Epsilon ran as fast as he could, with his breath sharp in his chest, and his boots thudding against the damp earth. False sunlight cut yellow ribbons between the trees, illuminating glimpses of his flight, all for the Nightmare creatures lurking near by to see.
But he didn't care, this was far more distressing. He could see Smile Of Heaven getting further and further away. Even while his speed was doubled, he was having a tough time catching up to her.
'Dammit! Turn around! Please just turn around!'
In the branches above, a pair of eyes blinked open, yellow, narrow, and filled with unhinged madness. A familiar creature jumped down from above, right in front of Epsilon, screaming at him for battle.
"MOVE IT."
A pulse of white energy launched out his body, zooming and colliding against the Chimera Scouts skull. It exploded, releasing a cloud of white smoke, but that was not enough to kill it. But more importantly it was still in Epsilons path.
Summoning his short sword, Epsilon jammed it right into the creatures chest, before slashing it out of its side all while maintaining his velocity.
[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Chimera Scout.]
But there was no time to relish in the victory, nor stay to collect its rewards. He had to keep running.
Behind him, shadows lengthened unnaturally. What had once been motionless tree trunks and thickets, now rustled and shifted with purpose as numerous Nightmare creatures moved above.
With a new urgency to escape them, Epsilon grunted as he pushed forwards.
But that didn't last long as two even more menacing Nightmare creatures came into view. They were both larger then the chimera scout, with the same unruly flesh protrusions, and look of madness in their eyes.
'Two monsters.. is the world working against me today?'
Well he did go against the advice of his [Judgement] attribute. It must've known this would happen.
He knew he stood no chance, and so he quickly changed his trajectory, and darted even deeper into the forest. Naturally, the two Awakened Monsters began to chase after him, as well as the horde of scouts that weren't far off.
Branches snapped like bones as the wrathful gorillas crashed through the undergrowth, bellowing. Their arms dragged through the ground like pendulums, shoulders grotesquely broad, spines ridged and twitching with cables of muscle that shouldn't exist.
They looked menacing, but they were quite stupid. Even if they were monsters, they were only slightly more intelligent than beasts, the only thing that largely piloted them were their instincts.
Epsilon was a sleeper, he was as weak as he could possibly be. But if there were any advantages that he had over the two of them, it was that he was smarter, more cunning, and he had his [Yang] attribute which made his environmental awareness superior, even if this was the Nightmare Creatures hunting ground.
Further more, he had a secret weapon. His innate ability which he had yet to touch for obvious reasons.
He panted as he weaved through the trees, ducking under low branches and leaping over the unusually large tree roots. Despite the uselessly large obstacle course, he could hear the awakened monsters simply brute forcing through everything, eventually leading them to only being a couple metres away.
But as Epsilons dormant ability recovered, he felt his agility double once more, and he was able to cover just a bit more ground to reach his target with haste. Until eventually, a ray of light shined right ahead of him.
Bursting through it, Epsilon could feel an oversized bare hand rake through the air just behind him, missing his back by a few inches. Before the creature could go in for a second sweep, Epsilon disappeared from view.
Or rather he fell from view, as he rapidly dived down a slope. His body half rolled, half sprinted down the incline with dirt drenching his body.
Once Epsilon reached the bottom, he quickly began to run without turning his head, and instead, he sensed the positions of the monsters behind him.
The first creature which almost killed him, froze in place, deciding not to chase after Epsilon any longer. However, its other comrade chose to continue.
It too began to slide down the slope, hissing and roaring with its eyes locked onto Epsilon. But he just smirked as it had yet to realized, it had gotten itself trapped in a circular pit, and up ahead where Epsilon was running, was an almost flat cliff face with the only way out being the thin vine which hung from a tree.
The Awakened Monster still chasing after Epsilon screamed out in desperation. But the boy had already began climbing, and with his blade, he cut off a portion of the vine beneath him, leaving no way for the creature to climb up after him.
"You think you can take my life that easily? I'm miles ahead of all of you!"
Climbing up, Epsilon couldn't help but let the smirk on his face grow wider, but suddenly he showed a hint of concern. He shifted his attention back to the other gorilla which almost killed him, and noticed that it was just standing there. Waiting.
He thought nothing of it, but as reached the top of the vine and climbed back onto the solid ground, it began to dawn on him.
"1... 2... 3..."
4 pairs of amber eyes peered at him from the dark depths of the forest, where the omniscience of his [Yang] attribute couldn't reach.
2 Awakened monsters waited behind him, and four waited in front.
Perhaps going after Smile Of Heaven was a mistake after all.
**
Ki Song sat near the edge of her shelter, contemplating as she looked at the white shining star in the distance. She had long since lost track of Epsilon, as the forest roof got in the way of her view.
There wasn't much to do at this point in time, usually she would work on her dynamite collection while monitoring the positions of the chimera scouts, but the forest had been riled up thanks to a certain pair, so that was pointless now.
"Did I get dumped?"
The thought suddenly sprung in her mind.
"No.. no! I abandoned him! Not the other way around. It's nothing like that...
...it was mutual at least."
She recalled how Epsilon told her, that the methods they chose to achieve a goal went against each other, and that it was better to just separate rather than force them to match.
That was logical in its own way, so Ki Song didn't see any faults in it. Rather, she was glad that Epsilon chose to leave peacefully.
They were both right in that regard, a clash of ideas was ultimately what led to conflict, and then death. Even outside the dream realm, wars were caused over a clash of ideas, or rather truths.
Even back at school.
She always sat alone, not because she believed that everyone else was incapable of being her ally, but because they didn't see the same vision as her. Smile of Heaven was the type of person who would never leave anyone behind, not because she was kind, but because she simply thought that it was impossible for her to fail, while Sylas was her obedient dog. Anvil was also the logical type like her, but he was more willing to take risks.
'He would fight for others too, but would quit half way through to preserve his life. I myself wouldn't fight for anyone at all.'
It was a minor difference, but one that she didn't want to bet on. There was also Galahad..
'No. Absolutely not.'
That guy would throw himself into danger for the sake of it.
She couldn't imagine allying herself with anyone. They were all reckless in her eyes.
But thinking about it now, she'd known most of them since childhood, since before they took on the burden of the Nightmare spell. Since before her mother died.
'Would I take it on intentionally?'
Although not by choice, the Nightmare spell was the greatest risk she had taken by far. But it was the only way she could survive, it was the only way she could get everything that was taken from her back.
Then she remembered something else that Epsilon had said,
"Don't you too have a dream that you're willing to risk your life for?"
Yes she did. She wanted to take revenge on every single one of those ugly bastards who left her mother for dead. When everything she had built was in danger of being destroyed, all the companions and allies she had gathered, were nowhere to be found when she needed them most.
She would punish them. She had to see them beg for her mercy, the same way her mother struggled by herself. And once they did, she would be silent, exactly like them.
"I will see that sight, no matter what."
The answer was yes. She did have a dream that she was willing to risk her life for.
She turned her head back to the pile of explosives, and sighed.
"Damn him."