World's Last Hope-Chapter 58: Colossal Being

The cocoon was unbelievably large.

It might have looked insignificant next to the gigantic trees, but for Eric, it was a harbinger of worrying things to come.

If there was one, there would be more—hundreds... thousands... millions?

He couldn’t be sure, and the thought that something out there was colossal enough to give birth to these monstrosities filled him with dread.

How big were these supposed monsters?

Two hundred meters tall? More?

The scale was so immense that Eric’s mind struggled to comprehend it.

If he ever encountered such a creature, his only saving grace would be if he appeared so insignificant—like a bug—that the monster might leave him alone.

But remembering his ’The Cursed One’ trait, he gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Yeah, escape isn’t possible," he muttered.

Considering that thing was still somewhere behind him, chasing him, turning back wasn’t an option.

All he could do was move forward and hope he managed to reunite with the girls in time—before it was too late.

Getting up, he brushed the dirt off his armor.

"Fuck, I stink!" he spat in frustration as he glanced at the river.

He wouldn’t have minded a quick bath, but the water was likely infected.

He doubted he’d be able to purify enough to safely wash his body.

So with regret, he continued forward toward where the cathedral was supposed to be.

*****

The small cocoons were nowhere to be seen.

Now, only cocoons dozens of meters tall were scattered throughout the forest.

Everything was getting bigger.

Even the dying grass, which had once barely reached his ankles, was now growing taller.

Some patches of grass were almost as long as half his body.

With each step Eric took, he felt smaller and smaller, though in truth, it was his surroundings that were growing larger.

He was beginning to feel insignificant, like a bug—like he could be squashed at any moment.

Walking forward, Eric had to remind himself to breathe. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

His subconscious seemed to be trying so hard to stay quiet that he had unconsciously started holding his breath, too scared to make noise, unwilling to attract something monstrous toward him.

’How much longer does this go on? When does it end?’ he asked himself.

He was getting sick and tired of this entire place.

All he wanted was to get out and return to the city.

He had spent only a day there, but somehow, he already felt nostalgic for it.

No, he wasn’t just nostalgic for the city. He missed the feeling of safety—the feeling of not being in constant danger.

He also remembered the dinner he had at Aria’s mansion.

Even the way her grandfather had glared at him couldn’t ruin the memory.

"Aria..." he sighed.

Then his eyes widened in horror as he felt goosebumps rise all over his body, responding to the shaking of the ground.

"Shit!" he cursed, frantically looking around in panic.

"Those are... footsteps!" he muttered, as the ground began to tremble more intensely.

It felt like an earthquake, but in truth, it was the sound of footsteps.

The footsteps of something colossal.

Something that should not be approached.

Desperately searching for a place to hide, Eric glanced at the towering trees, his expression turning even grimmer

Unlike before, now that the trees were unimaginably tall, he doubted he could climb hundreds of meters just to reach the lowest branch fast enough.

That meant the only place left to hide was on the ground.

Finding a tree root that had sprouted from the ground, he dashed toward it.

He quickly hid beneath the massive root, which was several times thicker than his body, hoping it would be enough to conceal him.

Lying flat on his stomach, Eric placed a trembling hand over his mouth and held his breath, waiting.

Slowly, the ground began to shake more and more violently.

The tall trees and their leaves shook slightly as the ground trembled.

Suddenly, Eric’s eyes widened in terror as an enormous leg stepped into his field of vision.

At the end of the spider’s legs were typically sharp, stinger-like tips. But even this thin tip was thicker than the trunk of the largest tree on Earth.

From what Eric could glimpse, this creature was unlike the others he had encountered so far—it was white instead of brown.

Eric needed to reveal himself from his hiding position to see the rest of the creature, but he was definitely not doing that.

So he lay still, forcing himself to calm his wildly beating heart.

A loud, ear-piercing roar echoed across the forest.

Eric was sure his ears were bleeding from the sheer volume, but he didn’t move a muscle.

He stayed completely still, waiting for the abomination to leave the area.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the creature seemed to decide to move on.

The ground continued to shake violently as it disappeared from Eric’s field of view.

Even so, he waited longer, unwilling to take any risks.

After about ten minutes, Eric cautiously moved his hand away from his mouth and let out a long sigh of relief.

Noticing that it was getting dark, and considering that he was relatively well-hidden, Eric decided to spend the night under the tree root.

It seemed he had survived yet another day.

*****

"Careful now!" Aria spoke gently as she slowly placed the reins over the creature’s head, forcing it to submit to her.

The creature’s body trembled in protest, but under Aria’s strength as a Grandmaster—and the effect of her miracle—the monster eventually gave in, falling completely under her control.

She sighed as she sat on the creature’s back, firmly securing the reins in her hands.

"You coming?" she asked, turning her head toward Olivia.

Olivia was covered from head to toe in blood.

The plan was simple, while Aria focused on finding the most suitable monster in the pack and subjugating it to her control, Olivia would eliminate the less useful ones.

Keeping them away from Aria and preventing any interference in the process.

Olivia sighed tiredly as she replied, "Yes, let’s reunite with Eric."