Lurking in the Darkness

Aeon had not gone insane.

Of course, he had not been thinking about slaying the colossal beast and eating it. He was not capable of such. What he had in mind was something completely different.

He was going to use the dark.

The look in the beast's eye had a mixture of confusion and shock. It had sensed the confidence behind Aeon's wide grin. But was it going to back down? Not at all! Realizing that it had been slightly intimidated, it shook off the weird feeling and furrowed its brows. With a deep grunt, it appeared to challenge Aeon.

Come!

The beast waited but...

Contrary to its expectations, Aeon turned right, walked away, and went outside its line of sight. It could only stare blankly ahead.

….

The grin plastered on Aeon's face had not faded even as he walked away. Walking away, for him, did not mean giving up. It was just that he could only execute his plan after a few hours. He needed a decent amount of energy for it so he had to rest first. Moreover, he only had one shot. He had to clear his mind and focus.

It was a do or die situation.

Literally.

Aeon stared straight at the darkness. He had not known how long the beast had been staying in the underground cave he was currently in, but one thing's for sure...it had completely adjusted to the darkness. Even its eyes had turned red. It had evolved, specifically, to such an environment. So...

What would happen if its eyes were exposed to bright light?

Such stimulus would trigger a great reaction.

Riiiip!

Aeon started tearing at his shirt without even taking it off. After a series of crisp tearing noises, he had finally dismantled it into smaller pieces. He sat down and started slapping a piece of cloth on his thigh repeatedly to rid it of dust as much as he could. Dust permeated the air but Aeon casually covered his nose with his free hand. The moment he deemed it to be clean enough already, he ate it. He ate the piece of cloth like he would a piece of meat. The look on Aeon's eyes did not change in the slightest even though what he was eating was clearly not edible. Right now, in his mind, it was just another dish to try out.

All for the sake of survival.

For the sake of those people who are waiting for his return.

He needed something inside his stomach to generate the tiniest energy he would be needing. This was his only option.

Bite. Pull. Chew. Swallow.

Aeon's throat was so dry that eating became excruciatingly painful. The cloth felt like sandpaper grinding on the walls of his throat as it went down.

Nevertheless, he finished everything.

The place isn't cold anyway, Aeon comforted himself.

With a plop, Aeon lied down on the hard ground and drifted off to sleep.

….

An unknown amount of time later, Aeon woke up. He blinked rapidly multiple times to rid them of their droopiness.

It was time.

Silently, Aeon stood up. He didn't even need to think too much before walking towards the room on the northern side of the cave. If the beast was waiting for him with one of its eyes peeking through the passage, he'll take it. If it wasn't, then that was even better. Everything would still come down to pulling it off.

He was low on energy. He had no food or water. If he failed and lived, he would only prolong his suffering. If he succeeds…then he'll cross the bridge when he gets there. At least there would be a bridge to cross at that point.

In the dark, Aeon's hands were slightly trembling. He was confident, yes. But fear of death is normal. It is present in any human being who still valued something in the world. He had plenty.

Alas, Aeon had to face it head-on.

Aeon's steps were discreet. Even the dust that blew from his steps were faint and unnoticeable. He was like a shadow that lurked in the darkness.

Step by step, he was getting closer to the room. Midway, he was already able to see the boulder. The beast was not waiting for him so he inwardly heaved a sigh of relief. That was one burden lifted off of his chest. Subconsciously, Aeon's steps hastened, taking advantage of the scenario. Nevertheless, they were still quiet.

Aeon reached the boulder without any mishaps. He stopped and pressed his back against it to take a short rest. He had only noticed that his breathing had been coarse even though he exerted little to no effort in walking.

Okay. You can do this. Just calm down.

Aeon crept to the side of the boulder. He peeked through the side but didn't see anything. He looked left and right, straining his eyes, but he still couldn't make out the figure of the colossal beast. Aeon cocked an eyebrow and looked deeper into the cave.

It was pitch black.

The beast must've been in there.

Chance!

