Fingers?!?!

He was in disbelief, trying desperately to convince himself that he had made a mistake. But the slender shape of the “finger”, as well as the hard nail on its uppermost segment was unmistakable.

“Wha…” 

Panic began to set into him as he tried to hastily wipe the liquid out of his eyes. 

That was when he finally began to register the peculiar scent of iron lingering in the air, accompanied by a hint of something rotten-tasting on his tongue. He forced himself to push through the stinging sensation and finally opened his eyes.

And there, in his lap…

…was a disfigured, human arm.

“Ugh!” His anguished cry tore through the air as he violently threw the detached arm aside. He watched in horror as the limb landed a fair distance away, hitting the ground with a wet slap.

The arm was a ghastly shade of gray. Its flesh was ridden with holes, the skin peeling off the limb like dirty pieces of rags. It looked like it had been sitting in a vat of acid for days, melting the meat and bones into sludge.

Filled with pure dread, he slowly turned to investigate the ominous plodding sound from before. He now had a slight inkling of what it was, but he fervently wished it wasn’t true. 

Unfortunately, his wish fell on deaf ears. 

Laying next to him, was a blackened and dissolved torso.

The torso was a distorted and swollen mass, as if it had been immersed in putrid water for an eternity. Its four limbs were no longer attached to its sides, leaving only stumps in their place. Its tortured shape resembled a rotting meat nugget, with the disfigured mass coated in a slimy black goo that clung to it like a jelly-like layer of tar.

It remained connected only to its head, which suffered a similar fate as the arm did. The facial features were obliterated, melted beyond recognition. The dissolved flesh had cunningly flowed back into every crevice of the skull, flawlessly patching up the holes of the nostrils and eye sockets, as well as gluing the upper and lower rows of teeth tightly together with dissolved flesh.

This left only a smooth, black plate in place of a face.

The young wanderer was paralyzed by the horrific sight. The unsightly torso was emitting a stench that was utterly unbearable. An uncomfortable, twisting sensation churned deep in his chest as his eyes slowly began to comprehend what he had just witnessed.

His gaze darted around frantically as the shock began to take hold of him, widening to an almost unnatural degree as he allowed the full, ghastly sight before him to unveil itself.

Spreading out before him, was an expansive and nightmarish expanse of intertwined vines, stretched out like a monstrous tapestry. He found himself seated in a giant cobweb field, with countless other "water tanks" scattered all around him.

As the haze of shock began to lift, the pieces of the gruesome truth were finally coming together. The structure he had crashed through earlier wasn't a mere "water tank"; if anything, they were more like “vine coffin cocoons”!

Each of the chambers were brimming with rotting and decomposing blood drained from the victims’ bodies. They stewed each resident corpse within them like they were soup ingredients, dissolving them into a grotesque concoction.

The lingering taste of decay in his mouth violently jolted him back to reality, prompting a desperate cough to erupt out of him. He coughed and hacked as he struggled to expel the remaining vile liquid out of himself.

As he looked down around him, his vision began to spin. Now, he found himself seated amidst various pieces of dissolved limbs, all of them severely deformed. Some fingers… a thigh… a severed foot… and who knows what else these other pieces were…

It was at this moment that he finally made the connection.

What he had collided with inside the vine cocoon was a human corpse. In his violent passage, the brittle body had shattered into pieces upon suffering his impact, with the disfigured arm thrusting itself into his grasp.

All the disparate body parts had tumbled out alongside him, scattering in all directions. 

“Ugh! Ugh!” He moaned helplessly as he frantically knocked the remaining slimy limbs away from himself.

Looking around him, his eyes widened in dread. All around the giant net, countless other vine cocoons littered the vicinity, their numbers exceeding 50 and counting.

This prompted a cruel sight to flash into his mind. It was the sight of more than 50 dead humans in every single one of the vine tanks, each suspended in their own drained rotten blood.

As he processed that thought, he felt a rising feeling in his stomach. He covered his mouth urgently as he resisted his urge to vomit.

This is wrong. This is wrong. This is wrong.

He knew that he had to remove himself from this accursed place right away. He weakly floundered on the ground as he battled his spinning vision, trying to get back on his feet.

But unfortunately, he was not allowed a moment of grace. Immediately, the threaded vines all around him began to vibrate, producing a drumming sound.

As he craned his head towards its source, he feared the worst.

In the distance, a massive creature unfolded its lethargic legs. Its gigantic body was made out of vines, weaving itself into the form of a spider. Stretching out its eight legs, it began to rhythmically drum on its many vine creations. 

