Feliz was dead. The person who was meant to be the archer of the cohort was no more. Epsilon didn't really feel much towards her, and being honest, he didn't try to get to know her that well. The only thing he knew, was that she was a legacy.
But still, she was so close this whole time yet he never noticed it. Looking at the wounds on her body, she probably died in one of the tunnels while it was being flooded. Of course, all her memories were now gone, so there was no use for her body.
Although.. it was a source of food. But Epsilon was not insane enough to do that, or even consider it. He still had his morals.
**
A long while later, Epsilon had given her body a proper burial and used the top half of the broken tree as a gravestone. On it, he carved her name.
He had also gotten some rest while he was here. There didn't look to be a day or night cycle in this cavern, as the glowing rocks which brought light to this place shined perpetually. He was also attacked by 2 more chimera scouts, and gradually, he could feel [Judgement] tugging on his senses.
This place was slowly becoming unsafe. If these were scouts, then whatever group or clan they were apart of, had noticed their failure to return. Soon, their warriors would come, and Epsilon was certain he wouldn't be able to take them all on at once.
But the even stranger thing was, that those chimeras were unique. Not in the matter of that some were larger, others smaller, or even uglier. But the strange combination of limbs they had, didn't match.
Shaking his head, Epsilon dismissed that thought. Right now he had to focus on escaping this place. There was no room for anything else.
'It's time to move.'
He put on the loincloth that he just made, and used the rest of the skin as a rucksack to carry his meat. It was unlikely that he would return here again.
Taking a deep breath, he advanced into the forest.
**
Epsilons sixth sense was a little useless in this environment due to the lack of light. The roof of the forest was too dense with leaves, and the trees grew bigger and bigger as Epsilon advanced.
Tree roots were beginning to grow above ground, and quickly, Epsilon found himself struggling to climb over them. He even had to activate his Aspect just to not loose any speed.
This place was becoming more like a jungle than a simple forest.
Epsilon sighed. Despite how dark it was, he had to admit that it was quite beautiful. The amount of green here was abundant, even compared to what he saw in the waking world. It was a shame he couldn't bring his camera here.
Suddenly, Epsilon could feel the small glimmers of light up ahead, disappear and reappear. Something was coming, and it wasn't just one or two creatures, but a whole horde of them.
Quickly looking around, he saw a dark hole buried under the roots of a thick tree that was big enough to fit one person. Wasting no time, he threw himself into it.
A few moments later, four creatures resembling the chimera scouts, passed through the area Epsilon stood on just a moment ago. They were a bit bigger, had fangs, and were even more ugly than their smaller brothers.
They were definitely the combative force of their clan that had come to investigate the disappearances of their scouts.
While three of them continued on, one of them suddenly stopped.
It turned its head to look around, and eventually its gaze fell on the small hole that Epsilon hid in. Although it couldn't see him inside, it was suspicious that something may be hiding there.
Something tasty.
It took one step towards it, snapping a twig under its bulking arm. Epsilon could hear it growing closer, causing him to become wary as he summoned his dormant ability in its needle form.
He was unsure if it could even pierce its skin, but if he could blind it for just a moment, maybe he could escape.
[Judgement] was quiet.
The Creature was just inches away from discovering Epsilon. But before it could take another step, one of the creatures came back, and roared at him.
The creature near Epsilon roared back, but the other roared with even grater ferocity. It seemed to sulk, before turning back from the hole, and returning to its companions.
The moment it left, Epsilon jumped out his hiding place, and ran like the wind. Once it finished doing whatever it needed to, it would surely comeback and investigate the hole properly.
He did not want to be there when that happened.
He darted through the thick jungle, his bare feet skimming over tangled roots and damp earth. Sunlight flickered through the dense canopy, scattering golden shards down his path.
His breath came in quick bursts, his chest rising and falling as he weaved between towering trees and hangs of vines that whipped past his face, but he never stopped for a single moment.
He continued to run and keep running, eventually running out of breath. Once he stopped though, he saw a wave of light break out just in front him. He was almost at its exit.
Pushing himself onwards, he broke past the boundary of light, and emerged into a land that could only be described as one filled with death.
In front of him were corpses. Not just one or two, but hundreds, maybe even thousands. All of them were decaying, composing, with some looking more rotten than others.
Their blood spilled, and dyed the ground with a strange blood red colour.
Most of them were Chimeras, however, there was another group of creatures mixed in them. One that looked eerily similar to the Chimera's. They resembled Gorillas and monkey's too, however, they looked much more normal.
Their faces were recognisable, and not twisted into ugliness like the Chimera's, and there weren't strange protrusions or abnormal body parts growing out them either.
They looked normal. If that was the right word to call an ordinary creature of corruption.
He tried to take a deep breath, but the stench of rotting flesh filled the air. It was too difficult to breath in, so Epsilon turned back around. However, he jolted as he felt something strange.
Much like Nero, he could feel the condition and state of anything in the light rather than darkness. So when his senses expanded over the area, that reached even further than his range, he could sense something different from all the rest.
A decent number of corrupted creatures were fighting each other, but.. he could also feel a human just near them.