A red-dyed sight so terrifying

Stomping. Running. Dashing.

It's white fur, covered in dirt. Its six eyes, all squinted to avoid the pain. Its fangs, dyed in red. It's paws, firm on the ground. It's stature, still huge.

Whatever it was doing, it was making its way towards Yohan.

*****

Yohan: Never mind! This is a terrible cliffhanger.

In that instant, he screamed those words at the top of his lungs. What made him scream those words was the terrifying sight of that thing.

Graaaaaaaawrh!!!

There it was, the monster. The one who had attacked Yohan earlier. The one who devoured his arm. The one who chased him to the ends of the tall grass.

When Yohan had woken up in this unfortunate place, this was the first thing he had to deal it. This monster immediately preyed on him.

However, with each brush he had with death, he managed to survive to the bitter end by outsmarting these monsters and counterattacking them. He had finally escaped the monsters sights, however...

Yohan: Take a fucking hint. I don't want you.

... That monster pursued him relentlessly.

It didn't seem like the kind of monster that hunted its own prey, one that never worked towards its food. That was Yohans assumption of its nature.

Though, that monster had already proved him wrong.

This was NOT what Yohan needed right now.

Yohan was unable to lift himself up from the cliff and had no choice but to dangle on there. This was rather unproductive of him, but it was better than plummeting down hundreds of meters. That's what Yohan thought as he looked downwards.

However, at his most vulnerable moment, he just had to be put up with another threat. That monster was heading to him very quickly, and there was nothing Yohan could do.

Yohan: Please leave me alone.

With each step the monster took, Yohan could feel the earth shaking. He thought that maybe it would weaken his grip. He thought that maybe there was no point in holding on anymore. He would either fall to death or be gobbled up by the white monster. Neither was a pleasant choice.

And so, he chose neither option.

Yohan: Hrk!

He kept holding onto the edge. He kept his grip tight. He didn't let go. He didn't give up.

He wouldn't give up. Not now or ever.

*****

Despite only having one hand, he's managed to have a good hold on the edge. Any normal person would've easily lost their grip and plummeted down fast. The fact that he survived through all these near-death encounters was strange enough. No, the fact that he even tried to survive was outrageous. Most of the time, the moment that their chances seem abyssmally low, people tend to cower and despair. Not him. He didn't give up. Even in this moment, when every possibility he could think of would lead to death.

Survival. Through this hellish first hour, his only thought was being alive. Although he had been grasping at straws right now, his only thoughts were of surviving. He seemed to be hard-wired by his desire to survive.

No one usually thinks of survival that often. Though, maybe as an adventurer, that was something one would think of all the time.

How dangerous were the adventurers that he partook in before ending up here? Was this actually an adventure for him?

*****

Any moment now, that monster would be right before him and devour him whole. Yohan could only dangle from the cliff and see how all this would unfold.

Even if death was certain, he wouldn't just take it lying down. He would face the monster again.

Yohan knew full well that whatever happened next would be extremely painful, though he believed he could take on that pain and somehow find a way to him. So with that, he could only look straight ahead towards that white monster, which was now closer than ever.

Yohan: Bring it on!

He steeled himself, ready for whatever came next.

Gaaaaaaaaaah!!!

The scream that came next could've been heard from all over the... wherever the hell they were at.

That scream was undeniably Yohans. Although he expected the pain that would come, it didn't change the fact that he couldn't contain it.

Overcome by that pain, he would scream his lungs out.

That pain dealt to him by the monster was a lot. Did that mean he was finally devoured by the monster?

Turned into food by the monster that preyed on him the moment he ended up here.

Yohan didn't see what happened. His vision was shut , unable to face the pain he felt.

Was he dead? Was the pain he was dealt due to a vital injury?

He needed to know... he needed to see it with his own eyes. With that, he finally opened his eyes, granting his vision an opportunity to know what happened.

Yohan: Hah... hah... huh?

Yohan took a good look at what might've happened. However, looking at what he saw, had anything occurred in the first place?

Yohan: W-what?

Yohan looked in front of him. There was the cliff, which was still close to his sights. There was his arm, still intact. He had taken a look at it and realized...

Yohan: Still... on... cliff... huh?

He was right. He was still hanging onto the edge, which he almost fell off of, dangling in the air.

He then looked downwards. There, far below him, was the ground he didn't want to fall into. Luckily for him, it was still hundreds of meters away. Then, he looked at his torso. His upper body and his lower body. The torso that connected the two still remained. That meant ...

Yohan: Hrk! I wasn't gobbled up?

While braving the pain he felt, he had finally clocked it. He was still alive. He had neither plummeted downwards or had been devoured by that white monster.

He had survived yet again. He should've been excited by that matter. However, there was still something amiss.

Moments ago, he looked straight at the monster, ready to confront it. He assumed that it would painfully bite him again, this time aiming for him as a whole. However, that didn't happen. He should've felt some sort of pain that was undeniably unbearable.

As a matter of fact, yet he was still alive, and his body was still intact. What the hell made him feel pain? He looked straight ahead, in the direction of the tall grass, to figure that out.

He had looked at his right arm, which was still grabbing onto the edge. Now that he took notice of it again, the pain he felt slightly worsened.

