Chapter 253: Eaten Alive

’Damn it, is human meat that damn good?’ Aether fastened his pace so that he could dodge the giant’s attacks.

Really, the problem wasn’t that he couldn’t outrun it; he was faster than it, plus, night was coming, meaning that he was going to be stronger because of the shadows. Plus, it wasn’t like it was the first time running for his life.

But Kade… for him, it was another case; the boy seemed exhausted, it was evident on his pale face that he wasn’t going to last a lot longer.

So he had to do something to save the boy; after all, he had taken responsibility for his life, so he had to protect it.

“Run, I’ll keep it distracted until you get far.”

The boy seemed hesitant to accept, but one glare from Aether was enough to convince him.

He sighed,

turning to face the giant as he emerged from the ground, screaming in his face.

Its saliva was falling everywhere, even on his face.

Aether wiped it off in disgust as he clenched his blade.

’So um… what now?’

His eyes widened as the monster jumped forward at him with great speed, to the point he stepped out of the way on the brink of it hitting him.

Grabbing one of its scales, he climbed on top of it.

But the worm wasn’t going to let him stay; it started to move, shaking violently, trying to get him off its back. Aether had to thrust Voidpiercer inside the scales so he could keep himself from falling… and by this, he also found out something terrible… Voidpiercer didn’t reach the skin; even with a powerful thrust, he had not hit the monster, and it didn’t even seem close.

Meaning that this beast was extremely strong, to the point a Seeker blade couldn’t get through its scales, he could ask the Abyss, but really, it wasn’t the time.

The monster continued to shake, but he held on, a smirk appearing on his face, only to fall when he noticed it. From below its scales, and in its skin, small worms… well, small was an understatement, they were the size of his damn arm, but compared to their mother, they were small, started to break out of the skin, blood splouding near their birthplace.

’Shit.’

The small worms started to climb up their mother, trying to get to him. This must have been a defense mechanism, in case something, like him, tried to take advantage of the fact that it couldn’t attack those who were on its back.

The children were white, and they didn’t have any scales, and he could even see slightly through the skin, noticing that their bodies weren’t made out of anything yet. It was interesting to see how different these worms were at birth, and when they reach their adulthood… but it wasn’t the time at all.

Their teeth were new, yet sharp, perfect for tearing flesh of bodies, maybe even strong enough to eat the body whole.

Aether looked around. As they slowly got closer, there was a chance that his mantle could resist them for a while, but it would eventually be destroyed, so that was out of the question, but then what, if he got off this giant bastard, would chase him again?

But did he have any other option? No way he could fight it, even more now with these guys helping it, so running was all that he could do.

Yet as he tried to take the blade out, it got stuck…

Looking down, Aether noticed that scales along the area his blade was in had already regenerated completely, trapping his blade in place.

…

He tried retracting the blade using the skill, but it didn’t work, and it just went to show how strong this beast was, since the ability had pulled many strong and heavy things.

It was easy to see he was not in a good situation…

’You think?’

Aether frowned, trying to take the blade out again, but without any help, and he was already to late, as the small worms had already reached him, their mouths starting to tear down the mantle slowly, they weren’t strong, since they were newly born, but he could still feel and hear the mantle slowly getting teared down… of course, in the end it was going to be a test of wheater their eating, or the mantles regenerated was stronger, that is if he didn’t do anythig.

The bad thing was that he also couldn’t just let go of the blade, since it was attached to his arm because of the ability.

…

Wait, but what if he let go of the relic? That way, he could let go and figure out something else.

…

…

[Request declined, the relic has already chosen you as its master…]

“What the heck do you mean, request failed, you damn blade!”

The little monsters continued to nibble at his mantle, slowly getting close to his skin. The relic was fighting its best, but it stood no chance against them. Maybe if it had been one, it would have been a different story, but there were more, all eating at different spots; it couldn’t handle it all.

Aether took a deep breath, as he was going to need it; his grip of the blade tightened, and he poured all his strength into his legs and arms, feeling them burn, as the blade finally seemed to slip out.

’Damn it, come on.”

But at that moment, one of the worms had gotten through his armor, tearing the flesh of his arm.

He staggered from pain, from the thought of being eaten alive. His strength intensified, with his life now on the line.

Yet as he pulled, more and more of the worms got through, not only tearing his flesh but bringing his armor to the brink of destruction.

But he was close, he could feel it, he could hear the blade slowly scraping the scales from the inside. “Come on!” More and more of the blade came out, until.

It was finally out.

Without wasting a second, Aether made it retreat inside his mark, his hands gripping the small worms, and taking them off his body, which had been harder than he had expected, yet he didn’t know if it was because he was tired or because that was just how strong they were.

Aether looked at his wounds, horrified at how deep the worms had gotten, but even while he was in pain, they were just going to climb back if he waited, so he jumped off, holding his right arm, which had been eaten out the most.

…

Of course, now he found himself in another situation… what did he do about the actual monster, he couldn’t outrun it anymore… was fighting all he could do.

But he was badly hurt… so would fighting even do anything?

He gritted his teeth, still summoning Voidpiercer and pointing it at the worm, as if it would do something.

The beast leaned close, screaming it in his face.

…

And yet, it didn’t… seem interested in eating him anymore…

It turned its back on him and just left.

Leaving him speechless.

…

“Do I taste that bad?”

…

…

…

’Now where is that guy?’ He said, limping around the open grass, trying to find Kade, but there was nothing in sight, just grass. Had the boy really gone that damn far? If so, why didn’t he run that fast at the start?

Truly, if anyone were to see him, they would criticize him. After all, looking back, you would see a path of blood spattered on the grass, small drops of blood occasionally falling, forming a road for any monster to follow.

But, and it was ironic, there weren’t any monsters in this place; he was sure of it, because that damn worm had eaten all of them. This was its territory, and it had the power to keep it clean, to keep other predators from claiming it.

His breathing was heavy as he stopped in his tracks.

As on the horizon, grace appeared.

A mountain zone.

If there was a place where Kade could be, it was this place, that is, if he hadn’t taken a right or left all of a sudden, but the boy was smart enough not to do that, after all, when you want someone to follow you in a place where there are no directions, you can’t change your path.

…

Yet… he wasn’t sure he was going to make it; he had lost a lot of blood, especially from the one on his arm, and he had to find a way to stop it, but with what?

Aether looked at his mantle, which had regenerated most of its glory, and ripped a good chunk from where it was still regaining itself, and it was weakest in.

He wrapped it around his arm, but it was too small to make a knot. He could wrap another, bigger one, but he was scared the relic might break.

So instead, he took out the pin from his hair, wrapped the cloth around his wound again, and secured it with the pin.

…

“Thanks… mom.”

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