Chapter 14: Flies (1).

Nero stepped outside the church and froze.

’Something is wrong.’

A deep fear that seemed almost second nature to him. One that came from the depths of his blood.

The morning air carried something new.

It was a sound that made his skin crawl.

Buzzing.

He looked up at the pale sky. Nothing. Just the grey fog that came with the dreadful mornings of these cursed lands.

’Damn it!’

He knew it was inevitable, but he had still decided to stay this long.

He was careless.

Making a mental note to never be so careless again, he began making his way away from the Church.

’With these many dead, the swarm will certainly be terrifying.’

The Hordes of Beelzebub were the most common type of Abomination on the Earth.

They existed as the army of the Fallen Seraph, Beelzebub.

Besides the Gryghori who fell from the heavens, there were numerous other evils that plagued the world turned away from the gaze of the Divine One.

One of these evils, was of course, the Angels of Damnation.

Nero didn’t know the exact details of them, but knowledge of their existence was something even the most common farmer and miner knew of.

The Angels of Damnation known to the creatures of Earth, are Lucifer, the Angel of Knowledge, the Cursed Crown, Glory-Seeker, and First King of the Seven Hells.

Beelzebub, the Angel of Flies, Curse of Death, Lord of the Swarm, and the Second King of the Seven Hells.

Baal, the Angel of Storms, Pestilence, Twisted Judgment, Incarnate of Destruction, and the Third King of the Seven Hells..

And of course, Leviathan, the Angel of Chaos. Primordial Dragon, The One Who’s Breath Is Madness, and the Fourth King of the Seven Hells.

These four beings ruled the underworld.

Because the souls of the damned are eternally bound to the earth, none of these souls can travel to the Hells.

Because of that, the Kings of Hell created their armies and set them out to the Earth to consume these souls for them, so that they might one day regain their lost powers.

All, to face the Divine One in a prophesied battle that would tear all of reality apart in its wake…

The Hordes of Beelzebub in particular, were a rather frightening flavor of nightmare.

The buzzing grew stronger.

Nero’s grip tightened on the Silver Blade.

The sound was all to familiar to him.

The sound of a thousand wings beating in unison.

When a human or Abomination died, the stench of decay summoned the Hordes of Beelzebub to feast.

The buzzing became a roar.

Nero ran.

He sprinted through the ruined streets of Gor, his boots splashing through puddles of dried blood. Behind him, the sound grew so loud it seemed to shake the very air. The buzzing filled his skull, drowning out everything else.

’Damn it!’

His heart hammered against his ribs as he vaulted over a collapsed fence and stumbled into a roll before jumping back onto his feet to continue his crazed sprint.

The path to the forest was just ahead. If he could reach the treeline—

Something wet splattered against the stone wall beside his head, hissing as it ate through the mortar.

He cursed out loud and threw himself behind a building. The sound of something wet striking the floor forced him to turn his head.

His face twisted into a disgusted expression.

There, splattered onto the ground in a shallow pool of yellowish mucus, was a terrifying-looking creature.

The size of a dog, it had an eerie human-looking face. Its mouth, however, was not that of a human. It extended to form four feet long proboscis that could easily stab right through a human body.

Its compound eyes reflected the morning light like black mirrors, and their proboscis dripped with corrosive saliva. Wings beat so fast against the ground, they turned into blurs, creating that horrible buzzing sound.

In his dread, Nero glanced up.

“I’m screwed.”

The air was filled with a swarm of these enormous flies.

They were the scouts sent out to accurately located the site emitting the succulent stench of rot.

The main swarm would be close behind.

Nero drew the Silver Blade from its scabbard.

The first fly dove at his face, proboscis extended. Nero sidestepped and brought the Silver Blade up in a diagonal slash. The enchanted blade’s edge cut through chitin and flesh like it was paper, splitting the creature in half.

Yellowish mucus sprayed across the ground, smoking where it landed.

{Seal fragment absorbed: 0/1000}.

The second fly spat a stream of acid at his chest. Nero threw himself sideways, feeling droplets sear through his leather armor. Gritting his teeth, he rolled and came up swinging, the blade taking off the creature’s head in a clean cut.

{Seal fragment absorbed: 0/1000}.

A third fly tried to flank him, buzzing around to attack from behind. The fly moved fast, swirling in haphazard circles through the air.

But Nero’s enhanced reflexes caught the movement. He spun and thrust, piercing the creature’s thorax. It writhed on his blade for a moment before going still.

{Seal fragment absorbed: 0/1000}.

More buzzing filled the air. Much more.

’I have to find a way to throw them off me.’

If he kept fighting, it was only a matter of time before the entire swarm descended onto him.

Although the flies loved rotting things, they didn’t mind sinking those sharp suckers into the living as well.

Nero suddenly looked up and felt his blood turn to ice.

The sky was black with flies. Hundreds of them, maybe thousands, descending from the grey clouds like a living storm. Their collective buzzing was so loud he could barely think.

He ran again, but more scouts broke off from the swarm to harass him. A fly the size of a child tried to skewer him through the back of his neck. Nero ducked and slashed upward, cutting it in half.

Another spat a stream of acid that barely missed his head. He lunged forward and leapt into the air then drove his blade through its compound eye.

Erratically flapping its wings, the Abomination crashed into the ground with a loud crunch and splat.

{Seal fragment absorbed: 0/1000}.

A litany of flies attacked in tandem. Nero’s enhanced speed let him weave between their strikes, the Silver Blade dancing in precise arcs.

Amidst the deadly dance, Nero couldn’t help but notice something strange.

’I’m faster than before.’

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