Aren's thoughts were all over the place. From bloodlust to blissful agony.
For that reason, he was letting everything out on the Ravagers.
With the iron blade stuck onto his back, he put his hand with sharp nails over his face. A wide, devious grin slowly appeared on his face.
The iron blade jammed into his back finally fell as he stood back up. A moan escaped him, not pain, but satisfaction.
He enjoyed the pain he was experiencing.
Without hesitation, Aren lunged at the mass of Ravagers, cutting through them like kindling.
The first Ravager groaned loudly as Aren curled himself up, then quickly burst through both the armor and bones of the Ravager, leaving nothing but a large hole.
He couldn't even think. His thoughts were being devoured by someone, something. It felt as if his body was slowly being consumed by another being — a different soul.
Something inhumane was taking his body to their advantage.
It was his mysterious Aberration, which he also didn't quite grasp. It was the entire reason he was loathed his whole time in Helmond City.
He wasn't the reason. Nothing was his fault, yet they all blamed it on him. Nobody had even the slightest bit of sympathy!
Aren, or whatever was left of him, bounced through the endless amount of Ravagers and continued to burst through each one's armor, shield and even their blades.
Nothing stood in his way. It was as if the legs he was using to crush their weapons and armor were made out of something stronger than tungsten. His arms, covered in the same suspicious dark substance and scales engraved on it were also the same.
The Ravagers were unable to strike back. To them, he was a blur. He moved like lightning.
Aren hurled from the floor and placed both legs around one of the Ravagers' necks. He locked his legs around the Ravager's neck and wrenched back.
The Ravager flipped in the air before it could even react. It fell down on the snowy ground as its bones shattered into pieces.
Inside the heavy metal armor they wore, there was no human flesh inside.
The Lord Ravagers were just moving skeletons. But they still posed enough danger for Aren to eventually release his Shade.
Blood was leaking out of his back due to the injury he sustained earlier, but he gave it no thought.
In his head, only one thing mattered. One thing that continued to pursue; death.
Minutes passed.
Only three people stood in the middle of hundreds of corpses.
Kellen stared deeply into the psychotic Aren, his eyes widened.
"What have you become?"
The question didn't reach Aren. He was aggressively stomping on the destroyed Ravagers, making sure not even a speck remains.
Faye stepped closer as she had a rather calm expression after the chaos that had just occurred.
Her white sleeveless dress was partially stained by a bit of mud from the fight earlier. She exhausted herself using her Shade.
The rings around her wrists slowly vanished into the air.
Looking at Aren, the corners of her lips slightly curled up as she spoke in an ethereal, haunting tone, not exactly befitting for a child:
"Poor souls."
Kellen looked at the short girl, surprised. What could have been the meaning of her saying souls rather than soul? Clearly, there was only one person in front of them.
One lonely soul.
Aren looked down at his hands covered in blood, his head shaking out of excitement.
Yet, his drenched hand wasn't. It terrified him more than anything else.
The Lord Ravagers stopped emerging out of the gate after Aren had succeeded in exterminating most of them.
Instead, the aura of an evil monster emerged, covering the entire place in its dreadful radiation.
It was not something as pitiful as the Ravagers.
Leagues above them, its footsteps echoed throughout the entire Pale Verge as it revealed itself.
It bent down through the dark Keep, putting one massive hand over the top of the broken gate. It pushed itself forward, revealing a bloody mess.
Its face was barely one that could be called a face. No features at all except for flesh like molten lava was poured on it.
It had no eyes to see, but it was already looking at him without batting a look at Faye or Kellen.
The large monster slammed its hand down, cracking the stone beneath it.
Its ribcage was inside-out, dragging organs behind it like a wedding veil.
Building up momentum, it bolted in the air and plunged downwards towards Aren, his form still intact.
Gigantic guts spewed out of the monster's wide-open stomach as it left a crater due to its sheer weight and size.
Kellen ran into the distance, then violently vomited next to one of the dead Ravagers.
Running out of stamina and bravery, Kellen was done for. He didn't want to do anything like this anymore. The hunters were one thing, but this? It was too much for him to deal with.
Faye, on the contrary, had her head locked onto the abominations in front of her. She was blind, but the gurgles and sounds of laughter coming from that direction took her attention instantly.
"Ah… I miscalculated." she said, her tone somewhat regretful.
Aren stared deeply into the faceless abomination in front of him, a wide smile plastered on his face.
'Run away, damn it! Run!' He tried in his head, but nothing worked.
Outside of his thoughts, all he said to the monster was:
"So it was you, you filthy bastard."
Aren's voice was distorted as he spoke with such braveness to one of the most feared species in the lands, a Wretched Glutton.
The one that brought out the Ravagers in the beginning… It seemed like his suspicions were true.
Without any time to waste, he leapt high into the air and struck into the faceless Glutton.
However, this time, it didn't work as expected. His legs, which were harder than steel itself, were not able to penetrate through mere flesh.
The Glutton vigorously moved its head forward, knocking Aren back all the way to the thick walls.
Aren turned while he was in the air, then landed using his feet on the wall.
Quickly, he jumped back at it, unhurt. Even if he was, it would just give him more reason to attack.
Suddenly, before he was able to reach the monstrosity and strike back, countless thorny roots erupted from the ground, shaking off the snow.
Aren quickly tightened his fingers and prepared himself to use the sharp nails he achieved.
Eventually, he circled around and cut through the massive roots directed at him.
As the monster succeeded in stopping him, Aren landed down on a Ravagers split corpse.
Thorny roots emerged once more from beneath the floor and into Aren. At the same time, Ravagers were summoned the same way and took themselves out of the dirt.