Free Web NovelChapter 26: The Run: From FryPan to Fire
Under the red sun, the forest that emitted a ferocious and bloody aura stretched endlessly, showing how many beings had fallen here. The air was thick with the scent of decay and blood, the very ground seeming to remember every death that had occurred upon it.
A figure burst rapidly through the forest with blinding speed. Behind it were numerous Volkoids that were chasing him, their howls echoing through the trees like a death knell.
Even though the leaves and branches whipped him, tearing his skin, he didn’t stop running, he kept on running, his legs burning, his lungs screaming for air.
Lucien had fled the scene the moment he sensed the appearance of the Volkoids. His instincts had screamed at him, a primal warning that this was not a fight he could win.
His injuries, which had been slowly healing, burst open again. Blood seeped through his torn clothes, painting his skin in crimson streaks. If not for his high recovery that had granted him a fraction of his stamina back, he wouldn’t have been able to make any move at all.
What he knew was that he should make sure he wasn’t caught by the Volkoids, or it would be the end for him.
The System’s words, sounding almost mocking now, flashed through his mind.
Killing intent will attract stronger predators.
He had forgotten about this, totally engrossed in the battle for survival. The fight against the Shadow Wolves had consumed all of his focus, leaving no room for caution.
But how was he supposed to kill the Shadow Wolf Pack without releasing killing intent? There was no way you could kill someone without releasing killing intent. It was a contradiction.
Behind him, trees were rapidly falling to the stampede of the Volkoids. Their massive forms crashed through the underbrush, tearing through the forest like a living avalanche.
And there was no way his stamina could keep up. If this continued, he would be caught in their jaws.
He would be finished.
The thought of dying made Lucien’s legs sprint faster, adrenaline surging in the face of death. This wasn’t like the battle against the Alpha Wolf, where he had known he might have a chance of survival.
This was a dead end. Death would just embrace him.
He summoned the Abyss Carver, which was now a tattoo on his chest, a dark, intricate brand that pulsed faintly with every heartbeat. This might be his reason for survival.
He tried communicating with it, planning to enter that form again, not to fight, but to increase the speed of his running.
"You can take more blood. F*cking give me your strength." Lucien roared out, his voice raw and desperate.
But there was no response.
The silence that followed was deafening. His last hope of survival was dashed like that in seconds, crumbling before his eyes.
This made him distracted. His foot caught one of the gigantic roots of a tree, sending him stumbling forward. He fell hard, spitting out a mouthful of blood that painted the dark earth crimson.
He didn’t look back. He scrambled to his feet, continuing his run. He feared that if he looked back, he might lose his will to run, the sight of the Volkoids closing in might break him completely.
Lucien kept running. He didn’t know how far he had run. All his mind, his body, his entire being registered was running. There was no thought, no plan, only the primal urge to survive.
He ran until his breath became short and ragged, each inhale a desperate gasp. His speed began to slow, his legs heavy as lead, his muscles screaming in protest. Lucien finally took hold of his surroundings.
His speed slowed until his mouth opened into a gasp. "Oh my God."
The land here was as red as blood, the same hue staining the trees. Their trunks were thick, but they were redder than blood itself, deep, crimson, and pulsing with an eerie life. They had veins like humans, dark lines running through their bark like arteries.
Not far from him were bones piled up like mountains, skulls, ribs, femurs, all stacked in grotesque heaps that rose toward the blood-red sky. Some were ancient, weathered and crumbling. Others looked fresh, still bearing the marks of teeth and claws.
Lucien felt goosebumps spread across his skin, chills running down his spine like cold fingers tracing his back.
Where had he run to?
He looked back to see there were no traces of the Volkoids. He knew they weren’t at their full capacity of running, or else there was no way a weakling like him could outrun them.
They seemed to be playing with him, or were they leading him here?
He carefully surveyed his surroundings, but Lucien didn’t notice a tree root drawing closer, slithering across the ground like a serpent.
Before he noticed, he was caught by it. Lucien immediately summoned the Abyss Carver, trying to cut the tree branch away, but the damage he did was negligible. The blade barely scratched the bark.
More tree roots drew closer. Before he knew it, he was entangled, vines coiling around his limbs, his torso, his neck, tightening with each passing second.
