Savage Forest - Chapter 58
Enya made desperate attempts to intervene, but her body, worn down by irregular eating habits and sleeplessness, offered little resistance. The pain coursing through her scalp intensified as she fought to move her weakened leg.
Avisak observed her struggles from behind before he abruptly turned away with a cold expression.
Servia, leading the group, finally reached their destination. As they arrived, Enya’s eyes widened in shock at the sight of Servia’s slender hands delving into one of the small tombs, obscured by damp moss and overgrown grass.
‘…Maybe they’re trying to bury me alive.’
She looked at Servia’s back with trembling eyes.
After Servia cleared the dugout, a small pit-like entrance appeared. As she beckoned, the women shoved Enya into the hole.
In an instant, she fell into a hole deeper than expected and struggled.
Her vision went dark, and as she couldn’t see her surroundings, fear set in. She screamed and struggled to get out of the hole. However, even if she scratched the wall with her fingernails, only a lot of dirt fell off, and she could not climb up.
Above Enya’s sobbing and screaming head, Servia’s sullen voice came.
“Persistent bitch. I will show you my hell.”
Kiiik. Tak…!
“Watch the downfall of your man from there.”
At the same time, the entrance to the pit, through which even the slightest light streamed in, closed firmly with a loud sound.
“Do, don’t…!
In an instant, Enya found herself engulfed in darkness, unable to perceive anything around her. A sense of fear and despair clutched at her flesh.
As a chilling coldness seemingly emanated from the ground, goosebumps erupted across her body. She felt immobilized as if her limbs were rendered powerless. The shock was so overwhelming that tears refused to flow.
Amidst her turmoil, her thoughts turned to Tarhan’s plight rather than her own.
‘…The Perugian army has betrayed the Allied Forces. He might really be in danger if half the army turned against him.’
The crisis that had befallen Tarhan resonated within her more intensely than her own pain.
With her flesh burning and her wounded skin throbbing, Enya made desperate attempts to escape the pit. However, no matter how hard she strained, climbing the towering walls of the hole, which were twice her height and widened as it descended, seemed utterly impossible.
“Help me…! Anyone! Rigata…! Ihita…! Yaru…!”
Only tears flowed down her cheeks in endless despair.
“Ha, haa… Ta, Tarhan… ha, haah—!”
Enya frantically groped around for anything. In the darkness, where nothing was visible, the way out still did not appear.
Before long, something reached her hand.
She brought it quickly to a place where a ray of light leaked in. She had to climb up, even if she had to use a block of wood.
“Kyaak…!”
To her horror, she found herself clutching a massive decaying bone in her hand.
It wasn’t the remains of a monstrous creature. Instead, it seemed to belong to someone who had perished in this place long ago.
In a state of panic, she hastily released the bone, letting it fall back into the darkness.
Alone in the dimly lit pit, surrounded by the lifeless body, Enya succumbed to overwhelming distress. Her breath hitched with sobs as tears streamed down her face. The fear coursing through her being could no longer be contained. No matter how hard she fought to maintain her composure, it proved futile.
Driven to the brink, she resorted to tearing at her hair as she let out anguished howls.
“Someone, help me, Tarhan! Uhhk! Aahhhh…!”
Her memories were being forced back to that time.
It was a memory from a very long past.
An abandoned field.
Poverty and abuse, dirt and filth… an empty field seething with disease and pain.
It was a pit of death where even the grass withers without sunlight. A place where abandoned people gather, and a hell where the sick, tired of cold and hunger, fight to the death for a place where they could embrace even a little warmth.
The screaming scene of a mad woman abandoned in an empty field replayed in her mind.
“Please, someone, get me out of here! Don’t leave me here…!”
It seemed that someone was choking her alive. Her breath was choked and the blood vessels throughout her body constricted, and her breathing became short of breath.
At this rate, she felt like she could die of fear.
Enya started digging up the dirt, frantically hitting the wall again.
“Get me out! Please… get me out…!”
Her pleas and cries echoed through the air, and her voice strained to its limits. Every fiber of her being urged her to escape this place, as she sensed that another hour here would seal her fate.
Her thoughts became her sole driving force, propelling her forward in a relentless pursuit of survival.
It was a primal struggle, reminiscent of a wild beast fighting for its life. Writhing and contorting like a desperate maggot, she clung to herself, wrapping her arms tightly around her chest. Her body quivered uncontrollably, succumbing to the overwhelming fear and exhaustion.
Lost in the depths of her despair, she teetered on the edge of madness. Time blurred and became indistinguishable. Perhaps it was only a fleeting moment.
And then, a peculiar glimmer caught her eye.
It was a human form. No, was that really a person?