All of a sudden, a giant “vine spider” had just emerged as the enemy!

Bearing a pair of fangs glazed with moss, its various sets of pearly green eyes snapped onto him.

SKRREEEEEECCCHHH!! The giant vine spider let loose a huge piercing screech, ripping the air apart.

As the terrifying sound penetrated the young wanderer’s eardrums, a startled cry involuntarily escaped him as fear seized his senses.

The giant spider wasted no time, commencing a rapid descent down its constructed system of vine cobwebs. Its dominating form, vine-muscles rippling with power, was racing straight towards him like a crazed bull. It hurtled towards him like an incoming asteroid, its colossal weight quaking the ground beneath.

Snap! Snap! The huge nets of vine threads in its way stood no chance, snapping forcefully like rubber bands as the spider ripped through them at top speed.

As the building-sized spider rapidly closed in on him, he was still sitting helplessly on his bum like a dumbfounded duck. If he treasured his life, he had to formulate a plan immediately!

Forcing himself into survival mode, he managed to push aside the morbid scene from just seconds before, as a tiny portion of strength returned to his body. With this newfound surge of strength, he stumbled to his feet, initiating a frantic sprint away from the mad vine monster.

He dashed forward with all his might, refusing to cast even a fleeting glance back at his relentless pursuer. He was aware of the significant difference in their speeds, and understood that it wouldn't take long for the creature to close the meager distance.

As the monster rapidly gained momentum, it loomed dangerously behind him, seconds away from running him over.

But it didn’t matter. From the beginning, he wasn’t foolish enough to believe that he could ever outrun the spider.

He had a plan, and that plan only begins now!

He shouted the name of his mana technique at the top of his lungs.

“[Sliding Ephemera] !”

Channeling mana into his legs and feet, he applied his mana technique to the clothing on his lower body. With a subtle blue glow, tiny droplets of water materialized, floating weightlessly out from under his boots and the underside of his trousers.

In a single swift motion, he smoothly slid into a forward slide.

Preserving his forward momentum, he effortlessly glided across the forest floor at an accelerated speed. He aimed himself straight at a towering tree, leading with his legs as he shot forwards at top speed.

Pah! As he collided into the intended tree, he used his shoulder to roll off against the impact, expertly shaking off all of his momentum.

Having brought himself to a complete halt, he broke into another sprint. This time, in the direction of the tree's side. He swiftly dashed along the circumference of the towering tree’s trunk, displaying remarkable agility as he quickly wrapped around the entirety of it within mere moments.

Fixated solely on its prey, the blood-starved spider was too blinded by its greed to notice the incoming obstacle until it was too late. In desperation, it thrashed its long legs about as it surged forward, trying to dig its limbs deep into the surrounding ground in order to anchor its giant, hurtling body.

However, this proved to be a futile endeavor. The spider's massive weight now worked against it, making it impossible for it to stop in time.

Unable to halt its momentum, it smashed head-first into the massive trunk of the great tree. All of the giant spider’s momentum was slammed back into its own head, rattling its brain and disorienting it.

The great tree trembled from the massive impact, causing some of the vine cocoons hanging on its branches to be shaken loose. All around the massive body of the spider, the vine cocoons fell like droplets of rain from above.

Splat! Splat! Splat! The vine cocoons crumbled into deformed piles of mangled flesh and bones as they smashed into the ground, splattering into puddles of black blood. 

Unfortunately, the pain from the collision was not enough to cease the spider’s bloodlust. Letting off an enraged screech of pain, it only grew more furious.

SKRRREEEEECCCHHHHH!!! 

Raising two of its long and slender legs, it curved a strike around the massive trunk and impaled the prey behind it with the razor sharp tip of its claws.

But despite the precision of its strike, the spider was puzzled at the lack of feedback at the end of its claws. As it retracted its long legs, it came to a realization that nothing was caught on their ends.

It seems that its prey had long since vanished from the opposite foot of the great tree, blending seamlessly into the dark shades of the shadows. Unfortunately for the spider, its quarry had managed to slip out of its field of view without its notice, akin to a ninja vanishing into the darkness.

After witnessing its prey seemingly disappear into thin air, the giant vine spider became uncertain of its next move. It now stumbled menacingly around the forest, hunting for the elusive prey that had slipped away.

***

Several meters away.

The blue-haired youth peeked out slightly from the concealment of a separate tree, watching in fearful silence as the giant monster slowly lumbered out of his vicinity. With the sound of danger now becoming distant echoes, he was finally allowed to breathe.

