St Chaos Healer

Ch 84 - Running South

My breaths came in ragged gasps, each one a desperate battle against exhaustion. My clothes clung to me—drenched in sweat and torn from countless scrapes—as I forced my way through the dense underbrush. Blood trickled from small wounds left by the thorns, but I didn't stop—not for pain, not for anything. One shoe was long gone, but that didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was running. South. Just keep running south. Get out of this country.

Earlier, when I had woken up, the cave was in chaos. The air was heavy, carrying the scent of scorched rock and blood. Debris littered the floor, and the walls bore deep gashes and impact craters, as though a violent battle had erupted.

At first, I thought Damien and Vex had gotten into another fight like before, but this was far worse than any usual squabble. The damage was extensive, and the blood was troubling. The ominous energy still lingering in the air made it clear that something much more serious had occurred.

When I entered the cave, I noticed that there were no openings initially—but for some reason, two jagged entrances had been blasted into the walls. The size of the openings suggested that something—or someone—had been forcefully hurled through them. Whatever had happened here was beyond my comprehension.

As I stepped out of the cave, I initially thought that Vex and Damien had already handled the situation, so I wasn't too worried. However, once I emerged, I realized the extent of the damage.

Before me sprawled a colossal, circular crater—as if a meteor had violently crashed into the earth. The massive pit had devoured a vast section of the forest, transforming it into a molten wasteland of scorched earth. The edges of the crater still glowed faintly, with molten embers flickering beneath curling tendrils of rising smoke. The air was heavy, thick with the acrid stench of burnt soil and ash, choking every breath I took.

One thing was certain: this was no natural disaster. The overwhelming concentration of mana residue radiating from the crater told me this was the result of a potent spell. Whoever unleashed it really went for the kill.

"Could this have been Damien and Vex's doing?" I wondered, though the thought seemed implausible. As strong as they were, this level of destruction felt beyond even their combined power.

As my gaze lowered from the smoldering pit to the ground near the cave's entrance, something caught my eye—a crude message, hastily arranged with pebbles:

  "Danger! Run south, don't stop! Escape border now. Destroy this after reading."

The grammar was rough and the formation messy, but the message was clear as day. It was meant for me.

Damien and Vex had left this behind. Whatever had happened here—whatever or whoever they faced—I had to escape from this place.

Without wasting another second, I kicked the pebbles away, scattering the message until it was unreadable. My gaze shifted to the sky, the position of the sun helping me determine where south lay. With a deep breath, I bolted, plunging deeper into the forest, away from the ominous crater and the lingering stench of destruction.

I ran without hesitation, weaving through the wilderness like a hunted animal. Bushes tore at my exposed skin, their thorns leaving thin streaks of crimson on my arms and legs. My tattered clothing snagged on brambles, shredding further with every desperate step. Puddles splashed underfoot as I leaped over fallen logs and ducked beneath low-hanging branches. My lungs burned, my heart pounded, but I didn't stop.

Adrenaline coursed through my veins, dulling the sting of the scratches as my thoughts spiraled. What had happened while I was unconscious? What kind of force could have left a crater like that? And, more importantly, what had become of Damien and Vex?