[Vol4-Road to nowhere part-2]

A woman with ashen hair and an expressionless face was hiding behind a pile of ashes falling from the sky and a dark, tenebrous rock with sharp edges pointing at the dull grey sky.

Commander Syl pressed her hand on the ground as a deafening pressure descended.

Crush!

Crush!

A crunching sound filled the desolate land as the sound of skulls being crushed rang in her ears.

And then—

Booom!

Syl sighed and looked above as the volcano erupted, sending out dark, heavy clouds of ashen dust. Her face remained stiff, even tired, as she watched the space around the volcano fold on itself. Suppressing something deep inside, a danger that made her skin crawl and heart sink deep into the abyss.

From within the smoke, something jumped out.

It was the silhouette of a man wearing a black coat and a top hat. Syl instinctively tensed up but then relaxed as she stood up from her kneeling spot and came out.

The figure hanging in the air then vanished in split seconds and appeared in front of her.

"Sir Elias… It's good to see you again."

Her voice was weak but still courteously gave him a greeting.

Unlike her, Elias's face remained stoic.

"Commander Syl, for how long have you been aware of this?"

His words were cold but didn't seem to hold any emotion of distrust. Rather, she couldn't read anything from his face.

"I always surveyed these areas… The dread sleeping inside the volcano—I just instinctively knew it was finally waking up. So, I called you here." Syl paused; her eyes tore away from the desolate lands and looked at the far east. "But it looks like something worse happened there."

Elias didn't answer at once; his gaze first swept through the ground, looking at the countless monsters crushed under invisible weight and then at Syl standing without a single injury.

"Yes, a calamity and an avenger fought, destroying a good portion of the dark forest. Then the space cracked, leading monsters from another place, somewhere far, to arrive there. It seems that answers why creatures of beyond were appearing so suddenly everywhere."

Syl bit her lips and carefully chose her words. She had many questions, as she had her connection cut from base for weeks now. She was only aware of the reports that came her way from time to time. The news travelled fast and she believed he was a witness to a tragedy and maybe even a conspirator in it.

She didn't have proof but she was aware that the temple was the ruler, a dictator who would do as it wished. It wasn't evil, but the methods it used and the conspiracies that shadowed its divine presence were as deep and lethal as an abyss.

"Calamity? I hope to hear more about it later, but those monsters… the gate you described, natural or man-made, from how far do these monsters you speak of come?"

Syl asked with a sharp voice.

However, the saint of paths—Elias Walker—his next sentence sent a chill down her spine.

"From a world beyond this… dead and more dreadful than you can imagine."

***

The world was wrapped in a whitish yellow cover. Anywhere eyes could reach, that's the only thing one could see.

The previous grey sky was nowhere to be seen and the blue sky with a massive sun that seemed to press on the land itself shone above with dazzling light.

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

It was hot enough to burn bare feet traversing these lands.

In the endless sea of sand, a figure was sitting at a far corner under a small sand trench that seemed to have been dug by hand enough to get some shade, a solace in the furious wave of heat.

The figure remained seated with his knees pressed tightly on his chest and head hidden beneath the hood of his cloak.

After a moment passed, he looked up, his silver eyes dull and almost lifeless. His dry lips suddenly curled into a mocking smile as he looked at the tall, illusory being in front of him with burning, ember-like yellow eyes.

"You surely don't plan on giving up now, do you?"

The Acosador remained still as Asher watched its grin widen with each passing second before a child-like laughter came out without its mouth moving an inch.

"Creepy bastard."

Asher hissed and stood up before running with a blitz of speed.

Just then the place he had been sitting on sank in. The sand started to fall below as a chasm opened—swallowing everything below at an astonishing speed.

The land trembled, making Asher's step wobble as he ran further from the sand, falling behind. He glanced back with a pale face. There at the center of the chasm, a crimson sand-like figure came out. It was a colossal figure, a worm of fissured and corpous hide.

Asher couldn't see its bottom. He wasn't even aware of where the monster started and where it ended.

Even amidst his ragged breathing and pounding heart, the laughter was clear. When he kept running straight, the laughter became even louder, as if ridiculing his efforts. However, Asher didn't mind the laughter one bit. Instead, he changed his path and started to run in another direction, letting the laughter die down and fade swiftly.

And then—

Ssssss!

The sound of sand sliding down entered his ears.

The path he had previously been walking on also sank down below, opening another chasm. From the corner of his eyes, Asher saw several monsters of various shapes and sizes appear one after the other as the sand vanished. But then they were thrown above. Finally, the worm, or a part of it at least, showed itself, dragging its colossal body from the chasm and opening its maw, swallowing the falling monsters.

Asher momentarily stopped on his track as a loud growl was heard, as if a bubble were bursting.

He didn't open his mouth to speak but the expression showing his fear was ever present.

The place where the monsters were swallowed by the worm of sand, a cloud of blood, has appeared instantly.

The worm of sand started to retreat back under the embrace of white sand, leaving the cloud of blood in the air, which soon started to rain down on the chasm.

Drip…

Drip…

Asher witnessed the sea of sand of that area, which previously had been white, slowly turning a dark shade of crimson and pitch black. His heart almost exploded with dread as he was covered with sweat mixed with dry and fresh blood trickling down his spine.

Inhaling a deep breath, Asher calmed his racing heart and pressed his hand over his heart.

'I will never get used to it.'

Shaking his head to not let his mind go calm, Asher clicked his tongue from again hearing the child-like laughter of the acosador. By then [Kairosflow] had accelerated his steps.

Before long he had left the chasms behind and clouds of blood till they couldn't be seen anymore.

Not long after, large pieces of rocks started to appear in Asher's vision after an hour or so. On one of the rocks, a hollow space was visible. It was like a cave, though; it wasn't that deep.

Asher looked at it dryly and pulled his hood even lower to get some shade from the sun.

He walked toward the opening rather calmly as his steps started to slow down. When he finally reached the rock, he started to climb it with his hands gripping the surface of the rough stone. As he reached the top, the opening went deeper, almost like a hole; a small crater was dug inside the rock.

Asher leaped in and then, using dark fur he had taken from slain monsters, closed the entry. While it wouldn't stop monsters from entering, it still made a sufficient cover for the time being.

Inside, traces of fire were visible on the blackened floor. Asher removed his hood and sat at the furthest corner, as far as he could go away from the sunlight.

At the wall, the two large portions of meat, almost half eaten, hung with ashen dust covering them dry.

He didn't speak for long as a heavy sigh escaped his lips and he fell on the floor with a thumping sound.

His eyelids finally turned heavy till he could no longer keep them open. Sleep was something precious but life was more. This thought had left him awake for days at the start. However, he could not keep his fatigue away for long.

Taking a deep breath, Asher curled himself up into a ball as soon as all the light coming through the cracks and the small opening vanished one after the other. The temperature started to drop just as soon and the heat was replaced by a bone-chilling coldness.

Asher's eyes briefly flickered open as he took out a blanket to cover himself.

Then in the darkness he saw two embers, covered in darkness, watching him. This time they didn't laugh, though the grin was still visible on its face. Asher stared in its eyes for a moment longer, almost seeking comfort in the creature of beyond.

"Good night."

He finally said to the creature before falling asleep.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.