Skinwalker.

"Ohohoh, well if you have to know, I call myself Eurys…" Asher raised his brows, 'Does seem to ring a bell..' but his thoughts were instantly interrupted as a sword neared his neck. Time moved slowly for him. No, it wasn't moving slowly; his eyes and mind were simply collecting information way too fast! 'My body is moving too slowly!' he thought as he struggled to move his face out of the sword's way.

Even though his mind kept up, it didn't mean his body could react! The sword passed through by simply grazing his cheek. Asher gritted his teeth, "That hurts, god damn it!"

"I will be the one to take your life, you grotesque Skinwalker!" Eurys stated as he pointed the sword towards Asher, whose teeth clenched as he shouted in visible fear, "What the fuck are you talking about! I'm no 'Skinwalker'! I am Asher!"

Eurys grimaced as he said, "Don't play me for a fool, you corrupt beast! There is no way a regular human would be on a Golem! I will free the ill-fated body you took over and subdue you!"

As soon as Eurys finished, he swung his sword at Asher, who cursed his current situation. He unconsciously gripped the hilt of his sword as he parried Eurys' blow and began to counterattack with wet eyes. Asher was so scared, he felt as if he would piss his pants any second. On top of that, the burning sand constantly felt like tiny needles under his feet.

Eurys deftly blocked the blow, his eyes widening in recognition as he muttered under his breath, "That was the sixth form of Dragon claw arts!" His voice rose in enraged accusation, "You took one from the Sect!"

 Asher's face was a whole-hearted grimace, 'What the fuck is this guy talking about?' Truth be told, Asher only knew the sixth form as he saw Eurys perform it. He still didn't know anything else about the sword and continued to spam what he knew in desperation.

"I hate this!" He shouted as he continued to swing his sword with puffed eyes. Over the course of five intense minutes, they exchanged blows, Eurys showcasing four more forms of the Dragon claw arts. Despite their matched skill, Eurys held the advantage in raw power and awakened potential, while Asher struggled to keep up, his body already bearing the marks of numerous cuts.

Though he was adapting well due to his [Nimble Intellect] attribute, it was simply a matter of time before Eurys managed to land a serious blow on Asher, whose body was already littered with small cuts.

That's when both men heard a blood-curdling scream coming from the direction the other men fled. Eurys' attention was cut for a second as he glanced at the source of the screeches. His eyes widened as he saw grotesque meat tentacles at the sight. ' So this one I'm fighting is but a distraction..' he thought.

In that fleeting moment, Asher seized the opportunity while Eurys was distracted and landed a decisive blow, a smirk tugging at his lips as he finally made an impact. Glancing back at Asher with bloodshot eyes, Eurys's voice dripped with menace, "I will take care of you later..." The ominous threat sent a shiver down Asher's spine, realizing that his respite would be short-lived.

He didn't have the strength to even hurt an awakened. He frowned as he saw that Eurys didn't even have a scratch on his shoulder. As he didn't have time to check his Stoneblade's enchantments, he wasn't aware of the stone sword's only enchantment [Dull] that in exchange for the sword being extremely dull, can break a bone or two if it hits its enemy.

Asher watched as Eurys went towards the grotesque minced-meat-like tentacle. He knew he was screwed after Eurys finished dealing with that monstrosity, which gave him urges to barf.

He waited for a few seconds before following Eurys, who gave him a side glance and smirked seeing that Asher couldn't keep up with him. Eurys paid him no mind and continued to reach the real Skinwalker while Asher was about a mile away from him, panting.

Despite his impressive physique, Asher's body was still that of a normal human, albeit exceptionally fit, perhaps surpassing even the strongest individuals in his own world. Yet, at this moment, his physical prowess felt painfully inadequate.

As Asher finally reached the site, the putrid stench of blood assaulted his senses, threatening to overwhelm him. Despite the nausea rising within him, he pressed forward, driven by a morbid curiosity mingled with dread. What he saw upon arrival was a scene straight from his worst nightmares.

The sight of the carnage before him was enough to turn his stomach, and he gagged repeatedly as the gruesome reality sank in. Dozens of lifeless bodies littered the ground, their limbs scattered haphazardly, and a few grotesquely headless corpses lay amidst the macabre tableau. In that moment, Asher realized he had grossly underestimated the horror of witnessing such senseless violence firsthand.

Asher had a dreadful expression as he finally realized his predicament. "I want to go home. I want to see my family and my friends. Will I ever see them?" His voice trembled with uncertainty, tears streaming down his cheeks as he grappled with the crushing despair of his situation.

