"How do we get out of here?" Eagle questioned silently.
Aziel merely hushed him as she continued down a route. Not sparing time to explain to Eagle, she seemed to have one goal in mind. Eagle's grip on the shovel tightens as a stream of pain coarse through the veins of his arms.
A group of armed guards marched towards the fire that was spreading quickly. Avoiding their path, Aziel hid behind the tents and barrels, holding in her breath. Her eyes were determined but Eagle couldn't tell what the reason behind it was.
He could hear the screams of the people and the cackling of the fire. From within his body, the same needle-like pain spreads through his body.
This was it.
"Ugh." Eagle grunted.
Sweat began to form on his forehead as he clenched his hands to try and stop the pain. Aziel's gaze quickly lands on him, realizing that it is spreading fast. Despite knowing that her focus should be on something else, she drops her seriousness and tries to help Eagle.
"Hold yourself firm." She said emotionlessly.
BOOM!
From behind the barrels that Aziel and Eagle were hiding, an explosion interrupts their actions. Eagle couldn't resist the impulse to glance at the source, which merely revealed the searing orange of the fire.
A bright light reflected in Aziel's eyes, slowly dimming. Her last ray of hope for a safe escape had faded. Only her grip on the shovel stayed tight throughout. People began screaming and running towards the direction that the two had initially come from.
"What's happening?" Eagle asked.
"The gates. They're no more." Aziel answered.
The gates leading out of Sasan were now broken into, they had truly no options left but to fight. Aziel glances from Eagle's hands and to the explosion.
"Hold yourself. Firm." She muttered the same exact words to Eagle.
Though he could make sense of what she was telling him to do, he wasn't sure he could. This sensation of pain that he was experiencing was worse than before. Aziel steps away from their hiding spot, watching the smoke arise from the ground and into the sky.
She takes her shovel, angling it in a certain direction almost like she was using a sword. Moments later, the gates are smashed open, allowing what appear to be entities to enter. People were thrown and decapitated in a split second.
Eagle staggered backward and hyperventilated, taken aback by the unexpected encounter. A mutated person flung towards the two, piercing itself with Aziel's shovel.
Blood splattered onto her face as she remained calm and let go of the shovel. Aziel's gaze stayed fixed on the humans and beasts as she moved to the side.
Despite looking the same age as Eagle, she was much more brave than he was. Being able to remain unphased by this sort of thing required lots of guts and resolve.
Making a decision, he managed to get up from his position, using his shovel to defend the two. The days that he spent on the tree had given him enough information on these sorts of things. He had witnessed multiple entities like these that thrived down there.
"Agh!" Eagle winced at the pain from his wrists.
It felt like glass was piercing through his flesh each second that passed by. It was like his body was being played with. No matter how painful things were, it surely became worse each time. Scared by the possibility of being consumed by the curse, he could only wish for it to stop.
A stream of people ran towards the gate, firing at the creatures with all sorts of weapons. The guards fought back the creatures, terrified, attempting to keep everything away.
Bodies were lying on the ground as it turned scarlet red. The lifeless body lying a few meters away began to convulse. The shovel on it was gradually devoured as the body began to stand on two feet.
"Found it." It gurgled.
Turning towards the two, Eagle noticed a smile growing on its twisted face. Its gaze seems to paralyze his body. Unable to move, Eagle could only watch as the creature accelerated. The pain in his wrist worsened as it grew closer, until he could feel the glass piercing from his skin.
Thump!
Eagle flinched at the scene before him. The small girl in front of him had just forced the beast in front of them to disintegrate into the air. He could hear his own heartbeat as the shock settled into his body and mind.
Eagle's senses felt wrong as his hands continued to ache. He could feel something coming from Aziel. It felt similar to when the curse overtook his body and compelled him to endure the tribulations.
"Are you okay?"
She turns slightly to face him, and he jumps back in panic. Her eyes were burning white, like if some strange energy was passing through them. A vein emerges from the side of her temple and travels down to her neck.
The top half of her face slowly but surely morphed, allowing three eyes to appear. She had somewhat become like those entities that were attacking them.
The only difference was that she did not appear to be as hostile as others were. The morphing stops above her lips as if it couldn't engulf her whole body. It was as if she were human but in the form of a monster.
He quickly crawls backward, attempting to get away from the young girl. This wasn't right.
