Olga and Cerberus had planned to attack together with this dark skinned man, but their eyes widened as they stopped in their tracks.

The sight before them warranted it.

Before them was the man, without a speck on him holding Vorlag's blade between two fingers, if he looked bored and unfocused before then that was a mistake for Vorlag now had his annoyed and undivided attention.

"You're fearless, little one," the dark skinned man said, his words carrying with it an undeniable pressure and yet he spoke them so freely.

"Crack!"

The blade shattered between his fingers the pieces flying everywhere.

In that moment Vorlag felt his eyes widen and his heart skipped a beat. "An Infernal War-"

"Puff!"

His body contorted, quickly squishing into a round little ball of flesh and fabric, blood squirting from the pressure.

A pressure that everyone else felt, their feet sinking into the mud, as a force unseen to them pushed them down.

Olga felt the world spin, her breath labored as she struggled to raise her head and observe the source of this pressure.

The world around them had developed a reddish tint to it, and he was looking at her, that man, that near-godly being she could only look up to.

"Greetings, great Infernal Warlord!" A shout resounded as everyone fell to their knees, bowing deeply until their heads touched the mud.

Neither the men of the Cigil Clan, or Olga and Cerberus dared raise their heads not just fearing death, but whatever punishment this being decided to administer.

"You may all rise," the man said, his voice calm as he commanded, his presence once again receding to its ethereal state, "Begone."

His presence may have receded, but the mental scar still lingered.

It was like the start of a race: the men of the Cigil Clan rushed to their hounds which were practically shaking under the Infernal Warlord's presence while Olga and Cerberus rushed towards the direction where Mr. Valen had headed.

Now alone, the dark skinned Infernal Warlord looked upon that blob of flesh he had created and raised his palm.

The blob of flesh rose, floating up to him, and it was then one would notice, on this distorted blob a pair of red eyes, widened, moving rapidly from side to side, it wanted to beg but it could not speak, could not scream.

"I've killed so many that I don't get the same rush," the dark skinned man said emotionlessly, a smile gracing his face. "I wonder how long I can keep you alive in this form."

Looking into the distance the man frowned, as he muttered, "Would those two cease their fighting? It's not as if they could slay one another."

"Whoosh!" The air tore as the man took a step forward vanishing from sight completely like he had never been there before.

--------

Many hours later.

"Hiss!"

A snake-like creature moved through the mud quickly, chasing a man who carried a girl on his back, unfortunately, try as it might, it could not catch up.

"Whoosh!"

Mr. Valen ran though the mud, evading twisted roots and rotting trees which as he noticed, were growing fewer and fewer.

"We might actually prevail," Mr. Valen muttered under his breath, his words carrying with it a tinge of disbelief.

"DON'T SPEAK RUN!" Sophia, whom he carried on his back intoned, her breath faint, her heart pounding from the rush of being chased.

She had also not eaten in days, and unlike Mr. Valen, she was not so used to prolonged periods of starvation.

"Boom!" The ground beneath them suddenly caved, but Mr. Valen was quick grabbing a nearby root, hoisting himself up with sheer strength, he was now pirched on one of the dead trees.

Unfortunately that stunt had slowed them down, and the snake-like creature had caught up to them.

"Ahh!" Sophia screamed as Mr. Valen swung her from his back.

In an attempt to not fall to her death, she squeezed her thighs around him, straddling Mr. Valen, her green eyes locked on his.

"BEHIND YOU!" Sophia screamed again as the dark snake dove up from the mud.

Its girth was that of four men standing side by side, its length indeterminable, lost within the mud.

At this moment its maws were opened wide intent on devouring them whole.

"Hisss!"

"You shouldn't see this, My Lady," Mr. Valen grunted, a mist accompanying his breath as he covered Sophia's eyes with his palm.

"Swoosh!"

Sophia then heard a swift cutting sound followed by the feeling of warm rain.

Shocked by the sensation, she quickly removed Mr. Valen's palm, only to see the snake's body slump to the ground, a frightful gash leaving behind a rain of black blood spurting from its wound.

She didn't know if it was her imagination, but she could swear she saw the shadow of a black rope or something of sorts.

