"Nero!" Aisha called out to him, but was stopped by Geor who shook his head.
"We have to get to safety."
.
"But—!"
Geor shook his head firmly again,
"We can’t do anything against that thing. Nero wants to buy us so ti. Don’t waste his sacrifice."
A look of panic appeared in Aisha’s eyes as she began to struggyaway from Geor’s grip.
However, the larger man was having none of that.
He wrapped his fingers over her mouth and hefted her onto his shoulder.
"I made a promise to your father, young miss." He pleaded despite her struggling.
He took one last glance at Nero’s back then sighed and slipped into the darkness.
Turning around to see Geor and Aisha gone, Nero sighed in relief,
It was good that Geor was good on the uptake.
Besides, he had no plans of dying here.
He turned forward and faced the Defiled Cherub directly,
"You were lookiyfor , weren’t you? Well, here I am."
He bore no illusions in his mind that this thing woild be able to snuff out his soul with just a thought. He wasn’t nearly strong enough to take it on.
But that was fine, because he could tell the thing didn’t want to kill him. At least, not yet.
It had shown him that vision for a reason.
So he was confident he wasn’t in any danger yet.
Hopefully.
He continued walking until he reached the forr campsite.
He walked up to the corpse of the man that had been bitten by the Night Hornets.
His body shivered when he realized there were nothing but blood on the skeleton of the man.
All his flesh was stripped clean, right off the bone, leaving only the sacs containing the larvae on the grass. Very soon, those would hatch as well to join the swarm.
Nero pulled the Silver Blade out of its sheath and stabbed them right through.
The sound of the Oracle congratulation him brought no joy as he sheathed his blade again.
The Night Hornets were definitely terrifying, but they didn’t co even close to the horror that was the being before him.
The enormous Defile Cherub leaned down until its face was just a few ters away, until the only thing he could see was its ugly faces.
Nero felt the life drain away from his body the closer the thing got.
His body trembled. Whatever composure he had before was completely gone as he fought not to instinctively grab at his weapons.
He did his best not to directly stare at it, especially into its eyes, which were no more than swirling pits of darkness.
The Defiled Cherub simply stared at him motionlessly.
Then it opened its mouth.
Nero closed his eyes in preparation.
He was preparing himself for the stream of corruption and madness that would co spewing from the maw of this terrible being.
However, he couldn’t have ever been prepared for what’s happened next.
He slowly opened his eyes when he didn’t hear any maddening words...
From the dark, abyssal maw of the Defiled Cherub, appeared a book.
The book was covered in a sickly black miasma. On its cover was a crimson sigil with the appearance of an inverted cross.
Nero trembled.
He looked up at the Defiled Cherub,
"What is this?" He asked.
The book looked ominous. Very ominous.
He was not expecting the Defiled Cherub to say anything, but much to his surprise, the thing spoke.
Its breath was foul and reeled of blood. Its words were unintelligent and contained sounds his mind couldn’t fully grasp.
And yet, he could understand them.
Or at least, he could interpret them to a rough comprehension, not full understanding.
He frowned and stared back at the book floating before him.
"Master. The Book of phistopheles."
That was the only thing he could understand.
And from what he could make out, it seed like the Defiled Cherub wanted him to have it, as it was a gift from its master.
The implications of this were staggering.
For one, he could rember that the masters of the Defiled Cherubs, were the Fallen Ones themselves— the ancient Gryghori.
If that was the case, then could the master being referred to here be a Gryghori?
Nero trembled as tears of fear threatened to roll down his face,
’A Gryghori? Why would a Gryghori know about ? Aren’t they all supposed to be dead?! Why would it give this?’
It all seed so strange and insane to him, so much so he couldn’t quite grasp what was happening.
’Do I take it?’ was the most prevalent question of all.
If he didn’t, he had no doubts that the Cherub would instantly take his life. For so reason, he could just tell.
However, if he did, the information locked within its pages, was without a doubt, cursed and damned knowledge.
Knowledge that would bring ruin, corruption and madness upon his flesh, spirit and soul.
In other words, this was a situation where he could only lose.
Sothing also told him that there was no getting out of this.
The mont the book entered into his hands, he would be unable to escape his fate.
This situation was one where he lost regardless of his choice.
Nero sighed.
Beyond that, he was also slightly curious.
Why had sothing so strange happened to him?
What secrets were locked within the Book of phistopheles?
He was confused.
But he was also curious.
And it was quite unfortunate, but those who were curious didn’t live the longest in this accursed world.
’Damn it.’ Nero cursed ntally as he reached forward with trembling hands.
The inverted crimson rune on the cover of the book glowed brighter the closer his finger got to touching it.
The mont his fingertips grazed it...
The book vanished in a puff of black smoke.
Nero hissed in pain as a scalding heat ca from the back of his hand.
He retracted it quickly and looked.
On the surface of his flesh, right at the back of his hand, was a rune.
In the dark night, it glowed crimson, its shape the appearance of an inverted cross...
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