CHAPTER 23: THE DEAD SWARM

A massive tree loomed in the center, its bark faintly glowing with veins of blue.

_Kreee!

Around it, the swarm drifted in slow circles, wings humming softly in the heavy air.

They were silent.

Almost too silent, moving like sleepwalkers.

For a while, nothing changed.

The creatures floated lazily, lost in some strange trance, their bodies pulsing faintly with light.

Then, something stirred.

_Crack!

A cocoon near them began to tremble violently, as if something inside was struggling to break free.

_Tick!

With a sharp snap, the graft holding it to the trunk broke.

The cocoon rolled down the side of the tree and hit the ground with a wet thud.

_Slash!

It burst open, spilling out a figure, a naked girl, her skin glistening with a thin layer of translucent fluid.

For a moment, everything stilled again.

Then, one of the insects twitched midair.

Its wings shuddered.

_Kreee!

The sound tore through the silence.

It broke from the rhythm and descended slowly, eyes glimmering faintly as it hovered over the unconscious girl.

Then, it raised its scythe-like arm.

But just as the blade gleamed under the faint blue light,

_Whoosh!

A sharp sound sliced through the air.

The creature twitched, its head jerking to the side,

Too late.

_Slash!

A black sword cut clean through its neck.

The head spun midair, ichor spilling like ink before it hit the ground with a wet thud.

The rest of the body staggered for a second, twitching, then collapsed beside the girl.

I deactivated the stealth and stepped out of the mist.

I flicked my wrist, shaking off the blood.

"They’re waking up fast," I muttered.

It was the third creature I had killed so far.

’Thankfully, they’ve been the weaker ones.’

[More are coming.]

I quickly took out a black rope, the only one I had,

and draped it over Melissa before picking her up.

’She’s surprisingly lightweight.’

I activated stealth and melted into the mist.

A ripple ran through the swarm.

_Kreee! Kreee! Kreee!

One by one, the creatures twitched violently, their trance shattered.

Wings flared in frantic rhythm, beating against the thick, humid air.

The sound swelled, a grinding chorus that pressed against my eardrums.

They all began descending toward the ground.

’Damn!’

I crouched low beneath a fallen branch, the mist clinging to us like a veil.

My breath was shallow, pulse steady.

_Kree!

One of the larger ones landed close, too close, the sound of its claws scraping bark sent a shiver down my spine.

[Their senses are dull because I’m keeping the Dream Eater in check. But you need to hurry.]

’I know.’

The creature lingered for a few seconds, then left.

For a moment, I thought we were safe.

But then,

"Ah—!"

Melissa’s eyes flew open, and a sharp yelp escaped her lips before she realized where she was.

My hand shot up instantly, clamping over her mouth.

Too late.

_KREEEEE!

Every head turned at once.

The air trembled with the sudden roar of wings as the swarm reacted like a single organism.

Each beat of their wings stirred the mist into spiraling eddies,

carrying with it the sharp stench of decay and something sweet, almost intoxicating.

’Ah, shit!’

My body moved before my thoughts.

The moment the first one lunged, I was already moving.

_Slash!

My blade cut through its chest, ichor spraying across the mist. I twisted, ducking under another scythe swipe, and dashed between the glowing trunks.

"AGH!!"

Melissa clung weakly to my chest, her breath ragged against my shoulder.

_KREEEE!

They were fast. Too fast.

One dove from above, its shadow streaking across my path.

I rolled aside, the ground splattering with dark fluid as its scythe arm struck where I’d been a heartbeat earlier.

I kicked off a root, spinning midair and slashing upward,

_Screech!

Steel met flesh, and the creature fell apart in two twitching halves.

I leaped over a fallen trunk, landing hard. My footing slipped on wet moss.

I barely caught myself before another creature crashed down beside me,

scythe-arm cleaving the ground where my head had been.

’Damn it... they’re everywhere.’

_Slash!

Another fell, but the swarm just kept coming, endless, relentless, driven by some hive-born rage.

"SURGE!"

A small wave of water poured down from the sky.

Melissa, half-conscious, cast the spell with trembling hands.

A golden vein spread across her arm.

But the spell did little, just slowed them down a bit.

She gritted her teeth.

"SURGE!"

Water formed again, swirling midair.

"FREEZE!"

The wave solidified, turning into a massive block of ice.

I ducked under a branch and slid forward just as the frozen mass crashed down behind me.

_Thud!

Three of the monsters were crushed instantly.

The impact sent cracks through the ground, and for a moment, I could breathe.

But more and more of them were waking, thousands now, crawling, flying, shrieking.

Cold sweat poured down my back.

’This isn’t going to work...’

Then,

_BOOM!

A burst of crimson light split through the haze like lightning.

For an instant, everything froze.

Multiple insects were cut down where they hovered.

_BOOM!

Another shockwave rolled through the forest as more were torn apart.

I turned, blinking through the mist.

A figure emerged, barefoot, wearing loose nightclothes that fluttered in the rising wind.

His hair, deep crimson, glowed faintly under the bluish light.

He exhaled, then swung.

_Fwoooosh!

A single slash carved through the air, releasing a crescent of red light that split the mist apart.

The ground trembled as the attack roared outward, cleaving through the swarm in a sweeping arc.

Bodies fell in halves.

Wings shredded mid-flight.

Black ichor rained like tar as the red glow faded into crackling embers.

"Sir Ewan!" Melissa gasped.

"BOY! KEEP GOING!" the knight roared.

My eyebrow twitched.

’Boy? Has this bastard finally come to his senses?’

Crimson arcs flashed one after another,

each swing tearing through dozens of creatures like paper.

For a moment, the blue veins on the tree pulsed faster,

as if responding to the chaos.