As they neared the forest, Gray couldn't help but panic. What had he been thinking? Why was he trying to aurafarm when he knew damn well that he'd get folded if he tried to fight again.
As they continued their march, the air imperceptibly changed, a vile, rotten smell spread throughout the ranks as Gray's face scrunched up in disgust.
The mist thickened, clinging to their skin like wet shrouds. The trees ahead of them seemed unnatural, twisted, gnarled things, their bark blackened as if scorched from within.
Gray raised his head to witness vultures circling above them silently.
'That is definitely not a good sign.' Gray muttered in his mind with an awkward laugh.
"I'll be damned if my ass is walking through this obvious death trap," Gray whispered under his breath.
Raising his hand, he stopped his army dead in their tracks.
"Set the oil lines," he ordered quickly.
The soldiers obeyed, dragging barrels across the damp ground, coating the forest's roots in liquid flame.
'Oh how much I want a priest in this campaign.' Gray thought silently before taking a torch from one of his men.
Then, without hesitation, he hurled the torch into the forest.
Flames erupted instantly, roaring as they devoured bark, leaf, and soil alike. The men flinched back, shielding their faces from the heat.
Guttural roars and shouts radiated from the forest, eclipsing the entire region in the shouts of the damned.
"I guess that's the foot soldiers," he muttered, and after hearing another, stronger roar. Gray nodded his head, "That's the mini boss."
And after hearing a sudden screech that seemed to resound through the entire place, Gray shook his head in satisfaction.
"And now that's the boss." He muttered happily, it seemed everything was going his way. "God, I'm so smart," Gray praised himself quietly while overlooking the burning forest.
Suddenly, the piercing screech faded into silence as the forest became unnaturally silent. Only the crackle of trees resounded from the boscage.
Gray's head tilted in befuddlement, "That's not —"
All of a sudden, the ground exploded.
A figure — no, a mass began to rise from the charred ground. It looked vaguely humanoid, but wrong. Its limbs were too long, its joints bent at unnatural angles. The creature's flesh was half-melted, dripping like tar, and where eyes should've been, there was an abyssal darkness.
The soldiers recoiled. A few raised their weapons, trembling.
Gray just stared. His mouth went dry.
"Ah, fuck," he whispered.
Immediately, Gray turned — and ran like his life depended on it.
"My ass is not staying here!" He said with a forced chuckle.
But, thinking of the earlier declarations he made, Gray steeled himself. He skid to a stop next to his vanguard and quickly shouted at his soldiers.
"Fall back! Spearmen, brace! Archers, aim for the torso with the time they brought you!"
Hearing his orders, his army moved with precise movements, like a well oiled machine.
A volley of arrows whistled through the smoky air. Most bounced off the creature's slick hide; a few sank in, only to be absorbed into its tar-like body.
'Well I didn't expect much.' Gray thought silently.
The creature lunged at his army, the ground quaked beneath its steps. Spears shattered and shields splintered.
Gray's stomach twisted. He talked big but now, watching the front line crumple like paper, he felt that familiar feeling that had always ridden him — inferiority.
Gray grit his teeth, he was not going to let anyone die!
Looking around, he found a barrel of oil half submerged in the mud. Gray dashed through the chaos, mud splattering across his armor as tendrils slammed into the ground around him.
Each strike sent shudders through the earth, spraying ash and dirt into the air but Gray ignored them all, his mind utterly focused on reaching the oil barrel.
Gray was only a few steps away from the barrel before a tendril shot straight towards him at break neck speed.
Gray flinched, his body froze up as he stared at the tendril streaking through the air.
With a loud thump, the tendril slammed straight into his chest. The impact was brutal, whirling Gray through the air.
The wind was ripped out of his lungs, as he collided head on with a burning tree.
"Argh—!" Gray let out a whimpered growl. His vision spun, and his ribs felt like splintered glass. Every breath felt like he was inhaling fire.
Gray's vision dimmed, darkness took over his sight as he struggled to regain footing.
'No!' Gray growled in his mind, "I can't fall here!" He snarled, his voice ripped through the air while he staggered back and forth.
His entire chest burned — ribs cracked, breath shallow — but he forced himself upright.
"Fucking hell," he muttered, staggering toward the barrel again. "You think I'm dying before I light your ugly ass up?"
The monster's head turned. Its empty eyes seemed to pierce his soul itself. The tendrils writhed, coiling like serpents ready to strike.
He lurched forward, pain flared in every nerve but he endured, lunging towards the barrel.
