Vengeance Upon Fate - Chapter 33

Kurogane leaned against one of the large stones and had fallen asleep for several hours. The trees provided a nice amount of shade from the already darkened night sky.

The clouds began to move aside, releasing the built up moonlight over the large lands. Some of it leaked through the tree shading, causing Kurogane to open his eyes slightly and groan.

{Mmhh}

His vision was a bit blurry, causing him to blink a few times in the process.

The shine from above was bothering him now. Despite how exhausted he was, he had to come to his senses and move to a more comfortable, shaded region.

It took a few seconds to realize that it wasn’t the moon’s direct shining that was causing his eye strain.

“Hm?”

It appeared to be a thin, transparent metallic-like thread coming down from the branches above him. The moonlight caused it to shine onto Kurogane’s face.

Despite the absence of any wind, it appeared to be rocking to an extent.

After regaining a little more of his consciousness, Kurogane slowly looked down to see the full view, since his face was tilted fairly upwards during his sleep.

There was something hanging from the thread. It took a few seconds and blinks to completely get rid the blurriness until he could fully make out what was before him.

….?!!

Kurogane could feel his heart shoot up his throat, unable to beat momentarily out of utter shock.

Upon his eyes extending past it’s ends, he finally had the urge to gasp.

It was a head. Not an animal’s head, but the one of a human.

What made Kurogane want to let out a blood curdling shriek internally was the fact that it was Hiroki’s head – eyes ripped off and blood dripping out of them.

Kurogane crawled back in horror until something he found himself bumping into something.

It was a body – two of them stacked on each other. They were missing heads and had blood oozing out of them. At the top sat Taro’s head, whose face was left alone in a disturbed, horrified expression.

This sight immediately sent chills to the inner depths of his soul.

Out of immense fear, he stood up, back away slowly until lightly colliding into something.

Kurogane turned his head to see what it was.

There it stood – a masked, fully black robed, hooded figure gazing right at him from above.

It’s eyes glowed demonically bright red with the absence of any mouth to add onto the terrifying look of the mask.

Kurogane gasped and drew his sword out instantly, panicking from the suddenness.

Before he could make a move, the masked figure had already grabbed onto his head.

Kurogane struggled to break free. He was being gripped tightly, making it feel nearly impossible to escape.

Without further delay, masked figure threw his face down, bringing his whole body with it as his face collided on the floor with inhuman force, enough to make his body bounce off the sturdy ground.

(It can’t be.. There’s no way…)

Kurogane was confused, terrified and caught completely off guard. He couldn’t process everything that was happening.

Upon bouncing off the floor, the masked figure immediately dug it’s leg into his abdomen, sending him soaring into a tree.

{Ahhhgkk}

Kurogane lost a lot of air and struggled to shake off the damage he took, but within a few seconds, he managed to stand up and drawl out his sword.

(Where did it go..?)

…..!

Kurogane sensed something behind him and countered with a quick slash.

{Nnnnggggg}

The impact of the sword generated a loud clinking sound followed by sparks upon making contact with the masked figure’s arms. The force of the collision caused Kurogane to knock backwards, losing his balance in the moment.

(He’s too fast.. And the armoured arms… a pugilist?)

Claws immediately shot down from the figure’s gauntlet. This caused Kurogane’s heart to race even faster.

…

(Those claws.. It’s him… the same one I saw..)

With quick action, it grabbed onto Kurogane’s shoulder firmly and underhandedly plunged it deep into Kurogane’s abdomen then followed up by expeditiously removing the claws, pushing Kurogane back and brutally punching him on his jaw.

{Huaaaghhhh}

Kurogane tumbled several yards away until he was lying on his chest. As soon as he opened his eyes, he let out a big cough, gushing out an extensive amount of blood. The devastating wound was deep and started to leak, forming a puddle of blood on the grass below.

He gazed at his trembling, bloody hand then slowly tilted his head and looked forward. The masked figure was approaching him slowly, each step increasingly intimidating than the last.

Within his current view, he could now see the same dragon’s symbol on its robe’s sleeve.

Kurogane’s eyes started to blur, his heart rate slowing down this time.

Gritting his teeth, Kurogane knew that there was no way he would make it out alive in any ordinary circumstances, and that he would have to act quick to make something as close as a miracle happen. Wuxiaworld for visiting.

(Dammit… I’m.. losing too much blood.. I won’t last much longer at this point.)

Kurogane slowly reached into his robe and pulled out the orb Reo had given him.

〔If things ever get out of hand, break this orb and it will teleport you to the nearest town.〕

Reo’s orb was his last resort. He didn’t know if it would help him in the end, as he was losing blood at a rapid rate with an overwhelming amount of wounds all over, but there was no other choice but to take the gamble.

With every last particle of strength, Kurogane managed to break the orb with his trembling fingers.

This caused a light blue glowing circle to form around him. The surrounding area started getting windy, and a loud sound occurred for a few seconds before Kurogane could feel himself starting to vanish.

The masked figure stood and watched, not attempting to make any last moves before entirely disappearing from Kurogane’s field of vision.

He could no longer keep his eyes open for any longer. It was as if his life – the little amount that remained within him was almost completely faded away. Before he knew it, everything blackened before him.

(I’m.. so sorry…)

…