Chapter 45: An abominable has been bred

*Currently...*

Everyone froze. Their legs were unconsciously shivering in fear and their minds went blank for a moment. They didn't expect that the 'good' idea that the person was talking about was actually massacre.

*Thud*

The pale and bleeding body of the thuggish soldier fell on the lines of the formation. His blood slid down and mysteriously followed the lines of the formation like a river. The blood crawled on the ground smoothly like a bright scarlet python, and it radiated a feeling of danger, gore, and odd beauty.

After a brief pause, some of the soldiers have finally processed what was happening— there will only be 60 people to survive.

They looked at themselves and asked.

'Will I die here?'

After they dropped this question to themselves, a flurry of emotions flooded their heart.

All this time, they have been desperately running away from the Fenixians in hopes of surviving. They endured the pain from their aching legs! They endured the bothersome insect bites! They endured the exhausting and arduous walk! They endured treading under the scorching sun! They endured staying awake in the freezing night! They endured the sadness and loneliness of losing their loved ones! They endured the hunger and exhaustion of the trip! Some even only had one leg!

Every second, every minute, they would anxiously question themselves.

'Am I gonna die?' 'Is this the end?' 'Will I ever see my family?' 'Should have I done this?' 'Am I even gonna survive?' 'Why are you trying so hard?' 'Aren't you tired?' 'Stop it! Stop torturing yourself! Just stay dead! You'll never survive anyways!' 'You're so pathetic.'

They drowned in their thoughts. They burned in their actions. Their destiny betrayed them! Their fates crashed them! The world turned its back on them... but look.... they're still here... They're still alive... They did everything and endured anything. But all of those were for what?

They've been enduring all the pain and sadness just because of the speck of light in the dark. Their only hope.

The hope to live, to live for another day. To see the Sun rise once more! To see the moon shine on them! To see their families happy while safe and sound! To feel the fresh air when they breathe! To feel their heartbeat that says 'I'm alive.'..

To be happy. ;)

A human is not a human without hope. Everyone keeps on living in this world because deep inside them, they're still desperately hoping for something.

The amputated soldier felt his blood rushing as hope bloomed in his heart. His heart raced hurriedly in fear and expectation. His breathing became heavier and faster, and his eyes looked more scarlet and scary.

He gripped tightly onto the stick he was using as a cane to stabilize his shaking leg.

He looked at the person beside him. He was also a soldier just like him, but much worse.

His blue armor was full of holes, burnt marks, bloodstains, and scratches. His hair was disheveled and his eyes were droopy as if he was about to fall any second. He looked miserable like a beggar in a dilapidated street.

Suddenly, a thought entered into the amputated soldier's mind.

'If I kill this person, will it save me? Will I live?'

Like a seed, this evil thought grew and fed on his fear. It grew enormously while it crawled in his body like vines. It binds his heart tightly and he can't seem to get rid of it however hard he tries.

Actually, not just him had this evil thought, everyone did. However, of all the people here, he was the most decisive one.

'I have to do this.... I still need to live! I'm really sorry...'

With a rueful heart, but determined head,

A scorching fireball, conjured in his hand.

He launched the flame to set ablaze and spread.

And put his anguish into a quick end.

*Crackle* "AaáåAâÁAÅaåâÃäAarghh!!!"

The flame crackled, as it cremated the man.

Agonizing wails roared, yet was heard by none.

As the lever was pulled, pure chaos began.

Like dominoes on fire, they burned one by one.

"Graaaa! I'll escape from this damn place!"

Everyone fought for an opportunity to live.

But first they need to tread a lonely path with no way to leave.

A dark, abhorrent tunnel, made by gore, pain, sin, and grieve.

But just for that fleck of light, everything they have, they'll give.

The murky black mud crawled up the lotus' stem.

The adamant pillar was bent in its helm.

(AN: Please help, hem or helm?)

Despair corrupted the unblemished petals.

Now they're the most grotesque among all florals.

Blood rained down and painted the sky dark red,

the life in them was drained as they turned dead.