Eurys, witnessing Asher's raw display of emotion, finally recognized the depth of his torment. Dodging yet another blow from the colossal awakened titan, Eurys glanced at Asher with a solemn nod, a silent acknowledgement of their shared struggle. At that moment, he knew that Asher was not complicit in the horrors perpetrated by the Skinwalker.

He dodged another blow from what Asher assessed with his eyes to be a house-sized awakened titan glancing at Asher with a sincere nod. He hoped Asher would team up with him to defeat the Skinwalker.

'That's even worse than Sunny's nightmare!' Asher looked on with disdain, his short mourning giving way to a rapid recovery fueled by his [Nimble Intellect] Attribute "The Imperials will come soon!" Eurys shouted to a surviving man who lost his hand. Asher's expression turned to a grimace as he was afraid that 'the Imperials' would subdue him as well when they arrived. Asher gritted his teeth as he steeled himself for what he was about to do next. 

he knew that he had to act swiftly and decisively if he hoped to survive in this hostile world.

Eurys couldn't win this fight.

He knew that himself, but he had to live on to fulfil his purpose.

He stalled for time as he waited for the Imperials to come. Even if they came, he doubted they could kill the Skinwalker, as it was an intelligent creature that would probably run in the face of danger.

He dodged another deadly tentacle as he went into at least damage a core. He had already weakened it with his weapon, which made the monstrosity's cores weak. So weak that the Skinwalker could break them with simple muscle contractions. That was the weapon he got from the Imperials. Unfortunately, the Skinwalker was keeping its distance.

He was about to avoid another blow when he suddenly felt a change in his centre of gravity; he silently watched the tentacle that was ahead and pierced his chest. He spat blood while yelling, "I can't die here! I have to live in order to fulfil my purpose!" All the yelling was futile as he saw the humanoid meat creature smirk. Eurys' eyes widened as he saw a white-haired man behind the Skinwalker. In his dying moments, he muttered with venom tinged in his voice, "That Mongrel…"

The Skinwalker grinned grotesquely while it toyed with the new vessel it found. A strong one at that. While its attention was fixed on the dying Eurys, it momentarily threw a glance at the crying brat.

The creature's eyes widened as it felt all 7 of its cores break at the same time. Behind it, Asher held his urge to puke at the stench of the Skinwalker after he used the 4th form of that dragon whatever. It was but a single, not-so-clean slash that covered a huge space, and the Skinwalker couldn't even detect him as he didn't possess any soul essence it could sense. He was confident that even if he failed to kill the Skinwalker, he could wait it out till the Imperials came, then he could simply run away when the Imperials were busy fighting the Skinwalker.

What Asher didn't know was that, In the original timeline, Eurys would have held on with relative ease until the Imperials arrived, as he wouldn't have a broken shoulder. Though the Skinwalker would escape the clutches of the Imperials and later become a Great Titan, at least Eurys would live and live on to be part of the nine.

Of course, Asher couldn't slash an awakened Titan's body, but he didn't need to, as his sword crushed the cores with the Skinwalker's own muscles due to the force it expended. Asher was honestly shocked and even thought it was his own strength for a second. "Talk about anticlimactic," Asher muttered as he gagged once more. He didn't have anything left in his intestines to puke out. The only reason he was kind of calm was due to his [Nimble Intellect] Attribute.

He gazed pitifully at Eurys as he thought while shaking his head, 'This is all an illusion anyway. I didn't murder anyone.' He had to flee before the Imperials arrived; he glanced in the other direction to see that the surviving man was bleeding to death. He didn't even have the ability to speak, as his vocal cords seemed to be damaged due to his neck's weird shape. Asher grimaced as he looked at the sky to clear his thoughts. But before he could, a faint familiar voice spoke.

[You have slain an awakened Titan, Skinwalker.]

[You have received a Memory: Veilskin Vesture]

"Talk about luck! A back-to-back!" Asher suddenly had starry eyes.

"[Wake up, Asher! Your nightmare is over.]

[Prepare for appraisal…]"

"Wait, what!" Asher gave a stupefied expression. Of course, he did. He was only in this new world for 1 hour or so. His nightmare was over in an hour! 'Was the goal simply to kill that Titan? "I did kill an awakened Titan though..." A smug grin tugged at the corners of his lips as he contemplated his unexpected triumph. 'Did they exaggerate the power of a Titan in the novel?' Of course, he didn't know that the cores were incredibly weakened due to Eurys.

He suddenly found himself in the inner workings of the spell. 'Whatever, I'll think about it after I get out.'