He could feel it. He could tell where it came from. He was looking straight at it. His hand, fully red, was where his pain came from. Despite it being red, it wasn't bleeding at all. In fact, it never did. It looked like it was stomped on. Did the monster step on his hand?

If it did, then where was the monster to begin with?

*****

Earlier ago, he had been looking straight at the white monster that came out of the tall grass, yet it wasn't anywhere to be seen.

With that, he directed his gaze above him. He looked upwards, hoping to see the monster, although it would be really nice if it wasn't within sight. Maybe it had changed course after stepping on Yohan and seeing the cliff. He needed to confirm that by looking up.

Up above him, he saw something, or some things falling down, but the dreaded monster was nowhere to be seen.

*****

Flabbergasted, he could only at those things falling onto him. Normally, if something were falling in their direction, they would take cover or dodge the incoming item.

However, he did neither of those. Although, it wasn't because he couldn't, but because he didn't need to do it, even though he was physically incapable of both.

Those things that were descending from up above didn't seem to be harmful. They were light. They fell slowly. They swayed here and there amidst their descent. What were they?

Yohan took a closer look at those things and realized what they were.

They were light, fluffy, strands that either clumped together or parted from each other. Falling like feathers, these were...

Yohan: Did someone give it a haircut?

*****

Yohan could only reach one conclusion to the identity of those things. That was fur. Taking a closer look at it, one would notice that the fur was white. Lucky for Yohan, there was only one monster he came across with white fur.

It all fell into place. The dots had connected.

The white monster had headed towards Yohans direction towards the cliff. When it reached the cliff, it leaped off into the air, stomping on Yohans hand in the process. While it was mid-air, some of its fur fell off. How its fur fell off was unknown and didn't need to be known.

Though this entire ordeal was unusual. Wasn't the monster after Yohan? Then why did it completely avoid him and plunge downwards? Wasn't it after him?

Yohan: Wait...

Now that he thought about it, maybe it was pursuing him, but not pursuing HIM?

Looking back, he remembered stomping on that monsters eyes. Whether or not he stepped on all six of them was unknown to him. Though, what mattered was that its vision was impaired. Maybe when it headed towards the cliff with its vision still impaired. Maybe the only reason it knew where to go was because it saw Yohan flying in that direction. Maybe it didn't know what laid beyond the cliff.

Then he remembered his direct confrontation that resulted in his foot getting stomped. Maybe it wasn't a confrontation at all. He remembered staring directly at the monster, and even though the monster looked in his direction, he didn't remember the monster looking at him.

So, in other words, it thought he was beyond the cliff, but why would jump directly into a cliff? Did it not know that it was a cliff with a huge falling height? Actually, that was definitely the case.

That monster was one that never seemed to work towards its food, until now that is. Maybe it never left beyond the tall grass before. Maybe it sat in the comfort of the forest and never left since it probably never had to work toward finding its food. And that wad why it foolishly dived head first off the cliff.

Yohan: What a stupid ending.

With that thought in mind, Yohan looked down to see the falling monster. It had not been long since the moment since the moment it jumped off, so it must've still been in the midst of its fall. Yohan continued to look down in hopes of seeing it fall. Yet, it was nowhere to be seen. Where the hell was this monster? It wasn't in front of him. It wasn't above him. It wasn't below him. It wasn't...

Yohan: Wait!

Then it occurred to him. Out of each direction he could've looked, there was one he left out. So with that, he turned his neck and body slightly to maintain his grip as he tried to look behind him. Maybe the monster was behind him. He would soon see.

And so, he slowly turned his head, finally turning his sights behind him. But before he could even glance at what was behind him...

Splat! Splat! Splat!

He was welcomed with a spray of... some liquid.

Almost having been blinded by that liquid, he managed to close his eyes. He did that in a split second, almost as if it were instinct. Though, it was fortunate. He still needed to see what was behind him.

Although his eyes were covered, he couldn't simply open them. His face was still drenched in that liquid, so he had to wipe that off somehow. Then, he had the idea of using his singular, dangling arm. He had continuously rubbed his face against his shoulder, which was covered by a long sleeve. Although it was an inferior method compared to using his other arm or a tissue, he had to make due with what he had.

While he was wiping his face, he had wondered what he had been drenched in. And just as quickly as he asked himself, he had figured it out.

A split second before he closed his eyes, although it was a short glance, his vision was dyed in... red. The liquid was something of a red color, a deep red at that. Then there was the smell. It was a rather strong and... putrid one. Though, there was a smell that overwhelmed that terrible scent.

It was... the smell of iron.

With that, he had figured it out.

It was blood. Blood had been sprayed in his direction. Was it his blood? No, it couldn't have been. So, in that case, who's blood was it?

As he had asked himself that question, he had been finished wiping his face and proceeded to open his eyes. It wasn't just his face, but his whole body was soaked in blood. Then, he turned his head again to look at what in the world had been harmed so badly to bleed that much.

Yohan: Ah... Ah... Ah...

But instead of blood, he saw something else. It was indeed red like the blood that was all over him, but it was completely different. It was round, and it was huge.

It... was staring at him.

*****

Just looking at it paralyzed him with fear.

Looking at that giant, blood-dyed eye had scared him shitless.