The subtle sand fills Bagani's breath as he lied unconscious. A soft growl mellowed around, the foul smell of rotten eggs acidified the air as it went closer. Bagani woke up in pitch-black darkness somewhere within the tomb.
"Where am I?..." He asked himself as he rubbed his aching head.
Bagani crouched, touching the ground he was on to try and identify where he is. A sensation of a thousand worms moving from place to place, slowly devouring the soil of the ground. The things slowly went up to his legs biting him with acidic like substances. Bagani breathed rapidly in panic, he began to pat his legs to throw off the insect away from his body. Using his instincts, he pulled out Hait from its sheath to light up the surrounding. The blue light of the sword glowed as he transformed his stamina into magical energy and infused it into the sword. It partially litten up the entire room for Bagani's panic caused him to put too much power into it. His eyes widened, he froze in place. The Asulhero, Bagani Panganiban, was now dealing with threats outside his expertise. An illusion one can truly feel but cease to exist at the same time. The pack of worms disappeared in an instant once he looked at his body parts with the assistance of Hait.
"Where are you?! Show yourself!" Bagani shouted.
Out of the shadows came out a silhouette of a man. With one arm on his back, he uses the other one to hold his staff. Enraged by its presence, Bagani infused his magical energy into Dugo. The sword lit up its bright red color, disabling Hait in the process. Heaviness flowing through its grip, Bagani launched the sword up to the air. He threw it directly at the man. Dugo flew in the air with the sound as of that of a boomerang flying. The silhouette stood still in its place without fear. Bagani grinned as Dugo got closer and closer into it. Dugo hit the silhouette in the neck. The magic-infused sword then went through the figure and crashed into a wall. Like a crashing boulder, Dugo made the walls shatter and the ground to quake as it landed. Bagani stared ahead into the smoke of sand after the collision of Dugo. Fear soothes over his body as he saw the silhouette turn into smoke. A feeling of distress surges over him, his hair stood up, and the feeling of cold air blew behind his neck. Bagani quickly ran towards his weapon, pulling it out of the wall it is stuck on.
"What..." Bagani mutters to himself. He huffs in exhaustion due to the massive stamina usage he transformed into magic.
A hiss echoes from the distant darkness. Bagani turned and looked at it with the power of Dugo. Slithering from place to place, a body of a brown colored snake slides around Bagani. The Asulhero prepared both his weapons on their rightful placement in his hands. He powers Hait and stared at the creature. The creature stood up upon him. Twelve feet in length, the venomous snake circled Bagani as it prepared to strike. Bagani shakes, fearing for the next surprise of the creature. He tucks down, following the animal's head as it swindles around. The snake made its move. With its whole body, it lunged itself face-first into the Asulhero. Bagani dodge, he swung his sword. Using the lightness capabilities of Hait, the sword cut precisely and made the snake bleed. Its scales cleanly cut off from its flesh as it loudly hisses in pain. The snake used its fangs and shot out a drizzle of highly venomous substance.
"This feels too easy..." Bagani thought to himself. A sense of weakness fills his body as he shakes his head. He blinked. The snake disappeared out of his vision. The Asulhero felt his nerves beating from the inside. "You're messing with me..." He breathes even faster. Bagani circled, trying to find an exit or a source of light.
A spotlight appeared in the middle of the room from an unknown source. Bagani further gritted his teeth in anger. He then blinked. In an instant, the room became a forest, he was in the middle, blessed by the light of the full moon around the huge trees that blocked the light. Bagani looked at himself, he wore his old clothes, his body was uninjured, and Hait along Dugo was nowhere to be seen.
"Bagani?" A familiar voice echoed behind him. The Asulhero swiftly turned his head. A swarm of flies blew towards him. Bagani covered his face from the pests. A putrid smell pierced his nose. He quickly covered his snout from the horrible smell. On the ground was a pile of dead animals, decomposing as flies and other bugs infest them. Bagani's stomach rumbled from the sight along with the unbearable stench, his eyes watered as he tried to get away from the unappetizing sight. Cold air blew behind his back. The sensation of liquid poured behind his back, in an instant the Asulhero's backs was slashed by an unknown force. Knocked down to the ground, the voices inside Bagani's head to shout at him once again as he kneeled in despair.
"Look at this rubbish."
"How pathetic."
His vision darkens. A vision of the hooded man flashes through his mind. Bagani's body uncontrollably shivers in fear. He began to palpitate, his breath became heavy, and he began to abnormally sweat in such a cold and timid night.
"I thought you were going to avenge us." The familiar voice once again echoed behind his back. Sweat slithered down from his head to the tip of his snoot. The drop fell on the ground and rippled, transforming the trees out of existence making a blank void and the patches of grass into a plane of water, shading dark-blue color reflecting the night sky. Bagani stood up efficiently, it seems as he hasn't got injured at all.
"So what are you..." The Asulhero muttered, staring ahead the voice with eyes as dead as a fish.
There stood his sister, Luzviminda. She acted proficiently, taking the lead towards Bagani. "Bagani we need to escape!..." She panicked in front of her twin. "The Aswangs are coming!"
Bagani stood still without any emotion. He stared at a blank space behind Luz.
"We need to go!" Luz once again shouted in front of him. Bagani kept still.
Luz then finally snapped in anger. "You irresponsible scum!" She screeched. Amending an unnatural attitude. Within the dark voided space, an Aswang tongue shot out with immense power. For the second time in his life, Bagani saw his sibling get murdered in front of him. An abundant amount of blood spilled from Luz's chest. "Bagani..." She muttered with her dying breath. The water from below reeked out blood. There was silence. From his delicate face, the handkerchief used to patch his sacred eye slipped and waved towards the ground. He closed his eyes, Bagani took a deep breath.
Once was a place filled with blood,
Then absolute nothingness,
Then the fire.
The Asulhero opened his eyes once again, a rage-filled aura lingered through the surrounding. His hand instinctively pulled Dugo from its sheath without the knowledge that it is even there. Bagani's blank face turned into a horrifying smile. He held the sword with both hands, the red light along with the color of blood lightens up the surrounding.
"Digmaan..." He cast, his voice emitted a rough sound that as of sandpaper.
Dugo extended, doubling its size. The Eye of Bathala glowed. The enraged Asulhero started to swing his sword everywhere. Using Dugo's power, the bloody water exploded and splashed everywhere, creating waves of blood due to Dugo's weight. He laughed as chaos surrounds him. The world began to fade, the reality was once again restored. Bagani looked around. A young pale bald man wearing a brown robe opened an exit out of the room. He ran swiftly. Terror lurks from his sight as Bagani chased after him in the hallway. The Asulhero ran like a wild animal hunting its prey in the wild. Bagani jumped and slashed the man behind his leg, disabling him from moving away.
"Mercy please!" The man cried, dropping the knife he had in his hand.
Bagani's terrifying smile did not fade away. He smashed his weapon at the man's body over and over again, without hesitation nor blinking even for once. Blood splashed towards him, covering up his face with the red substance. Bagani felt a sense of excitement he never had before.
"Die!"
"Die!..."
"Die..."
Author's Note: Since people using the phone version of Webnovel cannot read the author's thought I decided to write it within the story only for now! It's October 6 so Happy birthday to your one and only writer, the depressed JustASadCoffee. I took a break for a week due to inconsistent scheduling, but not to worry from now on you can expect weekly upload on Saturday 7 AM EST, and Sunday at 7 PM EST.