Helplessness, despair bloomed along with dread.

Now an abomination has been bred.

However, no one ever has the right.

To judge whether, it is okay to fight.

But as the formation shines with red light.

It fills their wicked hearts with sheer delight.

'Till none of the dead are within their sight.

They were once heroes.

When the war started, almost all the soldiers were people who left their families, friends, town, and memories behind just to protect the kingdom. They carried the safety of the kingdom on their backs and endured the risks.

But now...

But now, ironically, they were killing each other just for the chance to enter the formation. Their pillar of reasoning and love was bent by fear and despair. They are no longer the brave heroes who struggled to protect their country, they are now monsters who would do everything to survive.

"COME HERE!!!! I'LL Kill YOU!!!"

"AAAAARGH! IT HURTS!!! HELP!!!"

"DAMN YOU!!! DAMN ALL OF YOU!!!!"

"Help me please!!"

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT!!"

"I WANNA LIVE!!!"

Hoarse creams resounded everywhere, they were so loud that just from the volume alone, you can almost imagine their vocal chords popping. Their bloodshot eyes, bloodstained armor, the thick bloodlust they were radiating, and their desperate faces made them look scary yet... pitiful. They were like desperate animals under the clutches of gods, doing everything to survive.

"BEAUTIFUL! YES! THIS IS IT! HAHAHAHA!"

The smiling man was laughing maniacally. His eyes were wide open, like they were about to fall off as he laughed madly at the sky. His pupil almost rolled at the top of his eyes. He was enjoying the chaos while he was surrounded by fountains of blood.

Time seems to slow down because of the burst of adrenaline. Chaotic aura surged everywhere as they used their most dangerous magic to kill their enemies, even those attacks that can almost kill themselves. Be it man or woman, elderly or young, none of them were given mercy.

Lifeless bodies riddled the ground and the despair they felt before death was obvious just from their faces alone. The scarlet blood dripped down from their corpse and it flowed in the formation like ants, as if the formation was attracting them.

"All of those who don't want to fight, exit the formation immediately!"

Once the chaos ensued, the only female among the strongest acted immediately. She warned those who don't want to fight to retreat.

Hearing this, some people exited the formation, although they were only the minority. This is because everyone knows that they only have a small chance to survive from this place with their wounds, so they are betting their all, including their lives, just for this chance to live. After all, if you are going to die anyway, why not fight for the chance to live?

The aura caused by the fight scattered and scared the nearby animals and beasts. The earth vibrated lightly and leaves fell from the trees.

The 4 strongest people kept watch. No one tried to attack them because they were the strongest, except for those idiots who couldn't control their emotion and accidentally touched one of the four strongest and died.

"Oh fuck! Thank you for your blessing, Devil of luck! We are so! Damn! Lucky!!! A series of accidents alone caused hundreds of enemies to die! Hahaha!"

Korban said cheerfully. He seems to be a devout believer of the... devil... of luck...?

'Is he a gambler?'

Janine thought to herself. The devil of luck was famous as a legend so it has been used as a symbol of luck ever since. Many gamblers and evil people serve him.

Meanwhile, Insig was feeling... conflicted. He looked at the miserable people fighting, be it souls or humans, they were striving for the chance to live.

Insig wished to help them at first, but his intentions went the wrong way and even turned into a mass homicide... it was as if he was hated by the gods but was loved by the demons.

'Hahaha! This is your fault! Insig you idiot! You're such an idiot! Disgusting! If you hadn't been in such goody two shoes, this wouldn't have happened!"

Insig mocked himself mentally. He feels miserable and disgusted at himself at the same time, which just made him feel even more low.

As a person who grew up in a strict household, he was taught how to be respectful and kind. He was taught that it was okay for others to feel selfish, but not him.

It was a sin to be selfish! It was disgusting!

'I'm sorry....'

Insig blinks his eyes rapidly and inhales deeply. He doesn't even know who he is supposed to apologize to.

