He almost reached it, but then he felt the earth move beneath him; the ground shook, rocks crumbled as the whole land sank deep into the ground. Noen Vale lost his balance, unable to process what happened, but while he was mid-air, an unknown force—weighing above any creature he had known—pressed against his back, crushing him down to the dust. His soul almost left his body, blood spurted out from his mouth, and his ribs broke.
He swallowed the remaining breath he had, pounding heavily, and grabbed the ground beneath him, trying to push himself, but the weight above him was far too great and In the midst of the situation, he took a gamble; he tore his own leg, unsure how his healing worked yet trusting his instincts, he did it and dragged himself forward.
Behind him, his legs that he tore were crushed under a giant foot of something humongous; it was a giant dragon. Its ominous aura engulfed the whole forest, as its glistening black scales looked like purple void. Its eyes showed the true meaning of bloodlust, yet it remained poised, waiting for someone.
Noen Vale, unaware of the looming threat behind him, moved forward in pain. The blood flowing out his body traced the crumbled ground. A small fear welled up inside him as the legs that had shattered moments ago were not recovering back. A deep groan left his mouth in the effort; his hands moved, digging his fingers through the dirt, determined like a crawling pest.
And then the ground shook; the rocks trembled as something huge, almost like a serpent, crawled out of the ground, digging a hole through it. Noen, alarmed but unable to react to it, got swallowed by the serpent.
***
The serpent who had just swallowed Noen Vale stood in front of the dragon, staring into its eyes. A small hiss left its mouth as a killing intent devoured the air. They both looked at each other's eyes, asserting dominance.
The dragon stepped forward, and with a roaring sound, let out a battle cry. The surroundings screeched in terror. Within seconds, they both lunged forward. But before their fight could begin, someone commanded, interfering in their beastly clash:
"Stop, both of you."
From above, someone descended. It was Shadow of Death, emitting a dark aura, almost devouring like a void. Both the dragon and the serpent stood in silence in fear; the air grew denser as he spoke in a heavy scolding tone, landing upon the ground:
"How many times has it been? Since, I warned both of you not to interfere in our spar!?
"And you—Blade… what did you just eat? Cause I'm sensing a rat in your gut. Spit it out, right now!?"
Blade looked as if he was caught red-handed. Scared; his face sweated, eyes widened, his throat moved on its own—spitting out Noen Vale from his mouth.
And just this was happening, from the air, Ashes of Blood also descended, laughing in pure madness.
"Shadow of Death, well, it seems you don't know how to train your dog."
"How can it be called a predator if it swallows anything from the ground—even a rat?"
"Oh well… Ashes of Blood."
"I think I heard someone buzzing around my ear, but it seems there is no difference between you and your dragon."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Heh, it seems you even sold your brain to your muscles."
"What I mean: you both like to bark like a dog."
A bulging vein popped as Ashes of Blood surged with immense anger. He looked at Shadow of Death with menacing eyes as he pointed his finger at him, saying:
"Our battle hasn't settled yet, Shadow of Death.
" So, take this as a warning about what I'm about to say!"
" In this battle, I will not forget to crush your skull into dust!"
Just as he said that, the sky turned red, trembling from the pressure , the ground stuttered from surging power as both of them and the beast got ready to fight; an immense aura devoured the battleground as they all vanished in an instant.
***
Noen Vale who lay motionless in the destroyed plain. A sudden movement appeared in his flesh, and in an instant, he recovered back to normal, regaining his consciousness back, he stood up in pure confusion. Around him, everything felt messy. He didn't see anyone and the only thing he remembered was the last glimpse of getting swallowed by something.
Looking at the barren land, completely obliterated and burning from the heat, his body remained unharmed.
He sat still thinking, then a doubt hit him—he was not feeling pain, and on top of that, he felt strong, as if his body had adapted to something. His muscles felt tighter, stronger—completely different from what he had experienced so far.
His gaze landed on the nearby land, standing unscathed atop the edge of the crater. Gathering enough strength and thought, he moved forward, climbing the inclined rocky wall. But just as he grabbed it, the strong-looking rock crumbled into dust.
His face was completely baffled. But thinking the rock was frail, he ignored it and grabbed another one but it also broke— he had no idea what was happening, still thinking but then a sudden dizziness hit him; flashing images appeared in his mind, and a vibrating sensation filled his whole head.
He felt his head throbbing as he started to sense everything around him—every life, every object, even the slightest movement. His mind was overwhelmed by the incoming information. He screamed; saliva poured down from his mouth, unable to bear it, he almost collapsed.
A mouthful of blood came out his mouth as He looked at the sky, panting for air, in teary eyes.
He was not in his senses, but still, mustering his courage and with the remaining consciousness he had, he moved forward, grabbing the wall. His fingers pierced the soil as he pulled himself upward, trying to climb towards the edge.
After a long struggle, he finally reached the top, falling to his knees.
As he looked up at the sky, his gaze felt something else, completely different from what it was before—a broken man, drowned in agony.
He grumbled in his own painful voice, laughing continuously in broken bits. He said like he completely lost it:
"Now what, make me suffer more?"
"Cause what had left to happen, this world, does it even want me to live"
"That cave, then that urghh.. why am I even alive, why do i even have regeneration— just to make me suffer, more?"
"From the day I arrived, nothing is clear, that fuzzy memory and all the events happened until now.. im just walking aimlessly, what even is the goal of me sending here"
"Heh— Whatever. Who will hear me? this world, my life… it all hates me."
He stood on his feet again, but before he could walk further, he felt his consciousness slipping,
And the light he saw before turned into darkness…