dashed away. Those that weren't quick to stand up were stepped on by those behind them. The sight was brutal but Carl didn't flinch. Carl was prepared to die today.
And just then, he spotted them. The Villains. All three of them.
They were heading towards him in the direction of the flowing crowd. Their steps unhurried, sending slight tremors to the earth as they stepped. Their figures were unveiled from the chilling embrace of darkness immediately they walked into the range of the artificial illuminations.
They stood at a height of three meters tall, with sharp eyes of that of a feral beast, a snout protruding from their hideous faces, and their maws were filled with terrifying fangs. They had thick black furs in place of skins, and the end of their huge beastly arms were long sharp claws.
They resembled monsters picked straight out of a horror film.
Although these monsters weren't as terrifying as the demons from his past life, this version of Carl was just a mere human, he felt deeply terrified. It felt like a thin string of dread was clenching around his neck and a suffocating aura ready to devour his entire being if the thin string snapped. Carl was frightened by the sight of these walking nightmares. He felt fear. He felt trivial—so weak.
Carl forgot about the decision he made a few minutes ago, and all he wanted to do was to run away as fast as his trivial legs could carry him—as long as he was far from this place. However, his legs failed him. Carl was too frightened to run, his legs were shaking rapidly in fear.
'Crap! I…i–is this how I am going to die? I don't want to die like this… Not today... Not here…' Carl stuttered in his thoughts as despair overwhelmed him.
However, he didn't give up, he kept trying to move his legs. The monstrous three-meters tall Villains were gradually covering the gap between them. Suddenly, Carl broke free from the intimidating aura and immediately dashed towards the opposite direction aiming to escape this location.
"H–help! M..m–mommy I am scared. I want my mommy." There was a soft and timid cry coming from behind him. Carl immediately looked over his shoulders. He spotted a little girl lying on the ground and shedding tears, her left leg looked broken, and she was covered in dust—probably stepped on by the panicked crowd from earlier.
"What should I do?" Carl asked himself.
'Why am I worrying about that? I am not some hero or something. Her parents are responsible for her safety, not me.' Carl thought.
"Think, think! There has to be something you can do?" Carl added. The monsters were covering the gap, they would soon arrive at the spot where the little girl laid helplessly on the cold floor.
'What can I possibly do? I am helpless, I am weak. I am powerless, I am just trash in this world.' Carl thought as he bolted away.
"Shit!" Carl cursed as he realized that he was bolting towards the direction of the monsters. His human body had reacted on its own. 'What kind of instinct is this?' Carl was surprised, but he didn't stop… he couldn't.
The three humanoid beasts were only fifteen meters away from the little girl when one of them suddenly noticed her presence.
"Big brother… big brother… Can I eat that one?" He said excitedly, pointing towards the direction of the little girl. The older monster with more profound scars covering his body than the others and a few layers of gray fur, sighed before nodding his head in agreement:
"Fine, but only this once. Remember, we are here to cause mayhem so that we can draw the attention of a few heroes in this location, not to satiate our hunger. You can eat as many heroes as you want when they show up."
"How come he gets to eat the girl?" The other humanoid wolf-like monster said.
"That's because he is younger than you. You are more mature, I hope you understand the reason why we're doing this, Dreadwolf?" The older wolf asked.
"Yes, we have to cause enough destruction if we wish to join the twenty two lower seats of the Villain Society." Dreadwolf replied.
"Very good! Vilewolf, you can eat the girl but just this once, okay?" The older wolf added.
"Thank you, big brother." Vilewolf said excitedly as he stepped forward. His long sharp claws reached forward to get hold of the little girl, however, something or someone dashed towards his claws and in the next instance his prey was gone.
Someone stole it!
Vilewolf was confused for a second. He looked forward and spotted the thief trying to escape with his prey.
"Give it back, I am not sharing!" Vilewolf yelled angrily as he chased after Carl with heavy steps stomping the ground drastically. "I am going to cut you into bits and eat your flesh too you disgusting thief."
'What am I doing? You can have her back, please spare me.' Carl screamed inwardly.
"Disgusting? Who goes around eating children, you scumbag?" Was what he actually said.
"I will kill you." Vilewolf increased his speed, the gap between them was shrinking by the second. He reached out his arm and violently slashed his claws forward. Vilewolf's sharp claws bit into Carl's skin leaving a three diagonal shallow gashes on Carl's back.
"Hahaha! You're not leaving here alive, that I assure you." Vilewolf snorted as he chased from behind.
Meanwhile, the three cuts on Carl's back were flowing with crimson liquid, he had a pained frown etched on his face as he kept running. His entire body was burning in pains, he had stressed his battered body to its limit, so his previous wounds had reopened. His shirt was soaked in his own blood. Carl ground his teeth tightly as he endured the burning pains. He needed to escape or he was done for it.
"Survive… S–survive. Survive…" Carl mumbled to himself in heavy breaths, his legs were at their limits. He stumbled and crashed heavily on the ground, but he curled himself immediately to protect the little girl in his arms from the fall. As he fell, his body gained momentum and his back kept rolling forward on the floor until it eventually came to a half a few meters away.
Vilewolf stopped running, a giggling sound escaped his beastial maws. He smiled deviously and proceeded forward. Play time was over, it was now time to eat.
Bam!
However, before Vilewolf could pounce on Carl and the little girl and devour them hungrily, a beam of crimson light collided with his body from the side, sending him flying into a nearby building. His enormous body collapsed a few walls as it kept reeling.