NOVPUBIt was a moment, but it felt like a lifetime for Arthur. Hot blood dripped down his injured arm as he felt all the power seep out of his body and his grip loosening quickly. Even with his monstrous strength, his fingers couldn't hold his weight anymore and were quickly getting dragged back to the edge.
The boy tried to stop that and grab the ledge with his right arm, only for it to slip again. Everything seemingly closed down on Arthur, with no escape.
Meanwhile, the monster kept biting and stomping Arthur's hand as if it had nothing else to do. It knew that its target was bound to fall soon, and it only needed to keep attacking its weakest spots. That idea alone shaped this one-sided fight and frustrated Arthur even more.
"I can't die here…" He muttered under his breath. 'I really can't die here… If I fall into his abyss… I will never be able to make it back… I would never be able to…'
Looking beneath him, Arthur's entire body shuddered in fear. There was really no evidence that he would never come back from falling into that hole; something deep inside him told him that it was indeed the point of no return.
That darkness, the suffocating feeling it gave him every time he looked at it, and the feeling of boundlessness this hole gave him only further intensified that feeling. Arthur truly didn't want to try and see if his fears were true or not. He would do anything not to see it with his own eyes… What lies down in that abyss.
But, with every inch his finger slipped, the inevitable outcome only glared him more and more in the eyes. There was no escaping it. Realizing that, Arthur's eyes flashed with a million thoughts as his lips quivered.
All he could hear at that point was his ragged breathing and his beating heart. The darkness had completely isolated his mind from reality. There was really nothing he could do that he didn't do already; luck had completely abandoned him at the worst possible moment.
At that moment, where everything seemed so hopeless, the first thing Arthur thought of wasn't death but rather…
'I'm sorry, Isla… I'm really sorry…' He thought to himself as he closed his eyes. 'I promised to meet you soon… I couldn't do it.'
All kinds of negative feelings rushed to his mind. He felt guilty and angry for breaking his promise to her at such a crucial moment. She wanted to see him again and talk, and he was trying to fulfill that wish.
However, everything from the start of this trip had been trying to hinder him from seeing her. Every time he would think he was finally reaching the end, another situation would arise that would postpone it. 𝖓𝖔𝖛𝔭𝖚𝖇.𝔠𝖔𝔪
It felt like fate itself was trying to keep him away from her and that only made it a tougher pill to swallow.
'I was never close, was I?' He smiled bitterly. 'I have been trying to find a way back for what feels like years, and yet… I failed in the end.'
*Slip*
At that point, Arthur's fingers were practically on the very edge, and all that was carrying his weights were the tips of his fingers. Seeing that, all the monster needed to do was stomp them one last time, and it would send Arthur hurling into the abyss.
It lifted one of its disgusting arms in the air before sending it down like an executioner's axe ready to deliver the final blow.
However, at that very moment…
*Swish* *BANG*
Arthur's entire cocoon shattered as he heard a loud noise coming out of nowhere. His eyes opened and looked up with surprise. There, he couldn't see the monster anymore as it was blasted into the distance.
"Sir! Hold on!!"
A familliar voice spoke to him as another silhouette emerged above him. Staring up, Arthur's face froze.
"Ger…ma?"
"It's me, sir! Hold on! I'm going to pull you up!"
The hand stretched forward and grabbed Arthur before pulling him up quickly and putting him on the ground. The boy was still too stunned to speak, and it took a few seconds to snap out of it.
"What… are you doing here, Germa?"
"I noticed that the situation had shifted, and I was worried you might've been in trouble, sir! I'm glad I reached you in time!" The man replied as he stood up. "Can you move, sir?"
"... Yeah, ehem… Yeah, I can still move. The bastard injured my left arm." Arthur replied as he shook all those thoughts away. He was still shocked Germa had come to save him and yet he didn't want to think about it at that moment. The reason for that was simple.
"EEEEEER!!!"
"It's still alive." The man said as he stood to fight it. "I will take care of it, sir. You can-"
"No," Arthur replied coldly as he pushed Germa to the side gently.
"Sir?" The man felt Arthur's aura suddenly flare chaotically. The sheer pressure he emitted at that moment was mind-blowing. Even Germa could feel his body sinking into the sound under the immensely hostile presence next to him.
'So… strong!' The man frowned before he stepped aside. He could feel that the boy was immensely angry. In fact, this was the first time he had seen Arthur this angry in his life.
"This thing is mine." The boy added calmly and stepped forward, his aura creating almost a visible barrier around him. His face at that moment was terrifying, to say the least. His eyes lit up with a faint red light.
"You took that opportunity to try and kill me, bastard. I was unable to do anything, and you used that. Now, where is all that courage you had earlier? Why are you cowering back, huh?"
The more Arthur spoke, the more his aura became more vast, chaotic, and extremely oppressive. For an outsider, simply staring at Arthur would make them feel like they must kneel. Their bodies simply couldn't handle standing next to him. Only the stronger people could even keep standing.
Even Germa, who was considerably strong, had to actually force himself to stay standing even though he wasn't the target of that raging aura. Meanwhile, its actual target was in a whole different world.
Staring at Arthur, the monster felt every cell of its being scream at it to escape for its life. Its entire body felt like it was being crushed in a meat grinder with no mercy. The aura wasn't just threatening, it was pure, completely superior, and almost… divine.
A creature of darkness staring at it was akin to staring at a blinding sun from up close; it hurt it greatly. So, without realizing it, the monster started taking several steps back. It wasn't even conscious of what its instinct was doing, and it couldn't think about that either.
Meanwhile, Arthur didn't seem to be in a hurry as he closed the distance between them. That was when the monster finally lost all control. It turned around and dashed away as fast as it could without looking back.
All it wanted was to run away from imminent death. All it wanted was to survi-
*Swish*
A//N: Thank you all for the gifts, golden tickets, and PS. Let's keep it up!
