*Gasp!*

Rune's head throbbed violently as he tried to shed light on his present predicament.

'what...happened to me?' His last recollection of his whereabouts was in a remote uninhabited island in Southeast Asia, strenuously searching for rare specimens of plant and endangered animals for his experiments.

As he endured the excruciating pain in his head, he found himself sitting on the cold ground, his back laid against a tree. "Where...is this place..?" Rune could not help but feel unsettled after he surveyed his surroundings which were vaguely familiar to him.

The area around him was a dense jungle with humongous trees and a myriad of bizarre-looking plants which he thought had never existed. The vegetation around him was teeming with vehement lifeforce that made his skin tingle.

From a distance, he could see what looked like a fox with fiery fur, so red as though it was flame itself. Its profound crimson eyes stared at him in curiosity.

And on top of a branch, a beetle with metallic carapace shaded in black was brawling against a sinister-looking, gigantic spider with dreadfully sharp limbs numbering around a dozen while being covered in gray mist.

The two critters intensely fought in a bid to exterminate the other. Rune could see the space around them distort although he believed it was just the product of his imagination due to him being at death's door.

The exotic display of wildlife before him gave a new meaning to the word 'otherworldly. 'There's no chance such species exist in the world, right?' He mumbled to himself, still in disbelief and awe.

After a few moments, Rune propped himself up to stand but the fatigue washed over him as he stumbled to the ground, face first.

*ugh!*

He released a subdued groan due to the pain while feeling helpless. "I can't...move my body."

Unable to exert even the tiniest strength to lift a finger, he could feel every fiber of his being on the verge of breaking apart. "Will my life end like this...?" with reluctance, he resigned himself to fate as he subtly closed his eyes.

'Such as shame, I don't even know how I ended up like this...' he added inwardly with a bittersweet feeling in his heart.

'At least, my resting place is such a vibrant sanctuary. Becoming this sacred ground's nutrients, not a bad end, I guess.'

Following the course of nature, the temperature of his body plummeted by the second as his joints and muscles went rigid, and eventually numb. The cadaveric ecosystem beginning its phase.

As the inevitable loomed closer, Rune revisited the memories of the bygone days using what remained of his lucidity.

Rune had an arduous yet fulfilling life as a biologist. He devoted himself to researching the miracles of every living organism, aiming only to advance his knowledge about the natural world and unveil its secrets. 'Such a shame, indeed. If could bring back a sample of these to my lab-'

As his weakened body slowly succumbed to the soil's cold embrace, he saw an insect creep its way towards him, "A centipede?" he asked himself in doubt.

Compared to other fauna in the vicinity who exhibited splendid features, the centipede was so unbefitting of the place due to its sinister appearance which made it look like a creature birthed in the depths of hell.

It has a transparent trunk where squirming maggots inside could be seen parasitizing each other. Its pair of antennae gave off an unholy feeling as it wriggled its way on top of Rune's neck. The creature left a trail of decay in its wake, desecrating the sacred ground with its existence.

Rune then felt the frightening sensation on his skin as the creature took its time exploring his body. It was as though the offspring of malevolence was mischievously toying with its prey before feasting on it.

Gripped with unimaginable horror, Rune's half-dead body wriggled in terror in hopes to shake away the creature but ended up in vain. 'What's it doing?!' he internally screamed as the extreme panic squeezed the last of his life force.

Rune felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding from when the creature casts its venomous fang on him, he would experience pain more severe than death.

Strangely, the creature abruptly stopped. Its vicious head was on Rune's glabella staring directly at him with its multitude of pupils.

Often it twitched, from side to side. Circling around Rune's eyes, seemingly excited while its dozens of hideous legs scratched Rune's skin, drawing blood.

Perhaps, the creature finally found the most desirable way to feed on its prey as it halted just at the entrance of Rune's mouth, readying itself.

"No..no...NO! NOO~!!' Sensing what the creature was about to do, Rune screamed on top of his lungs despite his weakened state while writhing in agony.

But alas, the creature from the netherworld fulfilled its sweet promise by entering Rune's mouth, unhindered.

*Blegh!!*

Rune's body instinctively reacted to the sudden invasion as it tried to expel whatever was attempting to enter Rune's system.

However, the centipede successfully infiltrated Rune's body from his throat down to where the organs of his body were located.

Rune involuntarily lurched his spine forward while he would often curl up into a ball, enduring the hellish suffering. He could strongly feel the creature nibble his organs with zest; intestines, kidney, stomach, pancreas, and others.

"it hurt..IT HURTS!!~"

"...please...end my...suffer-"

But before he could finish his plea for death's sweet release, he felt the creature's vile fangs latch on to his still-beating heart. Rune then reflexively gripped the area around his chest, intending to claw his heart out in hopes to dislodge the creature. Flight and fight response in full motion.

Blood splattered and strands of flesh were scraped out until a hole with the size of a fist exposed the interior of his body.

Rune saw the creature coil around his heart as it slowly sucked his life essence. However, as he tried to remove the creature with all his might, the binds only became tighter while the pain intensified.

The shrunken body of the creature visibly fattened up as its scales turned glossy red. Its trunk's transparency diminished and the maggots inside quivered in joy, imbibing in the savory taste of human blood.

"You have my gratitude, Mortal.." Was the last words he heard echo in his mind. The deep, archaic voice was so demonic in nature as though it came from the bottomless pit of hell.

As the adrenaline eventually left Rune, his body went limp while his eyes lost all signs of life. What remained was a cadaver that would nourish the soil as part of nature's edict.

Or so it seems.

After a few moments, the bedraggled corpse of Rune violently spasmed for a few seconds then abruptly halted. The pair of eyes that was initially closed snapped open, its crimson gaze emanated profound antiquity as its pupils turned into vertical slits akin to that of a predator.

"What a boon.." He said in a nonchalant tone, so inhuman and virulent as if the world's most nefarious desires had been given form.

With a wicked smile on his face, he casually stood up and directed his gaze onto the vast horizon, and said,

"To a libertine like me... there could be no better playground than this. The real fun is just beginning!"

***