A massive fracture appeared and began connecting all the previous fractures across the creature's crystalline skin. Even with the emergence of this spreading fracture, Tom didn't stop delivering punches. It was as if he couldn't see what was happening around him; all that mattered was punching after punching.
He was so focused on delivering those punches that he didn't realize the crystalline skin had given way. It took the moment when he felt himself engulfed in something viscous to regain awareness.
"Huh..."
He was astonished to see that the creature's crystalline skin had completely yielded without him even realizing it.
The creature had been dead for quite some time, unbeknownst to him.
"What was that?"
Tom wondered what had just happened. It was as if he had lost control of himself; all he wanted was to destroy the crystal skin of his enemy, to kill his enemy. During that brief moment when he kept delivering blow after blow, it was the only thing on his mind.
"Whatever."
Tom was really peculiar in certain aspects. Normally, if someone had just lost control of themselves, they would spend a considerable amount of time pondering what had happened.
But Tom, the moment he realized there was no way for him to figure out what had occurred, he gave up on the idea of knowing. He disliked wasting his time thinking about something he knew he wouldn't find an answer to, feeling that it was just a waste of time, nothing more.
He withdrew his arm from inside the creature, and immediately, the viscous liquid that had been inside the creature began to ooze out. Once the liquid that had bathed the creature's internal organs started to flow, the creature's body followed suit.
Thud.
Limping, Tom approached the creature's head while clutching the side of his injured abdomen. Now that the battle was over and the creature was dead, the adrenaline in his body was dissipating, and he began to feel the pain from all the injuries he had sustained in the fight, especially the one in his abdomen.
Once at the creature's head, he could see a sort of small crystal that gleamed, emitting a deep blue color as intense as the creature's skin at the beginning of their confrontation.
He concentrated the little etherium left in his core into his right hand and struck where the small blue light was. Since the creature's crystalline skin was full of fractures, it didn't take much to destroy it.
After removing his arm with the presumed core of the creature, the cracks spread across the creature's entire body. In an instant, the creature's body exploded, releasing the viscous liquid that had been inside it.
The smell released by the explosion was simply nauseating and putrid, forcing Tom to cover his nose with his arm.
"What stinks like this?"
The putrid odor spread through the air at a rapid pace, and Tom quickly identified the culprit. It was, in fact, the organs that were inside the creature. As soon as the crystalline layer protecting the organs inside was destroyed, they were exposed.
Once these organs were in the open, they began to decompose rapidly, emitting the foul odor.
"How is this even—"
Rumble.
Tom didn't finish his thought before hearing footsteps coming from the forest. He identified the direction of the approaching footsteps and realized that the animals or monsters to which these footsteps belonged were heading toward him!
Tom didn't know what kind of creatures were rushing toward him, and he didn't want to find out either. Without hesitation, he started running toward the top of the mountain where the cave he had taken refuge in was located.
He didn't even entertain the idea of going back into his cave for protection. After all, the monsters were heading in his direction. It would have been foolish for him to try to hide in the cave. Running while limping, Tom made his way up the mountain.
Once he had distanced himself enough from the cave, he climbed onto a branch of a tree so large that a single branch was more than twice his size, allowing him to easily perch on it.
Once he was on the branch, Tom discreetly glanced back at the cave, and what he saw sent shivers down his spine.
In the distance, towards his cave where the lifeless body - if you could call it that - of the creature he had just fought lay, creatures like the one he had killed, with some variations, emerged from the woods and headed toward the body of the creature he had fought.
Most of these creatures had structures similar to the one he had killed, with some minor differences. However, there were other crystal creatures with completely different shapes that seemed more dangerous than the rest.
Some had feline-like structures, resembling cheetahs, panthers, and others, while others had structures like horses, elks, and more. He couldn't discern more creatures with different forms, but he was sure he could spot some smaller creatures among them, and his instincts told him that these smaller creatures appeared more menacing than the rest.
One thing that immediately caught Tom's eye was that these crystalline creatures had different colors depending on their structures.
The ones resembling the creature he had killed had a sinister blue color, while those with panther-like forms had an orange hue, and so on.
While Tom observed these strange creatures, wondering what kind of beings they were, another one of these creatures appeared. This creature had the same form as the one he had killed, but the similarities ended there.
This newly appeared creature was larger than all the others, and Tom struggled to estimate its true size, but he knew it must be immense for him to see it clearly even from that distance.
The creature had dark blue crystalline skin that appeared almost black, and of all the creatures Tom had encountered since arriving in this forest, this one seemed the most dangerous. Even the lioness that had defeated the hyenas had not instilled such a level of danger in Tom's mind.
Meanwhile, the creature headed toward the pile of crystals mixed with the viscous substance that had become the monster Tom had fought. As it walked, the other creatures of the same species on its path moved aside to let it pass, as if it were their leader.
When it reached the creature Tom had killed, the black-colored creature stopped and observed the corpse for a few minutes. Then, it raised its head and looked in Tom's direction. In the blink of an eye, it launched a projectile so fast that before Tom could even blink, the projectile had already finished its course.
BOOM
The projectile launched by the black creature reached a nearby tree in the blink of an eye. Not only did it pierce the tree, but it also exploded it completely, sending splinters of wood scattering in all directions.
"Arg!"
Tom cried out in pain when some of these splinters hit him. After all, the tree that had just been destroyed was the one right next to the tree he had taken refuge in!
"What's happening? Why did it attack?" Tom wanted to know what was going on but was careful not to make any sudden movements or too much noise to avoid alerting the crystal creatures at the base of the mountain.
Shortly after the dust from the projectile destroying the tree settled, Tom could see why the projectile had been launched. Once he saw the reason, his blood ran cold with dread.