Chapter 59: 59.Forest of No Shade-9

​His heart refused to drop its frantic melody.

His eyes refused to look away from the harsh reality.

His ears refused to block out the sinister, chittering sound of the Tkerns.

The reddish spikes on their antlers cast an eerie, glowing sheen across the dark forest.

Shaking his head, he tried to push himself back, but the moment he touched Tritia’s legs, he felt a sharp jolt.

Looking up, he saw Tritia’s wide, frozen eyes. She was biting down hard on her chapped, trembling lips.

Looking at her terrified expression, Mylo’s face distorted in anguish.

Oh no... why? Why did I bring her here? I was an idiot. I shouldn’t have done this.

Pushing himself off the ground, a blinding flare of pain shot straight through his left leg, but he ignored it with a shake of his head.

"Tritia," he called out to her, breaking her out of her frozen trance.

"Mylo, Mylo, Mylo... what should we do? What should we do? We’re surrounded! We can’t fight them-there are too many of them! What should we do? Tell me, what do I do?"

"Tritia, pull yourself together!"

Grabbing her by the shoulders, Mylo forced her gaze to lock straight onto his.

"We are going to survive this."

"But how? How are we going to?"

"Listen to me! No matter what, we are going to! It’s going to be difficult, but we will get through this!"

Mylo didn’t believe his own words at all.

In fact, he barely registered the nonsense pouring out of his mouth.

He wasn’t any less terrified than she was, but he just wanted to say something to her. That was all.

Kekeke-keke-kekeke!

The unsettling chittering continued, sounding as if the entire pack were laughing at their plight.

Mylo gripped his machete tightly, though deep down, he had no plan to fight a swarm this large.

"Tritia, when I give the signal, we both run in the opposite direction," he whispered.

He reached over, grabbing her hand and squeezing it tight.

"No matter what happens, just keep running."

Her eyes met Mylo’s.

There was a desperate, unsaid plea in her gaze that mylo understood.

She nodded softly, then pulled her hand back and took a firm stance beside him.

Mylo locked his gaze onto the approaching horde, gulping down what little saliva he had left in his dry mouth.

We can try to run, but outrunning them completely is going to be almost impossible.

At some point, we’re going to have to deal with them.

I have enough Pran to use another skill, and if I manage to kill any, my Pran will recharge again.

Step by step, the pack closed the distance. Their quiet hooves didn’t even kick up dust from the forest floor.

I can use my skill, Pleasure, without any issue.

Remember what it did last time... it can direct me to critical weak spots and stun the enemy... but I have to touch them..

Mylo’s gaze flicked back toward Tritia. She was standing at an angle just behind his shoulder, making it impossible to see her full expression without turning his head.

I just have to trust her strength.She might be terrified, but she isn’t weak.

Above his vision, a red timer ticked down quietly.

[15:15:18]

Then, the chittering laughter of the Tkerns abruptly stopped.

The entire area was instantly submerged in a suffocating silence. For some reason, Mylo found this deafening quiet far more terrifying than their unsettling calls. The sound of his own ragged, heavy breathing was the only indicator that his ears were still working.

His eyes remained locked dead ahead. Every muscle in his body coiled, tensed to its absolute limit.

Kreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

The sharp screech tore through the night as the hooves of the entire herd kicked off the ground at once.

Mylo jerked back, sprinting at his absolute limit alongside Tritia.

Behind them, the swarm of Tkerns gave chase with such ferocious intensity that a thick cloud of dark dust kicked up into the night air.

Their heavy hooves battered the forest floor in unison, filling the dark woods with a rhythmic, thunderous roar.

thud, thud, thud!

Mylo could feel every single second ticking away.

Thud, thud, thud.

The thunderous sound grew louder and more intense with every passing moment.

Thud, thud, thud.

He scrambled past tree after tree as the relentless pounding of hooves closed in behind him.

Thud, thud, thud!

He felt a sickening knot in his stomach, as if an invisible hand had reached inside his gut and squeezed his intestines tight.

’’huff!huff!huff!huff!’’

Thud, thud, thud!

His breathing grew more ragged, shallow, and rigid the further he ran.

Until finally, his body gave out.

He turned back sharply.

His momentum dragged his feet through the dirt as he spun around to face the oncoming horde.

"Mylo!"

Tritia screamed from behind.

But his mind was already made up.

His battered body simply couldn’t withstand another second of running.

’’Aggghhhhhhh!!!!’’

Releasing a raw, defiant roar from the top of his lungs, Mylo leaped headfirst into the charging mass of Tkerns.

