Mountain slope far from Nevermore
(So that's the one) (William)
William, in the form of a raven, observed a small blood-red puddle, resting on the branch of a pine tree, located on the mountainside. A field full of blood-red mushrooms covered the entire area, striking against the grey landscape of stones and the green of the nearby trees.
A small rabbit approached a mushroom. The little one thought he had found a gold mine all to himself. He ignored his instincts and approached the pool, wanting to feast on the mushrooms.
The little rabbit's cry was heart-wrenching. A bony hand emerged from the red mud and grabbed its small body with its long fingers. The rabbit struggled for its life as a second hand emerged on the left, using its sharp claws to disembowel the animal.
The long hands held the body while blood spilled onto the largest mushroom in the area. Apart from being the largest, this mushroom had another characteristic: two small holes in the top.
(Now I understand how it can spend so much time submerged in the mud; those are its nostrils.)
William witnessed the whole thing from start to finish. It took him an hour to locate that unique spot. He had flown over the entire area in his four-winged eagle form, and with his keen eyesight, it was easy to find the only red spot in a sea of grey and green colours.
His system called his four-winged eagle form a "Fury eagle".
Eugene had helped him narrow down the search area, but with his new aerial form, it only took William a few minutes to cover large expanses of land.
(My system doesn't seem to react to it, maybe it's not so dangerous.)
William returned to his human form and approached the pool of red mud. He picked up a stone from the ground and, after striking a baseball pitching pose, threw the stone at high speed, hitting the Trasgo squarely on the nose.
"Grrrraaaarh!"
The Trasgo emerged from the mud. It was two metres tall, thin to the point that its ribs were visible, although its arms and legs looked muscular. It had a conical, mushroom-shaped head stained red with the blood of its victims, mostly animals and any curious hikers.
(Wow, the book said they liked to use stolen tools, but where did this bastard get a scythe?
It was a scythe with a long wooden handle, commonly used by farmers to cut weeds.
"Suffff"
His first attack was a simple side slash with his scythe, sparks flying everywhere. William easily deflected the attack and counterattacked, opening a long wound in the Trasgo's belly with Titan, his sharp spear.
(I'll only use the poison if necessary)
"Sparks" "Sparks" "Sparks"
Sparks flew around the area. The red-hatted Trasgo, perhaps irritated by the pain, repeated several attacks in a row, none of which were too dangerous for William, who calmly deflected each one.
(Blood Splatter)
His fourth attack was different. The Trasgo used his long arms to hook and push William's spear away while attacking with his left arm. His sharp claws, similar to those of an eagle and covered with small scales, cut the skin of the arm William used to defend himself.
(Son of a bitch, that was aimed at my eyes)
The unpleasant creature seemed to smile at William's pain, narrowing its red eyes with pleasure.
William took a couple of steps back, his bracelet vibrated for a few moments, and at a speed visible to the naked eye, his wounds healed completely.
William took advantage of its visible surprise, delivering a powerful thrust to the Trasgo's chest. Aware of the danger, the Trasgo crossed both arms to defend itself.
William's thrust changed to a sideways slash halfway through.
"Plaft" "¡Grrrraaaarh!"
The left arm of the red-hatted Trasgo spun several times in the air before falling. The Trasgo's scream was heart-wrenching; he seemed more accustomed to inflicting pain than feeling it.
The red-hatted Trasgo dropped his scythe, flexed his muscular legs, and lunged at William, intending to use his own fangs to disembowel the young man who had dared to hurt him.
William interposed his spear between the Trasgo's fangs. With his chest exposed, William kicked him backwards with a front kick, sending the Trasgocrashing into a tree.
(Let's end this.)
William repeated the same movement as before, lunging at the heart. Not caring about hurting his only remaining hand, the Trasgo held the Titan blade, preventing it from entering his chest.
"Click" "crack"
With the first click, Titan's blade expanded a full metre in front of him and, with a crunch of wood, the blade pierced both the red-hatted Trasgo and the tree at the same time.
"Click."
Titan's blade returned to its normal size, and the red- and grey-skinned Trasgo's body fell to its knees.
(We have to be sure) (William)
William aimed at the Trasgo's head, and after the characteristic metallic sound, Titan's blade expanded until it pierced his skull. The body shook for a moment before going still.
William had made another bear-shaped brooch with the ability to prevent any dirt from sticking to his clothes, so William remained as clean and perfect as he was at the start of the fight, except for a few drops of sweat on his forehead.
"KABOOOM"
An explosion echoed through the mountain, a rumbling that shook the trees and sent the birds fleeing in fear.
(Mmmm Where did that come from?) (William)
(Shrink, Titan)
William shook Titan to clean the blood off the blade. Titan shrank immediately, and then both the blade and the handle reduced in size. Now it was the size of a hunting knife, about 50 centimetres long, more like a dagger.
William placed it back in its leather knife sheath attached to his waist. It was white with gold and silver engravings, the figure of a wolf decorating the centre and silver clasps preventing it from slipping out. Mako la Da Vinci had made the frame. William refined the details and carved several runes inside, from "Maintain Form" to "Gather Mana." It was no longer necessary for William to keep an eye on Titan; it would remain small.
William hugged his shoulders and changed shape into a Golden Eagle, which would attract less attention than his four-winged Fury Eagle form.
Ten minutes before William executed the Red Hat Trasgo, on a mountainside far from Jericho, three large 4x4 trucks were deep in the forest.
"Sir, are you sure you want to blow up the whole area?" A man dressed in camouflage clothing and holding an assault rifle approached a man sitting cross-legged.
"Since we don't have both keys, the only way is to blow up the door." The man pointed his cane at a large circular door made of stone, embedded in the mountain wall, with a carving of a goat man opening his arms. To be exact, a faun with large goat horns.
"Tock."
He tapped his cane on the ground as he stood up. From his clothing to his gestures, he behaved like someone who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
"You and you have already placed the explosives," he said, pointing to two men carrying heavy backpacks.
"We've placed half of them. That should be enough," replied one of them, adjusting a detonator.
"Father, I think you should place everything you brought," said a young woman who got out of one of the cars. She was elegant, with blonde hair, very beautiful, and had a confident attitude.
"It's too much, sir. It would attract the attention of the nearest authorities. The load we already have will be enough," said Soldier A.
"With the amount we have installed now, it could pass for a natural mountain landslide." (Soldier B)
"I don't care if they put everything in, I trust Ashley, my precious daughter."
(Ashley's visions of the future have brought us a little closer to this moment, and I will have one of the eyes of destiny in my hands.)
"Mr Bell, this will be a bigger explosion. You should step back and take cover behind the vehicles."
"You're right, David." Mr Bell took his daughter's hand and stepped back at the urging of his security chief, David.
"You heard the boss. Load all the explosives. We're going to demolish this place." (David)
"The faster you finish, the faster we'll go home with our cheques." (David)
Five minutes later, the wiring was ready. Several charges of C4 surrounded the door of the Faun. This magnificent work of art, hundreds of years old, was about to disappear.
"Mr Bell, you can do the honours." (David)
"3, 2, 1... Fire." (Mr Bell)
"KABOOOM"
Following the loud explosion, a huge cloud of smoke covered the area and the hot air ruffled Mr Bell's elegant hair.