'Eww! What can your apology do!? You disgusting piece of shit! Useless! You should just stay in your own lane, so that you wouldn't embarrass me.'

Insig once again mocked himself and fell even lower. However, he didn't have a mental breakdown because he was... used to it.

As an adult and a surgeon, he had experienced enough downfall that made him question his existence. When he betrayed the expectations of his friends, parents, and himself, when he made a mistake on his surgery, he felt like the world was about to crash him back then.

Since then, He has always blamed himself for all the wrong things that have happened to him. It was like, fighting himself, but his own enemy was ironically himself. Still, he persisted and survived. Through his own disgusting selfishness, he pushed through the obstacles and lived.

His best might not be enough, but he won't give up.

That's why, he tried to maintain his calm and emotionless expression, and fix, or learn from his mistakes.

Korban saw that Insig was despondent.

'He must be blaming himself again.'

"Geez.... Insig, you shouldn't give the enemy mercy. They don't deserve that. And... Stop blaming yourself, it's not your fault. You're just a healer anyways, you shouldn't shoulder so much expectations, you know? Just... be on your own... pace..? Like, you don't need to be strong and skillful, j— just do your job. Also, they could have just peacefully competed for the chance to enter the formation. It's because of that psycho over there that this happened. Okay?"

"Hahaha. Thanks, but I'm okay."

Insig smiled and chuckled, however, he was still blaming himself. After all, even if he's just a healer, he's still a person too. That's why, deep inside, he has already made a promise to himself.

'After I solve this damned soul injury, I'm gonna get stronger quietly, expand my connections, and turn into an immortal!'

Insig already had enough of his weakness. Problems and obstacles keep hurdling him. He always trips and falls. It's making him angry. However, he can't do anything about the wall blocking his path, which makes him even more angry.

"Enough. We should find a way to get Rolly out of here quickly. A commotion this loud will not go unnoticed. Sooner or later, either a strong beast or the Fenixians will come. When that time comes, we will take our chance to escape. Are you ready?"

Janine asked.

The two of them nodded in response and waited for the right moment to attack.

In the clear, blue sky, the sunlight was blindingly bright while giving everyone the light aura that their vision needed. The hazy mountain can be seen, as well as the endless green forest spreading towards the horizon.

Shadows flitted past in the ground, and the small animals scurried away in fear.

*Swoosh*

The wind energy was harsh and concentrated in the atmosphere, but this only aided the flying scouts in the wind.

The wings of the beasts that they're riding are embedded with runic winds that take advantage of the harsh winds, making them glide easier, higher, and saves more stamina and energy.

"Hmm? What's that?"

A young man says while closing his eyes. He seems to be trying to sense something.

"What is it?"

Asked the leader at the front in a deep voice.

"My aura is... sensing something.... It seems that there's a large fluctuation of aura right... at 1 o'clock.... It seems to be a fight."

The young man said after many hesitations.

"What are the types of auras that you have sensed?"

The leader asked for confirmation. This is because if the culprits were only just wild beasts, then it would be a los

"Hmm... I sense... heat... waves... breeze..."

"It seems that there's a fight between people. Let's go!"

The commander commanded, but perplexingly, he was still the person who was leading them although the young man was the one who found the fluctuations of aura.

The young man then went to the rear of the formation and followed the flying troops. The beast riders atop the beast looked at him with arrogant eyes.

"Good job. Fortunately, your dog's nose still has some usefulness. Hahaha!"

"Hahaha!"⁴⁴

The other beast riders echoed back the laugh. However, the commander turned a blind eye on it, while the young man just lowered his head like he was used to it.

This is because his mana heart was of the investigative element. He developed an affinity towards aura sensing, which is also known as the most useless rule.

The reason is, in the wild, those animals who possess this type of mana core always have one ending — death. Their investigative element was exchanged for their offensive power, which drastically lowered their power, to the point that they can't even eat leaves.

Although trees are stationary, they can actually move their branches or leaves once they sense an enemy. In addition, through the power of their heart, they can even call other trees for help and bind the enemy.

