Death.
It's such a frightening thing.
It fuels its victims with desperation as they attempt to swim against the inevitable tide of tragedy that rushes against them.
This unstoppable march… it never ends.
Scary, is it not? Enough to turn knees weak, and body limp.
Well, an embodiment of this very concept now stared down at a girl—a teenager who was no more than sixteen—right after taking the life of her comrade.
The smell of blood and gore filled the air, creating an acrid odor that would cause any to crinkle their nose and leak out a tear or two.
This overwhelming sensation, and the bleak atmosphere caused by the shadow cast by the creature of chaos, finally began to register in the broken mind of Alicia White.
It was at this moment that she fully understood the terror of death.
Her response.
"ARRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
A loud scream, akin to the cry of a powerless cur, filled the air, as tears fell down her eyes.
Who was she crying for?
Her fallen friends? Billy? Herself? Perhaps all of the above…
Either way, there was only so much strain that a human mind could take. After that single cry, Alicia could no longer bear the overbearing weight that constantly tasked her brain and body.
As such, she passed out right there and there.
As her lids closed shut, her kneeling body began to descend to the ground. To anyone watching, it would have been a swift fall to the cold earth, but… to the Beast that observed the slump, he witnessed it with much time to spare.
Once again, it thrust its hand towards Alicia's falling body, planning on wrapping its palm on her face and crushing it in one try.
That would be the end of everything.
~WHOOOSH!~
In swift motion, much faster than before, it lunged its hand towards Alicia.
At this point, everyone was unconscious. No one would be present to stop this execution; not that they would be able to do anything but serve as witnesses even if they were awake.
The inevitable march of death had come… and Alicia was chosen as its new prey.
~CRUNCH!~
The sound of cracking bones, or breaking scales, echoed in the air.
It was loud, but also gradual and subtle… like it happened over time, all encapsulated in a mere instant.
"Hey…"
The voice of a young man followed the sound of the breaking scales and cracking bones.
He was currently holding onto the girl who had fallen, her unconscious body resting on his broad torso, with her head finding comfort in the warm embrace of his unoccupied hand.
His dark cloak fluttered, and the black mask that he donned reflected the sunset. With one hand, he held onto the slumbering girl, and with another, he tightly grabbed the wrist of the Beast in front of him.
"... Back off!" His deep, dark tone burst forth, and his crimson eyes flashed brightly once he made this powerful declaration.
For a moment, there was tense silence—rightfully so, too.
No one had ever been able to stop Dagon since its arrival in this world. If they did, they would easily pay the price with their lives. However, not only was this dark-coated man in the mask fast enough to react to its swift movement, he was strong enough to stop its attack.
It caused the Divine Beast to pause for a moment, feeling its silvery-blue scales crack under the incredible strength of the man of darkness.
"What the hell are y—?!"
~WHAM!~
Before the masked man could say anything more, Dagon moved its other hand at full speed, sending it flying towards the intruder.
The result was devastating.
~BOOOOOOOM!~
The masked man was sent flying, his body flung across the area as if he was nothing but a ragdoll who could hardly react to or resist the overpowering current of force that Dagon unleashed.
Dagon failed to calculate one thing, though…
"Grrrrr…."
… The prey that it desired to eliminate had been flung away with the man that held her.
The Divine Beast was fast enough to see what had happened. The man surely let go of his other hand and tried to block the incoming assault as fast as he could, but Dagon was much faster, so it ended up sending him flying deep into the woods.
Dagon knew the man wasn't dead, though.
The sensation it felt once impact was made… was different from the usual kind. Usually, those who were hit by Dagon's full speed would turn into paste before its hand even touched them, but there was no such sensation here.
Dagon definitely felt the impact.
"Grrrrrr…"
That meant the man was still alive—and most likely its prey as well.
It couldn't have that.
~VWOOOOOSH!~
A bright ray of light flashed from within the forest, destroying everything in its path as it approached the Divine Beast.
Recognizing it as a deadly assault, Dagon quickly moved out of the way, but not without the blast scraping a part of its scales.
"GUARH!" It yelped, grabbing its hand to feel its scales and a part of its flesh shaved off by the brilliant white light.
This was the first time since its arrival that it had felt pain.
And, the architect of that fear, was walking towards him… on the ruined path paved by the brilliant white light.
The man had Dagon's prey in his arms, cradling her like one would a baby. He was also walking slowly towards it.
Dagon felt challenged.
Its primitive instinct didn't understand most things, but there were certain emotions that even wild beasts felt. Pain. Fear. Intimidation…
… And a desire for vengeance.
Dagon turned towards the approaching man, also beginning his own slow march towards the much smaller being that kept advancing forward.
Both man and beast took steps forward, until they closed the distance between them and were right in front of each other.
"Huuuu…" Dagon leaked out misty breaths as it stared down at the masked man.
The masked man raised his head to look upon Dagon's frightening self.
Both stood there in silence for a moment, perhaps waiting for the other to make their first move.
Dagon didn't hesitate in the slightest.
~WHUUSH!~
It sent its two muscled hands charging towards the man in swift motion.
A brilliant golden barrier instantly appeared to stop it, but the Divine Beast easily broke past it—the same way it did with the Summoning Circle that tried to bind him.
"Wha—?!"
The sound of the human leaked out, but Dagon paid no mind to him. He simply moved too fast for the sound to make any real sense.
In a fraction of a moment, it was going to reach for his head and crush it; just like what it did to the Dragon Lord.
~FZZT!~
A slight buzzing sound echoed, almost like a glitch, and the human vanished from his position. He appeared a few meters away from Dagon, still carrying the unconscious girl in his arms.
"GRRRRR!"
In a flash, moving its legs in quick motion, Dagon easily closed the distance between itself and the human once again—seeing it as a pesky bug that wouldn't just stay in one place and die.
With nowhere left to run… the human could do nothing but die!
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Thanks for reading!
I mean, we all expected Sir Ralyks to show up and save the day. It's that kind of story… or is it?
Hehe…