Eagle frantically searched and grabbed onto the shovel that he had dropped. Was she fully taken over by the curse? Will she die now? Was she gone? Was she now a monster too?
In a panic, Eagle glanced around him, realizing how most of the monsters that entered into the camp were now staring directly in his direction. Eagle was trembling from the bizarre scenario but that wasn't the thing that truly shook him.
He glanced back at Aziel, scared as his body trembled nonstop. There was something connecting him to the overflowing energy coming from within Aziel's eyes. Eagle felt his whole body losing its own control. It was shutting down.
When he looked down at his wrist, something blue glowed from within. A dark haze engulfed his vision, blinding him. He felt the skin on the back of his wrist being pierced as he fell into a trance. Pain extended over his entire hand as the crawling sensation reached his fingers.
This was the familiar feeling of losing consciousness to the curse. It was like he was truly falling into those tribulations again. He remained silent, waiting for whatever would happen next. Whether it's a tribulation in which he will surrender to torture or agony.
Yet nothing like that occurred. He wasn't hurled into oblivion; he was brought back to reality. The thick haze gradually dissipates, freeing his view.
Eagles' eyes shook as he realized something wasn't right with his physique. He felt much lighter than before. Looking down at his wrist, he spotted blades growing from within his skin.
SCHINGZ!
He raised his arms to protect himself when he sensed some sort of energy coming from beside him. A loud screech hits his eardrums, almost bursting it.
Eagle had somehow pierced the creature running at him with his arm. The blades grew larger, cutting the beast in the process. He raises his head to see the creature's arm sliced in half. Unable to restore the severed limb.
The portion of the arm on the ground turns to liquid and absorbs into the earth. Eagle knew he'd seen it somewhere before. His lips quivered as he recalled his memories of Orion.
His uncle's body was pierced by the same animals. His hands shook as he examined the keen black blades. He has turned into the beasts that slaughtered his uncle.
He was one of those filthy beasts. Tears began to form from his eyes as he continued to hyperventilate. The sight of his uncle's bloody corpse was terrifying. The beast had penetrated his flesh and thrown him aside like nothing.
His uncle was alive one second, yet he vanished like nothing. Everything happened fast, but he still remembers his uncle's skin being cut through. The sensation of his uncle's blood splashing into his face. His uncle's voice as his throat was severed.
Eagle tightly grasped his hair and began to pull it. This wasn't right. Why was he like this?
"Hold. Yourself. Firm."
Those very same words from earlier. Eagle turned to face Aziel who was now only a couple of inches from him. As he observes his surroundings, an entity comes flying towards the two. Within the span of a few seconds, Aziel grabs a hold of its neck.
It lashes and thrashes about, cutting onto her arm. But despite being the one that was hurt, the creature was the one screeching. Aziel was different than before. She was much quicker and much stronger. With just a single squeeze, she managed to break its neck.
Another strange thing was that Eagle was here. He was conscious. He wasn't consumed by the tribulations.
Closing his fists, blades emerged from his flesh, showing their razor edges. From behind a few items in a safe space, hid two people.
"Sir, we really can't stay here." Thomas urged.
Though Gadaric had lost one of his eyes, the surviving one could see better than ever. The longer he observed the scene, the more fascinated he became. It was strange how the two small ones were cursed but did not completely lose control of their bodies. Anyone who was cursed would sink into oblivion or unconsciousness. This is where they would face the curse's challenges.
"So, there is a possibility where the curse can't fully take over. The tribulations can fail." Gadaric notes.
A smirk rose on his face as he whispered to himself. Thomas held onto Gadaric tightly, scared to be by himself. All of the monsters that had been invading their campsite had dwindled in size, but they were still powerful.
"Sir…what will we do?"
Gadaric remained silent, unconcerned with Thomas's shaky composure. Sasan used to be a holiday destination for wealthy aristocrats. He was convinced that because he was of lower position, he would never be able to come here to witness the Cursed.
However, desperate decisions are made. He was sent here not because of bribes or any other reason. Misfortune had fallen on him, that was all. The incentives had become punishments, and here he was.
His stream of thought evaporated the moment the ground rocked. Loud noises from outside the massive fence disrupted everything. Eagle and Aziel turn to confront the source. An enormous entity slowly crawls towards them, dragging its bloody feet along.