Shun's expression changed to disgust.
"You're truly the worst, truly the most disgusting," he said with thick revulsion.
He was never good when it came to children asking for help. So when the monster tried to mimic children's noises to escape, it triggered something within Shun.
Nevertheless, the monster would be crushed by the tight space of that cube and die. He could celebrate his victory.
Shifting his eyes to his leg, he let out a sigh. He closed the wound with aura, stopping the blood from spreading further.
Afterward, he touched the ground and created a cane. With it, he propped himself up. Then, he looked around for his leg—it might be here somewhere.
But all search came fruitless. He didn't find it, only a splash of blood on the ground with nothing on it.
He had a notion that the beast ate his leg while striking him. The thought somehow irked him.
"Damn it!" he cursed through gritted teeth. He'd be like this for the rest of his life. How fantastic. He might cry.
He then told himself he should've expected this. Because he was weak. Because he wasn't prepared enough. Because he overestimated himself and underestimated the monster.
Everything was because of himself—not fate, not the monster, not God.
He took a deep breath and didn't let himself be devoured by self-hate, but he learned from the mistakes he made. All the things he should've done, the things he shouldn't have done.
As he was reflecting—
———
[You've slain Terechabra – Lvl 60.]
[You've gained 30,000 exp.]
[Limit reached.]
[Saving exp.]
———
[Side-Quest]
Complete your assigned task. (1/1)
Completed!
———
A panel appeared with a ding. Shun snapped out of his maze of thoughts and lifted his attention.
He smiled, feeling light, and turned his gaze to the cube. It was now the size of his palm.
Quite bizarre to think a five-meter beast had been squeezed into this size.
With a tap, the earth wall making the cube loosened and almost immediately, the immense pressure from inside burst.
Blood came crashing like a flood and swept Shun five meters away.
Swept by the beast's blood, he ended up in a pitiful position with his butt facing the sky and his face planted on the ground. He lifted his face with a sharp breath and rested his chin on the ground.
His expression became tired after gulping a breath of air. Then, his cane came sliding. He sighed and got up with the help of his cane.
He turned around to the beast. He didn't know which part was the foot, which one was the wings, or which was the head. Everything was compressed beyond recognition.
He crouched slightly, extending his finger toward the beast. He willed mana to cloak the entire thing and whispered to himself, "There after it does belong, but present I shall be here. Be part of me, what once lived."
The corpse turned into tiny dots of light and entered into his body.
Shun flicked his hand and the panel showing his inventory appeared.
[Corpse of The Cursed Kids.]
As soon as his eyes swept over it, his body froze. He immediately checked its description.
———
Name: Corpse of The Cursed Kids.
Type: Resource.
Rarity: Very Rare.
Description: A remains of Terechabra, a result of a corruption descended when the Eclipse bloomed, slain by Shun.
———
This thing was formerly children, but this event—the System calls it Eclipse—cursed them into these creatures.
Then… that cry at the end, could it have been the kid gaining consciousness? Or the monster still retaining a part of its humanity?
Shun shivered at the thought. It'd be wise not to think about this much further, but one question bloomed in his heart:
Did I just kill a kid? Shun asked himself and shook his head, not willing to be naive.
That thing was a monster no matter how he looked at it.
In fact, he did the kid a favor. An eternal rest.
Imprinting this line of thought into his brain, a burden lifted off his shoulders.
But still, he was curious about this Eclipse thing. From the description alone, Shun theorized it was some sort of cataclysm that ended civilization, something similar to the Wave.
Is there a connection between the two? Shun asked himself, pinching his chin and convincing himself that that might be the case.
"What kind of story does this Dream Realm hide?" Shun looked up to the heavens—especially at the snake in the distance.
Just then, he felt the atmosphere change. He looked at the source and his body froze instinctively.
[Terechabra – Lvl 60.]
The beast stood on the constantly shifting earth, looking down on Shun.
"What's this? Round two?" His nervousness forced him to crack a dry comment. He clutched the necklace, prepared to turn invincible and flee.
The beast leapt down the terrain proficiently and landed on the ground. It looked at Shun curiously for a moment, then hissed after its gaze landed on the pool of blood.
"It's self-defense." Shun shrugged.
The beast hissed even deeper, as if speaking in rage.
Simultaneously, the field was filled with gray fog, limiting vision to five meters.
Shun tensed at the appearance of the gray fog, but the beast brought more threat than mere mist.
"I know you're planning to pay blood with blood, but come on, I'm a disabled man! Show some mercy, yeah?" He gave a polite yet stiff smile.
The beast then roared before pouncing on him.
"Yikes!" Shun was a second away from activating the necklace when a claymore swung down from beyond the mist, cutting the beast clean in half. Each side then fell to the ground, blood flowing continuously and innards spilling.
Shun sensed a heavy presence from beyond the gray fog. Every part of his body stiffened—in fear? Or perhaps from the overwhelming pressure?
He didn't know.
[Your Nightmare has arrived.]
His breath stopped. Shun lifted his gaze from the panel as a silhouette revealed itself, stepping out of the fog.
Shun took a step back upon seeing the nightmare standing before him.
A four-foot figure clad in worn-out steel plate. It possessed no flesh, no skin—just white bones.
Its head wasn't connected to its body, but floated above it. It held two swords, and one claymore moved on its own like a living, breathing thing.
The claymore rose and floated next to the skeleton.
[Nightmare – Lvl 45]
The skeleton raised one of its swords and pointed at him.
"Your purpose in this world shall be cut by this blade."
It paused for a moment, then added,
"After everything you've been through, take a hint, human. Whatever you strive for in this world means nothing but destruction.
"Your blood better be shed now."