"...Atlas, what in the actual fuck is THAT?!" Eli muttered, her voice cracking under the weight of raw terror. Her eyes darted across the encroaching darkness, each glowing red orb emerging from the void like a star swallowed by night. Shivers raced down her spine as she gripped her spear tighter, knuckles white with desperation.
Atlas didn't reply—not because he wouldn't, but because his mind was too busy unraveling itself. The monster before them wasn't just immense; it was incomprehensible—a living abyss that defied logic and sanity alike. Panic clawed at his chest, dragging him back to every mistake he'd ever made, every reckless decision that had led him here.
'Is this bad luck? Did I choose wrong coming here?' he thought bitterly. But then, almost instinctively, his inner voice snapped back into focus. '...That doesn't matter anymore.'
He glanced behind him, toward the golden fruit still dimming on the ground where they'd landed moments earlier. Its surface radiated an icy chill despite the warmth its light spilled onto their skin. Both of them backed away slowly, their bodies pressed against the fading glow of the fruit. They were cornered, yet not entirely defenseless—for now.
{....InSecTs....}
{.....MoVE....}
"...What do we do now?" Eli asked, her tone laced with barely contained hysteria. She shifted her grip on the spear, ready to strike—or run, whichever came first.
"...What we always do," Atlas replied, though even he could hear the tremor of doubt in his own voice. "Survive."
But survival wasn't simple here. As Atlas stared at the monstrosity looming closer, realization struck him—they weren't the target. The fruit was. He knew these fruits served as beacons of light to ward off creatures like this one. Yet beyond that basic understanding, their purpose remained shrouded in mystery. What he did know, however, was enough: without the fruit's protection, stepping into the shadows meant certain death.
"Atlas, it's getting more dimmer, and that dark shit is getting much much closer..." Eli said, her voice rising slightly.
Something inside Atlas clicked. Maybe it was anxiety fueling clarity, or maybe it was pure survival instinct overriding fear. Whatever it was, his thoughts sharpened like a blade.
'Don't overthink. Focus. Fucking focus. Trust your gut. Don't overthink. Just do.'
{.....MoooooVEEEE....}
The beast roared again, its voice reverberating through infinite mouths scattered across its formless body. It sounded angry—no, enraged. And why wouldn't it be? For centuries, perhaps millennia, it had waited for this moment, biding its time in the shadows until the light faltered.
"...Ha... ha... Atlas, I think it's a bit pissed off," Eli stammered, her forced laughter betraying her panic. "Shouldn't we just... run right now?"
Still, he didn't answer. Instead, his gaze lifted upward, tracing the branch from which the fallen fruit had plummeted. There, nestled among the leaves, a new bud shimmered faintly, preparing to bloom once more. Understanding dawned upon him in waves.
'It wants the fruit, but this monster doesn't have much time,' he reasoned silently. 'Running to the darkness is suicide. Only the light can save us. This thing wants the same—to devour the fruit when it dims and retreat to the shadows before another blooms. Which means...'
His jaw clenched. "We don't need to escape," he whispered to himself. "We need to wait. Timing and patience are key."
With that, Atlas unsheathed his makeshift sword—a jagged shard of monster teeth fused together—and drove it deep into the heart of the giant dimming fruit. Golden liquid oozed out, coating the blade in radiant brilliance. When some of it dripped onto his hand, the cold burned like acid, sending a jolt of pain up his arm.
{NOOOOOOOO....}
The creature surged forward with renewed fury, undeterred by the burning light searing parts of its shadowy mass. If anything, its pace quickened, driven by hunger and desperation. Eli mirrored Atlas's actions, piercing the fruit with her spear. Together, they stood firm, weapons gleaming with borrowed luminescence.
"We just need to keep it busy until then, Eli," Atlas growled, his resolve hardening. "Keep it distracted while the next fruit blooms."
And then, with a deep breath, Atlas stepped forward—not backward, not sideways, but straight toward the encroaching darkness. His blade burned brighter with every step, cutting through tendrils of shadow like sunlight slicing through fog. Each swing felt primal, visceral, as if the very act of resisting despair gave him strength.
Eli followed close behind, her spear deflecting spikes of darkness that lunged at them like venomous serpents. Watching Atlas march headfirst into the abyss, she realized something profound about him: it wasn't courage or recklessness driving him—it was fear. Fear so potent it bordered on reverence. He knew death intimately, feared it more than anyone else possibly could. But when it whispered in his ear, promising an end, his response was always the same:
"NOT TODAY!!!" Atlas screamed, his voice echoing like thunder as his blade devoured every shadow daring to cross his path.
