Chapter 8: Sick forest

"Monsters in the woods? I wouldn't believe any of these lies, they are just stupid beliefs and superstitions peddled by frightened peasants, these good-for-nothings are ready to invent any kind of excuse to avoid work. These scum seem to forget that their most legitimate duty to their lord and protector is to serve him. These ungrateful people have no loyalty! These woods are as safe as my personal estate next to the capital, and they are full of the gifts of the gods. The worst thing you can meet in the woods is a rutting wild boar or a drunken peasant who reeks of dung and manure, which in a way is not very different."

- Sir Gilbert, former Baron of Ormskirk. (deceased)

From the top of several trees around him, Mars could see mutated squirrels gathering, jumping from branch to branch and waiting to be enough to form a deadly pack, but he wasn't going to kindly wait for that to happen. He wielded his sword using telekinesis and it pursued each of them to end their existence.

In retaliation they all threw themselves at him with little shouts. Mars drew his second sword to eliminate his assailants.

Shit, to think that he even had to kill things as cute as squirrels.

Every time he watched such innocent and cute creatures turn into killing machines in such a horrible and delirious show, he felt like he heard something breaking inside him.

Yes, it was the sound of his innocence being shattered to pieces, like when he had learned that it wasn't Santa Claus who put the presents under the tree, but his grandfather - a fact that became obvious when he got stuck in the chimney all night after putting on a little too much weight to get through it.

But he had finally gotten used to it, this unpleasant feeling had largely faded over the years, becoming barely noticeable, although it had never completely disappeared.

But he had never resolved himself to become totally insensitive to it, otherwise he would have felt as if he had lost the last bit of humanity he had left, and he didn't want to do that.

Almost as if to cheer him up, horribly deformed animals arrived in a group screaming and stupidly charged him. At least he wouldn't have to run after them.

***

Several hundred creatures killed later, Mars turned to remove the poor iron sword that was impaled in the mouth of a mutated beast, the blade dripped various animal fluids from the bodies of his victims, he wiped it against the sleeve of his garment.

He inspected the shabby sword in his hand. The metal of the blade was largely corroded by the acidic blood of the mutated animals and it would soon be useless. He confirmed his thoughts when he tested the edge of the blade against the leather of his boot. He had to press hard to feel its now blunt edge, eaten away by the corruption flowing through the veins of his victims. He had done well to retrieve the dead soldier's edge.

Looking around him, he saw the dark spectacle of the many dead animals lying all around him. Despite the ease with which he had been able to put an end to the almost continuous stream of infected creatures, the initial satisfaction in getting rid of these monsters so easily had disappeared only to be replaced by bitterness.

On the way, he had found an abandoned house, but a quick inspection revealed that fighting had broken out inside, along with many traces of blood. This kind of vision was an ominous omen of doom that awaited the inhabitants of this world, as well as the earthlings themselves.

These unholy creatures were merely animals infected with the souls of the weakest minor demons, and although they were physically more threatening than wild animals, their real danger did not lie there. Because these things possessed perfidious and cunning intelligence, they were able to act in groups.

Even though whole groups of small mutated animals, were nothing intimidating for the bravest warriors, when they were counted in the thousands things became very different. And it only got worse as a horde grew and when larger animals joined them in. A two-ton carnivorous mutant cow was nothing to scoff at, especially when it gained an almost human intelligence and they numbered in tens or hundreds.

They would attack all other life forms in the area, other animals as well as humans, and if their prowess seemed insufficient to attack defended villages or hamlets, they would wait to grow in numbers before striking.

By bringing their victims back - alive - to the source of the corruption that had seen them born - a breach in reality itself - the source would infect the souls of the victims, which would exponentially increase the source of evil, spreading its corruption over a larger area and infecting more creatures, bringing more victims back to feed the source.

An infernal fucking cycle.

Even simple nests like these, when left alone long enough, could spawn whole armies of monsters to attack surrounding villages, spreading terror and death.

Unfortunately, Mars had seen this kind of tragic situation too many times. When reports of animals turning into carnivorous abominations were reported, or when a request for help was received, it often happened that when clean-up troops finally arrived to clear the affected areas, the inhabitants of villages near the infected areas were already missing, leaving their villages found empty and plunged into suffocating silence.

As he continued his advance, Mars sniffed out the smell of burning wood and grilled meat, as if someone or something had decided to barbeque in the middle of the forest. As he listened attentively, he also had the impression that he recognized what sounded like human screams, not too far away.

Without hesitation he moved in the direction of the sounds, and he arrived at a less wooded area that opened up to a small clearing. Approaching cautiously, he understood the situation when he saw that there was a hooded person in front of a campfire, above which a human figure was mounted on a wooden structure to be roasted.

Mars got chills as he watched the scene and heard the person's cries. In his first life, Mars had always chosen to leave the forest rather than look for the source of corruption. Who would have chosen a different path anyway? So few that he knew almost none and hadn't really heard any stories about it.

But this time things had been rather easy for him, so he wasted no time and went straight into the clearing, preparing to discreetly attack the caped man.

Despite his stealthy approach, the man turned to face him. But could the thing in front of him be considered a man? Not a chance.

