Nyx's body trembled with fury. The pain was unbearable, the blood soaking through his clothes, and the warmth of it pooling beneath him. But what hurt the most was the searing agony inside his chest his heart had been stabbed not only with a blade but with a feeling he couldn't shake. The cold, unfeeling smirk on the leader's face still burned in his mind, reminding him of how hopeless it all was.
He could feel the blood pulsing from his wound, but something far deeper within him, something more primal, was pushing him forward. He had to get up. He had to make it right.
Sobbing through the tears and pain, Nyx screamed. His voice was raw, hoarse from the broken sobs that racked his body. He screamed for Jarek, for himself, for all the people who had been crushed beneath the weight of the world. His anger was a wildfire, consuming everything around him.
Why? Why did it have to be like this?
With every ounce of energy left in him, Nyx forced himself to stand. His legs buckled, but he straightened up, fighting against the agony. The leader stood there, smirking, watching him with bored amusement.
"Pathetic," the leader spat. "You really think you can stop me?"
Nyx's vision swam. His limbs felt like they were made of lead, but he pushed forward, his hands clenched into fists, each step heavy with despair and rage. He barely registered the others, the men who had powers of their own, standing around him, their faces twisted with mockery.
They laughed. They didn't care. They were too busy collecting their riches, the loot they had stolen from the very people they had slaughtered. They took their time, savoring the wealth they'd gained from their cruelty.
One of them, a man with red-tinted glasses, stepped forward and kicked Nyx's side, sending him sprawling. "What do you think you're gonna do? Beg for mercy? You think you deserve it?"
The laughter was deafening.
The leader crossed his arms and shook his head, dismissing Nyx with a sneer. "Waste of space," he muttered.
But Nyx couldn't stop. He couldn't give up. His body screamed in agony, his blood slipping from his wound as he struggled to push himself off the ground. His vision was blurry, the edges of reality fading away, but the rage inside him kept him fighting.
With every ounce of his will, he swung his fist at the leader once more, but the punch was weak, pathetic. The leader stepped back, effortlessly dodging it, and then slammed his fist into Nyx's face. The blow knocked Nyx back to the ground, but he couldn't stop. He had to get up. He had to-
The leader didn't even let him finish that thought. Another punch, harder this time. Nyx's body spasmed with the force of it. His lip split, blood dripped down from his forehead, but he still struggled to rise. His muscles were burning, his vision darkening. It felt like he was sinking into a pit, but there was no bottom.
"You're nothing," the leader growled, eyes filled with disdain. "Nothing but a fly caught in the web."
Nyx gasped for breath, struggling to stay conscious, to hold onto any shred of dignity. But the blows kept coming, one after the other. His body couldn't take much more.
And then, just as he thought he couldn't endure another second, something unimaginable happened.
A deep, rumbling growl filled the air, cutting through the laughter of the men around him. Nyx's blurry eyes snapped open, and through the haze of pain, he saw the shadow of something massive looming above them.
Before anyone could react, the ground shook, and a monstrous creature erupted from the shadows. Its skin was a sickly green, covered in slime and jagged scales. Its eyes were glowing with an unnatural yellow hue, and its gaping maw was lined with rows of sharp teeth. It was huge towering over them, a terrifying beast from the depths of hell itself.
The men with powers turned to face the monster, their laughter turning into cries of panic. The leader's confident smirk faltered, his eyes widening in horror as the creature lunged forward with terrifying speed.
The monster snapped its jaws, catching the leader in one swift movement. Nyx watched, wide-eyed and breathless, as the leader was torn apart in seconds. The other men scattered, but it was too late. The monster swallowed the leader whole, its throat bulging grotesquely as the man vanished into the beast's stomach.
Nyx barely had time to process what was happening before the creature turned toward him. Its yellow eyes glowed with hunger as it gazed down at him. Before he could react, its jaws were upon him, swallowing him whole with terrifying speed.
For a brief moment, Nyx's world was consumed by darkness, and then, he was plunged into the most agonizing pain he had ever known.
The inside of the creature was like nothing Nyx had ever experienced. The stench was overwhelming, and the thick, slimy walls of the monster's belly seemed to pulsate around him. But it was the acid that burned through his skin that truly tore at his sanity. The pain was beyond anything he could comprehend. It wasn't just burning it was a feeling of being dissolved, a sensation of his very soul being eaten away.
The acid, sharp and acidic, seeped into his wounds, deepening them. His skin blistered, his muscles spasmed uncontrollably, and every movement was excruciating. His breath came in ragged gasps, but the acid only seemed to increase the pain with every breath he took.
The cries of agony tore from his throat as he clutched at his body, trying in vain to escape. He couldn't move. He couldn't think. It felt like he was being pulled apart, piece by piece.
Minutes or maybe hours passed in that horrible, suffocating darkness. Nyx couldn't keep track of time. The world was nothing but pain. But amidst it all, something within him refused to die. Something fought against the beast, against the agony that threatened to consume him.
When the monster was finally killed, a powerful explosion echoed through the chamber. Nyx's body was jerked violently, the pressure suddenly releasing. The creature's digestive system was torn apart by the blast, and Nyx, still bleeding and burning from the inside, found himself falling out of its mouth, hitting the ground with a sickening thud.
His body hit the cold stone floor with all the force of a falling stone, and he lay there for a long moment, unable to move, unable to feel anything other than the unbearable pain that still lingered in his wounds.
The others those who had been so quick to mock him, to laugh at his suffering had long since fled, leaving Nyx alone in the aftermath of the carnage. He was left with nothing but pain and the ruins of his life.
But even in the depths of despair, Nyx managed to drag himself to his knees, his body trembling with the effort. His vision was blurred, but through the haze, he could see the sunlight creeping in from above, casting a faint, ghostly light over the cavernous space.
And for the first time in what felt like forever, Nyx let himself collapse.