Eli matched his ferocity, her movements fluid and precise. Sparks flew as metal clashed against shadow, illuminating the battlefield in fleeting bursts of gold and crimson. Behind them, the fruit continued to dim, its outer glow nearly extinguished—but above, towards the branch of yggdrasil, the new bud grew brighter, inching closer to full bloom.
The monster writhed in agony, torn between two desires: to consume the dying fruit beneath its claws or retreat before the newborn light scorched it completely. Time was running out—for all of them.
{..YOU INSECTS!!} It roared, its voice shaking the very fabric of reality.
Darkness spilled from its form like an endless tide, swallowing everything it touched. The creature's shadow stretched impossibly far, reaching up to encase the budding fruit on the branch above. even though every part reaching the new budding fruit burned with intensity, Its aura burned ever more with malice so thick it choked the air, turning breaths into gasps and hearts into hammers pounding against fragile ribs.
Atlas felt it—the weight of despair pressing down on his chest, threatening to crush him where he stood. But even as fear clawed at his throat, his grip on the glowing sword tightened. He glanced back, searching for Eli.
"...Stay strong, Eli... Eli?" he called out, his voice cracking under the strain of terror, as darkness encased them once more.
And then he saw her.
Her body crumpled forward, pierced through the stomach by a tendril of shadow that had snaked around her back. Blood bloomed across her abdomen, staining her clothes crimson. Her spear clattered uselessly to the ground.
"ELI!!!" Atlas screamed, hacking wildly at the dark teeth gnashing toward him. He reached her just in time, slicing away the shadowy appendage coiled around her torso. Dropping to his knees, he pulled her close, his hands trembling as they pressed futilely against the gaping wound.
"Eli... Eli, NOO! no no no no!" he muttered in pure dread, "Talk to me. Talk to me, damn it!" he begged, tears streaming unchecked down his face.
She coughed weakly, blood bubbling past her lips. Her eyes met his, filled with sorrow but also something else—regret. Her fingers twitched, burned raw from the golden liquid she'd handled earlier, slipped the ring off her finger, she was trying to reach for it but, the creature got her before she could get the ring.
"Sorry... Dummy," she whispered hoarsely, her voice barely audible over the monster's deafening roar. "I just wanted to... take back the ring..." A tear slid down her cheek as her hand fell limply to the ground.
"Its okay Eli, Don't worry i will heal you. i will heal you!.....ju..just stay with me, stay with me, i am gonna patch you up...." he voiced, every word quivering for Denial.
"...Sorry... I couldn't keep u... p..."
"no no no No No NOOOOOO!..." He screamed, hoping she would open her eyes.
Her words trailed off, her body going still in his arms. Life drained from her eyes like sand slipping through an hourglass.
Atlas stared at her lifeless form, disbelief carving hollows into his soul. His breath hitched, caught somewhere between rage and devastation. Around them, the light from their weapons dimmed further until all that remained was the faint glow of the dying fruit—and then even that vanished. Pure darkness devoured them whole.
Silence. Pure Silence and Darkness.
Only the sound of chewing echoed through the void.
{.....FiNally....}
The creature savored its victory, savoring the taste of what it believed belonged to it. But confusion rippled through its monstrous mind moments later.
{.....I....waited...CenTUriEs...Wh..WherE....?}
[Notification]
[350 POINTS added to Internal Organs.]
[100 POINTS added to the Heart.]
Munch!
Munch!
Gulp.
GULP!
But something wasn't right. Something was missing.
"...You thought..." came a rasping voice, low and guttural, yet unmistakably human. "...you could get away with this..."
The creature froze, tendrils of shadow recoiling instinctively.
"You thought... I would let you have it... after what you did....after what you took from me..." he muttered, from the ever reaching darkness, each word echoing with rage and regreat,
{....InSecT....StiLL...Alive?....}
From within the gnawing abyss—a spark ignited. Small at first, flickering timidly amidst the infinite maws and glaring red eyes. Then it grew brighter, feeding on the darkness itself. Light snapped and crackled like electricity, burning hotter and fiercer with each passing second.
Where the massive fruit once lay, now stood Atlas—or what remained of him. His skin peeled away in strips, revealing raw muscle beneath. Golden marks scorched his skin, glowing like molten metal. Tears evaporated before they could fall, leaving trails of steam etched onto his cheeks. His lips were blistered, tongue blackened, mouth dripping with blood, like he just ate lava itself—but his gaze burned brighter than any star.
He smirked, madness dancing in his golden irises. "...Haha... I ate it," he said, his voice ragged but triumphant.
{NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!}