ALL NOVEL Chapter 93: "Be it death, I'll measure it's depth!"
*puchik*
A faint impaling voice rose up and the roars in unison faded away simultaneously. Lee glanced at the surroundings to comprehend what was happening, without making a single move. As he noticed, the trolls expressed a deep sense of victory and pride. Their hideous mouths smiled in arrogance, as if they were looking at their prey. They expressed an emotion similar to having their prayer approved by gods!
But, Lee was soon distracted by a tingling sensation of pain from his stomach. His eyes turned towards the cave and saw a purplish vine extended towards him. It did not crawl on the ground like the former, but was in the air, like a needle suspended by a thread.
The pain became more evident as he followed the vine's trajectory. The focus came nearer and nearer to his torso. His eyes ended up staring at his stomach, dripping blood.
*gasp*
Pain amplified to its pinnacle as Lee slowly raised his hand and touched his stomach. The smoothness of blood reduced the friction between his fingertips. The familiar smell of iron crept up his nose. The reluctance of Lee to believe that it was actually his blood flew away, as it slowly travelled down to his elbow.
He wanted to squirm and shout aloud but he held back the pain, to hide any signs of suffering. His inner demon wanted to go on a rampage in ache, but he chained the beast. His body felt subtly uneasy, for the mind and body were in a state of chaos.
Every nerve in his body yelled at him in agony. Lee felt his muscles not responding to his commands. The absence of D to whom he would shout and scream, made a mental void in him. For the first time after arriving in Zaxaluke, Lee teared up in pain!
The sound of gnashing teeth carried the intense stinging sensation around him. The trolls showed signs of delight and joy when their prey writhed in agony. Their expressions became bright, as their overgrown and twisted teeth were exposed.
The carnivorous society feasted their eyes with the suffering of this human. For them, anything other than a troll was food. Their wild behaviour which was fashioned by a strange appetite including meat, plant and even rotten corpses, molded them into the most psychopathic enemy one does not want to encounter!
*huff*
Lee tried his best to stand up straight, as he felt each passing second more disorienting than its previous. He assumed that this vine had the ability to absorb its prey's vitality!
Lee was filled with a flood of thoughts and memories. He explored through his and D's memories to find out anything that has a part like this purple vine. Though a vine, Lee felt it's sturdiness and solidity rivalling a metal rod of the same thickness.
His head, tilt forward, spilled it's overflooded tears over his impaled stomach. The saline solution simply gave a smack at the wound and he raised his head with his eyes shut tight. He scanned his back with his hands and found no wound there. He had a smile of joy, but it was soon overshadowed by the pain.
Lee began to brainstorm regarding what might have lodged into his stomach. His internal organs sensed something sharp and pointed, which he assumed to be an arrowhead. He also thought of a chance of being poisoned, which he soon discarded. Since his immunity bar was disabled anonymously, he should have been poisoned by now. But as he does not have his affinities working either, the conclusion was quickly derived.
His final option fell on removing it by suffering a little pain. Lee consoled himself that the pain will be inferior to an ant bite. His legs almost gave up as he tried to move them. But with unwavering dedication he regained the control.
Slowly, Lee took a step backward and the vine lodged into his stomach came along with him. He realised that it was useless to walk backward, and it was utterly necessary to pull it out by himself.
A pair of slightly trembling hands wrapped around the vine and tried to pull it out. Lee came to realise that the courage to do so was immensely exponential to what he had, at the first second. In a split second, his mind became fuelled by rage and vigorously pulled the vine out!
'AAAHHHHHHHHH….!'
A shout many times powerful and carrying the entirety of agony resounded inside him. The action was quick, but left a pain so intense, his body stiffened for a few seconds. After that, he opened his eyes with teardrops running down his cheeks. His eyes thoroughly scanned the vine, which instantly became soft, like a vine!
The purple vine with only a circumference of 3 centimetres came out of his stomach, as he pressed his stomach with his palm to halt the bleeding. Lee felt his internal organs beaten and twisted to a batter, as the vine's sharp tip came out of his stomach.
*vague troll voices*
Lee crouched on the ground, aching. He still had the strength and resolve to scan his surroundings. Glancing around while being pulled away by the pain, Lee deduced that pulling the vine out of the body was not a part of the troll's action script.
A troll threw his club on the ground and walked towards Lee with an arrogant smirk. The troll cracked his knuckles in pride. Before it could take the 4th step, a deafening screech came out of the cave. The troll hurriedly ran back to his spot and took the club from the ground.
*SCREEECCH*
Lee was shaken up by the sound. He kneeled up on his right knee and looked at the cave. The cave trembled after the screech and the tremor rippled outward to the surroundings.
Every bristle of Lee stood up with this revelation. Soon after the long screech ended, Lee stood up on his foot and waited for the next assault. His alertness went over the roof, as Foresight unknowingly was awakened.
'Be it death, I'll measure it's breadth!'