Reina paused on a branch, "Okay, we're far enough now." And dropped us down, face-first into a swamp. She leapt down, surveying her surroundings as Axel and I got up. I summoned Ignis out of caution.
Axel hid behind a tree, setting up his sniper.
Reina then took out a cloth, wiping the blood from her blade. I turned on Distortion Sense, checking if an Error was nearby.
Fortunately, there wasn't a single trace of any Error. I walked over to Reina, "Mind telling us who they were, or what happened?"
"Oh, you. Yeah, sure. They're the other candidates. Apparently, because there are no rules for killing or fighting amongst the candidates, others have taken advantage of this. Taking their chance at killing any candidate they see. Especially the strongest."
Axel yelled out, "ERROR! NIGHTMARE RANK. TO MY RIGHT. 500 METERS AWAY."
I summoned Ignis, Reina put away the cloth and was ready to fight, but my senses screamed 'NOPE. WE ARE NOT FIGHTING ANOTHER GRIM REAPER.'
I took Reina's hand and ran as fast as I could. Following close behind Axel, who was further ahead than us.
I turned on Distortion Sense again, showing me the shape of a worm-like beast getting closer each second.
[Death Fang-Parasite]
[Rank: Nightmare rank.]
'Oh? I'm getting info now?! Why didn't I get this before—Wait, how could I forget! I didn't even have the Aegis System at that time.'
[Challenge activated.]
[Defeat the Error within 5 hours.]
'SERIOUSLY?! A CHALLENGE?!! WHY DO I HAVE TO FIGHT ANOTHER?!!! WHYYYY!!!'
[Challenge time remaining: 4 hours 35 seconds.]
[Rewards will be decided after completing the challenge.]
I swore under my shaky breath. My legs were sore from running.
[Many Rulers are excited to see what you shall do to face this new challenge, Eraser Horacio.]
I suddenly felt something in my hand. I looked down at what I was holding, only then realising I hadn't let go of Reina's hand before, 'Oh shit.'
I let go, turning my head away quickly, just barely spotting Reina also turn her head away in the corner of my eye.
'Is she also embarrassed? Gah! What's wrong with me?! This isn't the time to think of stuff like that!'
"THERE! LET'S GET UP THAT MOUNTAIN. QUICKLY!" Axel commanded us, pointing at a snow-covered mountain in the distance.
'HOW DO WE GET UP THAT MOUNTAIN IN A FEW MINUTES. LET ALONE A FEW HOURS. IT WOULD TAKE DAYS.'
"IT'LL TAKE TOO MUCH TIME THOUGH, AXEL!"
"IT'S WORTH THE SHOT, HOWEVER!" he responded.
We began sprinting faster now. I looked back, the shadow of an enormous shape growing ever larger. I summoned Ignis just in case, and actually, I learnt something new. I can finally create Ignis without saying the spell—or whatever it's called—aloud!
"DID EVERYONE GET THE NOTIFICATION ABOUT THE CHALLENGE?!" yelled Reina over the gale that slapped at our faces.
Axel and I replied in unison, "YEAH."
"WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO KILL THE BEAST FIRST, THEN CONTINUE."
"WHAT?!" Axel said.
"YOU HEARD ME!"
Reina stopped running and turned around. She unsheathed her claymore. Axel went on ahead but paused and turned around a couple of meters later, prone on the ground, sniper ready. I stood in my sword stance, ready to help slay another catastrophe.
The demonic beast paused, still behind a series of trees. Before disappearing. "What? Is it gone?"
"No… BELOW US. QUICKLY, MOVE!" yelled Reina as the earth below us began breaking apart.
Axel got up, running even further away now. Reina and I went the opposite way as the beast burst out of the earth. Letting all hell loose.
That entrance was no joke. It was horrifying. It bared its highly unhygienic fanged teeth out into the sky, the large grey scales covered its body, while its underbelly exposed its pink, disgusting flesh. It stood still for a few seconds, still attached to the earth, showing off its extremely long, worm-like body, before facing down at me and Reina.
"Make sure just to do what I say."
"Alright." Reina moved to face the right side of the beast using Edge Blink.
"Now! Flank it from the other side!"
Without hesitation, I did just that. I used Edge Blink to close the distance, and then I drove Ignis into the thick underbody of the beast on the left side. Reina was blocking its attack at her, when suddenly it lurched backwards because of the sharp pain from Ignis.
It then produced small bubbles of sorts in the air around us. Thankfully, I resisted the urge to pop them.
"WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT BREATHE RIGHT NOW," ordered Reina.
I froze. Holding my breath. We all had stopped breathing, holding onto our remaining oxygen. When suddenly, Reina screamed, apparently she had breathed in a bubble, 'Crap.'
After a minute of standing frozen while Reina screamed and writhed in agony. The bubbles finally began popping. I was the first to move after Reina, wasting not a single second to take her into my arms.
I yelled to Axel, "MOVE, MOVE, MOVE."
'I didn't want to do this, but I guess it's all come down to this, eh?'
I began bringing up pictures of an aircraft propeller that was already about to fly off. Then, using the images, I formed the aeroplane into reality. Us sitting in it, Axel on the controls. The plane began pulling up, '10 minutes before the plane disappears. Fingers crossed, Axel knows how to fly a plane.'
Axel pulled up on the aeroplane's control yoke, beginning our ascent. Just as we were finally lifting off—my horrid luck had to ruin this escape—the worm bit off the tail. Causing the plane to begin… descending.
We had barely gone above 20ft before going down, crashing. I quickly forced the aeroplane to disappear, holding Axel's waist as I landed onto the ground, luckily not killing myself.
The parasite's body loomed over me, casting a shadow longer than a tsunami. I cussed at my luck and began sprinting, Reina's unconscious body and Axel weighing me down.
Then suddenly, my body went stiff. Pain burst throughout my whole body. Pain that felt like every one of my limbs was being ripped off.
However, I didn't have time. Instead, I ran and ran, non-stop. The worm-like parasite didn't steer away, no matter what I tried. I paused many times, almost being eaten thrice.
I felt like just dropping dead, each second was pain and endless pain. Then I stepped into a small entrance, wide enough for one person at a time. I put Axel out of my grasp, who began helping me bring in Reina. But I was too late.
Its fanged mouth dove down onto me. Swallowing my body, whole. 'I guess this is the end…'
'Ha, "The End"…'