Glenn barely had the chance to catch a breath when the deer roared with a monstrous shrill, making his ears ring. The ground trembled before the deer, shattering and crackling under his presence. The young man pushed himself up, taking his axe out of his belt, his right hand tightly wrapped around the hilt. The deer turned a worm-infested face toward him, his tongue and eye hanging at the same level.
'I think you might be fucked, Glenn,' Diamanes commented plainly, while his host watched as the animal's face split itself outwardly, revealing a rotten, yellow brain from which rows and rows of worms were feeding. The sight of them repulsed the young man to his core, and the dark-red flame of his enchanted Half-Moon flared up as he infused his Mana in the axe. Before he could make a move, though, two arrows flew past each side of his face, planting themselves in the brain of the creature, making it step back in pain.
"What?" He turned around, witnessing both Javier and Josh holding bows, already aiming another shot at the monster. Glenn ducked as the twin arrows flew past his head, one hitting the deer in the chest while the other missed barely. Enraged by the pain, the deer began pounding on the ground with its hooves, making it shake in a small, concentrated earthquake. Glenn jumped back as the earth opened itself right where he was previously standing. He instinctively stared down the rift, to witness a pit filled with maggots squirming in a white, living mass.
"...Hell," Glenn muttered, before looking back at the deer. Without a second of hesitation, he shot an Nitrogen Wave at the creature, willing for it to be as concentrated as possible. The ice encroached on the deer, but it ripped its hooves promptly, avoiding getting frozen entirely. Worms squirmed at the damaged base of its front legs, recovering it in a macabre way. The deer jumped over the wave that Glenn was shooting, shrilling as it slammed the young man in the chest with its antlers. They were of rotten wood and disgusting flesh, far from the majestic, gleaming gold he saw in the dream.
The young man flew in Javier and Josh's directions, rolling a few times on himself before pulling himself up. Two new arrows flew, ready to strike, but the animal was ready this time and squatted them away with a wave of his antlers. Glenn's mind raced briefly as he rushed at the creature, his axe flaming with power. The deer roared and rushed head down, aiming to pierce the young man.
Glenn struck down with his axe with all his might, dark flames flying everywhere as they collided with the rotten head. Glenn frowned in a stupor when he felt the axe stopping slowly, the dense flesh making up the antlers sticking on the blade and trying to take it away. The flames ate the deer alive, but the creature didn't seem to care, its dead eyes fixated on destroying the human in front of it.
"Shit!" With his left hand, he thrust into the yellow, squirming brain of the creature, forcing Diamanes to open his mouth and spit out as much Nitrogen as possible, effectively freezing the creature's brain. The strength of the antlers pushing him slowed down, but the worms devouring the brain decided to throw themselves at the new meal that decided to serve itself to them. The deer stepped back with wobbly steps, tanking another two arrows from Javier and Josh.
In the meanwhile, Glenn was staring with a horrified expression as the worms climbed over his left hand, rushing to his neck. He hurriedly slammed his flaming axe on his left arm, knowing that his own Mana couldn't harm him. The dark flames burned the worms up entirely, leaving only ash behind. The young man turned his attention back to the creature when he saw the ash fly from his arm and be drawn to it. Torrents of ash surrounded the creature, before dispersing entirely, the deer having disappeared completely.
"...What the fuck?" The young man mumbled, Mana, twirling over his left hand as he readied a colossal Drilling Bullet. A voice suddenly hollered behind him.
"BEHIND YOU!!" Glenn turned just in time to see a wave of ash fall on him, swallowing him whole.
Cough, cough, cough!
The young man struggled to breathe as the ash plugged his nose and mouth, trying to infiltrate his body by every opening. He dismissed the Drilling Bullet, instead shooting the Mana outward from his whole body like when he tried to do a scan or whatever that attempt was. The ash was knocked back with a loud bang as the earth rose in the air and Glenn's vision was finally cleared.
Walking a few meters away from him was the deer, his body blended in a mix of rotten flesh, maggots, and reddish ash. The creature was protected by a thick cloud, making it hard to see. It screeched at the sky, before slamming its hooves on the ground, summoning waves of ash-colored maggots toward Glenn.
"Why worms of all things!" The young man despaired, before focusing his Mana on one spot, casting one of his most powerful spells. Javier seemed to understand his intent and jumped in front of him, infusing a black Aura in his arrows and shooting them at the maggot waves. The projectiles exploded without a sound, devouring the worms silently. Josh soon joined while cursing, Glenn understanding that the voice that warned him was his. The Mercenary placed his bow away and slammed his hands on the ground, creating huge pits in front of the maggots and making them fall inside.
'Ground-affinity?' The young man would have never guessed, but that's why you should never trust a book by its cover. He doubted for a second the utility of creating such a pit but soon was forced to observe that it was way more efficient than he thought it would be. The pits closed on themselves, burying the maggots. Since he didn't see them digging their way out through the dirt, that just meant it was working.
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A second later, a small orb filled with darkness shot out from his palm, growing impossibly large as it pulled everything to it, swallowing greedily both the ground and the maggots. The ash was also pulled away, revealing the deer panting in exhaustion. The Blackhole exploded and knocked the deer off its hooves, confusing it for a second.
