34 Dwindling Numbers

In a swampy region of the forest predominated by large aspen and white oak trees, one could see a spiderweb of thick, green vines which seemed to strangle the trees. Like most trees within the Odon Forest, those within this region towered several feet into the air. Although the morning sun had already set in the sky, darkness covered most of the swampy region. Like most swamps, the foul smell of rotten eggs pervaded the air. In fact, the murky waters of the swamp bubbled slightly, producing a distinct sound overshadowed by the croaks of hundreds to thousands of frogs and toads.

However, the faint sound of metal colliding also echoed into the air. Two of the youths from James's set were having a deadly showdown in the eerie location.

"Disgusting vermin, how dare you ambush me?!" A Beastman shouted while clenching a gory wound slightly above his right shoulder. Standing on the branch of aspen tree, his bloodshot eyes stared at the murky waters of the swamp.

A cheerful laughter replied his enraged voice, followed by the words, "Vermin? I eat dogs like you for breakfast. Killing you is my duty as a proud member of the Lizardmen. Stop struggling and let me end you pitiful life!"

At that moment, the head of Lizardman emerged from the greenish murky waters. With its cold-blooded slit pupils, it met the gaze of the enraged Beastman.

"Why don't you come out from there and stop running your foul mouth. Let's see who will end up eating who," the Beastman retorted. Although his injury bled profusely, he no longer applied pressure on it. Instead, he assumed a provocative fighting stance. The faint sunlight which fell passed through the mesh of leaves, fell on his arms covered by a lustrous black gauntlet which had a curved blade at the wrist.

Raising his head from the murky waters, the Lizardman had an amused smile on his face as he started at the provocative stance of the Beastman. He held a six feet long trident which had a golden prong and a silver staff.

"Don't think you can provoke me. Your death is certain! I could have ended your life with the first strike, but I wanted to enjoy the moment. Just like I enjoyed killing your kind back in the selection," the Lizardman said with an eerie smile on his face. However, the Beastman remained silent. Although enraged, he made sure he did not give the Lizardman that satisfaction.

'A Lizardman in a swamp is like a fish in water, and this injury is not helping my case. But I won't flee, this bastard thinks he can toy with the Beastmen?'

While this thought flashed through the mind of the Beastman, the Lizardman pointed his trident towards his direction. At that moment, the pillar of spinning water raised into the air. And its destination was where the Beastman stood. Using his digitigrade legs, the Beastman jumped into the air while twisting his body to avoid the sudden attack. However, a trident suddenly appeared from nowhere, targeting his left leg. Like an agile monkey, he twisted again while sending a ruthless kick towards his rear. Surprised by the agility of the Beastman, the Lizardman hurriedly raised the staff of the trident. Since his reaction was quick and decisive, he used the staff to parry the kick of the Beastman. However, the Beastman was not done yet. The moment he landed on the surface of the branch, he launched himself like a torpedo towards the Lizardman who had yet to regain his composure from the previous attack.

"I'll have your head," the Beastman said with a few inches separating his blade from the neck of the Lizardman. However, another pillar of water suddenly blocked his attack. With his view blocked by the sudden attack, the trident of the Lizardman stabbed the left shoulder of the Beastman. With a violent twist, blood spurted into the air accompanied by the howl of the Beastman. In immeasurable pain, the Beastman hastily retreated. However, another pillar of water attacked if from the rear. Sending him spinning into the air, while blood dripped from the nasty wounds on his back and his shoulders. Crashing on the wooden surface like a ragged doll, the Beastman groaned in pain.

"Is that all you've got? I'm disappointed. Well, I blame myself from expecting much from a Beastman," the Lizardman sneered while staring at the Beastman who squirmed in pain.

In severe pain, the Beastman could not utter a word in retort. In fact, he could not stare at the approaching Lizardman who snorted. All he could hear apart from his own groans, was the gentle footsteps of the Lizardman. Once the footsteps ceased, he knew his life would end. However, he had no intention of dying at the hands of Lizardman. He would rather commit suicide than fall at the hands of his race sworn enemy. He also knew the bastard won't give him a swift death, rather he would torture him until he died.

With this thought in mind, he used all his strength to direct the blade in his right gauntlet to his neck. However, before he could slit his throat, the Leg of the Lizardman stamped on his shoulder. Which caused him to scream in agony, much to the delight of the Lizardman.

"What do you think you're doing? Who told you am I done with you," the Lizardman sneered while increasing the pressure on the shoulder of the Beastman.

