Abyss (2)

Stealthily moving through the human encampment, Vincent heaved a subtle sigh of relief. After fleeing with as much speed as he could, he barely made it to the outpost.

Gazing at the parts of his body, which were burnt as a result of an attack skimming his figure.

'This should make it significantly harder for the Wyvern to track me now.'

Smirking inwardly, he continued hiding his presence, making sure to stick close to the human soldiers at all times.

Not caring in the slightest about what would happen to the soldiers and the one leading them in his battle, Vincent merrily continued on his way, almost humming a tune.

Almost.

With his nose wrinkling in disgust after smelling the iron scent which proliferated across the battlefield, Vincent hastened his pace toward the back end of the army afraid of being discovered.

***

In another area of the battleground coming up behind the monster horde were the trio of Commander Vanderson, the bodyguard, and the hooded figure.

Emotionlessly gazing at the sight of countless living creatures trembling after merely experiencing the aura of the winged abomination, their eyes remained placid and merciless.

As their eyes darted across the plains, the dire situation before the arrival of the Wyvern was presented to them.

There were three main fighters behind which the human army stood behind. Having regrouped into a slight semblance of a military formation after the shocking turn of events.

Next, they witnessed a human with the height of a giant wielding a polished silver hammer as he gazed upwards toward the Wyvern with a defiant gaze.

"Do we join the battle?"

Surprisingly, the person who asked this question was neither Vanderson nor the bodyguard, but instead the hooded figure.

As his deep gravelly voice entered the duo's ears, they frowned simultaneously as they entered a state of serious contemplation.

'If we join the battle, there is a higher chance that my treachery becomes exposed. Which means I will be hunted down by the major powers and killed. However, if all humans here end up dying, then that will cause the military to begin a significant investigation where my suspicious actions would stick out like a sore thumb.'

Pondering deeply for a few seconds, Commander Vanderson critically assessed the situation as he attempted to decipher the most suitable option to ensure that the blame wouldn't converge toward him.

"We will take out all the rank 3 monsters very quickly and then flee as we are no match for the Wyvern."

"Won't we have a higher chance of defeating it if we fight together with that guy holding a silver hammer?"

Staying silent for a few seconds, a dark glint appeared in Commander Vanderson's eyes as he responded.

"Yes, but this is the only chance I get where I can witness the death of that bastard once and for all!"

***

Kang and Astrid, who were weaker than Otto, had a tough time resisting the pressure brought about by the Wyvern. Both of them had bleak faces as they willed their body to move.

Unfortunately, it was as if their body was stuck in a massive quagmire, where the slightest movement required tons of effort.

Beads of sweat rolled down their foreheads as they began panting heavily from the strenuous exertion of trying to move their limbs.

After a couple more attempts at moving their limbs, which were met with failure, Astrid and Kang stopped moving as a defeated sigh escaped their mouths.

Gazing at Otto with aghast expressions, a look of sorrow appeared in both their eyes after understanding his intention. Redoubling their efforts, the duo were finally able to move with a modicum of speed as they ran toward Otto, trying to stop him.

But as soon as they tried to make a move, the Wyvern let out a gigantic roar, which shook them to the very core, causing them to return to being stationary.

'No, No No, No No. This can't be happening!'

Roaring in her mind, Astrid appeared in denial, refusing to believe the turn of events which occurred very quickly and with no respite.

Even though she was indifferent and cold, just like Evan, that didn't mean that she wanted to witness the death of a comrade. Especially one that she fought side by side for a while.

Kang was in a similar situation. He felt very grateful toward Otto as he accepted him into the Fanged Wolves, knowing that his enemies would not rest and try to sabotage and kill him.

Even though Kang rarely talked, if ever, he was still a human and felt a myriad of different emotions.

So when Otto was about to enter a battle in which death was a certainty and he could not move from his position and try to help, an overwhelming feeling of despair assaulted Kang.

'Am I really going to let the man who accepted me in my darkest times enter a fight where his death would occur in a matter of moments?'

***

Softly creeping toward his target, Finn held his breath in nervous anticipation as the chance he was patiently waiting for arrived.

With the battle coming to a halt due to the arrival of a beta-level monster, all eyes were trained on the flying behemoth up in the sky.

After experiencing the frightening aura, Finn trembled in fear, just like everyone else. However, that only lasted for a moment, as he shakily retrieved a medallion with black and golden engravings from his storage ring.

Crushing the medallion in his palms, Finn felt a stream of energy cover his body as he stopped experiencing the menacing aura from up above.

Masking his footsteps as he crouched low to the ground to conceal his presence, Finn inched toward his target steadily.

After a few moments of travelling, Finn appeared behind his target. Gazing at their kneeling figure, a stream of memories appeared in front of his eyes.

From their first meeting to fighting together, making sure they had each other's backs, they made a whole bundle of memories together.

Recalling these memories, a hint of sorrow appeared in Finn's eyes. However, it was quickly replaced with ice-cold indifference as his eyes became emotionless without any fluctuations.

PUCHI-!

Gripping the dagger in his hand tightly, Finn took a few deep breaths before lunging forward and stabbing the dagger right into his target's heart.

Feeling the crimson liquid spurt out from the grievous wound he inflicted, Finn removed the dagger as he felt the kneeling figure beneath him fall face first to the ground.

'May you rest in peace! It was just your unfortunate luck that you possessed such an amazing Art.'