Nowadays, only decorative pets have investigative mana heart, because they are both useless, which when combined, surprisingly actually makes them useful, albeit only at home.

'It's okay... I'll surely get my chance someday... One day, I'll beat them up to the point that even their mothers won't recognize them!'

With that thought in mind, he flew with the wind towards the source of the aura.

*Zing!*

Everyone looked at the groundwork of the formation. It was actually quite large, almost as big as a house. It was circular and there were 4 spots in the circle that had a circle surrounding them. It seems that the 4 life-mana crystals would be placed here.

Surrounding those 4 circles were vein-like lines made of dots that were scattered inside, but they seem to have a pattern... those vein-like lines that were branches of the same location— the center of the small circle, and all of those veins were directed toward the circumference of the small circle.

In the circumference of those circles were a group of runes, surrounding the location where the life-mana circle would be placed. It is not obvious but, if observed carefully, you will notice that the runes surrounding the place where the life mana crystal would be is consistent— They were the 2 same runes repeated all over.

The first rune seems like a tube with a... strainer...? embedded inside. So weird.

Meanwhile, the second rune was placed in between the first rune and they seem to be gathering something.

These 4 circles are then connected to the one giant circle in the middle, and they are connected by vein-like lines which were made of dots again.

The circumference of the large circle in the middle was surrounded by a weird rune. They seem to look like veins that have holes in the middle.

Currently, all of those lines and circles were glowing in scarlet light, exuding a sense of gore, pain, and... a wicked sense of beauty.

Bodies were scattered all around and bloods were leaking out of their wounds. The blood gathered in these vein-like lines and stayed.

*Clang!* *Boom!*

Some of the soldiers were still fighting, however, the aura had considerably weakened because of the decrease in numbers.

However, the 4 strongest soldiers seemed to be unfazed from the fight at the very start. They didn't even actively make a move, they only watched and defended passively.

Gars, the sickly looking man, looked at the frightened young nerd, who was shivering all over and even peed his pants.

"Hey nerd! Is the formation still working?"

Hearing his weakly but thuggish voice, he snapped out of his trance and hurriedly kneeled.

"I— I don't know yet, sir! T— there are too many peo... b— bodies blocking the f— formation!"

He was shivering all over and fear was clearly written on his face. He seemed to be scared of the man in front of him, as he didn't dare to look at him directly.

"Hahaha! I like your attitude. Very well. I'll let you enter the formation under my protection."

Gars declared, as if it was an honor.

"T— thank you very much!"

The young man said.

Although he knows his usefulness, his life was more important to him than suffering. Even if the thought of rebelling was in his mind, he didn't dare to do it because he was far too cowardly. Just the thought of fighting scared him. It was already a miracle to reach this far.

"Good. Tell me, what should I call you?"

"M— mart, boss!"

His name was changed for sir to boss, because he had become the nerd's boss.

"Good. Now Mart, tell me. What are your plans for the formation?"

"U— ummh... b—boss... shouldn't we take care of the... bodies first? S— so that, you know, we can, accurately assess the status of the f—formation..."

Mart nervously questioned.

"You don't have to worry about that, my babies can take care of them."

Gars confidently stated.

"Your... babies?"

Mart curiously asked.

"Enough of that. What about my questions?"

Gars asked that seemed to have a hint of impatience in them.

"I— I'm sorry. Ummh... I... t— the skins..."

Mart stuttered.

"Skins?"

Gars raised one eyebrow in confusion.

"Y— yes! All this time, t— the skin had always contained our life energy properly and securely within the body, so—"

"Enough of that, what else?

Gars said disdainfully.

'I'm not in the fucking library. I don't have the time to learn those useless things.'

"U— t— the... the heart!"

Mart answered.

"Hmm."

Gars nodded nonchalantly and asked the scout.

"Hey pal! I'll start cleaning this up!"

The others frowned in anger and... fear. Gars' pet was so scary and strong that if they let him gain an advantage, he'll immediately win by a landslide. The problem is, they also don't have a more efficient way to deal with the corpse, so they unwillingly let him deal with it.

