IDWTBTHQ Chapter 89 - The Wild Chase

With a sigh of relief, Arag sat on the ground, completely exhausted but still deeply satisfied.

He was severely wounded, missing an arm and a leg and being covered head to toe in scratches and small cuts, but he wasn't really worried about it. He had survived worse, and he had the ability to regenerate his missing limbs, though it'd take a while. Besides, that was a small price to pay to survive a brush with the King of the Ashwood Hills.

It had taken all of his skill, ingenuity, experience and a great dose of luck to stay alive after awakening the dragon from its slumber, and even then the main reason he hadn't been killed immediately was the fact that the dragon didn't really try that hard to catch him, since it was half asleep and the goblin was barely a nuisance to it anyway.

And then, just when Arag was at his limit, something had caught the beast's attention. It had suddenly stopped chasing the Spider Goblin and with an angry roar had started running in the direction of the outpost.

There was only one possible reason why the King would behave like this: it had sensed a potential rival trespassing in its territory, and as far as Arag knew the only creature nearby who was powerful enough to be considered a threat by the dragon was the Oni.

With the usual evil smirk on his face, the Spider Goblin forced himself to get up, as he needed to witness the fight that was about to ensue with his own eyes in order to report it to the Goblin General... though this was more of a professional perfectionism than anything else, because the only possible outcome was the death of the Blue Terror.

Blueskin was scared.

He had no memory of ever being this scared. Sure he had feared for his life a few times since he had been reborn in the forest, but he had always managed to stave away any doubt by reminding himself that this was his story, that he was the main character and that the main character would always win in the end. But right now, he was too scared to even process these thoughts. He felt as if his brain had been disconnected from his body, leaving him like a puppet with its strings cut.

He remained paralyzed like that for a few seconds, before beginning to realize that there was something wrong with the fear he was experiencing. It somehow felt superficial... as if it didn't come from him, but it was imposed from the outside.

This realization somehow cleared his thoughts a little but, though not enough to actually free himself of his terror or allow him to move, and the Oni desperately grabbed to it in order to not completely lose himself to the fear, like a castaway latching on to a shipwreck in order not to drown during a storm. Struggling to keep control of himself, he turned his attention to his surroundings, trying to find the source of the fear that was plaguing him... and then he noticed something. Thanks to his newfound Aura sensibility, he saw an incredibly powerful aura filling the area like a venomous miasma, spiraling around him like a snake coiling around his prey. By concentrating further, he also perceived that the aura was actively trying to keep him still by smothering his own aura with an abject terror.

Realizing that this was an actual attack, Blueskin felt rage blossoming inside of him and started to fight back. At first nothing happened, as he didn't know how to ward against such an assault, but then, little by little, he managed to regain more and more control of himself, until, with a mighty roar, he finally managed to break free.

However, he didn't have much time to enjoy this small victory, as another roar echoed his own, only this one came from the north and was strong enough to make the earth shake.

The Oni turned to the source of that noise, with anger and caution struggling with each other to take control of his actions now that the unnatural fear had been dispelled. He wanted to kill whatever had dared to attack him in such a way, but at the same time he didn't even know what it was, and judging by its aura it seemed to be damn strong.

“Let's see...”  He said to himself, trying to keep his emotions in check and think logically. “Whatever this thing is, there is no doubt that it is hostile and dangerous. So it's best that I kill it here and now, if I can, but it's not as if I have to do it right now. I could simply run away. However, on the other hand if I were to consume something this strong, I would definitely get more powerful... maybe even unlock a new, unknown OP evolution!”

This idea has some charm, and he gave it some serious thought. However, while he was busy thinking, the presence of the unknown enemy got stronger and more threatening with every second that passed. Not only that, but Blueskin could also hear the sound that it was making while moving towards him:  it was the sound of something absolutely huge running at incredible speed, making the earth under Blueskin's feet shake like a miniature earthquake.

“On second thought, maybe it's better to retreat for the moment.” The Oni said to himself, feeling much less confident all of a sudden. “After all, I don't know what I'm dealing with. I can just fly away and scout this thing safely from the sky before deciding what to do!”

And without wasting any more time he grew back his wings to full size and jumped into the air while flapping his wings. It took him a few seconds to get enough altitude to feel relatively safe, and only then he looked down, searching for his enemy.

