SSS Ranked Awakening: I Can Rewind Time!-Chapter 30: Awakened Evil.

’Crap!’

I cursed under my breath, instinct taking over.

In a split second, I threw a fast and ruthless kick towards Aezel. His face paled as he crashed into the distance, stopping just behind a towering rock. Afterwards, I threw the crimson shells towards him and lunged at him.

Just as I did, Aezel, albeit still confused, managed to catch the crimson shells, just as I rolled to a stop beside him, my breath hitching in my throat.

"What the!-"

I hurriedly gestured for him to keep quiet, my face paling in sheer fear and terror.

Aezel seemed to be bristling with anger, his teeth gritted together as his fists clenched at his side. However, the look of dread and terror on my face seemed to be enough to stall his fury. If only barely.

It was also then that I cautiously peered through the edge of the rock. And there- I saw it!

The instant my eyes fell on the monstrosity, my breath hitched in my throat as panic surged through me.

The creature was horrifying, a nightmarish aberration that defied all sense of reason. Its towering, menacing form was reminiscent of a demogorgon, but grotesquely amplified. Its thick hides were bright crimson, as though it had, at some point in the distant past, bathed in the blood of a thousand warriors.

Its pair of hideous faces were mashed and mangled together, and its claws were dark crimson as though forged within the depths of hell, with the sole aim of sowing discord and terror on the land above.

On all fours, it stood tall and gargantuan, a nightmarish monstrosity crafted out of one’s worst nightmare.

...Or perhaps, something far worse.

As my gaze lingered on it, my heart drummed against my chest, and the sound echoed through the suffocating silence.

Ba- dump! Ba- dump!

It was deafening in the silence that had taken over the lightless world.

Beside me, Aezel frowned, noting the suffocating presence that drew closer. At that moment, he finally satiated his curiosity and glimpsed.

What he saw...

"....!"

Froze him in place, his lips shivering as he stuttered.

"...A-awakened evil."

His eyes widened at the sight, a solemn sense of terror rising from the depths of his heart.

My brows tightened at his words.

’An awakened creature of tier four?!’

The realization sent a chill through me. I was confused as to why a being with such a level of Bloodline was roaming about wantonly. But with the monstrosity prowling around, I knew now wasn’t the time for questions.

And so, left with no other choice, I could only keep my thoughts to myself, and most importantly, keep quiet.

Step! Step--!

Each step it took echoed through the silence, intensifying the hammering of my heart.

I gripped the azure dagger tighter, my trembling hands betraying the solemn resolve within me. I didn’t need divine intervention to know luck was never on my side.

...And with my bad luck, hoping for the best was a fool’s errand. Hence,

Twitch--!

I tensed my hands around the dagger, just in case things went south like I expected them to spiral to...

’That was just how bad my luck was.’

And as if to make matters worse, the nightmarish aberration was scanning the surroundings, its hollow-like slits radiating a piercing malice. It moved with precision and deadly grace, its every step an omen of destruction.

"May the gods protect us," Aezel muttered under his breath, his voice a tremor in the oppressive silence.

Glancing at him with a grim expression, I echoed the sentiment inwardly, though I doubted prayers held any weight in this cursed land.

Step! Step--!

As it neared us, the trembling of my hands increased, and so did the difficulty in breathing.

Drip! Drip--!

Sweat was pouring down the side of my face and I was finding it hard to maintain my calm. However, just inches away from us, the creature suddenly made a turn and walked into an emerging path, slowly retreating into the shadows.

As we watched the nightmarish horror vanish into the endless darkness, we both let out a deep exhalation.

I grimaced at its fading, hulking silhouette.

’Yes! Go away bastard!’

My lips curled into a dark grin, though my skin still bore the pallor of terror.

"Huff," Aezel wiped the sweat from his face. "That was honestly too close for comfort."

"Yeah. Tell me more about it."

"..."

"..."

’Now is not the time to laugh.’

’But-’

"We have to leave."

I glared at him as I said those words. The thought of the monstrosity prowling nearby sent me trembling in fear. Even if my mind protested against such strain of thought, fear soon took over me as I walked in hurried steps towards the towering dune structure.

"Hey!" Aezel called out to me. "Wait for me."

However, I didn’t stop. If anything, I only ran even faster.

As we ran towards the dune structure, my eyes slowly came to rest on the weird statue.

It was also then that I noticed that... it seemed to be gazing at some distant part of the shattered dimension.

As for where that was? I could be less bothered about it.

Infact, I had a feeling I didn’t want to know.

Though, I could be sure that it was facing west. However, something about its line of sight just didn’t sit well with me, in ways I couldn’t really quite place my hands on.

Step! Step--!

With a dark expression marring my features, I decided not to think about it. It had nothing to do with me anyway.

...As we ran further, we made sure to avoid as many nightmarish creatures as possible. With the heavy loads and burden on us, we weren’t really in the best of states to engage in any sort of skirmish.

Be it small or terrifyingly large. Hence, each time we encountered a horde of nightmarish aberrations, whether big or small, we turned around them. Although that was bound to waste a lot of time. Fortunately, time was something we had.

With my strange familiarity with the shadows, I could ascertain the "clock" in some sort of way. So I knew we still had quite an ample amount of time before the endless darkness cast upon the land, its endless shadows.

’...How great does that feel.’

I smirked, enjoying the precious and joyous moments while it still lasted.

***

A while later, just before sunset, we made it to the dune structure.

Together, I and Aezel began the cautious ascent. With slow deliberate movements, and eyes scanning the nightmarish landscape beneath us, we ascended the ancient structure. Every creak of the structure sent our nerves on edge, the endless darkness pressing in from all sides.

The pain of scaling the dune structure was enough to drown us in hellish agony, however, the thought of garnering the attention of a horde of nightmarish creatures was even more pressing.

The thought sent us trembling in fear as we pushed ourselves beyond our limits.

Clang! Clang--!

We climbed even faster, each push and pull a battle against the darkness pressing in on us from all sides. It was also then that the azure constellation bled into existence, and with its harrowing presence... came the... dark mist.