"A simple trap," Mr. Valen said with a forced smile, his face deathly pale.

With that he jumped back into the mud, resuming his desperate sprint through the Misty Marsh.

But had one removed his clothes, they would have discovered a horrifying wound tracing his spine, one that refused to heal, his black blood gushing out.

'This is bad,' Mr. Valen thought, fighting off the urge to sink his fangs into Sophia's flesh, even he could tell that he had reached his limit.

But he could not stop, he had to keep moving, or so he thought until he smelt another being nearby.

And then his mind went blank.

-----------

Sophia who was being carried by Mr. Valen suddenly fell, her form hitting the mud with a sickening squelch.

Quickly she scrambled to her feet, but she did not scream, rather, she looked around, searching for Mr. Valen, but he was nowhere to be seen.

It was like he had disappeared.

The mist did not help, reducing visibility to only five meters.

'What is this? What should I do?' Sophia asked herself, she was scared to shout as one would, least she attracted the things that lived in this godforsaken land, the things that were not human.

"Bam!" She suddenly heard a sound not too far from her, it sounded like a footstep, it sounded like Mr. Valen. So she ran towards it, scrambling, forcing herself to maintain balance in the deep mud.

But upon reaching the source of this sound she froze, as what lay before her was no man, but the freshly decapitated head of some frog-like beast.

She then saw the silhouette of a monstrous figure, humanoid, standing too far to be seen whole.

And yet it was close enough to be seen clearly: a creature with claws and a tail, biting into the body of another beast.

'Run!'

A thought appeared in Sophia's mind and she heeded it immediately, turning back, swiftly rushing in the mud.

She was frail, she knew that, but she had to survive she had to live.

Suddenly, "Argh," she grunted as she tripped over a vine, landing violently on the icy mud, her palms sinking into the ichor. Yet she sucked it up, and crawled, moving slowly.

She didn't know how long she moved, it was all a blur, she was, hungry and scared but not delusional, she was sure she heard a voice.

One that recognized her.

"High Scioness?" The voice intoned.

Quickly, she raised her head only to discover two soldiers staring down at her from above.

At first her heart skipped a beat, but she quickly recognized the armor and sighed, 'I'm saved,' she thought.

"Please, help me up," she muttered weakly looking up at the two green eyed soldiers before her.

"How did you survive High Scioness?" The two men asked as they heaved her from the mud, their tone probing. "Where's Commander Olga?"

"We have to send in a recovery party, Olga, and her men, Valen, they're all there, they're all trapped," Sophia muttered weakly.

"So they got intercepted by the Cigil Clan?" The men asked again.

"Yes," Sophia answered, and immediately she did, she felt a chill run down her spine.

It was then that she remembered how she got kidnapped by the Cigil Clan in the first place.

"C-can we leave now?" She asked, her heart pounding in her chest as one of the soldiers caressed her waist.

"Bam!" She suddenly stepped on him, pushing herself back into the mud with a pained grunt, her words bleeding venom. "Rolk, Damish, you scum!"

At the sound of Sophia's voice, the first armored man reached up with gauntleted fingers that had known too many brawls to be called noble.

His helmet came loose with a hiss of releasing pressure, revealing a face like a half-chewed slab of meat (broad), pockmarked, and grinning like a starving dog who'd just spotted fresh carrion.

His sweat-slicked hair clung to a scarred scalp, and his glowing green eyes burned with the kind of amusement only a man who'd lit fires just to watch things burn could muster.

"Ahhh, fuck, that's better," Rolk spat, running a tongue over yellowed teeth. "Damn bucket was chokin' the life outta me. What do you say we have some fun before we discard the kid," he said as he undid his belt.

The second man, Damish removed his helmet with deliberate, almost fussy care, as if he were peeling back the skin of a fruit he meant to savor.

His face was leaner, sharper, a blade next to his companion's rusted cleaver and yet his green eyes glowed just as bright. "You sure we shouldn't just kill her, our shift is almost over, and we'll be rewarded with enough women once we report back to the High Scioness."

"You're too much of a sissy," Rolk groaned before stepping forward, his pants sagging slightly.

"Help!" Sophia immediately yelled as she attempted to rise to her feet, but she was caught, Rolk's firm grip around her ankle reeling her back.

