Shadow of Death (SOD)

Chapter 19

"Ugh..."

Asher groaned painfully.

His vision was slowly blurring, but with the determination to not die nor give up, he shook his head.

For some weird reason, he could sense Nuel slowly approaching the bus.

He couldn’t hear her footsteps because she was far away, and he wasn’t a beast or something.

But he could sense her presence clearly.

And she was taking her sweet time to come into the bus.

He had time.

A minute or a few seconds at most.

Wincing in pain, Asher turned around onto his belly.

Feeling his limbs grow weak and jelly like, he refused to let it slow him down.

So he hurriedly pushed himself upright.

Finally, he rose to his knees.

His body was in a sea of pain and wrecked beyond imagination.

Whatever he had been hit with that sent him into this bus seemed to have cracked his spine.

Quickly wobbling to his feet, Asher looked around the bus.

There were a few doors around that he could use to escape.

But they were locked.

So the only way to escape was through the same window he was thrown in.

But Nuel could be felt coming from that direction.

Hence, the boy turned towards his east.

Grabbing his neck, Asher dragged his feet towards that area as fast as he could.

Then, he climbed onto a seat.

With how tall he was, he was perfectly able to reach the window even without the seat as a ladder.

But it was important if he needed to escape quickly.

So he steadied himself.

Sucked in a deep breath and then, with a sharp exhale, he swung his hand forward, shattering the window.

In one smooth motion, he pulled himself over the ledge and hurled himself outside.

Tumbling on the ground, he shot to his feet, about to run away when he froze in place.

"Oh, come on. You think I’m that dumb?" Nuel smirked as she watched the horrified look plastered on the boy’s face.

Tak. Tak. Tak.

She stood in front of the frozen boy.

So close that her smell wafted into his nose.

She lifted her index finger and pointed it towards his abdomen.

"There’s a rule here. No one wanders around at night or else... whatever their eyes see, they should accept."

Bam!

A strange force burst out, slamming into the boy’s midsection with such strength that his body crashed into the bus behind him hard.

Blood tore out from his mouth as his eyes threatened to roll behind his head.

Thud!

He fell to the ground with a tired groan.

That was it.

He couldn’t do it anymore. He was expended.

All energy and strength were sapped from his body.

With how tired he was, he could barely lift a finger, talk more of lifting his head.

But he could hear Nuel walking towards him and also feel her approach.

Soon enough, she stood directly in front of his body with a shake of her head.

"What a pity."

’Is this it? Is this the end for me? Won’t I be able to save my family now?’

Asher’s teeth were gnashed tightly at the thought of his family falling for whatever trap the world must have set for them.

The images of his mother, sister, brother, and father flashed through his mind one at a time, causing a different pang of pain to shoot through his chest.

’NO, NO, NO! I CAN’T DIE HERE.’

Before he could even think of lifting a finger, Nuel smashed her foot onto his hand, crushing his whole finger and sending a fresh wave of pain shooting through his body.

"Aaaaaargh!"

Nuel smiled in delight as she swung her foot again and bashed it onto the boy’s second set of fingers.

She crushed them totally while a scream of immense pain tore out of the boy’s throat.

Tears were now rolling down his eyes at the scene.

He could feel his breath slowly leaving his body.

He had done his possible best.

"And with this, I finish you off." Nuel smirked as she lifted her leg above the boy’s head.

Asher closed his eyes with a deep sigh.

’This is it.’

Before the entity could think of bringing it down, something flashed through the air terribly fast.

Tchaaaak—!

A foot could be seen flying through the air like a frisbee, with a few specks of blood splattering through the air.

Nuel blinked confusedly.

’Huh? Who owns the foot?’

She didn’t know what it was.

Maybe instinct or a feeling of foreboding, but something made her look down at the foot she had been lifting above the boy’s head.

It was gone.

Cleanly cut like it had never existed in the first place.

Even Asher was confused.

His eyes were closed, expecting the foot to descend on his head by now.

But there was nothing.

His head hadn’t been turned into mashed potatoes yet.

Feeling something around Nuel’s body, he didn’t know what it was.

So he aimed to crack his eyes open.

"Don’t open your eyes."

A voice spoke inside his head. It carried such calmness and confidence that it almost made one’s head swell.

But underneath that calmness, he could feel a strange sense of urgency.

Not wanting to test his luck, he left his eyes closed, only to hear... feel Nuel turn around.

Unknown to him, the entity had a deep frown on her face.

"You?!"

Looking at the attacker from head to toe, her gaze drifted towards his hand, and that was when a sense of dread filled her chest.

Cold sweat drenched her immediately.

Dark mist was seen surrounding her torn foot as she aimed to rehenetate in time.

But before it could even complete, something incredibly fast, even for her eyes to follow, streaked through the air.

Tchaaak—!

Her head could be seen flying into the air like a soccer ball.

"Exorcise."

Almost immediately, flames consumed the head and the body, and within a few seconds, the body, head, and decapitated foot turned to ash, which blew with the night wind.

Asher was left dumfounded as he couldn’t feel Nuel’s presence anymore.

’What the hell just happened?!’

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