Aeon moved away from the boulder and into the room where the beast had randomly popped up from. His eyes rapidly surveyed the surrounding, trying to make out anything that he could put inside his mouth. A plant, a puddle of water, or even the beast's saliva!

Look! Look! Look!

Aeon encouraged himself as his sweat started to drop.

A minute passed…

Then two…

But…

There was nothing. Still nothing!

Once more, Aeon turned towards the deeper part of the cave that was pitch black. Now, however, since he was much closer, he was able to get a glimpse of the inside. It was just an extension of the room, just a bit darker.

Aeon shook his head then gritted his teeth. He had been prepared to meet the beast face to face anyway, so why shouldn't he press forward? The only trade-off was that his escape route would be a bit longer.

So, Aeon pressed forth!

….

Unknown to Aeon, a pair of glowing red eyes had been staring down at him from the high ceiling the moment he entered the room. As Aeon charged, it also crept through the ceiling, deeper into the cave. Its shadow was huge, but it moved just as silently as Aeon.

….

The path was wide, that was the first thing that popped into Aeon's mind. Because of this, he had to alternate looking from left to right to not miss a single detail in the surroundings. The path ahead was still obscured by darkness, but Aeon was glad that he was making progress.

The best thing was that the beast was nowhere to be found!

At that rate, it wouldn't be long before he would find what he was looking for.

….

Five minutes later.

Aeon's steps slowed down to a halt, a beautiful smile spread across his face. In front of him were green plants that he couldn't identify. Plenty of them, covering half of his vision looking forward! They were even taller than Aeon so he couldn't tell how far and wide they spread.

Along the edge, he could see fruits growing from the plants. They looked like strawberries but were just as big as watermelons. No. They were even half a size bigger!

With wide, silent strides, Aeon closed the distance between him and the plants. He didn't lose his stealthiness even when he was overwhelmed with joy. However, he forgot that he was not the only one who could make some noise.

Tak.

When Aeon plucked a fruit, it produced the soft crunchy sound of a stem breaking. In the quiet void, it seemed like a huge explosion, and it echoed through the cave.

Aeon's head sunk and his eyes shut close as he started praying to the Goddess.

After praying, he chanted a mantra repeatedly inside his head. A mantra for protection.

Please!

…

Slowly, Aeon opened an eye.

Nothing.

Everything was quiet. There was nobody around. The beast had not come.

Aeon's heart that had been stuck on his throat finally returned to its original spot. It started beating normally again. He smiled smugly as his body eased from the tension.

He greedily stared at the huge, luscious fruit in his hands, but he knew that he couldn't eat it just yet. It would make a lot more noise. He squeezed it between his hands to feel its insides. His fingers buried themselves as he felt its moist texture. He was upset that he couldn't taste it just yet, but at least he confirmed one more thing. Since the plant there was not dry and was, instead, rich in fluid, then there should be a source of water somewhere else. It should be the one dampening the earth beneath and feeding the plants. He could live off from the fluid of the fruit, but water was still much better.

Looking back, Aeon felt like he had gone really far already.

If he returned, he would be safe. But that would mean that he would have to risk his life again the next time would start feeling hungry.

Hide amongst the plants? That wouldn't be a good idea. If he moved, while the beast was eating, he'll be part of his meal.

Go deeper? Where to? It was possible that the source of water was not connected to the cave he was currently in.

It was a game of choices that involved gambling his own life.

Aeon was starting to feel the cold. With the presence of moisture in the air, it naturally became a bit colder. Worse, he had no shirt.

After a moment, Aeon smelled something faint. Something tasty! With his eyebrows furrowed, he started following the scent. He repeatedly sniffed as he moved around, saliva dripping from his mouth. It led towards the right!

Aeon circled to the right side of the vegetation and discovered a path. He followed it a bit more before finally stopping.

The moment that Aeon had finally seen what he was smelling, he gagged.

It was shit!

Although it didn't smell like one!

He fell on all fours from the stench and started crawling away. Inside his head, he could see the image of the beast with laughter in its eyes.

And he had actually thought it was food!