Already exhausted from hours of battling through the relentless vines, he couldn’t believe that he still had enough strength in him to escape the terrifying spider. All of it must have been made possible by the adrenaline running through his veins, temporarily numbing his feelings of exhaustion.

However, the temporary painkillers were now wearing off, and the aftereffects of all the accumulated fatigue could be felt. Exhausted, he sank down the trunk of the tree, finally seizing a moment of respite. As he gasped for air, his heart continued its furious rhythm, pounding like a drum in his chest. 

With a trembling heart, he gazed up at the branches above. Even now, more of the vine cocoons dangled ominously above him, suspending from the tall branches. He tore his eyes away immediately, not wishing to see the gruesome imagery in his head once again.

Throughout the entire forest, he had witnessed the countless number of the vine cocoons all around him. They were adorning the branches of nearly every single tree, their numbers as abundant as fruits.

Even after walking through the forest for nearly two hours, he had remained completely oblivious to the fact that he had been walking under the hanging corpses of humans the entire time, watching their drained blood dripping off their hanging coffins in the darkness. 

He might as well have been walking through a hanging graveyard.

The unholy odor pervading the air suddenly made grim sense.

It was the stench of death.

He pinched his nose desperately, trying his best to resist inhaling any more of the nauseating stench of decomposition engulfing him.

Just how many had succumbed to the might of this spider? 300? 400? Thousands?

As he began to feel his head spin, the grotesque reality of the situation finally struck him. All the delayed shock had finally caught up to him, crashing into him like a massive tidal wave.

His mind began to spiral.

Even now, the rotting blood and its sickening smell clung onto his skin. The blood had likely been stewing within itself for such a long time that it had turned into a hideous shade of black.

As he felt himself being covered all over by such a vile substance, he was sent back to the moment where he was sitting within the pile of human limbs and remains. This sight was taking a toll on his mind, causing a certain madness to engulf him.

He began to frantically rub at his skin, trying to rid himself of the disgusting coating of blood.

In the corners of his vision, flashes of the disfigured and tortured torso began to resurface in his mind. The vivid images played like a traumatic slideshow.

Huuuu… huuuu… huuuu…

His breath grew shallow, matching the erratic rhythm of the memories. Breathing suddenly became a laborious task, as he began to desperately gulp and gasp for the breath that eluded him.

He tried hard to rid his mind of the disgusting image, but the smooth plated face of the corpse continued haunting him.

Over and over again, the black plated face appeared in his head.

It felt like something that he should have never witnessed. Everything just seemed so wrong. So twisted. So unholy. 

Gahhhh!! Hrrrkkkk!!! Grrrrrhuuuhhh!!

Clutching his head forcefully, he dug his fingers deep into his temple, trying to drive the nightmarish thoughts away using pain.

But it did not help. He could only squirm around helplessly on the forest floor as the thoughts continued to assault him.

No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.

He should have never seen it. He should have never seen it. He should have never seen it. He should have never seen it. He should have never seen it. He should have never seen it.

In a frenzied state, he began to scrub his forearm forcefully. He was not going to allow the liquid to stay on his body for even a second longer.

Come off! Come off! Come off, come off, come off! COME OFF!!

Upon realizing the liquid was not coming off, he began to scrub himself even harder. Using his nails, his fingers began peeling and scraping his skin, tearing into his flesh. Large grafts of his blackened skin fell onto the ground as he flayed himself.

COME OFF!! COME OFF!! COME OFF!! COME OFF!! COME OFF!!

A wave of discomfort suddenly surged up from deep within. A desperate urge to vomit overpowers him, as all the contents of his body are pulled from bottom to top. 

Bluuuurrrrrghhhhh- Chunks of yellow vomit erupted from his mouth, spilling onto the ground. He retched violently as the rising acid burned his throat.

Slowly but surely, he was losing his grip on himself.

He began to claw at his throat as the smooth, black face flashed again and again and again and again in front of his eyes.

Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head.

Wrestling for his last bit of sanity, he reactively fished out a blue, crystal pendant hidden under his midnight-coloured scarf. He clutched the radiant crystal tightly within his palms, desperately seeking its solace to calm his heart.

This was his final opportunity to rescue his mind.

The crystal was akin to a captured fragment of the cerulean sky, exuding a mesmerizing depth of color as it dangled gracefully from a golden chain. The bright blue crystal possessed an ethereal allure, its facets seemingly able to catch the scarce beams of light around with a subtle brilliance.

Pouring some mana into the alluring artifact, it began to glow softly in response.

As his fingers traced the contours of the pendant, he found solace in the fond memories it invoked—memories about the person who had bestowed this precious gift upon him. 

Please save me, 

…Mother…