Gray felt his army had been pierced several thousand times by invisible needles, each tug caused an unnatural pain to shoot through his body.
But he endured.
For what reason? Gray didn't know — he just really wanted to kill that bastard.
The creature turned fully now, its movements slow but deliberate — a lumbering mountain of charred muscle and tar that pulsed like something alive and rotten.
Gray coughed violently, a mix of blood and soot staining his lips. "It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter! Hurt me again bastard! Try to break me as many times you want.
"You might destroy my body, kill my mind, annihilate my army. But you can't stop my will! As long as I can move, I'll always stand up! Let's see who'll die first, you wretched beast!"
The Nightmare Creature upon seeing this act of defiance, grinned. Its mocking smile disappeared under its melting flesh.
Gray laughed, his half hysteric, ragged laughter caused everyone to pause.
Men froze. Horses reared. Even the Nightmare Creature seemed slightly shaken.
"You will die screaming!" Gray yelled before lunging at the oil barrel.
The Nightmare Creature took a moment to react, but it was all the time Gray needed to reach the barrel.
Gray twisted under a swinging, molten appendage, narrowly avoiding the attack. He slammed into the rim of the barrel.
The creature raised its appendage once again, preparing to strike Gray. But miscalculated the distance, his attack barely grazing him.
Gray hurrumphed, prying the metallic lid open with his fingers. His nails tore at the rim, ripping a slew of his own skin and nails in the process, but he didn't care.
At the same moment, the creature dashed towards him. Gray was finally able to pry open the barrel, spilling the black gold around him.
The Nightmare Creature dashed towards him, trampling over his vanguards and hoplites. One might think that its hulking mass of flesh and molten tar would've weighed it down but if it did, it didn't show it.
The creature's thunderous steps shattered the charred soil as it barreled toward him. Each stride was a quake, every breath of its molten chest releasing plumes of black smoke into the air.
Gray was sprawled out on the ground, dipping between consciousness and unconsciousness. His body trembled—not from fear but exhaustion. His ribs screamed, his breathing ragged, yet his mind was clear.
'So this is it?' He thought grimly.
Surprisingly, Gray wasn't scared. He was unnaturally calm. His only regret was not having said goodbye to Nym.
"I'm — sorry." Gray choked out.
Saying that, he closed his eyes, accepting his fate.
"Commander! Commander!" a distant voice cried out, awakening him.
Gray twisted his head weakly. Through the haze of heat and smoke, one of his soldiers stood battered and desperate.
In his trembling hand burned a single torch, its orange glow defiant against the gloom.
The man's lips quivered, tears streamed down his eyes as he shouted, "For the Commander!" and without a hint of hesitation hurled it towards him.
The torch sailed through the air, spinning end over end, an ember against the void.
Gray's eyes widened. These idiots wanted to create him! Them calling out for him wasn't for him to dodge this but then paying their respects.
Gray's eyes widened. The oil-soaked ground hissed the moment it touched down.
"Shit!" he spat, his instincts flaring to life.
With a surge of adrenaline, Gray propelled himself forward, throwing his body beneath the oncoming Nightmare Creature.
For a heartbeat, everything stood still.
Gray found himself directly beneath it, its twisted body towering so close he could feel the heat rolling off its molten skin. The creature paused mid-stride, its tar-dripping face lowering just enough for their eyes to meet.
Those eyes — black, hollow, endless met his.
And for a singular moment, neither moved. Time itself seemed to come to a standstill.
Then the fire erupted.
The oil ignited in a blinding conflagration, a storm of flame that swallowed earth and sky alike. The explosion thundered outward in a wave of incandescent fury. The Nightmare Creature shrieked, a sound so dark that it shook him to the very core.
Gray was hurled to the ground, shielding his head as the beast above him burned. The heat roared overhead, scorching his cloak, licking at his armor, but the creature's bulk shielded him from the worst of the blaze.
The monster staggered, its silhouette wreathed in fire, limbs flailing before it finally fell, crashing into the mud and sending molten tar splattering in every direction.
[You have killed the Dormant Terror, Faceless One]
Gray's throat burned as he forced out a shaky laugh, part relief, part disbelief. "Heh… that was definitely the main boss."
His vision wavered as fatigue took over, but he didn't collapse just yet. He looked once at the charred corpse of the Nightmare Creature.
"I told you," he muttered softly, his voice breaking, "I'd be the last one standing."
Then Gray finally let the exhaustion claim him, drifting off into darkness.