He immediately spotted it. Not that it was that difficult, since the creature was absolutely humongous, easily more than twenty meters long from head to tail. It was shaped pretty much like a lizard, only with six limbs and a huge, sharp beak instead of its mouth. It was also moving incredibly fast for its size — something which, admittedly, was facilitated by the fact that the forest seemed to literally make way for it. Trees bent out of its way, rocks rolled away and the very ground seemed to get more stable and level. It was like watching a road opening right in front of that creature, and even more surprisingly it also closed after it.

“What the hell is that!?!” Blueskin thought.

As if it had sensed that it was being observed, the creature stopped and looked up to the sky with four yellow, cold reptilian eyes. It immediately found the Oni, who admittedly was really conspicuous in the sky, and it narrowed its eyes with fury. Its gaze carried such a murderous rage that even Blueskin felt uneasy in front of it.

“Better get a bit higher.” He thought. “That creature doesn't seem capable of flying, but maybe it can spit acid or something from a distance... but if I put enough distance between us, I should be safe from everything it may throw at me.”

He was just about to get higher when, out of nowhere, a wind started blowing from above, pushing him to the ground.

Blueskin cursed and flapped his wings desperately trying to remain airborne, but despite his efforts he started to gradually lose altitude.

“Shit!” He cursed. “What's going on!?! Where does this goddamn wind come from!?!”

Realizing that he wouldn't be able to remain in the air much longer in this condition, the Oni chose a different course of action and started to ease his descent instead of outright fighting it. Flying away wasn't an option, but he was still confident that he could outrun it on the ground.

He landed on top of a hill, and then he quickly modified his body. He retracted his wings into his body and changed the shape of his legs, making them longer, stronger and more suited for running, and finally he also made himself leaner. When he was done, he looked like a mix between a cheetah and a professional runner, with everything about him giving off a mental image of speed... something that was outright confirmed when he actually started running.

This form, coupled with his innate Oni strength, allowed him to reach an incredible speed. Even while traversing difficult terrain like the forest he was still moving at more than sixty km/h, dodging or jumping over any obstacle with ease thanks to his amazing reflexes.

He kept this pace for a good minute but then everything went to shit once again.

For some reason, navigating through the forest started getting increasingly difficult. Branches, rocks and bushes seemingly moved just enough to impede his passage, while roots and rocks tried to trip him and the very ground became treacherous and slippery, full of hard-to-see holes. All of these obstacles considerably slowed the Oni down, though he still managed to run at a reasonable pace until a root, moving like a snake, literally raised itself from the ground and coiled itself around Blueskin's ankle, finally tripping him up and sending him tumbling down the side of a hill.

Even then the Oni immediately got up, largely unharmed and with only a few scratches and bruises that were already starting to heal up thanks to his regenerative powers, but now he was beyond pissed.

“God fucking dammit!” He screamed in frustration. “What the hell is up with this goddamn place!?!”

He stopped in order to look around more carefully and then cursed even harder. Now that he was paying attention to it he saw that the whole forest was moving as if it was alive, clearly forming as many obstacles as it could around him. Blueskin blinked in surprise, and looked even harder, activating his aura senses. The same aura that had previously attacked him directly was surrounding him once again, only this time the target wasn't him, but rather everything else. The aura covered everything in the forest like a mist, permeating the air, the trees and the ground and somehow animating them.

Blueskin cursed. Judging by how the forest impeded his passage while it helped the lizard, this was probably the latter's doing, and the fact that the creature was capable of exerting such a control at a distance made the Oni dread what it could do up close. Sadly, it seemed that he wouldn't have a choice, as escape was proving to be impossible.

He cursed again, feeling a chill running down his spine. He really didn't want to face that lizard-thing right now... alone and unprepared. He would have at least wanted an army with him in order to deal with it...

“Wait a second!” He thought, suddenly realizing something. “I do have an army with me! Why didn't I think of it before?” He felt shocked by his own forgetfulness, but then he dismissed it. “Nevermind. It was probably the aura of that lizard affecting me. What's important is that I reach my army and prepare them to fight that lizard. If I can kill it and eat it, its aura should give me a very good boon... and if it seems like we're going to lose, I can always leave my army behind to distract it while I fly away.”

He nodded with satisfaction, feeling some of his confidence return. However, as he looked around, he noticed that he had actually gotten pretty far from the ruins where his forces were awaiting him... and with a sense of dread, he also realized that he had to hurry, or the lizard would catch him before he could reach them.

So, without wasting any more time, he started running again, struggling desperately against the terrain and the plants which tried to stop him.