Chapter 40: Unexpected Gains.

For whatever reason, the creature had snapped its heading his direction.

A bead of sweat rolled off Nero’s temple as he froze in place.

He absolutely could not make even a single sound.

A thorn from the nearby bramble pressed into his skin, drawing a drop of blood.

’Shit!’”

Suddenly, the beast turned its attention back to the carcass beneath it. It took one more bite then rushed after the other fleeing Scavengers.

Once it has disappeared, Nero remained frozen for a while. A few minutes later, he exhaled shakily and finally moved from his position.

“That was close.” He muttered to himself.

If he had acted earlier, chances were he would have suffered the same fate as these Corrupted Scavengers.

He hesitated for a few more minutes then decided to enter the clearing. Making sure to be careful, he quickly rushed over to the site of the slaughter.

The scent of the rancid blood would have made him retch a few days ago. However, he was much more used to it now.

He bent over the corpse of the first, headless scavenger.

’The cut is clear, even though the bone.’ he carefully analyzed the corpse. It had taken just a single blow to kill it. And while the Scavengers weren’t very impressive, it would have taken him considerable effort to fell one on his own. He absolutely wouldn’t be able to pull it off so quickly either.

He walked away from the first corpse to the second one.

This one was more gruesome than the first.

The beast’s tail had skewered right through its behind and into its brain, leaving behind terrifyingly large holes upon entry and exit. The other injuries were even worse. The teeth marks showed that th beast could very easily bite through the relatively tough bones of the Scavengers.

That meant it would have no problems turning him into mulch as well…

Nero shivered slightly.

Suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck rose up.

He quickly hid behind the large carcass the Scavengers had been feeding on.

A few seconds later, the large beast suddenly appeared again amidst a scattering of shadows.

Nero held his breath and stood as still as he possibly could while observing the beast.

It was now covered in blood. But Nero could tell none of the blood was its.

Hanging in its mouth was a single Scavenger corpse.

It walked back to the clearing and picked up the second scavenger corpse before strutting towards the first one.

’Crap!’ Nero felt his heart banging against his ribs.

He was suddenly so close to the beast.

If it tilted its head even a little, it would see him.

Perhaps by some divine intervention, it didn’t.

Instead, it walked over to the first corpse and skewered it through with itself tail as well.

Then it shot off into the forest.

Nero remained still for a few more minutes then released the breath he had been holding before falling onto the ground in exhaustion.

He had not done anything physically tasking, but it felt like he had run multiple marathons at sprinting speed.

His heart pounded so heavily, he could hear it in his ears.

His hands trembled slightly from the fear.

’I was reckless again.’

Despite that, he now had a much clearer picture of his very dark future.

’If I have to fight something like that.’

He clenched his fists to stop the shaking.

At the moment, he would simply be food. Perhaps even less than good. Not even worthy of being called an appetizer.

He let out a sigh.

Once his trembling had stopped, he rose to his feet.

’It brought just one corpse back. Did the others successfully escape?’

He paused for a moment then began moving in the direction the beast had emerged from.

After walking for a while, the horrid stench of blood drew his attention. He was shocked to see five maimed, but very much alive Scavengers sprawled out on the ground.

’What the hell?’

Could it be that the beast was as rather sadistic, that instead of killing all the Scavengers, he had left the others just wounded enough so they would suffer for a little while longer without dying?

’No, that can’t be it.’

He looked around, suspicious that the beast could have been setting a trap for him.

After a few seconds, he chuckled bitterly. If it wanted to kill him, it wouldn’t make use of such roundabout methods.

The first Scavenger he saw had an arm torn off and half its stomach gutted. It was bleeding profusely and by making an educated guess, Nero could tell it didn’t have much longer to live.

The second one was in better shape, but not by much. Both hind legs had been torn off and there was a large gaping hole in its head and chest. Perhaps it would survive for a few hours but he doubted it would be living through the day.

The other three were in states that were just as bad, if not worse.

Nero grimaced. The Common theme of all of them, was that most had had at least one limb torn off.

Suddenly, Nero realized something.

’It did this so they would run away.’

A frightening realization came over him.

’It will be back soon!’

With that thought in mind, a faint darkness came over him.

He crisp sound of blade being drawn rang through the air.

’It will be a waste for them to go out just like that.’

The glow of greed in the depths of his eyes would have surprised even himself.

If he killed all five, he would gain five whole Seals of Sin without having to put himself in danger at all.

With a slightly callous look on his face, he walked over to the first struggling Abomination.

It truly was a wretched sight. In a way, by killing it, he was liberating it from the pain.

Of course, its suffering would never end as its soul was forever bound to this accursed world.

With grim determination, Nero swung his blade.

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