Squirming on the ground, a lot of thought passed through Nero's mind...
However, most of it was covered by the searing, white-hot pain racing through his arm. Or rather, the bloody stump left behind.
Blood violently gushed out of it, flowing and seeping into the dark earth.
He had, without hesitation, cut his own arm off. It had been a spur of the moment decision. Since the hide of the beast had been so tough, he had simply decided to just bypass all that.
However, it had cost him his arm and a whole lot of pain.
He bit his lips so hard, he drew blood and began crawling to the satchel he had dropped on the ground before engaging with the Pig Demon.
He pulled out a small vial of the clear liquid with trembling hands.
He tried using his other hand, but could only groan in pain and frustration.
Uncorking it with a single hand was much more frustrating than he had originally thought, but he managed to get it done, and downed it all down immediately.
Then he waited for the heat to spread before swimming down to his arm.
He hissed and groaned, tears flowing down his eyes as he muttered curses under his breath.
'This is the worst...'
He looked down at the bloody stump.
The relief from the pain with the regeneration process was so liberating, he thought he would die from happiness.
His eyes trembled as he felt his consciousness slipping.
A moment later, his body trembled as he forced himself awake.
He couldn't go unconscious. If he did, who knew what would come for his body.
The regeneration was also much slower than before, so he pulled another vial from his satchel and downed that as well too.
Rather quickly, in just a few minutes, his entire arm, blackened and gnarly, had been fully regenerated, fingers and all.
Not willing to be complacent, Nero rose to his feet and walked towards the Pig Demon.
The things tongue was rolled out of its mouth, its black eyes still wide open.
'It's too heavy for me to carry. In that case...'
A dark gleam flashed through his eyes as he picked the Silver Blade and walked forward.
His muscles bulged as he stabbed into the creature's large stomach with all his strength, using the weight of his body to extert as much force as possible.
This time, thanks to the added leverage, he was able to break through the hide after some effort.
His brows furrowed as he began sawing. Blood splattered across his clothes and on his face, but he didn't care all that much.
Finally, he had sawn off a large fillet of the meat.
His face crumpled in disgust. Then he let out a sigh and stuffed it into his bag.
'I have to get out of here.'
The scent of blood was sure to attract the horrors of the damned forest. He certainly wouldn't want to be anywhere nearby when that happened.
He began sprinting back to his shelter.
Finally arriving at the cave, the ran all the way to the very back, far away from the entrance where he had made camp.
Seeing the little he had made him recall the comforts of his previous life. The comforts of his bed.
He sighed again and dropped to the ground, completely exhausted.
The battle had been short, but intense.
He placed his newly regenerated arm over his chest and sucked air deep into his lungs.
Putting his life on the line that way made him feel alive in a different way.
That moment where his fear had morphed into an indescribable feeling.
'That feeling...'
He suddenly shook his head.
It was better not to get used to it.
He still had a clear picture of his goal— to reach the capital.
If he reached the capital and warned the rest of the world of what he saw, perhaps maybe, he would have done his part for those that were no more.
He sighed again, 'No use delaying it.'
His brows crinkled together as he sat up,
'Oracle, do I have to eat it raw?'
The monotonous voice of the Divine Oracle swam directly into his mind,
{The energy content within the corrupted flesh the Heretic needs is not changed, regardless of if the flesh is raw or not}.
He heaved a sigh of relief and pulled out the slab of meat.
The dull brown flesh was rather unappetizing, but he had no choice.
First, he had to cook it of course.
To do that, he would need a fire.
He pursed his lips. A fire could very well attract unwanted attention, but he would rather not have to eat this thing raw. Even the smell was a bit rancid.
He left for a bit to gather twigs and fallen branches for firewood.
Picking up a few rocks as well, he dug into the earth to create a shallow put before arranging the stones and placing the twigs.
Digging through his stuff, he finally found the flint firestarter he had picked up from the priest's room.
With a heavy smack, particles of molten slag were shot off and onto the firewood.
In an instant, the wood was set ablaze.
Nero took a step back and waited.
'There isn't as much smoke as I thought there would be.' His brows furrowed.
Once the wood has burned sufficient and had been reduced to glowing coals, he grabbed the bundle of sticks he had set aside as well as the large slab of meat.
With incredible effort, he began cutting into it until he got several smaller pieces of meat.
Then he began skewering the meat pieces with the sticks before placing them around the fire.
Then he sat down and watched the coals burn. All he had to do was wait a bit and they would become edible. Hopefully.
The scent of the roasting meat quickly filled the cave.
It was not unpleasant, so Nero was hopeful at the very least. The golden drops of fat slid off the meat and onto the coals, making sizzling sounds as each drop fell.
After some time, he finally picked up a piece of meat that looked cooked enough.
And with a heavy heart...
He bit into it.