CHAPTER 84: CONSEQUENCES OF BEING.

Nero collapsed to a heap on the floor.

His breath was heavy and his body was tired.

’I... I did it.’

The fog slowly receded a long with the swarm of tainted souls that dwelled within it.

Taking a moment to make sure he had calmed down, Nero turned his gaze to what was left of the Ghoul.

It had been burnt black by the light that had touched it.

If not for that light, he feared that putting the Ghoul down would have been far more difficult than he could imagine.

He turned around. Then he froze.

For some reason, despite having survived such an awful predicament, the moods of everyone behind him was dark and solemn.

The girl, Aisha, had her face buried between her hands as she sobbed quietly.

The large man with the shield had a dark look on his face as he stared at what Nero could only assume had once been a human.

However, there was nothing human about the remains.

Not even the bones were spared. The Brandors that had attacked had devoured his human down the the bone. And even though they had all been killed, it wouldn’t change the fact that they couldn’t bring her back from the dead.

It truly was a sad sight to behold.

So he chose to hold his tongue while they mourned.

In the meantime, he turned around and headed towards the smoldering corpse of the Ghoul to take a look.

It had been burned to a crisp, speckles of rotten, singed flesh falling off even as he approached.

Nero paused.

Surprisingly, the Ghoul still hadn’t died yet. Its eyes rolled frantically in their sockets.

Deep wheezing sounds came from its throat as it tried to growl? Or perhaps speak...

Nero frowned.

Something was wrong.

’Those eyes...’

The eyes of the Ghoul were filled with boundless terror, pain and fear.

But there was a subtle light to them.

The light of awareness. With a touch of insanity in them.

Nero shook.

The lips of the Ghoul trembled ever so slightly.

His body still trembling, Nero dropped to his knees and leaned forward.

The words that bled into his ears filled him with all sorts of complex emotions.

"P—pl—please. K—k—k—ki—ll him. Pl—ease."

Nero sucked in a deep breath. With wide eyes, he whispered back,

"Who?"

The look of pain morphed into absolute rage, before dying into exhaustion.

This time, his voice didn’t break.

He looked right into Nero’s eyes, his eyes filled with stunning clarity.

It was as though, in his last moments, he had decided to leave a purpose behind. To die then, after passing it on.

"Kill Garrick."

The words that fell into Nero’s ears brought a rather ugly expression onto his face.

He could see it. Fighting through the madness enveloping him, slowly pulling him beyond the grave...

This was true conviction. The conviction a dying man.

However, Nero could not respond.

The eyes of the dying man continued to plead with him and beg, even as the light faded away from them.

Nero suddenly felt an arm land on his shoulder, jolting him out of his thoughts. He broke contact with the glassy eyes of the deceased and turned to face behind him.

There, Garrick, the large man that had wielded the Broadsword stared down at him with a small, warm smile.

With the fog gone, Nero could see all of Garrick’s features quite clearly now.

He was a fairly handsome man with reddish brown hair and a scar that cut through his lips to his top left eyelid. His brows were thick, and his eyes were a deep, dark brown, making his gaze surprisingly soft and charming.

His demeanor was like that of a warm, older brother.

Nero pursed his lips, unable to say anything.

Garrick hummed and glanced down at Lawson’s corpse, a look of utter disgust flashed through his eyes, though he concealed it quickly.

"We’ll have to burn the body soon."

Nero raised a brow, "Burn it."

Garrick nodded, "Since we can’t take the whole corpse back to his family, we’ll need to preserve his ashes. It’s the least we can do for a brother that is no longer with us."

Nero nodded slowly.

His gaze turned back to the corpse lying on the ground.

It was wretched, and still deformed, all forms of humanity completely gone.

The image was burned into his pupils, forever etched into his soul.

A moment later, two small fires were lit in the forest.

The final resting place of Lawson and Lammy, two Hunters from the City of Liedenstorm. They died somewhere within Malady’s Garden.

In a few years, their names would be forgotten as most of their family would be dead.

They died so they could live. Live their wretched lives.

To what purpose was that?

What meaning was there in such an existence?

Alas, there was no purpose, neither was there a meaning to it.

Such a life, was simply the consequences of being.

The consequences of being in a world as dark, wretched and cursed as this one...

Nero let out a sigh as he unsheathed the Silver Blade.

On the blade was reflected the image of a fair-skinned, extremely handsome young man. His eyes were filled with a deep melancholy that seemed to stretch on forever.

His eyes were dark, but if one were to look much closer, something was buried in the dark orbs, something strange and unsightly.

Something profane and profound, divine and dark.

Nero sheathed the blade.

The sound of soft sobbing and flames singing echoed silently through the forest.

In a few minutes, the corpses were completely incinerated.

"We best get going. It will be bad news once the fly horde gets here." Obed said, his expression grim.

Garrick calmly nodded and turned to face Nero.

"Nero, was it?"

Nero nodded slowly.

Garrick smiled,

"It is truly a stroke of good luck for you to have come to our aid this time. We will treat you to a proper feast once we get to the City. You have my word."

Nero slowly shook his head,

"No. There’s no need for you to do that."

Garrick shook his head,

"Let’s put that aside for now."

He paused for a moment as though seriously considering it.

Then he spoke cautiously,

"If it would be alright with you, would you consider joining our party? Just until we reach the city."