The Begotten Fiend

Chapter 12: The Wretched Forest

Nash rubbed his head, pushing himself off the ground. He blinked once, making sure the sight before him was real.

An overwhelming wave of green took up his field of vision. Lush grass, tall flora, and gigantic trees all stood as harrowing titans.

The distant sound of running water could be heard, and the varied crumpling of plants and twigs on the ground.

"This is the Wretched Forest?" he asked himself.

After all, this was the area said to be the most dangerous in the entirety of Laronia.

Located south of even the most southern districts, it was as essentially the kingdom’s outskirts, hardly considered a part of it on geographical maps.

Even more surprising was the inhabitants of the forest.

Rabbits, birds, ants, horses, they all moved through the forest without a care in the world. It was almost too perfect.

Nash rubbed the inside of his cheeks with his tongue, checking to see if he could taste blood. He examined his arms, moved his legs, yet not even a twinge of pain.

"All good," he said. "So, what’s the plan?"

As a nearby bush shook from his words, he pushed his palms against his mouth. ’Despite its looks, this place is still known for being too dangerous for even adventurers to enter. I ought to be careful.’

He walked forward, looking side to side for some change in scenery. ’I have to find a way out of this forest, though. Let’s not trade off caution with execution.’

Here it was, the Wretched Forest.

Said to contain abominations too horrible to speak, and mana so abundant that if you were affluent in the ways of magic, you might even be able to see it.

[Increased Atmospheric Mana detected. Restructuring Mana Nodes.]

The voice cut through Nash like a blade, separating his serenity.

’This stupid voice again?’ He hit his hand against the side of his head. ’Tsk. I don’t know why the World Voice is speaking to me, but you’ve caused nothing but problems for me, ever since I was a child. If you could, please stay silent, I don’t need you cluttering my head.’

[...]

’Good.’

After walking through the forest for a few minutes, Nash took a deep breath, noticing the red bumps forming on the part of his ankle unprotected by his shoes. ’My grass allergies,’ he sighed, leaning back against a tree. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

Using the break for a chance for thought, he turned to his banishment.

Although it wasn’t that long ago, he didn’t feel nearly the same rage that he’d felt earlier. Perhaps a byproduct of the forest’s lush and beautiful scenery?

Though, all it took was one thought of Seraphine’s face, her vivid disappointment as she walked away from his execution. The last words he’d spoken to her.

’God, I’m such an idiot.’

Hitting his left fist into his right palm, he stood firm, smiling. "Alright, I’m gonna escape here and make a life for myself! And after that, I’ll get my revenge!"

He continued on his way, watching as birds laid upon their nests, feeding bugs to their spawn. Rabbits worming their way through bushes, shaking the green with their quick speed.

"This place is quite nice, though. I can hardly call this a banishment."

[Warning: There is--]

’Shut up, World Voice! I don’t care what you have to say!’ Nash exclaimed internally, swiping his hand to order its silence. ’Annoying little thing. Nobody else has to deal with this.’

As he’d cursed the voice out, a figure approached beneath him. A small, white rabbit. Its ears pointed up at him--eyes wet with infinite cuteness. He just couldn’t help himself.

He picked the thing up, petting its head. The rabbit purred in response. "Aw~ look at you. This place isn’t so bad after all."

Nash took one more look at it. Its cheeks were round and saggy. The tip of its nose was ever so slightly discolored with brown, and the fluff on its stomach was particularly abundant. Another thought crossed his mind.

"Hm, you must be quite tasty. Say, you don’t think you’d make for a nice meal, do you?"

The rabbit clacked its teeth, struggling to wriggle itself free from Nash’s grip. But with each squirm, Nash only gripped onto it harder.

"You know, in this world, it’s survival of the fittest; dog eat dog. You wouldn’t mind if I help myself, right? Do it for me."

Trees swayed left and right, then crashed into the ground. Grass flew in the air from the earth’s wild shaking. Nash looked around, shocked. "What the hell?"

The sight before him made him drop the rabbit, letting it run in the direction he was looking.

A giant, dastardly monster took up his vision. Its shoulders were broad--unnaturally so. The muscle on the thing was bulging, veins so full that they looked like they would pop.

It was a rabbit, but not any ordinary one. It had the exact same aesthetic of the smaller one Nash encountered--only with the twist of a purple, crystalline object on the rabbit’s forehead. Additionally, it stood on two feet like a kangaroo.

The big rabbit nestled the smaller one into its arms, then placed it to the side.

Nash’s limbs froze. Time itself refused to move, fully resigning to the presence of the beast ahead. "Wh-what..."

The monster groaned, its voice so broad that the air modulated. Even the hairs on Nash’s arms rose--either from fear, the roar, or both.

And it was only after Nash refused to move that the thing darted towards him.

Nash didn’t think--he couldn’t think. All he could do was pull all the power that he could from his limbs to move him to the left.

His roll was so quick and sluggish that he crashed into the ground, but he narrowly avoided the beast.

Sweat barreled down Nash’s face. Just barely, he managed to see what had become of the area he’d left behind.

The beast had left a wide trail of burrowed dirt. It was deep enough to fill an entire human body, and to make matters, worse, the thing was already making its way towards Nash.

"Shit!" His words were full of spit, struggling just to speak. He made a break to his left--he thought this way, there would be trees for the beast to navigate through and avoid.

Using the vast forestation as a cover, he ran in random directions, hoping it would throw the thing off.

Khhhdrk!

The beast slammed into the trees separating the two, leaving only hundreds of splintered wood separated from its root. Dozens of trees were bulldozed in this very fashion.

The sound drew closer and closer, pursuing Nash.

He didn’t look back--he couldn’t. All he did was run forward.

His lungs burned, his throat was sore. His heavy breathing was a sore tack to the rabbit, leading it to him without fail. He didn’t stop. ƒrēewebnovel.com

He ran for over ten minutes. Each time he felt his feet give out, he took a big step, fighting back against the exhaustion.

But even he had limits.

After hearing a tree get demolished just feet away from him, his left foot caught on his right, sending him flying from his own momentum.

He rolled and rolled, rubbing against the floor. It took only seconds for him to slam into a tree--its hard wood digging into skin.

"Ghuuuh!" The wind was knocked out of him. Not even breathing could recover his composure. With blurred vision, he looked up.

There the beast was, hovering its hand over him.