"Bam!"

"Bam!"

She stepped on him, kicking with all her might, but it seemed to cause her more pain than it did the armored man, who ripped off her garments with ease.

The sound of Sophia's screams echoed in the marsh, her form soiled in mud as she struggled, not caring for how she might hurt herself.

"Stay still, slut!" Rolk groaned, striking her head in frustration.

"Bam!" A loud thud echoed as Sophia groaned, her head spinning, her vision dimming.

And yet, in that moment, that split second, she caught sight of a humanoid figure with darkened arms grab Rolk by the neck.

That familiar scent.

She knew that figure or at least she thought she knew him.

'Valen?' she thought before losing consciousness.

-------------

At the same time, Damish watched as Rolk was lifted by the neck, held aloft by some sort of humanoid beast.

A sight that confounded him greatly.

It looked human in all outward appearance draped in the filthy, mud-stained rags of a commoner, its long, dark hair hanging limp in the endless rain.

But that was where all resemblance ended.

Its eyes were voids, two pools of absolute black, even the whites devoured by darkness.

At their centers, glowing green pinpricks burned like embers, leaving ghostly streaks of light whenever they moved.

From fingertips to elbows, toes to knees, its limbs were stained pitch-black, the inky darkness radiating a palpable menace, as though a single brush of that flesh would spell doom.

And then there was the tail.

It emerged from the base of its spine, an unnatural elongation, as if the backbone had clawed free of its flesh and taken on a life of its own.

Sleek and obsidian, it glistened wetly in the dim light, its surface as smooth as volcanic glass. The tip tapered into a cruel, elongated triangle, sharp enough to part skin with a whisper of contact.

Despite its slender width (no thicker than two fingers pressed together) it moved with sinister grace, undulating like a living thing.

Ridged with segmented grooves, it mirrored the vertebrae of a spine, each joint flexing with unnatural precision.

A creature like this had never been seen before and yet no two abominations were ever truly alike.

"Rolk, Save Me!" Damish shrieked, his face reddened like a tomato as he tried and failed to free himself from the beast's grip, his legs dangling uselessly.

But Rolk immediately turned tail and ran, not even bothering to stand still for a moment, 'I thought all beasts above Story Lore had been wiped out by our superiors? Why is that thing here, why?'

"Whoosh!" Rolk suddenly felt something seize his ankle, before flinging him into the air his form hitting a nearby branch in the process, before being dragged to the front of the beast.

"Ahhhh, my god, my god," Rolk screamed as he struggled to free himself, but it was pointless.

He had been caught by its tail, and it became painfully obvious that the thing would not let any of them escape.

At that moment, "Squilch!" An unnerving sound erupted as the thing drove its arm through Damish's torso, shattering his armor like rotten wood.

"My God." Rolk watched as Damish gasped for life, his eyes wide with terror.

In the next moment, the beast drew Damish close and bit into his neck, leaving Rolk to watch as his companion became paler.

'I have to act now, or I die,' Rolk thought desperately, raising his palm towards the beast as he chanted, "Artu-"

"Swoosh!"

The beast suddenly looked towards him and flicked him into the air with its tail, as if sensing his intent.

"Ahh," Rolk yelled as he tumbled haphazardly and in the next moment he felt pain, stinging maddening pain at the places where his extremities should have been.

Upon looking to his right he discovered that his very arm and leg had been severed falling beside him. It was the same at his left.

He could not feel them, but the phantom pain was true.

All he could do was scream and thrash around madly, his head shaking like a mad dog, once a man reduced to a living torso.

Mid-air, the tail caught him once again, drawing him closer to the beast who watched him suffer expressionlessly (like food).

It then grabbed him by the head, forcing stillness as it bit into his neck, and Rolk could swear he felt the very essence of his life being sucked out of him.

After a while the beast let down his lifeless, limbless body, letting it slump into the mud with a slouching thud.

It then walked up to Sophia's sleeping form, and picked her up, opening its maw wide to bite into her neck.

But as though hindered by some unknown force (some buried instinct) it stopped. It then retracted its tail into its spine and slumped down with the girl, their forms splashing into the mud.

And yes, It was Mr. Valen.

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