"Behind you!" Red warned his companion.

Narcha was quick to react, turning around to face the zombie. However, the creature suddenly changed directions and began to dash towards the boy. Red immediately recognized he was in danger.

With no hesitation, the boy turned around and retreated. Still, he knew the zombie was much faster than him, so he chose to dash towards the bandits instead. A man who was running in the opposite direction, away from the demon, almost ended up colliding with Red, and he looked taken aback by the presence of a child.

The bandit turned around to look at Red and was just about to speak when something pierced into his back. A skeletal hand burst through his chest, and the man didn't even have the time to scream as life quickly slipped away from him.

The zombie threw the dying man aside and started to dash after Red again. Suddenly, though, the creature dove to the ground. A large saber slashed past the place it had just been at and cut into a tree, almost chopping it in half.

"You think you can ignore me?!" Narcha roared as rage began to take over her actions.

The zombie was promptly forced to dodge again as the woman unleashed a torrent of attacks against it. Red took this opportunity to put some distance between them. However, another commotion took his attention.

Nearby the bandits were sent into a complete panic. The scaled demon dove in between the trees and begun to pick off the survivors from its first attack, its razor-sharp claws making short work of the bandit's armor. The band's leader tried to organize a resistance against the scaled demon with the rest of his subordinates.

"Shoot it!" The man ordered in a panicked voice.

The remaining three archers did as they were told and began to shoot the creature as it killed their companions. The demon, however, was too fast and was able to dodge most of the arrows. When one of them finally found its mark, it merely bounced off of its scales and only served to enrage it.

The demon opened its lizard-like jaw and let out a shriek, revealing hundreds of thin sharp teeth. It jumped up into the tree and began to charge at one of the archers. The bandit was immediately sent into a panic and dropped his bow in retreat. The creature, however, was even faster than the zombie, and the man had barely turned to run when it pounced on him.

Red watched as the demon's claws cut into flesh like butter. It didn't even seem to care that its victim was already dead and continued to slice apart his body. The boy could almost feel the rage and bloodlust taking physical form in the demon, and he couldn't help but recall his conversation with Eiwin.

'So this is a demon...'

Red felt something stir within his body.

"Kid, what the fuck are you doing?" Narcha's voice suddenly called to him.

The youth turned around and saw the woman was standing not too far from him. She had managed to put herself between him and the zombie, and the two were once more sizing each other up.

"It noticed I'm the weak link." Red warned the warrior. "It'll probably continue targeting me."

"I can see that, you brat!" Narcha replied in annoyance. "Don't just stand there!"

"What do you want me to do?" Red frowned. "He might end up hurting you if you focus on defending me."

"I know that!" The woman grumbled again. "You need to go."

"Go?" The boy was confused. "Go where?"

"Go anywhere, kid!" Narcha explained. "Just run away while I hold it back. That way, I can focus on fighting instead of protecting you."

Red had a mind to protest her decision, but he knew the woman was right. They couldn't shake off the zombie, so they needed to fight it. If the boy stayed behind, he would only distract Narcha.

"What about the demon?" The youth reminded her.

Not too far away, the crimson creature had already claimed another victim.

"Let's hope it's too distracted with the bandits to do anything." Narcha replied.

"...I'm going further south to get my things." Red spoke after some hesitation. "You can find me there after you're done here."

"Haha!" The woman laughed. "Glad to see you're confident. Now go before the zombie notices something is amiss."

The zombie had already noticed the conversation between them. It wasn't too keen on letting its enemies plan, though, and eventually, it began to approach Narcha. The warrior met its charge straight on and kept the undead's attacks at bay.

Red took this opportunity to run off. The zombie clearly noticed his retreat, and it tried to chase after him. Narcha, however, stopped the zombie on its tracks with another wild swing of her saber.

The creature dodged back and stared at its opponents. In the zombie's expression, a hint of annoyance began to form.

"You're angry now too?!" Narcha laughed. "Turns out, maybe you should have just let us go by, huh?"

The woman didn't spare any more time in conversation. She charged ahead, and the dance of death between warrior and undead began anew.

...

In the meanwhile, Red had already put a few hundred meters between the battlefield and himself. Although he hadn't done much in the fight, the sheer concentration and precision required in his shots earlier had taken its toll on him.

It was clear the boy was still a bit outmatched in this type of fight, but it didn't help that he was using a weapon he had just picked up a few days before. Red couldn't help but think back to his trusty and sharp cleaver. With that in his hand, he would have most certainly been more confident in a fight against the zombie.

'That's right, my hidden stash.'

The youth looked around. As far as the boy was concerned, this was completely unfamiliar territory, much more so with all the dead trees. Trying to use the vegetation as a landmark was a futile affair. Thankfully, though, he still remembered the hilly terrain of the area.

'I need to retrace my steps.'