Aeon was just about to curse the beast when he suddenly felt something bearing down on him. For him, it felt like the roof was falling.

At that moment, it occurred to Aeon that it was the perfect time to ambush him as he was momentarily distracted.

The beast did not miss the opportunity.

…

Wait.

Whoosh!

Aeon wanted to dodge, but it was already too late. He was distracted by the stench for a moment.

The descent of the beast had been too fast that Aeon didn't even have the time to look up. After that momentary feeling of pressure, the beast almost instantly arrived.

Booom!

….

Aeon's pants were rustled by the fierce gale. The fruit he had been carrying earlier was nowhere to be seen and he had his hands in front of his face—the best he could put up as protection.

Strangely, he didn't go splat as he had expected.

In front of Aeon's face was the head of the colossal beast. It stared straight back at him, fearless, like a primal predator.

It was so close that he could hear the sound of its lungs vibrate as it exhaled. Hot air blew on Aeon's face that he could only ignore.

Through the dark, Aeon could barely make out its figure.

It had thorny back, like an alligator's, and it had a long tail. But its most defining features were the four leathery wings grouped in twos attached to its back. They spread open like gigantic fans.

It wasn't that surprising. There were lots of magical beasts that possessed a characteristic from a completely different species.

What was amazing was its size.

For an alligator beast, it was a little too big!

Aeon had misjudged its size because his only basis was its eyes.

But, it wasn't exactly the time for thinking!

It was time for doing!

He sat face to face with the beast. It was practically the best setup for his plan. And it was served to him on a silver platter!

Determination painted Aeon's face. It was as if time had slowed down. He felt the tendrils of electricity dancing underneath his skin. He felt it trace his arm, all the way down to his fingertips. Aeon formed two claws using his hands and placed it in front of his abdomen. His palms were directly facing each other; an empty space in between.

His movements were swift! Fierce! Determined!

In a split second, white lightning exploded from his open hands making a loud screeching noise. Then, it slowly condensed into…

Oof!

Thud!

Aeon's body flew sideways, the lower part of his body crashing onto the beast's other claw making him tumble and crash. Before he could even achieve what he was planning to do, he had been flicked by the monster using what appeared to be its thumb.

Luckily, Aeon had extremely fast reflexes. Before the large thumb could hit him, he tucked in his elbow, making his shoulder and upper arm bear the brunt of the impact. If he hadn't done that, his shoulder would've been dislocated. Worse, broken.

Aeon was lying on the ground caked with dirt. He coughed up a mouthful of blood as he slowly got up. Blood was dripping down his left arm and right wrist but he still spent the effort to pull out his swords. In the background, Aeon could hear the beast wail. The ground was also shaking quite intensely. The moment he looked up, he found out that the beast was actually thrashing. It was shaking its head with its eyes closed and appeared to be in pain.

The flash of light had actually worked to such a degree!

Escape!

Although Aeon had been ready to swing his swords earlier, he immediately stood down. He turned around and started running away. After taking a few steps, he saw the overly large strawberry he had been holding and stabbed it with his sword, Verdure, cleanly picking it up without even slowing down in the slightest. Then, Aeon bent down.

Shooting Star!

With a single skill that could double as a movement technique, Aeon pulled quite a distance. But he knew that it was still nothing to a beast hailing such a huge size.

Cautious, Aeon looked back. The beast was just about to finish its episode. It finally dawned on Aeon why the creature had let him go deep into its home before taking action. It was exactly for moments like this one. If Aeon had encountered the beast next to the narrow exit, he would have gotten away immediately. However, in Aeon's case right now, he still had to run for quite some time before reaching safety.

The creature was cunning. Really cunning!

From a distance, Aeon could even feel its rage burning. Its eyes were screaming a single word: kill!

It sent shivers down Aeon's spine but he couldn't just give up. Moreover, he still had enough juice in him to let out another spark!

He walked briskly without stopping for five minutes before reaching the current area he was in. Taking into account the slight injury he had suffered on his legs, that means he could run it in 30 seconds!

He just had to survive that long.

The countdown began.

….