Ghoul Evolution

Chapter 6: Diabolical

Oliver first pushed the branch-torch firmly into the ground, letting the flames continue to flicker beside him.

Then, gripping one of the massive fangs tightly in his hand, he slowly crouched beside the carcass.

"Alright then." he muttered under his breath. "Here goes nothing."

After a brief moment of hesitation, he drove the fang deep into the beast’s stomach and unlike the branch from earlier, the fang pierced through it’s skin surprisingly easily.

SHRRK.

Dark maroon blood immediately seeped out from the opening and some of it enveloped Oliver’s hands.

Oliver gritted his teeth and continued dragging the fang upward. Since the beast’s ape-like anatomy resembled that of humans to some extent, the stomach area was comparatively softer than places like the chest where thick muscles and the rib cage reinforced the skin.

Still, while it may be easier physically, cutting through it still felt disgusting.

And then, as he forced more of the skin open, more of the inside became visible. The moment Oliver saw the steaming organs, tangled flesh, and blood-covered insides, his stomach churned loudly.

"Holy shit."

He immediately looked away for a second, trying not to vomit.

Back on Earth, meat came neatly packaged, cleaned and the blood was pre-removed. He had never needed to see where meat actually came from and how it was removed from animals.

But, this? This was different, he could see everything. More than just see, he could feel everything.

Despite the nausea rising in his throat, Oliver forced himself to continue as he didn’t have the luxury of being squeamish anymore.

Suppressing his disgust, he used the fang to dig deeper into the carcass, pushing aside flesh and organs while searching carefully.

Then finally, he found it.

Deep within the beast’s dead body was a glowing crystal-like object. It’s shape resembled a sphere, and the same crimson glow from the beast’s eyes pulsed faintly within it.

For a brief moment, Oliver felt strangely drawn toward it. It was almost as if the thing itself was calling to him and inviting him.

But he quickly shook off the feeling and grabbed the soul core before pulling it free from the flesh. The crimson glow illuminated his blood-covered hand faintly.

"Hmm...So this is what you look like."

Oliver didn’t waste time admiring it as the smell of blood in this forest was basically a death sentence. With all the time he had wasted earlier, it was a surprise monsters had not yet come knocking at his doors.

"Craraacckk! Craraacckk"

Strange cries and sounds from beasts had been coming from above the forest canopy for quite some time now, most likely from some flying beasts moving around there.

Occasionally, Oliver could even see massive shadows pass through the tiny gaps between the black leaves overhead. But since none of them seemed interested in him, he had no intention of getting involved with them either.

Quickly putting the core aside for now, he ignored the cries and continued carving through the carcass in search of edible meat, but, unfortunately, most of the beast’s body was absurdly tough. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

Even the inner muscles and fatty areas looked dense, fibrous, and unpleasantly hard. It barely resembled normal meat at all. He might be able to tear them, but eating them didn’t seem very feasible.

His gaze eventually shifted toward the spider-like limbs attached to the creature’s back.

"...."

He really didn’t want to eat spider legs, but compared to the rest of the body, those limbs looked softer and far less dense.

And right now, preference wasn’t exactly a luxury.

"Yeah. Seems like I have got no choice."

Using the fang, Oliver cut off two of the spider-like legs before gathering whatever softer muscle and usable hide he could salvage from the main body.

Afterward, he searched nearby trees until he found long hanging vines. Using them like ropes, he tied the spider legs, salvaged meat, and three of the fangs around his body for carrying.

The final fang he secured tightly onto the tip of a thick branch, creating a crude spear.

Only after everything was done did Oliver finally pause and look at himself. His hands were bloody and he smelled like shit, the odor clinging to him was really unbearable.

He looked less like a normal human and more like some crazed caveman fresh out of a nightmare.

"This shit is fucking diabolical."

Letting out a tired sigh, Oliver finally picked up the soul core once more before glancing back at the beast’s corpse. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

For a brief moment, silence filled the dark forest and then he spoke quietly.

"Goodbye, man."

A faint awkward smile appeared on his face.

"You tried to kill me... but at least you ended up being a pretty generous host after dying."

He raised the glowing soul core slightly.

"May God bless your wretched soul."

Saying this, Oliver pocketed the soul core before picking up the torch he had fixed into the ground with his left hand and the crude fang-spear with his right.

Then, without wasting more time, he once again started walking toward the same direction he had been running earlier.

From the faint rays of light that slipped through the gaps in the canopy, he could tell it was still daytime and if possible, he didn’t want to spend the night in the middle of this forest.

’Hm... the trees are getting shorter and even the gaps in the canopy are increasing.’

These were things he had learned during the so-called After-Death Survival Course back on Earth.

Observing the thickness and height of trees, the density of the canopy, movement of birds, and even the behavior of flying-type beasts, all of these could help determine whether someone was moving toward the edge of a forest or deeper into it’s center and if there was a water source nearby.

And right now, at least the signs seemed somewhat favorable to him.

He increased his pace but didn’t run as he didn’t want to tire himself or want the torch to be extinguished.

All in all, Oliver had walked for around two hours, assuming that his sense of time was still functioning properly.

During the journey, he heard cries of various beasts multiple times from the darkness around him, and occasionally he even caught sight of massive shadows moving between the trees nearby.

Every single time this happened, his heart nearly stopped but luckily, none of the creatures attacked him.

Maybe it was because of the fire or maybe they simply didn’t consider him worth the trouble but, either way, Oliver wasn’t about to question his good fortune.

Whenever his torch began dying due to the dry grass burning out, he would quickly gather more and make another while continuing forward.

And finally, all that effort paid off and he was finally out of the Dark Forest.

There were still some trees scattered around the area, but it no longer felt like the kind of place where something would suddenly leap out and rip him apart from the shadows.

And even more importantly, he could finally see the sky.