The one thing Red remembered very clearly from his first night on the surface was the hill he had emerged from. It directly bordered the river and revealed a scene to him he would never forget, no matter how dead the trees were.

The youth used the skills that he had recently learned from Rog to locate himself and climbed atop a hill. He looked around and searched for something he could recognize. Unfortunately, though, he didn't see anything immediately.

'I need to hurry.'

Red knew he didn't have the privilege of waiting around. He dashed downhill and continued to look for his hidden stash. Eventually, the boy came across traces he could recognize.

'Campfire!'

The youth didn't know whether the burnt wood was from the sect's previous camp. However, this was as good of a clue as he could get in such a short amount of time. Red closed his eyes and tried to recall the direction he had approached their campfire from.

Suddenly, the boy recalled something. He looked around the tree trunks before finding what he was looking for. A deep splintered hole wounded one of the trees, and the boy was immediately able to recognize it.

'This is where Rog shot at me.'

With that in mind, the youth finally had a direction to head in. Without hesitation, Red dashed in a straight line to the southwest. Gradually the terrain became more familiar in his mind, and he knew he was getting close.

However, as the boy approached his hidden stash, the environment changed. At first, he saw a few animal bones - critters and small birds who had suffered the same fate as the plants around them. Eventually, these bones became more frequent, and Red started to see the remains of larger animals too.

Bears, boars, foxes. Only their bones remained, and the youth found himself subconsciously slowing down. At some point, the boy couldn't walk more than two meters without stepping in one of these bones. Their cracking sounds were the only thing echoing in the eerily quiet forest.

'What is going on?'

Red began to fear for the worst. Before, he had a guess his stash might have been involved in these changes. Now he almost had a confirmation.

As he walked further, a glint caught his eyes. Red froze in place and squinted.

Another flicker.

A crimson light.

The boy felt his blood run cold.

At that point, something began to call to him from within the light. It resonated with something inside his body, a squirming and uncomfortable feeling that permeated his entire being. Red somehow felt this sensation was similar to the one he had felt when meeting the demon from earlier.

He hesitated.

Suddenly, dozens of conversations and images began to flash through his mind. All sorts of dark emotions stirred within him. Fear, anger, sadness, despair, they all threatened to swallow him.

Red wanted to run away. His consciousness started to slip from his grasp.

And yet, something kept him grounded.

He recalled a time where something tried to consume his mind too, where Red felt he was on the brink of collapse. A specific image had helped him, and for some reason, he thought back on it. The boy had forgotten everything about that dream, but that one object never disappeared from his memories.

A white slab, covered with symbols the boy could never understand. And yet now, Red felt as if the meaning of those words were as clear as day.

'Herein rest protectors of our realm who gave their lives for our cause.'

'Their spirits live on forever.'

Suddenly, the boy felt his body shake. These words resonated within his mind, and Red suddenly felt inexplicable resolve swelling from within him. The negative emotions still tried to drag him down, but he suddenly looked at them with new eyes.

So pitiful.

So feeble.

'To think one would be led astray by such things.'

Red felt like cursing his own weakness, his own cowardice.

'To think I wanted to run away.'

There might be obstacles that could forcefully drag him down, yet he would never allow himself to kneel before adversity. Much more so, one created by his own failings.

Red took one step forward. The negative energy within him surged again, but this time the boy fought through it. The sensations nagged at the edges of his psyche, but he didn't ignore them. He faced them head-on and saw them for what they truly were.

Weakness, temptation, desire.

Everything that had always tried to drag him away from his true path.

'You can't trick me. Not anymore.'

Red took another step. And then another. Eventually, the scene before him became clear. The same crimson bubble of energy emanated from a spot in the ground, and dark wisps continually flowed out of it. Yet, there was something different about it this time.

It was stronger. More substantial.

It had fed on an entire forest's worth of life, after all.

Something stirred within Red's body again, but he didn't stop walking. Eventually, he reached the edge of the crimson mist. The energy curtain began to move more frantically, almost as if detecting his presence.

Somehow, Red could feel certain feelings emanating from within it.

Anger, fear, sadness, despair.

The crimson mist spoke with a soundless voice that the boy couldn't help but recognize. In the end, the youth just sighed.

"These are all distractions." He spoke out loud. "In the end, they are just meant to drag us from our true path."

The mist stirred again.

"I can't choose your path for you. I still don't even know my own..." Red shook his head. "But maybe we can help each other."

The mist went still. Suddenly, though, it began moving again, and the boy felt the calling becoming stronger. The blood within his veins started to move faster and faster, wanting to be rejoined.

‘Is this the only way?’

The youth closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Since fate had dealt him a bad hand, he had to carve his own path through adversity. No matter how hard it proved to be.

"There are certain things I fear more than death..." Red spoke as he stared into the light. “So make sure I won’t regret this.”

The mist stirred again, as if in understanding.

Slowly, the boy extended his hand and touched it.

Suddenly, the entire world became crimson.