Bliss drain.

Mylo swung the machete.

Sweeeeep!

The heavy blade cut through the air, biting deep into the head of a Tkerns.

The creature roared, its jagged antlers scraping hard against Mylo’s shoulders.

’’Guhh!’’

The sharp points sliced through his flesh like paper.

Blood welled up instantly, hot and sticky against his skin.

Mylo gritted his teeth, his jaw tightening so hard his joints popped.

He didn’t pull back.

He reached out, grabbed the creature’s massive antler with both hands, and yanked with everything he had.

THUD!

The Tkerns stumbled, lost its balance, and crashed violently into two others beside it.

The ground beneath them was a mess of raised black soil, churning and swelling like a living thing.

Dirt flew into the air as the beasts struggled to untangle themselves.

Mylo ripped his machete free and whirled around.

[Faint pran absorbed]

[Pran(15->25)]

Another Tkerns charged, its horns lowered.

Mylo slammed the flat of his blade sideways against the incoming rack, blocking the strike with a violent metallic screech.

CLANG!

The force knocked him back a step, his boots dragging through the dark earth.

The surrounding herd didn’t rush him all at once.

They stepped back, their dark, eyes locked onto him, watching his breath rag in his chest as if evaluating their prey.

Then, one of them leaped.

Mylo was about to swing his axe when another Tkerns slammed into his stomach from his blind spot.

’’GAH!’’

The breath exploded from his lungs. Mylo staggered backward, his leg throbbing and vision swimming.

Before he could even raise his hands, the Tkerns in the air dropped its head, its razor-sharp antlers plunging down directly toward his chest.

’’...hah!...huff!’’

Damn it!

He twisted his body desperately, trying to throw himself out of the way.

But the antlers never reached him.

They stopped dead in mid-air.

Tritia had grabbed the beast’s rack with her bare hands.

With a violent jerk, she hurled the massive Tkerns onto the dark, churning soil.

Before it could scramble up, her boot came down like a sledgehammer.

CRACK!

The creature’s ribs caved in. Black blood erupted from its chest, splashing across Tritia’s face and clothes.

Mylo didn’t waste the opening.

He swung his machete, slicing clean through the head of the Tkerns that had just rammed his stomach.

Black gore sprayed across the earth as the beast collapsed.

[Faint pran absorbed]

[Pran(25-34)]

Tritia slowly straightened up. She looked at him, her fingers flexing.

Black blood dripped slowly from her elongated nail claws.

"Hmm... what were you trying to do? Tell me."

Mylo wiped sweat and blood from his eyes, his breathing heavy.

"Hmm? Were you trying to abandon me?" she stepped closer, her scarlet eyes locking onto his.

"Tell me."

"No, it wasn’t anything like that," Mylo gasped, holding her gaze.

"I just... I don’t know. I don’t know why I did it."

He was telling the truth. Panic and anxiety had completely hijacked his brain a moment ago.

Tritia stared at him for a second before letting out a soft sigh.

"Hmm. Don’t do anything like that again. I won’t forgive you if you try to abandon me."

"I wasn’t trying to do that," Mylo grunted, adjusting his grip on the machete.

"First of all, why didn’t you run away? We can’t beat these things. It’s not possib-"

Two more Tkerns broke from the pack, charging straight toward them.

Tritia bared her fangs.

She moved to dodge, but the tip of a jagged antler grazed across her exposed stomach, slicing skin.

’’-!’’

She flinched as her mouth twisted.

She grabbed the monster by its antler, forced it down into the mud, and drove her clawed hand straight through its thick fur and into its chest.

Beside her, Mylo leaned into his raw strength.

As the second Tkerns leaped at him, Mylo caught its rack mid-air.

The force almost knocked him over.

He dug his boots into the black soil, pulled the beast violently toward him, and dragged his machete across its neck in one fluid stroke.

SLASH!

The headless body hit the dirt.

[Faint pran absorbed]

[Pran(34->44)]

Tritia wiped a streak of black blood off her cheek with the back of her hand, her voice dropping low.

"Hmm. It’s not possible for either of us to run."

"Ha... what do you-"

Mylo’s words died in his throat.

A low, guttural growl echoed from the shadows behind them.

He turned his head slowly.

Pair after pair of glowing red eyes materialized in the darkness.

More than a dozen Vexfangs stepped out, their jaws dripping with saliva, their growls vibrating through the ground.

Mylo’s heart sank deeper than it ever had before.

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