Capítulo 10: Silhouette
Enough pain to die—that was Des experienced.
Yet, he was still alive.
At this point, however, his will to live was completely broken. He saw no way out, and he could not take the constant pain that seemed to last an eternity.
More than anything… Des simply wanted to die.
But, for some strange reason, he wasn't, he wasn't passing out from the pain—even though he was supposed to. He felt wide awake and lucid through all of the horror he was experiencing all at once.
He wasn't bleeding out too, despite him being supposed to. Somehow, their act of licking his open wounds prevented his blood from gushing out and killing him. They also avoided all his internal organs, so he couldn't die so quickly.
Despite craving death at this point, obtaining the highest measure of pain a man could ever endure… he was still alive.
'K-kill me… please kill me…' He couldn't even cry due to his body lacking enough water to do so.
Coupled with the pain he received from having his body being devoured while he was still alive, the pangs in his stomach, the itching in his throat, and the constant ringing of pain in his head also kept driving him mad.
'S-so… this is how I die…?' Des' thoughts managed to leak out despite the several layers of pain that his brain was processing.
All of that planning—every single strategy he thought of—was in vain.
He was doomed to fail.
The truth was that Des already had a sneaking fear that there could be other Horrors in the Floor—especially during Nighttime. Since this wasn't the Prime Premises, it was a possibility.
However, anytime it came up in his planning, he always ignored it.
After all, if that was indeed the case, he would never leave the cave. He was never going to reach for his supplies and sustain himself.
Nighttime seemed like the best way to avoid the massive Horror, so he wanted to believe that it was the safest way to get his supplies.
… If only he had known.
'I should have… gone during Daytime…'
The intimidating presence of the Colossal Horror was indeed traumatic, but compared to being gnawed on and tortured alive, at the very least the former would end its victims in one go.
Ah… how Des craved that kind of death now.
How he wished he could just suffer a few seconds of pain in the Horror's explosion before finally finding peace in death. Even getting crushed by the weight of the Horror didn't seem too bad to him.
'A-anything… ANYTHING BUT THISSSSS!'
~BANG!~
All of a sudden, a loud sound—like the sound of a bomb—pierced the air, followed by the appearance of bright light that showered the immediate vicinity with brilliant radiance.
The moment this happened, Des felt the Horrors cease their nibbling.
They stopped completely.
'A-ahh…?' For the first time, Des could finally feel relief—at least until he laid eyes on the Horrors that were torturing him.
They were as tiny as rats, and there were thousands of them, all surrounding his body the same way maggots would swarm a creature's carcass. They had slimy black skin, like worms or snakes, and their massive eyes were attached to their massive jaws similar to the face of a snail.
Then… their jaws.
The razor–sharp teeth these things had was frightening, and Des could see bits and pieces of his flesh in their mouths as they froze in place—most likely due to the bright light that suddenly exploded.
He was stunned by it for just a few seconds, but these creatures were completely paralyzed.
Before he could fully process what was happening, though, Des noticed a silhouette rushing towards him, but before he could make up its features, the entity grabbed him and dragged his wretched body away from the ground and closer to them.
Their fingers felt human, and the way they moved was also human-like, but their movements were too fast and nimble for Des to properly register—not with his mind being a complete haze at the moment.
He heard strange sounds—like laughter—piercing the air, but his partly nibbled ears could hardly understand what the cackling was all about.
It sounded… feminine, though.
Just as this laughter erupted, the brilliant flare that had been fired began to dim, and the swarm of rat-like, snail-faced, snake-bodied, and razor-toothed Horrors regained their mobility.
They moment they did… it was open season.
~WHOOOOOSH!~
They charged towards the silhouette that tightly held onto Des, their numbers unbelievably bountiful. However, the one who held Des did no tremble, neither did they cease their laughter.
No… they were calm.
Despite the speed of these monstrosities, they could not catch up to the silhouette. Despite the clattering of their teeth, they could not bite her. Even when they surrounded her on all ends, seemingly trapping her with nowhere to go, there was no panic or despair.
Instead, the silhouette launched themselves to the air, with Des feeling the cold wind brush past his body as his blurry vision witnessed the Horrors grow further and further away from him—much to his relief.
"... Not out of the woods yet!" He heard something like that echoing in the air, followed by the sound of rapid flapping wings.
Bat-like creatures suddenly charged towards Des and the one who carried him, but there was no shock on their part.
They even seemed to be expecting this.
"... Dinner!" He heard them yell out.
He suddenly felt a low rumble from the warm body of the stranger, coupled with vibrations... and then—!
~BZZZZTTTTZZZZ!!!~
A surge of electricity spread into the air, easily frying the creatures that neared the figure.
Des didn't know when a sack suddenly appeared out of nowhere and the bat-like creatures began to get sucked into it. Once it was full, the sack closed up and returned to the back of the silhouette who began to kick the air very rapidly, which sent them ascending even higher.
Until—
"Wooohoooo! Score!"
—They entered a rather large crevice close to the ceiling of the cave.
It was at this point that the rapid movement finally stopped and Des' blurry vision could finally pick up tiny details around him. Thankfully, there were tiny crystals that glowed around the crevice, which allowed him a bit of vision.
It was thanks to this that he was able to lay eyes on his savior.
The person donned a cloak with several pockets attached to it—most likely to store various items—while carrying a sack with one hand, using the other hand to hold him.
They were also naked.
Des saw the bare body of a woman, completely exposed beneath the cloak that danced all around her body. He was stunned—enough to forget his pain for a moment—so he slightly shifted his neck and lay his eyes on her face.
'R-red… hair…?' That was the only thing he saw before his eyes closed of their own accord.
"Ah, yikes! Looks like their toxin has worn off! I should get him back quickly!" The voice of the woman trailed in his ears, followed by further whooshing of wind.
There was no guarantee whether or not he would open his eyes again, but Des prayed he did. Somehow, seeing what the silhouette—no, the woman—could do reignited something within him.
Des had regained his will to live.
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[A/N]
Thanks for reading!
And with that, we introduce my favorite character in this story! I hope you have enjoyed this story if you've made it to the 10 chapter mark.
Please add it to your library if you haven't already, and also help support me with Power Stones and the other stuff.
I appreciate you all.
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