Behemoth 1

Zhinnnnnng!!!!

Kohl groaned as he stood up from the ground. His ears were ringing, and his vision was blurry. He staggered forward, trying to get his bearings as he looked around. About a hundred meters away stood a massive pillar with ancient markings. The markings glowed an eerie silver light, and a strange illusory fog surrounded the structure.

A thick pillar of silver light joined the structure at its top, connecting it to the sky above.

"What happened to the moon?" Kohl muttered, his voice raspy. The once gigantic crimson moon, which cast an eerie blood glow on the world, now looked extremely dim and seemed to be losing even more color.

'Ahhh! My head hurts, my body hurts all over.'

Kohl looked around and noticed the short stick-like object he had wrapped and strapped to his back lying a few meters away. His eyes suddenly widened as memories came pouring into his head.

'Ayer… The pillar… The village… Khan!!'

Kohl stumbled forward, gritting his teeth as a sharp jolt of pain cut through his nerves. He picked up the sword and began searching around, looking for Ayer.

"We were too close to the pillar when it suddenly exploded. I hope he's safe."

Kohl searched the immediate vicinity, not daring to go too close to the glowing pillar up ahead. After a while of futile search, Kohl gave up.

'I can't continue alone. I have to head back to the village. If Khan is alright, then he might be able to help me look. Yeah, Khan knows a lot, he'll know what to do.'

Kohl hesitated for a moment before he turned around, finding his way and heading back to the village. His pupils dilated as he saw the village up ahead a few minutes later. The place was eerily quiet, and he immediately knew something was wrong.

'It's too quiet. That shouldn't be possible.'

With all the commotion that was happening, it was impossible for the village to be asleep. He knew that something had definitely happened. Kohl's heartbeat began to thump loudly in his chest as he picked up his pace, rushing into the village.

The moment he stepped into the village, a thick, pungent smell wafted into his nose, choking him and making him cough hard. He bent over to support himself, trying not to puke.

'This… This is blood. How can it be?'

Kohl lifted himself, his eyes scanning the area. There was a strange humidity in the air, a strange redness that filled Kohl's heart with dread at the thought of its true nature.

'It can't be….blood?' Kohl's pupils constricted for the up tenth time. This time, his knees trembled, and he almost fell on his back. He couldn't imagine the amount of killing it would have taken for the blood to be so much it made the air humid. He had been worried about the smell, but this made him feel a cold shiver down his spine.

'Khan!!! It can't be… No, he must still be alive.' Kohl thought hopefully as he slowly took a step forward, then another, then another, and soon, he was running through the village, looking for Khan.

As he ran through the village, he saw the bodies of dead humans and monsters alike. He stumbled a few times out of fear of the sheer size of some of the dead beasts. Some of them were up to ten meters long.

"They are dead… They are dead… They are dead…"

Kohl shook his head as he ran through the village, muttering to himself to keep calm. After searching for a while, he was beginning to lose hope when he suddenly heard a strange cry. His eyes brightened with hope as he ran towards the sound of the cry, heading to the stream behind the village.

When he arrived there, he was shocked at the sight before him. The silver dyed crimson rays of the moon enveloped the area, making most things clear to see.

In front of Kohl, the stream that used to be tranquil was now bubbling furiously, like a volcano was about to erupt underneath. Its surface was extremely turbulent, and its viscosity had changed from that of water to that of pudding.

It was so thick that the bubbles above it almost looked solid. But that wasn't the strangest thing. The strangest thing was the color of the water—it was dark red, darker than even the crimson moon that was slowly losing its luster. It was like clotted blood.

And even more terrifying was the fact that it wasn't just like blood, it was blood. The thick, pungent smell and the bloody mist that filled the village weren't due to the monsters or the villagers that had died. No, it was due to this bizarre change in the stream.

The whole area was a mess, and if Kohl had been in the right state of mind, he would have noticed that the stream seemed to be more of a massive stretch of river now. He would have also noticed that the massive mountain range that seemed to stretch for miles and shield the village from the Outland was gone. All that was left was a thick stretch of what seemed to be gigantic trees that towered the place, as if seeking to penetrate the sky.

His eyes darted around, looking for the source of the cry. Then he noticed it. A few meters away from him, close to the stream, was a shadow. A humanoid figure seemed to lay on the floor, his back to the ground as he stared into the sky with pale, lustreless eyes.

It was Khan, and he did not look to be in good shape.

Kohl rushed over to him, kneeling beside him and attempting to prop him up but to no avail.

"No! No! No! HELP!!!! HELP!!!" Kohl yelled only to be shushed by Khan. The latter slowly struggled to sit up but to no avail.

Cough! Cough!!

Khan coughed up blood. The amount was alarming, and it seemed to soak his already blood-dyed body. His hand slowly rose up, latching onto Kohl's arm with surprising strength.

"Don't… don't shout… you'll alarm it…. The monster…. It isn't dead yet!..."