At this rate...
The thought remained unfinished in my mind as I watched my mother, desperately struggling like an insect caught in a spider's web.
The power gap between her and the monster was an insurmountable abyss.
I felt the weight of a pair of compound eyes on me. The red glow in them was like looking directly into hell, two crimson flames that burned with an insatiable bloodthirst.
Any normal human being would have lost the will to fight before that gaze, but I...
I have a choice, I told myself while the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.
Despite my wounds, I could survive if I ran away. The rational part of my mind, that adult voice that whispered survival advice, told me that I could live if I moved away from the woman who trembled at my side.
It's not wrong to flee, that voice tried to convince me. It's not cowardice, it's survival.
Was he crazy?
The question echoed in my mind while a bitter smile formed on my lips. I slapped my cheeks hard, trying to silence those cowardly thoughts.
I didn't need to hear them, I didn't want to hear them, even though I knew they were right: there was no possibility of winning.
The logic was simple and brutal: if I escaped once, it would be easier to do it a second time, and the third would barely affect me.
I would become Arceus Pendragon, the one who only lived thanks to his cowardice.
I would rather die by my own will than become a cowardly spectator of life.
It was a foolish and irrational judgment, I knew that. But the monster didn't flinch at my moral dilemma. Almost immediately, its two scythes headed towards me with terrifying speed.
That's when it happened: as if emerging from nothingness itself, a man appeared in front of the monster.
I saw him jump between the deadly scythes with a grace that seemed to defy gravity, leaning forward to deliver a devastating blow with his long sword. All his weight, all his strength, concentrated in that single attack.
Logic suggested there should be a gap between its shell and torso armor. It was simple mechanics: anything that needed to be flexible couldn't be completely rigid.
I saw how the tip of his sword found that small space, sinking into the monster's body until the hilt brushed against the chitin.
Of course!, I thought with a moment of triumph that evaporated as quickly as it had come.
My expression darkened when I saw that the creature didn't even seem to notice the wound that should have, if not killed it, at least significantly weakened it.
With a movement that seemed casual, the monster twisted, throwing the man as if he were an annoying fly.
The bone scythes scraped against the rock as it extracted them from the ground, the sound echoing in my nightmares.
The man, thanks to the force of the shake, managed to recover his sword that had remained stuck in the monster's flesh. That involuntary movement saved his life, allowing him to dodge the mortal blow of the scythe by millimeters.
—Darius!
My mother's voice, weak and trembling, startled me. I saw her sit up with difficulty, wiping the blood that still flowed from her mouth.
—Take Arceus and go!
—Captain...
Darius's voice trembled while his gaze jumped between the monster and my mother. The fear and terror on his face revealed the terrible decision he had already made.
Everything happened in an instant: he sheathed his sword and ran towards me, grabbed me and placed me on his back with a movement that didn't give me time to react.
—Hey, what the hell are you doing?!
My scream resonated throughout the place while I struggled to free myself from the grip of the man who carried me with one arm
—My mom is still here!
From my position on Darius's shoulder, I stretched my arm with all the strength I could gather, trying to reach my mother while he ran.
The distance between us grew with each step, and the centipede slowly advanced towards her, like a predator sure of its prey.
—Arceus! You must live!
My mother's cry pierced the air, her voice broken by the sobs that shook her body.
I couldn't look away from her.
I saw her cover her mouth while crying heartbreakingly, and each of her tears was like a dagger in my heart. The words got stuck in my throat, replaced by sobs that shook my entire being.
My body shuddered violently when I saw the monster position itself over her. Fear invaded me like a tsunami, sweeping away any coherent thought.
My muscles tensed involuntarily, my mind went blank, leaving only a vast emptiness where hope had once existed.
Then it happened: a huge and bloody mouth enveloped my mother's head.
—Stop!!
My heart-wrenching scream resonated throughout the underground district, a sound so full of pain and desperation that it barely seemed human.
I saw how my mother's headless body collapsed, a grotesque fountain of blood sprouting from the neck, soaking the ground with a crimson liquid that seemed to shine under the dim light.
My shoulders shook uncontrollably while sobs shook me, unable to form coherent words.
My hands trembled like leaves in a storm, and my breathing was erratic, as if I had forgotten how to do something as basic as breathing.
The pain was so intense that I felt like I was drowning in it. It was unbearable, it was heartbreaking, as if someone had taken my heart and was squeezing it without mercy.
I had never imagined my heart could hurt this way. I clutched my chest tightly, trying to contain the self-destructive whirlwind of emotions that threatened to tear me apart.
Tears ran freely down my cheeks, blurring my vision until the world became a blurry smear of meaningless colors.
I couldn't breathe while emotions kept surging inside me like an unstoppable geyser.
It was as if all natural disasters had decided to unleash inside my heart at the same time: a rage that burned like an uncontrollable forest fire, consuming everything in its path; a pain that flooded and drowned every corner of my being like a devastating tsunami; a corrosive guilt that made the very foundations of my existence tremble; and a regret that destroyed years of development and growth like a relentless hurricane.
I could feel these emotions wreaking havoc inside my heart, tearing my sanity piece by piece.
Every fragment of my being screamed in agony, while my mind struggled to process the horrible reality of what I had just witnessed.
Now, all that was left to me was this dark hole of emptiness and regret.
I had no one to blame but myself.