World's Last Hope-Chapter 52: More Questions
A hatching noise was heard as the cocoon slowly cracked open.
Interestingly enough, the first spots to break were the light spots.
It looked as if they were intentionally weaker, to allow the monster to escape the cocoon once it had finished maturing.
The specific cocoon that was slowly hatching was about the height of Eric, so fortunately, it wasn’t from the biggest ones.
A part of the cocoon broke off, and a small, thin brown leg came into view.
The leg was covered in long patches of hair that were no doubt meant to detect any movement around the creature.
Some people would probably ask themselves what they should do in this situation. Should they run, hide, or fight?
But Eric didn’t need to think about such things.
He instinctively knew that if the cocoon hatched and the creature came out, it would probably attack, but that wasn’t the biggest problem.
The biggest problem was that if the creature made too much noise, it could interfere with the other cocoons, causing them to hatch early, surrounding Eric in a deadly trap.
Or worse, it could somehow find a way to cry for help from its parents.
If the cocoons were that big, Eric didn’t want to know how big their parents were.
So, moving purely by instinct, in one moment he was far away from the cocoon, and the next he was already upon it, with his cursed sword already summoned in his right hand.
He thrust the sword as hard as he could, splitting the cocoon in two, as well as the creature that had yet to hatch from it.
Eric took a step back as he gagged and covered his nose with his mouth.
The moment he slashed the cocoon in two, the most disgusting smell Eric had ever smelled hit his nostrils.
"Holy shit," he spoke, walking backward as fast as he could.
The disgusting smell was almost enough to make him miss a very important, crucial detail.
Once the creature that had yet to hatch was cut in two, it began to bleed.
But unlike regular blood, which is red, this blood was green, and on top of that, it was producing a sizzling noise.
The blood fell on the ground and started to dissolve it.
"Is that acid? Its blood is acid?" Eric whispered in disbelief.
How could a creature have acid for blood?
Not only that, but it meant that these types of creatures were horrible to fight, if you managed to wound it, the creature’s blood that fell on you could hurt you back.
"I don’t have much luck, do I?" he muttered under his breath in frustration.
Truthfully, he wanted to dissect the creature’s corpse to see if he could find some way to fight them more effectively by discovering their weaknesses—if they had any.
But not wanting to risk getting closer to the acid that was still dissolving the ground, he quickly dashed out of the area.
Even if he had managed to stay relatively quiet, the parents of these creatures could possess an incredibly sharp sense of smell and could no doubt smell that their newly hatched child had just been cut in two.
Or Eric could just be paranoid, but considering his circumstances, being cautious sounded like the better option.
After some time, he had to force himself to slow down his pace.
’It would be bad if I exhaust all my energy here only to stumble upon an enemy.’
"But I have to say, this place is weird," Eric muttered softly as he continued walking forward, observing his surroundings.
One thing particularly stood out to him...
The trees had become incredibly big, almost to an unbelievable level.
Before, they were about 15 meters tall—about normal size—but now it looked like they could be more than ten times that.
Not only that, but the cocoons also seemed to be getting bigger, just not with such a staggering speed.
It felt like the world was getting bigger... Or maybe Eric was shrinking...
"If everything is getting bigger, does this mean I am walking toward the center of the monsters’ nest?" Eric asked himself.
He couldn’t be sure, but considering his luck, it wouldn’t be surprising if the cathedral he was supposed to go to was located right at the center of the monster nest.
Maybe this whole place was actually the guardian’s territory?
But if that was the case, it would mean the guardian would be able to reproduce.
If that was the case, it would be very bad news. What would happen once all these things hatched?
Wouldn’t that mean they would have thousands of abominations that rivaled a guardian in strength?
Not only that, but if the guardian was truly capable of reproducing, wouldn’t it mean that it had a partner?
So, were there now two guardians that had corrupted the cathedral he was planning to help liberate?
"More questions, and fewer answers," Eric sighed as he massaged his forehead.
He tried to think of something more positive to lighten his mood. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦
And of course, as he had been thinking about reproduction just a second ago, his thoughts naturally turned to Aria.
"Fuck," he muttered as his body became hot.
Glancing around and seeing that night was soon going to fall, Eric decided it was better to rest when he could.
It was important to preserve his strength and try to recharge it in any situation possible.
Finding a hollow tree that had been violently torn from the ground, he decided to spend the night there.
Only to realize something as he closed his eyes.
Right now, he was alone, and Olivia wasn’t with him, meaning that she wasn’t there to use her ugly reminisce that alerted him of danger while he slept.
So Eric couldn’t even relax in his sleep, as he had to keep his guard constantly up at all times.
"I wonder how it feels to have a reminisce?" he muttered half-asleep.
It seemed the best way to fall asleep was talking to himself.
"If I ever get one, I hope it’s something cool. Maybe I can ride it like a horse, or maybe it could have wings so I could fly through the air undisturbed."
With these thoughts, he finally managed to doze off and get some sleep.