In the hole where she couldn’t see an inch in front of her, in the dark hole, something was coming towards her. Not a single inch of flesh was left of it, only bony bones and loose muscles, the fingers protruding from the darkness and stretching towards her.
‘…Is it the God of death?’
Enya thought so.
The image of it reaching out to her was truly like the god of death itself. She didn’t know if it was real or an illusion.
In horror, as her limbs were paralyzed, she bit her lip hard.
‘Tarhan…’
Inwardly she called his name, widening her eyes even more.
…Even if that were the god of death, she would not die here.
Enya prepared for a final stand before the god of death slowly approached her. Even if it was a minute movement, she couldn’t give up. She knew it was a miserable life, but…
She would beg God.
Until she saw her man’s last, she would never leave him alone.
* * *
Avisak gazed up at the imposing figure before her, his countenance exuding an air of infinite arrogance. Yet, beneath that veneer, she could discern a weariness that surpassed any sense of haughtiness.
However, even in his fatigued state, the man’s inherent leadership was palpable. She couldn’t help but feel a trickle of cold sweat forming on her temples in the face of his unwavering resolve.
It had been so long since she had experienced the sensation of being on a real battlefield. The presence of death and the lingering aura of bloodshed seemed to emanate more intensely from his every movement and expression, solidifying his control over the surroundings.
As she knelt down before him, Avisak felt her own body involuntarily shrink. It had been an eternity, indeed. Simultaneously, an undeniable desire for this formidable man surged within her.
Finally, the man’s resolute jaw, which had been tightly clenched, began to part.
“I heard that Perugia’s secondary reinforcements would catch up after sundown, but they arrived quickly.”
Tarhan, the head of the Allied Forces, arched an eyebrow, prompting her to provide an explanation.
It felt as if Reias, the God of war in Aquilea, was speaking directly before her. The deep, resonant voice sent shivers through her abdomen, stirring a mix of excitement and anticipation. Undoubtedly, Tarhan exuded the aura of a seasoned leader who had successfully guided this disparate coalition to its current position.
“Isn’t it better for reinforcements to arrive sooner?”
Avisak opened her temptingly painted red lips and looked at him with wide eyes. Even so, the man’s expression did not change at all.
“This is a setback in the plan. You are not able to ignore the responsibility that follows. The food supply force was confirmed to not arrive with you. Didn’t you think that coming all of a sudden here would not make enough supplies to go back to these many soldiers?”
The man with blazing eyes murmured in a low voice.
‘He seems like a quick-witted man…’
She found herself exhilarated even in the face of his derision.
There was no one who could rival him. His precision and swiftness in making decisions, his ability to support and defend them with even the briefest remark during conference room discussions—everything about him was unparalleled.
And that gaze…
She admired everything about this man. Such feelings had never arisen within her before.
She desired him.
From the very moment she laid eyes on him, Avisak knew that she should be the final woman to stand by the side of this radiant man.
As a princess of Perugia, she had counted the countless things that had eluded her since birth. This man standing before her felt like a new summit to conquer. Simultaneously, it ignited a sense of urgency and purpose within her that seemed unimaginable in her life thus far.
Rumors abounded about his origins, claiming he was a descendant of the fallen great nation of Cartantina, the lone survivor of the shattered empire.
‘If he has ascended to such a position despite his background, how exalted must he be…’
From the moment she first encountered him, even her father hinted at the prospect of making him her husband—a proposition he hadn’t extended to any other men in Perugia. However, the man’s response was nothing short of spectacular.
He revealed that he had a long-standing partner in Aquilea, dispelling any possibility of romantic involvement between them.
Avisak was aware that the notion of husband and wife held no weight in the savage land of Aquilea. Despite being descended from the remnants of the monogamous Cartantina, he couldn’t have upheld such customs in the depths of the bloody barbarian forest.
Aquilea carried a notorious reputation for promiscuity, often deemed no different from beasts. It was inconceivable for him to be committed to just one woman in such an environment.
However, when she arrived in Aquilea and witnessed it firsthand, she was astounded.
Her amazement intensified when she discovered the woman’s disability.
Her brows furrowed at the sight of the wretched woman before her—a pitiful voice, a meek countenance, withered limbs, and quivering eyes. There was nothing to ignite a man’s desire. As a woman, she couldn’t even perceive any charm emanating from her.
‘It would be better if he lived with a wild beast cub on the side that was dying of starvation than this.’
A fragile visage. An appearance that appeared utterly powerless. That woman epitomized the depths of destitution, not even regarded as the weakest in Perugia, where strength was revered as the epitome of beauty.
She couldn’t comprehend it… until she beheld the way the man looked at that woman, with eyes that could see nothing else.
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