"IT'S TIRED!" Glenn yelled when he witnessed an Aura-filled arrow fly in the air and blow half of the creature's head away. The young man looked at Javier who just shot the arrow, about to ask why the hell wouldn't he have shot that before, only to see the pale hunter fall on the ground, unconscious.
'That shot must have taken all his strength,' He thought, before looking back at the monster. It wobbled left and right, but the worms squirming through its brain suddenly surged toward the part that was blown away, reshaping it and regenerating it. Glenn's eyes surged up with fury as he jumped forward, his axe flaming with fire again.
"NOT ON MY WATCH!!!" He raised the axe high above his head and filled it with all the Mana he could muster. The second the last drop flowed out, he felt the 'unlocking' sensation from earlier once again, and, in front of his baffled eyes, time seemed to slow as a line appeared in front of him. It was perfectly situated in the center of the deer.
Glenn, guided by an unknown instinct, struck down perfectly while following the line. The world stopped for a second, and the deer raised what was left of its head slowly, gargling one last growl, before it separated in two entirely.
'You have a knack to cut things in half, you know?' Diamanes laughed mockingly, but Glenn was too shocked to care. Because behind the deer, both the ground and the forest had been cut by a massive slice, leaving a huge trench there. The young man blinked in awe, before looking at his hands in amazement.
"When did I become so strong...?" He murmured, thinking back to the feeling right when he sliced. It was...as if he had cut at exactly the right spot. It was hard to explain, but it just...sliced.
His attention went back to Josh and Javier, and he rushed to their sides. Josh was sitting on the ground while gasping for air, while Javier...Javier was peacefully sleeping, unbothered. The two pale men were gathering their strength back. Having made sure that they were both safe, Glenn collapsed on the ground and sighed tiredly.
He had spent the entirety of his Mana and felt as empty as one could feel, while the hit the deer gave him earlier was still hurting like hell. Maybe he had a few broken ribs, he couldn't tell. His body should be able to heal by itself, but that was going to take some time, inevitably.
"...What...What was that thing?" Josh asked between two breaths, looking at the remnants of the creature with awe. The flesh was smoldering, and a few maggots were barely alive, squirming slowly as the wisps of their life were snuffed out one by one. Glenn shook his head, beads of sweat falling from his hair with this movement.
"I don't know, but it was disgusting..." His head plopped down, before realizing that the two were still part of Palancar's guard force. Could it be...that they came to arrest him? The young man's blood froze inside his veins, and he wondered what he should do.
'So, I know you've shared a very nice moment killing that thing together, but if they're against you, there's only one solution,' Diamanes insinuated slowly, his words echoing in Glenn's mind, '...Killing them.'
The young man gulped, and tightened his hold over his axe, looking at Josh with prepared eyes. The pale man sighed as he looked at the sky, before wiping off the sweat on his eyebrows.
"...I can't believe we managed to defeat that thing...It seems way higher than my paycheck, probably something on your level, Sir Glenn," He turned his head with admiration, oblivious to the man's hidden thoughts. Josh chuckled to himself, before shaking his head dejectedly.
"I knew I wasn't crazy...So the whole village indeed went insane, then...Lord, have mercy..." He mumbled, hiding his face in both of his hands. Glenn relaxed his hold over his axe and winced as he dragged himself next to Josh.
"What do you mean, the village went insane?" The young man frowned, curious but wary. Josh ran his hands through his hair as he looked in Palancar's direction.
"They...Since that event with Coraly, they all..." He noticed Glenn's puzzled eyes, explaining himself, "...Doran's companion, the one who cried for help a week ago, and the one who was murdered. She's...she was named Coraly."
Glenn nodded, before turning brusquely turning his head back over to Josh.
"Wait, wait, a week ago? Wasn't that yesterday?" The young man questioned, before widening his eyes in shock when Josh answered, confused.
"Uhh, no, that was before the workers completed the first part of the brewery, so that was indeed a week ago...It's been a while since you ran away, Sir Glenn," The pale man explained with a curious expression. Glenn's face contorted, before rubbing his hands together and slapping both his cheeks at the same time, startling Josh.
"Josh, I've been gone for not even twenty-four hours. There is no way so much time passed," The young man blurted out, uneasy. Josh shook his head while chuckling, and pointed at the sun.
The sun? Wasn't it raining a few minutes ago? Glenn's mind scrambled as it tried to piece together the inconsistencies it found.
"I'm pretty sure I witnessed that big thing over there going up and down seven times, so yeah, there is a way so much time passed," Josh laughed, considering the whole thing a joke. His laughter quickly died down when he saw his senior's Fixer serious face.
'That's too much for me to ignore, I'll check it. Try to find out more from that chalk-faced guy,' Diamanes suddenly intervened, steering Glenn's thoughts.
"Anyway, what happened to the village then?" The young man pulled the conversation back on track, and Josh's eyes lit up as he went back to explaining.
"Well, firstly, we welcomed a group of priests from the Thorn's Church..." Glenn's squinted his eyes and crossed his arms, clenching his teeth, "...But they were weird. They...it looked like they had changed their religions," Josh said while biting down on his lips, unsure as to how to explain what he witnessed.
"Instead of Epinos, they were worshipping...the Mother, I think they called it?"