It had the head of a dog with horns on top and hooves instead of feet. More confusing, there were two mouths on its hairy chest, both lined with fangs, and each one of them sang litanies of insults interspersed with barely understandable promises about the fate that awaited Mars in case of defeat.

The mutant raised its head and uttered a bestial howl.

This asshole had just called all the infected creatures from places around here, and they would all be here in a short time.

Immediately Mars threw herself at his opponent, and swung his sword at the Mutant's neck, but the Mutant tore off his cloak and deflected the sword with an axe stroke with phenomenal force and breaking Mars' blade.

Mars threw the broken sword to the ground, retreating as he drew the second sword he was carrying and preparing for another attack when he felt something clinging to his leg, followed by excruciating pain that overwhelmed him and made him scream.

He lowered his head. The sharp teeth of something were digging into his calf and mortifying sounds of his flesh being torn could be heard. He saw a deformed rabbit feasting on its flesh with greedy eyes. He broke the creature's neck head with a powerful pommel of his sword.

The mutant laughed and giggled insanely as it licked its face with its grotesque tongue, "Yes, screams! Screams! You... scream again! Ahahahahahahahahaha"

Mars deflected the Mutant's attacks with some difficulty, as it possessed a physical strength far superior to his own, and when the Mutant launched a savage attack on him, Mars wielded with his telekinesis the broken sword on the ground that flew discreetly directly into the Mutant's neck, before sinking deep into it.

He felt surprised as well as incomprehension in the mutant's mind, when it noticed the sword in its neck and collapsed with a scream half-choked by its gurgling, while the mouths on its chest stopped their endless litanies.

Mars retrieved the ax from the ground with his left hand.

Deformed creatures of all kinds fell upon him, but Mars wielded his sword to carve and stab each mutated animal, while the axe he took from the dead mutant opened and cut up everything that came to him. He struck ceaselessly, sending limbs and heads flying in all directions, while he used the broken fragments of his first sword as projectiles to kill many of them.

He was covered with blood and viscous liquids, and two more managed to bite into his flesh before the stream of beasts subsided and stopped.

The animals had been more numerous than he had originally thought, but looking at the wounds he had received, he had done quite well.

After finishing off the few remaining paralyzed creatures on the ground, he approached the unfortunate victim above the fire. The man must have been skinned before being tied up over the campfire to be cooked by the flames while being tortured slowly. But he was now dead. Even though it was only a dream, Mars made a gesture of blessing for the man's soul.

Now without any immediate threat, Mars inspected his wounds, some of them were really unsightly but he may be at risk of dying of a hemorrhage if he did not heal some of them quickly.

He put his blade in the fire to make the iron redden and then used it to cauterize the wounds that needed it.

He could have avoided this situation if he had wielded his axe or sword with the help of telekinesis, but he did not.

It was important for him to get used to moving with a weak body like the one he had now, so that it wouldn't play tricks on him in a critical moment. He also liked the feeling that came with cutting up and killing his enemies. Many warriors showed this kind of inclination, and in a way, loving giving death was almost inevitable for a warrior.

Mars went on his way again to seek the source of corruption. The Mutant was clearly here to make the suffering of the burned victim be heard by something, and the many symbols and drawings on the ground around the fire tended to confirm this hypothesis. So he went to the side where he felt the thickest aura of evil.

Here, the supernatural stench in the air became progressively stronger, while something seemed to slowly influence his mind as dark thoughts tried to grow inside him. This was obviously the right direction.

The forest was getting denser and denser. The trees took the form of beings twisted in unnatural angles and had threatening appearances. Mars had the feeling that they were watching him. Logic said the trees had no eyes, but in the face of the dark forces, logic didn't carry much weight. Some trees looked so strange and radiated something so sinister, that it seemed to Mars that they were breathing, and that they would wake up the next moment to catch him and imprison him inside them.

Whether it was true or not, he did not know and he preferred to walk through the clearest paths so that he did not need to check his fears. A strange mist with greenish reflections covered the viscous ground, as if the earth oozed with a disease, afflicted by an unknown evil.

Moving cautiously, he continued in the direction that made him most uncomfortable, but he encountered no threat, and he soon arrived at the source of the corruption.

Anchored in the fabric of reality, before he lay the breach. Similar in appearance to a broken mirror, cracks of unfathomable darkness started from the main fracture and spread everywhere in the air, like a plant spreading roots that would devour reality by distorting it.

Despite its weakness and small size, the supernatural influences emanating from it sought to insinuate itself into the mind of any living being nearby. Whoever looked deep enough into the abyss it sheltered would see his soul infected by the presence of a purulent existence of wickedness that would rejoice in the slow torment it would inflict on that of its victim.

When you look into the darkness to contemplate it, the darkness contemplates you too.

It was nothing compared to the devastation that could emanate from fully mature breaches that could serve as an anchor between the physical world and the immaterial planes, but it would be enough to devastate distant regions.

It was a pity that he did not possess the power to close it himself, perhaps he could have drawn a greater reward from it. But now that he knew the location his mission was almost complete. He walked through the rest of the forest following the tracks he had left along the path, and when he came out of the forest and saw houses, his consciousness began to become blurred.

That dream was over.