Six hours later…
A soft breeze rustles the leaves above. The sunlight filters through the branches, warm and golden. Birds chirp somewhere in the distance, their songs carefree—like the world hadn't just tried to kill someone.
Lavos stirs. His eyes crack open, squinting against the brightness. For a second, everything feels distant. Peaceful, even. But then—
His eyes snap open fully, and the memory comes crashing back.
The spider. The blood. The pain.
He bursts upright with a start, only for his body to scream in protest. Every inch of him aches—raw, bruised, torn. He grabs onto the nearest tree, using it to pull himself up.
"Tch… it hurts…" he mutters, gritting his teeth as he drags his body upright, limbs shaking under his weight.
Then, without hesitation, he yanks down his pants, heart pounding in his ears.
He looks down at his manhood.
"…Phew," he breathes out, almost laughing. "They're okay. Damn it, I thought I lost them."
There's dried blood around the area, crusted and dark. But no visible wounds. Nothing torn, nothing missing.
Still—something's off. The ache is deep, not on the skin, but inside.
He pulls his pants back up and leans against the tree, exhausted all over again. The sunlight doesn't feel so warm anymore.
Suddenly, Lavos's eyes land on the dead spider, still skewered on the sharp tree trunk. He scrunches up his face and pinches his nose. "This piece of shit smells like trash…"
His stomach growls, loud and angry. "And I am so damn hungry…"
He pushes himself up with a groan, limping forward on aching legs. "I'm surprised its smell didn't attract other things… I guess I'm lucky. Still, not gonna risk it for some rotten spider meat."
He sighs and keeps walking, slow and tired, scanning the trees around him.
"This place… There's not a single fruit in sight—"
Before he can finish the thought, his foot catches on something. He stumbles forward and smacks face-first into the dirt.
"Ouch…" he mutters, face buried in the ground.
It didn't really hurt much—he's so light he barely made a thud—but it still sucked.
Lavos shifts into a sitting position, legs sprawled out in front of him. His eyes settle on the grass beneath him. He stares at it for a second, then grabs a small handful and pulls it out of the dirt.
With barely a thought, he shoves it into his mouth and starts chewing.
It's bitter. Dry. Tastes like dirt and something else—something awful.
Tears roll down his cheeks as he chews, his body trembling. "It tastes horrible…" he mumbles through the mouthful, "but I guess I have to do anything to survi-"
Suddenly, his vision twitches. Everything tilts. A wave of dizziness hits him hard, followed by a sharp twist in his stomach.
He leans over and vomits onto the ground.
"Ggggh…"
He gasps for air, but another wave hits him and he vomits again, this time harder. His arms tremble as he braces himself, then collapses sideways into the grass, breathing fast and shallow.
"Huff… Huff… What the hell was that?!" he groans, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
His body's still shaking, his head spinning.
Lavos pushes himself back onto his feet, shaky but stubborn. Every step hurts, but he keeps moving.
"I… I don't understand what's wrong with this place…" he mutters, limping forward. "There's no food… nothing. I don't even know what would've happened if I actually ate that spider…"
He sighs, his breath shaky, and keeps limping for several minutes—just dragging one foot after the other.
Then something shifts behind him.
He stops.
There's a strange sound, low but heavy—like something huge moving.
He turns around, slowly, not expecting much.
And then his heart nearly stops.
Far behind him, the spider's dead body suddenly lifts into the air—launched like it was nothing, spinning as it rises.
Lavos squints, confused and horrified.
Then it happens.
Something massive, absolutely unreal, comes out from the trees.
A jaw. Not just big—unbelievably huge. The spider looks like a speck in front of it. Like an ant next to a human's jaw.
Lavos breathes, frozen in place, his eyes are wide.
The jaw snaps shut around the spider's body.
BOOM.
A shockwave blasts through the forest like a bomb going off. Every tree around it bends and shakes like they're made of paper.
The shockwave hits Lavos like a wall. He stumbles backward and crashes to the ground, unable to even process what he's seeing. His eyes are wide, jaw slack.
And before he can even react—
He pisses himself again.
Lavos's body moves before he can even think.
He flips onto his stomach and starts crawling—scrambling like a terrified animal, like a baby who's never learned how to walk. His hands dig into the dirt, his knees scrape the ground, but he doesn't care.
His breath is loud, ragged, uneven. His eyes won't stop shaking, darting in every direction, like danger could come from anywhere. Every snap of a branch, every shift in the leaves makes his heart jump.
Seconds feel like forever.
Time is dragging. Stretching. Warping.
He keeps crawling, faster and faster, hands slipping, knees hitting roots, but he doesn't stop. His brain is screaming, go go go.
Shapes start to move around him—shadows that might not be real. The trees blur, the ground shifts. It's like the forest is bending and twisting, like it's breathing.
Nothing feels real anymore. He doesn't know if he's still crawling forward or just crawling backwards.
But he keeps going.
Because whatever that thing was—
He does not want it to see him nor he wants to see it.
Lavos keeps crawling.
Thorns and rocks stab into his hands, cutting through skin. Blood drips from his fingers, leaving a trail behind him.
"No… no… no… no…" he mutters over and over, like a broken record.
His voice shakes. He's not even sure he's saying anything anymore—just noise to fight the fear. Then he starts humming, low and shaky, like a kid trying to calm himself.
Out of nowhere, he forces himself to his feet. He stumbles once, then bolts.
His legs scream in pain. He doesn't care. He runs. Hard. Fast. Reckless.
He doesn't know where he's going. Just away. Away from that thing.
Every step feels like it's breaking something inside him. His legs are barely holding together, muscles screaming, skin burning.
Minutes pass. Or maybe hours.
Then, while still running—his body gives him another warning.
He suddenly chokes and vomits a mouthful of blood, spraying it as he stumbles. But he doesn't stop. He can't stop.
He just runs slower now, dragging himself through the forest, legs buckling with each step.
Then—light.
He pushes through a thick bunch of trees, and suddenly he's out. Standing, barely.
In front of him are two guards.
They freeze.
Lavos stares at them, barely registering what he's seeing. Their faces—shocked. Pale. Afraid.
To them, he doesn't even look human.
His clothes are torn to shreds. His body is nothing but bruises and blood. Cuts run down his arms and legs. His mouth is covered in fresh blood.
And his eyes—
They were wide open, frozen in a blank, haunted stare. The whites of his eyes were bloodshot beyond belief, webbed with red so deep they almost looked bruised. And in the center, his pupils burned—unnaturally crimson, glowing faintly under the sunlight like dying embers.
There was no fear in them. No recognition. No humanity.
Just raw, hollow instinct. Like something primal had taken over.
To the guards, it wasn't a boy standing there.
It was a Demon.
The guards step back, instinctively raising their weapons.
And then, everything fades.
Lavos collapses.
His last memory before blacking out—those two terrified faces staring at him, like they'd just seen a monster.