Sucking in a deep breath, Nero steadied his mind in preparation.

Then his eyes snapped open.

Grabbing all his supplies, he quickly made his way out of the hollow rock entrance and began making his way towards his destination.

At running speed, he would reach there in at least three hours, five if he was careful.

Nero decided it was best to be safe. However z he did have a few plans in mind.

The world around him passed in a blitz of colors. By sticking to the shadows, his speed and stealth was significant enough to hide his moving presence enough for the fiends of the forest not to pay much of an interest in him.

As he ran, Nero quickly went over the details of the map Lyon had handed him. It had taken him some time but he had memorized most of what he needed to know about the location he was headed to and the general surroundings.

Most of the maps distributed and sold in the empire usually had local danger level descriptions. Depending on the seasons and many other factors, those danger levels could change.

The entirety of Malady's Garden was a category Red. However, within the forest, some areas were safer in general than others.

According to the map, where he was headed was not the most dangerous as it was generally the territory of several strains of humanoid Abominations. From what he knew, there had been some human settlements in the area some time in the past, making the area earn the "Ruins" classifier.

Ruins were pieces of the old world, most of them existing during the Age of Gods, with a very rare few existing even before that. Nero had read up on them within the library in the Red House, although he couldn't find much more on them beyond that.

They were the vestiges of an old world much different from this one. One that had died and become corrupted with rot and plague.

In the end, all that was left of it were ruins. Much like the Elkerling settlement he had run across on his travels through the Garden and the Purple Evergrowth.

The thought of it excited him a bit.

From what he knew ruins such as these were scattered all around the world. However, most of them had already been explored and ransacked of everything valuable for thousands of years already by the Church and then Hunters who sought some small time fortunes, usually at the cost of their own lives.

To witness a ruin was much like seeing a glimpse right into the past. In the end, it was too intriguing for him not to get excited.

Nero stopped for a moment as something caught his attention.

A gush of bloodlust aimed right at him.

In one fluid movement, he stepped to the side.

Instantly, ground beside him silently exploded into a rain of black dirt and leaves.

Nero's eyes narrowed as he slipped into the darkness as his eyes took on an ominous, golden tint.

With a forest filled with many monsters, even with how cautious he was, such an encounter was unavoidable after all. In fact, he had been hoping on it.

If he wasn't so fearful of being noticed by whoever was potentially trailing him, perhaps he would have sought a hunt out himself.

However, one coming his way was not bad as well.

His perceptive eyes scanned the area slowly.

Even with the cover of night, his sight was sharp, allowing him to see clearly.

And there, he noticed it.

A dark figure perched on a branch, its amber eyes glowing softly in the dark.

Nero's frowned, 'It's far away. How did it almost hit me?'

The tree the creature was on was far off in the distance to his right side. Being able to hit him clearly meant whatever projectile would have had to accurately tear through a couple of other trees to get to him. Surely, there would have been a warning.

And yet, he had heard nothing, noticing it only at the last second.

He glanced at the small craterin the ground.

His expression changed.

Within it laid a small, squirming, black object. It had rows of sharp teeth and a barbed tongue that ground at the black dirt ground.

'What in the Seven Hells is that?!'

A rather terrifying looking thing, was what it was. Without any hesitation, Nero brought his foot down crushing it. The thing squealed as it died, releasing an acrid, black fluid.

Nero's eyes widened and he quickly ducked out of the way.

The tree behind him immediately exploded into splinters.

He hid behind another tree and took another look to confirm the creature's position.

'This far away, it'll be long gone before I can reach it, so dragging things into close quarters is nearly impossible.'

He glanced at the spear in his hand. If he had Gungnir, harassing the thing out of hiding would have been no problem. But his current situation was grossly limiting.

He would be getting one shot, and one shot only.

He huffed deeply.

Then he ran to the side sharply.

In the far distance, the wretched creature perched on the branch of the tree hissed softly. Its abominable mouth stretched open as something vile squirmed within.

Just as it was about to fire, something seemed to glint with unnatural light.

Nero's face was the picture of serenity as he took a throwing stance.

All his muscles tensed as his heart beat furiously in his chest.

His focus narrowed, the golden glow in his eyes burning like the wretched sun.

The calm of the dark Garden shook madly until it all seemed to vanish for an instant.

A gust of wind, and the crackling of thunder as the world split in two under the force of mad power.

The spear in Nero's grip left his hand.

A split moment later, it bit into the body of the Abomination and scattered its excesses into black mist.

An instant, gruesome demise...

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