Without even waiting for a reply, Gars smiled wickedly. He finally took out one of the objects under his robes. It was a cage.

Inside the cage was a botfly, buzzing around, wanting to get out. It was colored an odd red, with black stripes on its back, it looked scary. Its large eyes looked creepy and its abdomen looked abnormally large. Its wings looked translucent and its size was about a finger.

Seeing this, a name entered Mart's mind.

'I— Its the fearsome [Bomber Botfly]! It is said that it has learned the rule of explosion, so it has evolved! To lay its eggs, it explodes itself near the enemy to scatter its eggs! However, that is not the scariest part!'

"Now, now. Don't be so impatient."

Gars looked at the botfly lovingly, like it was his own child.

Gars opened the cage and caught the botfly. The botfly tried to self-destruct, but Gars released his magic.

A cloud of purple energy flew towards the butterfly's abdomen! It entered its body and the botfly resisted fiercely, as if the purple cloud was dangerous.

Like it was convulsing, the botfly fell to the ground and tried to beat its wings repeatedly, but to no avail. It kept swinging its tiny reddish legs, but they couldn't reach a foothold.

After a minute of convulsing, the botfly finally gave up resisting. It rested for a bit and finally behaved.

"Good girl. Now go!"

With the signal, the botfly flew towards one of the corpses. After finding a suitable location, it suddenly exploded!

*Boom!*

After the explosion, hundreds of eggs scattered and dropped on the bodies. After a second, the eggs cracked and a larva crawled out. It scanned its surroundings first and looked for flesh.

After it got near a corpse, it immediately gnawed on its flesh. Surprisingly, none of them went near the skins and blood.

Voraciously, they kept gnawing on the flesh. They crawled and used their numerous sharp tiny teeth inside their mouth to soften the flesh of their food. They ate muscles, nerves, flesh, organs, tissue, and such.

Some of the unfortunate people, who lost their bodies but were still conscious, felt their bodies being gnawed. The larvae landed in their skin and burrowed their way in. It ate their skin and bit their flesh to eat them from the inside.

"AaAAaaaAAaaaArgh!!?!!! Help me!!! Please!!!!"

They screamed desperately, trying to get some help, but no one did.

The worms used their tiny, razor sharp teeth to grind the skin and flesh. Blood poured out of the wounds but they all ended in the larvae's stomach.

It looked so creepy, seeing a worm eat an eyeball from the inside... Worms crawled out from the corpse's openings, such as mouth, eyes, nose, ears, and... down there...

After having their fill, the larvae immediately prepared to transform into a pupa.

In just a minute, tens of corpses have already been eaten clean, leaving only the heart, skin, and skeleton behind.

'There it is! [Bomber Botfly] larvaes has flame cores! Hence, they don't need a warm host to stimulate them! They can wake up immediately after they are dropped! Unlike chickens or other eggs that still need weeks to be born. Furthermore, because of the incubating ability of their cores, they have a voracious appetite that can devour a cow inside out in just half an hour! And finally, with their metabolism, they can turn into an adult botfly in just mere minutes! A village can be swept clean in just a half a day if a botfly of this kind attacks!'

Mart thought fanatically to himself.

After a minute, the pupa immediately opened up to reveal a botfly. It tried to adjust to its body for a minute, then immediately mated to lay eggs. After mating, it flew to another corpse and repeated.

After a quarter hour, the formation was finally cleaned of dead bodies. The structure of the formation glowed in eerie scarlet light.

"Hey."

Gars called out to the daydreaming Mart.

"Oh! Ah!"

He was still in a trance. The performance of the botfly scared and amazed him. He has never seen it before.

"What are you doing? Go and check the formation now!"

"Y— yes! But... What about those botflies?"

Mart hesitatingly asked while pointing at the field. There, thousands of botflies were flying, roaming around.

"Ahh. Don't worry about them. They're here to welcome our guests. Don't worry, they won't come for you. I got them under my control."

Gars said confidently.