Lucien tried his best to break free, but it was futile. He could only watch himself tangled up by the dark red tree roots, their grip unyielding.
But this wasn’t the worst that happened. He found his blood being absorbed by the tree roots, a cold, draining pull that made his vision swim. He could feel his life force being siphoned away.
When he looked closer, he saw faces had been embedded in the tree trunks, twisted, screaming faces with red eyes and bloody mouths. They stared at him with hollow hunger, their lips curled into cruel smiles.
Thunder struck Lucien as he knew what they were.
Man-Eating Trees.
Not Volkoids, but from the union of the Spirit Race and Devil Race, an evil spirit. They were believed to be extinct, as the Spirit Race had made sure to cleanse this scourge and darkness from their race.
He now understood where the hill of bones came from. How many prey had fallen to their hands? How many had been drained and discarded like he was about to be?
He now knew why the Volkoids didn’t chase him.
It turned out he wasn’t escaping the frying pan, he had jumped straight into the fire.
He quickly made movement to burst free from these Man-Eating Trees.
Jie jie jie jie...
Their demonic laughter resounded in his ears, a chorus of mockery that seemed to delight in his desperation. They were amused by the way he struggled, thrashing against their grip like a fly caught in a web.
Suddenly, grunts of pain were heard. The Man-Eating Trees’ roots withdrew, retreating from his body as if burned. Their trees began to burn, rotting off, their bark crumbling and blackening.
The ground shook. Lucien felt as if an earthquake was happening, the very earth trembling beneath him. But it wasn’t that.
The Man-Eating Trees withdrew their roots, using them like legs as they ran off, sprinting as if they were running for their lives. Their massive forms crashed through the forest, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.
Lucien didn’t understand what had happened, but this scene delighted him as he was thrown off, landing hard on the ground.
He was still alive. This was like a miracle.
But how would he escape now? His blood had been sucked dry; he was just a burnt-out candle, flickering on the edge of oblivion.
Lucien was deep in thought when he noticed something. Why was the ground darker than before?
It felt as if the sun didn’t exist anymore.
Lucien instinctively looked up and let out a hopeless chuckle.
Before him was a gigantic shadow wolf, double-headed, its massive body blocking out the red sun completely. Its form was wreathed in darkness so thick it seemed to swallow the light around it. Its four red eyes burned like dying stars, and its fangs were long as daggers, dripping with a black, viscous saliva that sizzled where it fell.
The double-headed wolf sniffed the air. Suddenly, its four ferocious red eyes locked onto Lucien.
AHOOO!
It raised its head, letting out a grief-stricken and raging howl. Just with the howl alone, winds erupted that destroyed the surroundings, trees uprooted, the ground torn apart, debris flying through the air like leaves in a storm.
It released a massive pressure that made the earth cave in beneath it. Lucien was smashed into the ground by this overwhelming force, his body flattened against the crimson soil.
Cracking of bones could be heard, sharp and sickening. He was bleeding from his orifices, his ears, his nose, his mouth, blood streaming down his face. His vision was blurry, the world spinning around him.
With his fading sight, he watched as the two-headed wolf raised its front hind leg, which blocked out his vision entirely.
And he knew what was coming.
He couldn’t escape it in the end. His eyes seemed bleak, hollow, devoid of hope.
Thinking of the system, it was responsible for this. How did it relate to Gacha or Obsession? Where was the connection?
And Seraphina too?
With his flickering will, he let out a bleak laughter, a hollow sound that barely escaped his lips. How was he expected to survive?
The Volkoid he first met was a powerful one, and when he used all means of his disposal, he killed it. But it turned out killing it had provoked a stronger opponent, one to which he was nothing but an ant in its eyes. A lone ant that could never devour an elephant.
A thought popped into his mind. Did he even have any chance of surviving?
Could he survive in this Land of Death?
He finally understood why it was called the Land of Death. It wasn’t something a weakling should be in.
This wasn’t punishment. This was a death sentence.
As he saw the paw drawing closer like a mountain descending upon him, his body refused to move. Even though he was unwilling, there was nothing he could do.
This was the reality of the weak.
With his last strength, he whispered, "F*ck you, system."
