[Day 907]
Ahh… I didn't look back.
I ran. With every drop of strength in my body, I ran.
The wind howled past my ears. My heart slammed in my chest like a drumbeat of desperation. Behind me, the ground shook—
Boom.An explosion.
I staggered, body flung forward by the shockwave. Trees splintered and cracked. My vision spun. I hit the forest floor hard, tumbling through broken branches and mud.
My body was a mess—battered, bruised—but I was still conscious. I coughed, wiped the blood from my mouth, and forced myself up.
Then I saw it.
A white blur. Something sharp, glinting.
Shunk.
A massive nail—a claw?—pierced straight through my side. Cold. Bone-deep. I gasped, looking down.
White fur. That thing again. That demon.
I clutched the embedded nail, muscles screaming, and snapped it in half, tearing it out of my body with trembling hands. Blood poured out, but I was already moving—adrenaline overriding pain.
But the beast wasn't done.
SLAM.
A blow hit me so hard I didn't even see it. Just a flash—and then I was airborne, again, crashing through a line of trees like paper. My ribs cracked. My vision blurred. I hit the ground like a corpse, rolling over and over until everything went black for a moment.
I was bleeding everywhere. Muscles torn, bones shaking with every movement. I spat blood, coughing. My legs struggled to hold me up.
This thing… it wasn't just attacking.
It was playing with me.
Deliberately. Cruelly.
I grabbed a spear from my back. With a shout, I hurled it at its eye.
The spear disintegrated mid-air—just vanished as it touched the beast's skin.
What the hell?
It was smiling. Or… something close to it. A hungry, confident grin. Like I was just sport. A rabbit cornered by a lion.
And then it started to glow.
Crackling. Charging.
My instincts screamed louder than my thoughts. I grabbed the last two spears I had and ran—through trees, mud, anything in my way.
BOOOOM.
The world behind me disappeared. Trees, rocks, the earth itself—gone. A massive crater swallowed the place I'd been standing just seconds ago.
Even from this distance, the shockwave hit me like a truck. My ears rang. My skin burned. I coughed and fell to one knee.
Out of the smoke… it stood there.
Unscathed.
Its white fur glowed faintly. Eyes locked on mine.
That gaze—it burned. It saw me like an insect. Something to be crushed, but not too fast. It was enjoying this.
I backed away, blood pouring from my mouth. My body was covered in cuts and bruises, some too deep to close. I was torn apart.
"Why… why now…?"
I couldn't understand. Why did I run into this thing? Why me, now?
My legs moved. I kept running, even though it was useless.
Even though I knew it could catch me at any moment.
Even though I could feel it watching me—enjoying my fear.
I tried to shift into my bear form—
—but nothing.
The lock… it was still there.
I couldn't transform. Not now. Not when I needed it the most.
Then—
ZZZZZT.
Lightning again.
I dodged, barely. But the air around me turned white. Heat seared my skin.
And then—my left side went numb.
My arm. My leg. Gone. Not physically—still there—but I couldn't feel them. Nerve endings dead. Muscles useless. I collapsed, dragging myself with one hand.
Pain.
Searing pain.
For the first time since surpassing human limits… I screamed.
It hurt.
Tears welled up in my eyes. Not just from the pain—but from helplessness.
I had survived so much. Endured so many battles. Fought monsters. Grown stronger every day.
But this…
This wasn't a fight.
This was a massacre.
And still—it didn't finish me.
It watched.
As if wondering what I'd do next. As if waiting for me to crawl a little further just to crush me again.
Its eyes—
Those cold, electric eyes—
They weren't curious. They weren't hateful.
They were bored.