(> forest feast <. )
Izuma shoved Sai out of the way and unleashed a sharp vertical slash through the air.
[ SLAAHHH ]!!!!!!!!!!!!
"GRAAAAAAAAAAHH"
A deafening, horrific scream echoed throughout the forest. From the tip of Izuma's sword, the same black fluid they had seen when they first entered the woods began to drip onto the ground.
The creature's body, however, remained invisible.
Once again, silence fell.
"Where is it??"
Haru asked urgently.
"It has merged completely with the shadows of the forest,"
Izuma replied, his eyes scanning the perimeter.
"Kraak krraak..."
The sound returned. It wasn't walking on the ground; it was moving within the darkness itself.
Suddenly...
A cold gust of wind brushed past them from behind. They all turned back in unison. There, in the shroud of darkness, it lurked.
It was standing right behind their very breath.
They stood alert, their hands tightening around the hilts of their swords.
The Nethavana Forest was a trap leading to certain death; the forest itself did not kill anyone, but rather, it served humans up like a feast to the Velkrath.
[Thump... Thump...]
With a tremor that shook the very earth, it arrived...
They were stunned by the figure that emerged from the darkness.
It was a terrifying, coal-black entity fused within a shadow. Its body seemed to flow and ripple as if made of liquid darkness, with only the palms of its hands and feet visible. It had a long, ghostly white face and deep crimson eyes. Its massive claws scraped against the earth.
"Ehhi.... Hehehe... hehehe..."
It laughed at them, a sound designed to pull the very fear out of their souls.
"Hehehe.. hehehe"
The Velkrath scanned each of them, its gaze lingering.
{¡¡¡¡¡ Ooooiiiiiii Oiiiiiiiii ¡¡¡¡¡}
It let out a piercing, high-pitched screech.
"Argh...!"
The sound was unbearable, like needles piercing through their eardrums.
"Hehehehe..."
They stood frozen for a moment at the sight of that form; no one had imagined such a terrifying creature existed within that forest.
The Velkrath is not a human, not an animal, and not quite an entity...
Then what is it?
There is no answer to that question. It is a power that manifests as invisible at times, real at others, and as a deceptive illusion in between.
Its face is human-like, yet its body is fluid and shifting like a shadow. Its palms are elongated and thin like withered twigs, but the claws are as sharp as honed blades. Its feet resemble those of a predatory hound.
Its eyes glow with an intense, burning crimson. The face is long and gaunt, looking as if it had been dipped in white ash. Behind its pitch-black lips lie jagged teeth drenched in blood.
Yes... he has finally come out to eliminate them.
The hunter who lay in wait within the Nethavana Forest...
{ VELKRATH }...