Going back into the danger, he analyzed everything around him. Now that his mind was working properly again, he had no trouble doing so.
First, he analyzed his own body. His situation was far from good. His shoulder had been perforated, and so had the armor in that region. The armor that had once been enough to resist the attacks of a Slasher had crumbled easily under the creature's strike.
A strong and latent pain pulsed from the wound, as if hundreds of needles were deeply stabbing him all at once. It was hard to maintain consciousness—at least, it would have been before he did what he had done in the "illusion."
He suspected he could still be in some kind of illusion, though it didn't feel like it. Remembering earlier details, he recalled how his sword had appeared sharp and shiny, as if the illusion had tried to convince him that he was something greater—perhaps something he wished to be.
But looking at his real sword now, it was chipped and blunt, barely enough to cut anything.
If this was an illusion, it certainly didn't look like it.
Yuser was also in a terrible state, bleeding to death. Only a few more minutes and he would be gone. Standing between him and the monster, Faust protected Yuser. He was likely hallucinating even now, unable to escape the loop as Faust had.
The monster remained almost still. Its three bone-like tails moved in a wavy motion, and the head-like tail emitted a low, droning hum. However, Faust no longer seemed affected by it. After breaking free of the illusion once, the effects appeared to have diminished.
Estimating the time it had all taken, Faust concluded that no more than fifteen seconds had passed from the moment he first saw the creature until now. Over a hundred deaths, in less than fifteen seconds... and that was not the worse part, the monster wasn't just strong in illusions—it had physical superiority as well. It had broken his armor with ease, the same armor that resisted attacks from the Slashers, which could greatly damage trees.
Fifteen seconds was more than enough time for both Yuser and him to be killed by the monster… but it didn't kill them. Based on that, he assumed the monster was playing with them, playing with it's prey.
He also realized how unnaturally he had acted earlier… rushing in without a plan, attempting to attack Yuser. He theorized that either the hum or the lights—or perhaps both—made people act rashly, as if influenced or controlled. Either way, it was dangerous.
In a blink, Faust processed it all. His situation had changed slightly, but his plan remained roughly the same.
Eliminate Yuser, be enveloped by the fog, appear somewhere far from this enemy, and reach the seventh trial.
If it worked, the outcome would be ideal. Killing a man who was already dying shouldn't be difficult… except when a monster stronger than you stands in the way.
Faust turned, unsheathed his sword, and in one swift motion aimed to split open Yuser's head. But the moment he moved, the monster struck from behind.
Its spiral-like needle pierced his armor once more, this time stabbing into the side of his body, as blood poured from the wound.
Gritting his teeth, Faust ignored the pain. The monster was even faster than he had anticipated—at least four to five times faster than a Slasher, that meant it was also faster than himself.
He quickly reached into his pouch and used a healing paper. It crumbled away, taking effect.
Before he could catch his breath, another strike came for his head. Focused, he moved his head to the side and parried with his sword.
Unfortunately, his crumbling sword was already on its last legs. Its upper half snapped under the impact, leaving him with barely a short sword—most of the sword lost in an instant.
Faust gritted his teeth again and grabbed two detonation papers. As the monster lunged once more, he ducked and used the ruined sword to partially deflect the blow. It wasn't enough. His arm trembled, the armor there shattered, and the flesh beneath was cut. Had he not deflected it, he would have lost his whole arm.
But pain was no longer enough to stop him. Still ducked, he spun and threw both detonation papers. One aimed at Yuser's head, the other at the monster.
The monster reacted oddly, slashing the paper thrown at itself and as it was damaged, it detonated. Yet the creature took no damage.
Faust noted a change in behavior. The monster didn't attempt to slash the paper heading toward Yuser. It simply ignored it, as if it knew that attacks triggered the detonation.
This confirmed two of Faust's theories: first, the monster could have killed them both at any time, it was clearly playing. Second, it had some level of intelligence. Perhaps not human, but close enough.
Another stab came toward his head. Faust, holding his now-broken sword, deflected it and barely dodged, blood streaming down his cheek where it grazed him.
One of his detonation papers had already landed on Yuser. But Faust had a theory to test, and it could only be tested by completing a trial.
He rushed toward Yuser.
A near-fatal strike hit his left leg as he rolled on the ground, but ended up close enough to his target. With no hesitation, he detonated the paper.
Like a watermelon, Yuser's head burst into pieces as brain matter and blood flew everywhere.
Faust grabbed Yuser's leg.
The monster attacked again, but just before it landed, Faust was enveloped by fog.
It changed it's attack path and missed on purpose.
Inside the fog, Faust noticed something. He was still holding his half-sword—but Yuser… Yuser was gone. Even though he had been grabbing his leg, there was nothing now.
In an instant, he understood. The fog didn't envelop other bodies, at least, not those of other trial-takers.
It was a useful piece of information he hadn't been able to test until now.
The fog slowly dissipated, and he found himself somewhere else.
Using another heal rune, he began to analyze the area around him.
Faust was still within the same macro-region, but in a different zone. Still bordering the forest, but now at its edge, before him stretched a vast gray desert. The sand was thick, each grain large as a nail. Towering from the sand, massive rock formations rose—over fifteen meters high, greater even than the forest trees. They looked like bones protruding from the rotting corpse of a beast, marked with red patterns that pulsed faintly with life.
The desert appeared as vast—if not larger—than the forest. Only one constant remained: the red moon bathing everything below and the dark sky around it.
Faust looked around and realized the forest extended around the desert, forming an outer ring around the desert. A mental image formed in his head: the forest surrounding a vast desert like a crown of thorns. Also, from what he could tell, this "frontier" area was devoid of creatures as he saw none.
Before he could ponder further, a voice rang in his head, announcing the seventh trial:
"Reach the Grand Desert City. Protect the Progenitor Tree. Slay one hundred."
At the same moment, sensations of a "calling" surged through him, from somewhere far beyond those mountain-like rock formations. Assuming these sensations came from the trial itself, Faust decided to wait for his body to heal, and then begin the journey.
While waiting, he could barely stand on his feet—the wound on his leg was grievous. Still, the nature of the seventh trial sparked his curiosity.
A trial with three different goals? That's new… interesting. I wonder how many people have already completed the seventh trial, and how many have reached the eighth… also, 'slay one hundred'? Since it wasn't specific, I guess it doesn't have to be other trial takers. I doubt there are even that many past the fifth trial, he pondered, as he gazed down, looking at the broken executioner's sword in his hand. This sword is unusable now… I need to find another weapon. Until then, just the runes will have to suffice… although I have few of them now… I need more more pages.
He also gave thought to a problem that had been troubling him recently—the sword always flying out of his hand because he couldn't grip it with enough strength. That flaw constantly left him at a disadvantage in battle. Fixing that issue was something he needed to address soon.
Roughly two hours later, he had already healed enough and began to cross the desert, towards what he assumed was the goal.