7 Chapter 7: Snowy Fields - Full moon

*Huff!* *Huff!* 

As he ran across the snowy fields, Julius panted heavily. 

He struggled to breathe, the cold air filling his lungs, and the skin on his feet feeling as if it would peel off. 

His arms were so cold that they felt as if they were burning. 

But that didn't stop him. The pain, the cold, none of it mattered. Getting to her in time was the only thing on his mind. 

The vast fields of snow were covered in dense fog caused by the blizzard. If not for the trail of blood, they would've had no way of finding her.

Ruby who followed him quietly could see his condition deteriorating, despite that she didn't try to stop him.

They ran and ran until they eventually reached a small forest after leaving the open fields 

Snow covered trees surrounded them, and as they ran past them, they could see the trail of blood growing thicker. 

'Please…! Let me make it in time!'

-

"Ah... I really fucked up this time…" Said the beautiful girl sat against a snow-covered tree. 

A pained groan escaped her lips as she raised up by the throat. Her long midnight blue hair was covered in blood and throughout her body were many injuries and cuts. 

Grasping her neck was a humanoid 8 feet tall monster. It had sickly translucent white skin, a flat face with large, dirty pores, and broad nose. 

With only its private and chest areas covered up by fur, the majority of its skin was exposed to the snow. The monster was known as an Ice troll.

This hideous monster seemed to relish her pain as it squeezed her neck tighter. It smiled mockingly as it watched her struggle.

Similarly, the other three ice trolls in the distance began to giggle. They enjoyed their prey's suffering.

'...What a shitty situation. If I hadn't wasted my energy reserves or lost my weapon, I would've torn them to shreds..'

A joyful grin spread across its face as it extended its claws and pulled back its arm. 

Then, without warning, it thrust its arm forward, piercing through her stomach.

*Splatter!*

Her eyes widened, blood gushed out of her mouth as it failed to let out even a scream. Her which had been struggling, dropped.

When the monster retracted its arm, she watched as blood poured out of the hole in her stomach in great surges.

Her brain boiled from the mind-numbing pain, she wanted to scream out in pain but her body wouldn't wouldn't listen. 

In watching her life slowly fade from her eyes, the troll's grin widened.

'...Ah.. I knew I should've stayed back in that room…' 

Slowly, her vision blurred and her consciousness began to fade.

'...Julius... Ava... I need to make it back to them before they start getting worried…'

The sound of laughter echoed around her, but she didn't hear any of it.

'It hurts… but that means i'm still alive… that's good… I can't die yet…'

Her eyelids grew heavier, they were on the verge of shutting.

'It's scary… but It'll be fine… as long as I can circulate my energy… I'll make it through this… I have to… '

"Ava…?" 

Suddenly, even among the constant laughter, a familiar voice reached her ears. She wanted to turn towards the source, but her body wouldn't listen.

'That voice… Julius…? How nice… even if it was just a hallucination… I'm glad I got to hear his voice in the end.'

Her eyes slowly shut. 

'I.. wish I could see him… one last time…'

-

Julius stood in the midst of the woods, his hollow eyes widening at the sight. 

Grasping her neck, Ava was held up in the air by a monster that was grinning. Her eyes were shut, and blood was flowing from a large hole in her stomach. 

Noticing Julius and Ruby's presence, the grin faded from the monster's face as it threw Ava aside, dropping her on the ground. 

[Quest: Rescue operation has failed.]

[Penalty will now be applied.]

Almost instantly, a surge of pain rushed through Julius's as many of his blood vessels burst. Blood streamed down his eyes, making his vision red.

Despite that, he didn't flinch. Instead, stood there expressionlessly, watching as the four ice trolls turned to him. 

Ruby, who was next to Julius, hurriedly pulled out the luxurious bottle with the elixir. "Her heart is still beating, if we give her three drops now, we can-"

*Badump!*

[Nightmare Level 1: Nightmare Domain.]

Ruby was interrupted however, as in an instant the white snowy sky turned pitch-black.

It was Julius's ability but she could feel it... something was different.

When she looked up to see what it was, her eyes widened. 

It was a full moon. 

Normally, Julius's ability would start during the first phase of the lunar progression and advance from there. However right now, it had started from the very last.

The four ice trolls began charging at Julius, running on all fours when all of a sudden- they collapsed.

A shadow string hidden between two trees had tripped them. 

Slowly getting up, the ice trolls discovered that they were overtaken by the intense desire to sleep.