Contrary to the expectations of the Lizardman, the Beastman stared laughing in a cheerful voice. Puzzled, the Lizardman said, "Have you gone…" before he could finish his statement, the Beastman interrupted him. "See you on the other side."

Sensing a dangerous sense of foreboding, the Lizardman attempted to flee. The moment his thought entered his mind, the enraged howl of the Beastman echoed, "Explode!"

At that moment, his gauntlets exploded into thousands of pieces and the shrapnel from the explosion flew towards different directions. Obliterating everything in its path. The body of the Beastman laid on the surface of the branch like a punctured balloon. Both arms and the head of the corpse had turned to a mangled mess, with only a thick remnant of flesh, bone and blood left behind.

Meanwhile, a pillar of water stood two feet away from the corpse of the Beastman. A few seconds later, it revealed the injured body of the Lizardman. Although it had several gory injuries on its body, the most frightening one was the one on its left leg. In fact, from its knee downwards was missing.

Although he survived the blast, from this current demeanor, he did not look like he would last long.

"Bastard… I fell for his trap. I was too careless. Damn it! I should have expected it…"

As he bitterly complained, he heard the sounds of footsteps echoing from the distance. Which made his face distort in terror. In his current situation, he doubted if he would even survive his injuries, not to talk of surviving another battle. However, the survival instincts of the Lizardman kicked in.

'If I hide in the water, I'll be safe. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to recover. Yes, I must recover. The kins of that bastard will suffer for this!'

Dragging his injured body on the wooden surface, he approached the edge of the branch. Rolling over the edge, he sighed in relief as his body fell upended. As he fell, he noticed that he could not hear the footsteps anymore. Normally, he should have been elated, but he suddenly felt terrified. With less than ten meters before he dived into the murky waters, his eyes dilated and his body shivered tensed in response. Because, he could see a seven feet tall abnormality which resembled an Ogre, but it had glistering metallic skin almost like steel. And its eyes had no white in them, only an endless black like the depths of the abyss. What terrified the Lizardman was not the hulking body of the beast, or its bloodthirsty look. Rather, it was the blackish aberration which phased in and out of the Ogre-like beast. The unknown beast demolished everything that stood in its path while making a beeline movement towards the Lizardman's falling body. Although it moved at a speed which made the Lizardman terrified, he was certain he would have entered the water before the beast arrived. Although injured, he did not believe such a beast could catch him if he escaped underwater.

With only inches separating the water surface and the body of the Lizardman, he became elated. However, his joy was short lived. Because, two figures suddenly emerged from the depths of the water. At that moment, they grabbed the falling Lizardman and sent him back into midair. This time around, he flew in an upright position. Before he could even identify what or who sent him into midair, his pupils dilated. Because, only a few inches separated his head from the massive fist of the armored Ogre.

Before he could utter a word, the fist of the armored Ogre struck his head, and it exploded into a rain of flesh, bone and blood. The now headless corpse of the Lizardman slammed against an oak tree in the distance. At that moment, the armored Ogre screamed like an enraged beast who was not satisfied with slaughtering its prey.

"Whe… Where others?" The ghoulish voice of the monster suddenly echoed. At that moment, the two figures who foiled the escape of the Lizardman emerged behind the Ogre. If they James could see them, it would leave him slack jawed. Because, the two figures were the corpses possessed by Nether.

Opening their mouth, a series of ear-piercing shrieks echoed. It resembled the sounds of agony of a damned soul. The sound only lasted for a few seconds, before they closed their mouths. Saying nothing in response, the armored Ogre and the two corpses ran towards the depths of the swamp.

A few minutes after they left, a strange phenomenon occurred in the swampy region. The greenish murky waters of the swamp emitted a blackish wisp which spread at a rapid pace. The moment this wisp appeared, the corpses of the Lizardman and the Beastman exploded simultaneously. However, their blood congealed into worm-like creature. The moment it appeared, it flew towards the opposite direction of the black wisp.

…

In other parts of the forest, the same phenomenon was also taking place. The congealed blood of the youths who fell to the Nether advancing cycle flew towards the opposite direction of the plague-like wisp. Just like Henriksen explained, it did not affect the vegetation or the beasts in the forest. Only the youths met a miserable end at its hands.

Only two hours had gone by since the Nether Advancing cycle started, however, it had claimed the lives of ten of the surviving fifty youths. And it had covered a distance of two thousand meters.