The Ape used its one good hand to grab a hold of a branch and pull itself up, and began to jump from branch to branch to get a higher elevation.
Seeing the creature's intentions, Draco snorted and began to follow it up the trees.
He was unused to moving with two limbs, but he was a king of the battlefield! What hope could a mere monkey have to escape him?
He jumped after the Ape, and although it gained distance on him for a short while, its many injuries were evidently slowing it down.
Draco was also injured, but through sheer force of will he was pushing on, and through his persistence he was slowly but surely gaining on the Ape.
Not more than a minute later, there was only a few feet of distance between the two.
The Ape turned and saw Draco close on its heels, and it hollered what must've been some type of curse in its monkey language.
It jumped down from the branch in an attempt to put more distance between them, but Draco had jumped right after it.
He fell on top of the Ape, bringing his sword down to pierce through the Ape's spine.
Draco landed atop the Ape's collapsed form, his sword severing the Ape's spine neatly in one smooth motion.
Pulling his sword from the Ape, he watched as the creature cried out in misery as it thrashed its head back and forth, unable to move any of its limbs.
Draco chuckled darkly as he watched the pathetic display, bringing his pitch black sword down again to sever the ape's head.
He then picked up the ape's head and looked at its dull eyes, clicking his tongue as he raised the head and began to drink his fill from its blood.
The blood burned his throat as it went down, and he almost spit it out before catching himself.
'This monkey tastes abhorrent, but its blood is potent with strength.' he thought to himself, deciding to devour the creature so he could regain his strength.
He used his sword like an oversized butcher knife, carving out pieces from the creature and swallowing them whole.
Eventually he reached the creature's heart, and he reached into its chest cavity with his hand and pulled it out.
He bit into the heart and savored every last bite, 'The heart is much more palatable than the rest of this cursed wretch.' he thought, licking his lips after he had finished.
Draco had no more appetite after he finished the heart, and he licked his fingers clean and wiped his bloodied blade against the thick fur of the dead Ape.
His muscles were now brimming with a feral energy, and the heat from the still warm blood was rampaging through his insides.
The powered blood of the Ape was working its way through his organs, enriching them and giving him back some of his former strength.
Drinking powered blood usually didn't hurt so much, but he chocked it up to the effects of the illusion.
Satisfied, Draco turned to survey his surroundings.
He had expected the illusion to end after he had killed the Ape creature, but this was surprising.
'Is there something else I need to kill?' Draco wondered, but as he was lost in thought, some annoying noise was buzzing around in his head.
It almost sounded like a voice, but it was too muffled to tell.
Draco shook his head to clear his thoughts, assuming this was another effect of the illusion.
However, the dull voice never went away, but instead increased in volume until it was almost clear.
'Let.. me.. out… Let.. me out. Let Me OUT! F*cker! LET ME OUT!' the voice eventually yelled, catching Draco off guard.
'Whose voice is that?!' Draco wondered, for although the voice seemed familiar, it certainly wasn't his… or was it?
Suddenly, Draco saw black.
He struggled to keep his balance, and he dropped his black sword to the ground below him.
Once the sword left his grip, his vision came back, and Draco looked around him in confusion.
He wondered where he was, but as he looked down to see the giant corpse of the Ape dissected below him, he jumped back in shock.
'Who.. who did that?' Draco wondered, before looking down at his blood stained hands and clothes.
'No, it couldn't have been me..' Draco thought to himself, but his memories ever since he had grabbed the sword were hazy at best.
He seemed to recall flying through the air from a hit, and drinking some type of burning liquid he thought with a shudder.
Stretching out his limbs he felt some type of inhuman power worming its way through them. His stomach felt warm as well, and it was almost burning with an intense heat.
'If that sword somehow made me eat that thing, it was definitely cursed.' Draco thought, now sick to his stomach.
Except, Draco now felt better than he had ever felt before. His stomach felt like he had just eaten the spiciest food on the planet, but his body was lighter than ever.
Punching out at the air, he was surprised to feel that his injuries had mostly healed as well.
Draco turned to see if he could find anything interesting, but all he could see was the empty forest that surrounded him and rows upon rows of colossal trees.
He shook his head and picked a direction to walk in, hoping that he was going to where Demetri passed out unconscious.
'Hopefully I'm not too late to help him, he really saved my ass earlier.' Draco thought, picking up his pace to make it to his new friend in time.
He had been walking for almost 10 minutes at this point, but the clearing he and Demetri had just fought in was nowhere to be seen.
'Am I even going the right way?' Draco wondered.
Suddenly, Draco heard leaves rustling in the distance.
He turned just in time to see a white blur moving towards him at a rapid speed.
Time slowed as Draco's eyes dilated, and he saw the beads of sweat on a man's face as he sped towards him, evidently trying to take him out.
Draco's body was brimming with power at this point, and he let out a burp as he twisted out of the way of the man's sudden attack.
The man landed a few feet away from Draco, surprised he was able to avoid his surprise attack.
"You're a fast one aren't you?" the man said, a somber look on his face.
"Shut the f*ck up." Draco said, annoyed that his time in this god-forsaken forest still wasn't over.
The man laughed when he heard that, "No need to be so hostile now." he said
Draco simply shook his head, not caring to talk with someone so obviously was just trying to kill him a second ago.
Draco jumped forwards, surprising himself with the power of his legs. One second he was a distance away from the man, and in the next instant he was directly in front of him.
The man seemed shocked as well at Draco's alarming display of speed.
He attempted to dodge out of the way, but he could only watch with abject horror as Draco's fist pierced directly into his chest.
Looking down, he could feel Draco's hand moving around in his chest cavity, before he felt his hands roughly grab ahold of his heart and pull!
The man coughed out blood as he watched Draco holding his still beating heart.
"I've always wanted to do that." Draco said, a feral grin showing on his blood-stained lips.
The man collapsed into a lifeless heap at Draco's feet, blood pooling beneath his limp form.
As Draco stared at the heart in his hands, he wondered why it looked so.. tasty.
'There's no way, right? This is obviously someone's heart… but why is my stomach rumbling when I look at it?' he wondered.
Eventually, Draco gave into the temptations and raised the heart to his face.
He gave it a sniff, but it didn't smell very appetizing, it smelt more like iron and raw meat than anything edible.
But for some reason, eating it just seemed like the right thing to do.
"F*ck it." Draco said, opening his mouth and taking a tentative bite.
He took a small bite at first, but the richness of the blood overwhelmed him and before he knew it he had scarfed down the entire thing.
The heart seemed to even further invigorate his body, and he could have sworn it felt like his very cells were dancing around in happiness.
Draco let out a loud belch, wiping his bloodstained lips and then wiping his hands off on his once-white clothes.
'That was surprisingly good.' Draco thought in abject horror, wondering when he became a cannibal.
His thoughts were interrupted though, for a grating robotic voice began to resound throughout the forest.
**SUBJECT # 2 -2 - 7 VICTORY** the voice blared.