❖First Stage curse effects: Sleep deprivation.

They shook their heads and turned back to where Julius and Ruby had been standing, only to find that they were gone.

"!?"

After looking around, they spotted Julius crouched beside Ava, behind them. He held her in his arms as he fed her the drops of the elixir, while Ruby held onto Lyra. 

Initially, nothing happened, but over time, her wounds began to heal. 

Enraged that their prey was recovering, the Ice trolls slammed their arms on the ground and activated their abilities.

[Erupting Frost Spikes.]

The ground erupted in ice spikes, causing a wave to rise up towards them.

❖Second Stage curse effects: Blindness 

Just before the spikes hit them however, their visions instantly darkened, causing the spikes to miss.

Confused, they resorted to their senses of smell and sound when all of the sudden- they couldn't breathe.

❖Third Stage curse effects: Suffocation.

Grasping at their throats while desperate for air, they began to collapse, one by one

*Thump!* *Thump* *Thump!*

It was the leader of the pack, the one who impaled Ava, who resisted for a few seconds longer before succumbing.

*Thump!*

❖Fourth Stage curse effects: Slumber. 

And so they had all fallen into a deep sleep.

In that moment, a dark mist burst out from Julius's body and surrounded them, forcing them all into a nightmare. 

Grumbling in pain, their bodies convulsed.

Sleep deprivation, blindness, suffocation and a forceful slumber followed by a never-ending nightmare. Their unity made it impossible to remain sane. 

Ignoring their groans, Julius turned his attention back to Ava. Although her wounds were healing, it was very slowly. 

"Will… she be okay…?" 

Ruby nodded as she checked her pulse. 

"For starters... but her pulse is weak. We need to get them both to some place warm."

"Take her to the cave we found on the way here… you're faster than me and it should work as a shelter for the blizzard… make sure they heal up properly…" 

Ruby looked up at Julius.

"And what about you?" 

"I'll stay here… there's more of them coming… I feel them entering my domain…"

"And what do you plan to do exactly in your condition?" 

"I'll kill them. All of them."

"Even if it means that you'll die? Haven't you realised it yet? Your body is on the verge of collapsing from the cold-"

"Ruby." Julius interrupted as he stared at her.

His eyes were hollow, clouded by anger. Although he stared in her direction, he couldn't see anything but revenge.

'Ah… It's no use. He's not listening to a word I'm saying.' 

She took in a deep breath before letting out a sigh. They didn't have time to waste. 

"Do as you please, but if you're not back in thirty minutes, I'll come searching for you." 

After that, she disappeared into the distance with Lyra and Ava. She was fast, it was hard for his eyes to keep up.

Once she was gone, Julius silently walked deeper into the forest.

The bodies of the four ice trolls which were still convulsing in pain were dragged along behind him.

Realising that there was no need to drag all of them, Julius halted and turned to the three which hadn't hurt Ava.

Slowly, a ball of shadows rose up from the ground and entered through their mouths. Then once he snapped his finger, they expanded out in with spikes, exploding their heads. 

*Splatter!*

[You have killed 3 Ice Trolls.]

[+15 Experience Points.]

[Level 1(25/50)]

He had killed every Ice Troll except for the one that had injured Lyra. 

Julius ignored the system notifications and continued his walk across the cold snowy woods, dragging the last remaining ice troll. 

His feet felt as if they were going to fall off and his body wouldn't stop trembling from the cold.

But none of it mattered. If anything it made the pain in his heart slightly more bearable, a small distraction. 

"I didn't make it in time…" Julius muttered after a few steps. 

He could feel the other monsters approaching but they were still quite far away. He had a bit of time left. 

"If this were a movie or a story and I were the protagonist then I would've been able to make it before she got hurt… but this is reality."

Julius walked over to the remaining ice troll. He stared at the bloodied arm it had used to impale Ava. 

"Nightmare, remove the curse of slumber and wake it up. It won't be able to feel pain if it's asleep." 

❖Fourth Stage curse effects: Slumber - has been removed. 

The ice troll's red veiny eyes opened wide as it trembled in fear. It was finally awake. Even though it couldn't see or breathe, it had finally escaped the nightmarish hell it was experiencing. 

As soon as it felt relief, however, a surge of pain swept through its arm as it was severed.

Unable to scream, it's eyes grew red as it flailed around.

"That's one limb down…" Julius muttered, before gathering the shadows to sever it's other arm. 

*Splatter!*