CHAPTER 45: FIGHTING DEMONS (2).

The grin stretched wider.

The wild blew harder, carrying the overwhelming scent of rot and blood.

Nero didn’t wait any longer to think. He turned and ran.

Boots hitting the muddy ground hard, each step sending up sprays of black earth, Nero ran with all his might. The Silver Blade slapped against his hip as he tore through the underbrush, branches whipping at his face and arms.

Behind him, the creature moved.

The sound of four legs striking the ground in rapid succession, like they deliberately sought the fear bubbling out of his soul. The hiss of poison gas leaking from the tumor on its shoulders. The wet, labored breathing through multiple mouths....

Nero pushed harder, his lungs burning as he sprinted back toward the outer edge of the forest. He gasped, groaned, cried and yelled as he pushed himself to the absolute limit.

If he could just reach the cave, perhaps—

No. That was not true.

Even if he reached the cave, there would be no saving him.

He trembled.

The creature surged forward with terrifying speed, its four legs eating up the distance between them in seconds then angled its path, cutting him off.

Nero skidded to a halt, nearly losing his footing as he pivoted hard to the left by gripping into a tree so hard, the surface of his palms grated away. The creature crashed through the space he would have occupied, its claws tearing deep furrows in the earth.

He changed direction, now running parallel to where he’d come from instead of away. Deeper into the forest. Toward the denser trees and darker shadows.

Toward the center of a Category Red zone...

Every instinct screamed at him to turn around. After all, the center was where the strongest, most abhorrent of abominations dwelled. The most ancient ones. Those that were truly and utterly corrupted.

But he had no choice.

The transformed creature was playing with its food, herding him and driving him away from safety and into the depths of the Purple Evergrowth.

Nero’s mind raced as his legs pumped. Even with him mentally acknowledging the bleak circumstances, for some reason, his legs refused to give out.

His stubborn nature was showing again.

’Damn it. Damn it all!’

The trees grew thicker around him. The purple leaves overhead blocked out more of the grey light, plunging the forest floor into deeper shadows. The air felt heavier here, pressing down on him like the weight of ancient defilement.

Then, to make matters even worse, he heard ovement.

Not just from behind him.

But from all sides.

Nero’s head snapped left, then right, his eyes wide as he tried to see through the gloom.

The underbrush rustled and the branches swayed. The sound of claws, feet, hooves and every other thing in-between cutting across the ground filled his ears.

High in the sky, the sound of terrible, dangerous caws filled the aire, some of them sharp enough to tear through the air itself.

The forest had woken up.

A Corrupted Scavenger burst from the trees to his right, its pale, dark skin gleaming in the dim light. It hissed and lunged at him.

Nero didn’t slow one bit. He ducked under its grasping claws and kept running whilst the creature tumbled past him and crashed into a tree.

Another appeared ahead of him, crouched low and ready to pounce.

Nero drew the Silver Blade mid-stride and slashed without breaking pace. The blade caught the creature across the throat, and it collapsed in a spray of black blood.

But more were coming.

He could hear them now.

Dozens of them. Hundreds. Perhaps even more than that!

The commotion had drawn their attention. The sound of his running and that of the creature chasing him had stirred the slumbering horrors of the Purple Evergrowth.

And now, after smelling the indescribable scent of a human soul and body. Its faint sweetness and aroma...

It had forced most of them to fall into a frenzie.

As a result, they were all converging on him.

Nero’s breath came in ragged gasps as he vaulted over a fallen log and nearly stumbled on the other side. He caught himself, albeit barely, and kept moving.

A strange chimera Abomination dropped from the branches above, its elongated limbs reaching for his head.

He rolled forward, the creature’s claws scraping across his back but failing to find purchase. The pain filled his senses but he ignored it.

He had to keep moving.

The forest around him was alive now, teeming with movement. Shapes darted between the trees and eyes gleamed in the shadows. Eyes filled with boundless malice and hunger...

And behind him, the transformed creature continued its pursuit relentlessly.

Nero risked a glance back.

The thing was still there, its multiple eyes locked on him, its mouths hanging open in that terrible grin.

But it wasn’t alone anymore.

The other Abominations had noticed it too. Some were drawn to Nero, but the others were drawn to the transformed creature.

An enormous beastly Abomination with a flat head and eyes at both ends of its head lunged at the transformed creature from the side, its jaws open wide to bite down.

The creature didn’t even slow. One of its four arms lashed out, catching the Abomination mid-leap and tearing into its throat. Black blood sprayed across the trees.

The scent of blood only made things worse.

More Abominations emerged from the forest, drawn by the violence, stench, and the noise. They attacked anything that moved, a chaotic frenzy of claws and teeth and madness.

Nero ran through the middle of it all, his heart hammering so hard he thought it might burst.

A large arachnid creature the size of his torso with strange glowing runes and a single enough eye at the center of its abdomens leapt at him from the left. He cut it down without thinking. Ichor and venom sprayed across his face, numbing him.

They came from everywhere.

The forest had become a nightmare.

Everywhere he looked, Abominations were tearing into each other. The ground was slick with blood. The air reeked of decay and poison gas.

And yet, he ran.

His muscles burned, his lungs screamed for air, and his vision swam at the edges...

But he didn’t stop.

He couldn’t stop.

Because if he did, they would tear him apart. It was as simple as that.

A massive shape loomed ahead of him in the gloom. Another Abomination with a shadow much larger than all the others.

He didn’t have time to identify it. He veered to the side, changing direction again, his path through the forest becoming more erratic with each passing second.

He glanced back again.

The transformed creature was still there, carving a path of destruction through the horde. Its four arms moved in a blur, tearing apart anything that got too close.

It was still coming for him.

Nero’s breath hitched.

He was going to die. Even if he cried out to the heavens, for someone to save him.

He was going to die.

Death from being torn apart by dozens of Abominations, each one fighting to claim a piece of him. Flesh, blood, soul, and all.

For a moment, the despair threatened to drag him under.

His legs faltered and his pace slowed.

This was it.

This was how it all ended.