"The greater the assimilation of Defilement, the greater the Seal will be."
That was the answer the Voice of God had given to him.
'To be honest, I'm not particularly happy with that.'
From what he had understood so far, it meant, in no uncertain terms, that an Abomination that had assimilated to Defilement would have the strength of its seals be greater than that of a regular Abomination.
Tying that back to what he already knew...
'The more archaic and ancient the beast, the more Marks of Sin I will gain if I kill it.'
Dust pursed his lips,
'Then, all the horrors I've faced might as well be new-borns.'
He tried to consider just how powerful and defiled the Nephilim and the Gryghori were, but ultimately failed. Those beings that were older than he could fathom.
He trembled...
Just how powerful could they be?
'Enough of that. Thinking of it will do no good.'
Indeed...
The lone Heretic had other things in his plate to worry about.
Literally.
His Defilement had officially began. His slow descent into madness and damnation.
Or was it ascension into a strange role he had no idea how to fulfill?
Either way, he was bent regardless...
'Damn it all.' He cursed internally.
After the whole ordeal, he had finally recovered and set out to hunt in the Purple Evergrowth forest.
Dashing through the world of dangerously stunning violet, Dust's mind was a whirl.
With most of the pain gone, he could sense the clearer changes in his body.
'I'm faster too.'
He had seen Phil sprint at his highest speed once. He realized he was just as fast as he was.
And he hadn't put everything in yet. He still has quite a lot more in the tank.
Dust huffed deeply as he came to a stop.
Right in front of him, gorging itself on the delicious spread of fallen Evergrowth fruits, was a hunched Abomination.
Its face was gnarled and twisted like a disfigured pig. It had two tusks that curled and looped around its ears to form spiral rings. It was large and muscular, its frame hulking over him, even while it stuffed its face.
Dust hesitated for a moment, but eventually chose to follow up with his plan.
He gently drew the Rippling Blade laced with the poisonous sap and began creeping forward.
His breathing was heavy as he placed one feet before the other as softly as he possibly could, inching closer and closer until...
He exploded forth with a burst of speed.
The Pig Demon in front of him snorted, its black and red eyes as it roared, abandoning its stash and raising its tusks to meet him.
Dust rolled out of the way and stabbed at the Abomination's side with the Rippling Blade. The enchanted blade pierced through the hide of the creature.
And stopped.
Dust felt his heart sink all the way to the ground.
With a furious roar, the beast swatted him to the side with a sickening crunch.
Body rolling before slamming violently to the foot of a tree, Dust was still for a moment before slowly rising up, blood pouring from the sides of his mouth.
'T-that hurt a lot.'
The fact he was even feeling any pain was a more than good sign.
He glanced down at his body,
'This body...'
He was also tougher now.
However, he most definitely was not as tough as the unholy beast before him.
'The Rippling Blade failed to pierce its skin? No... Its skin was just too thick, that the blade couldn't even go through!'
He grit his teeth and wiped the blood away from his mouth.
Thankfully, he was still on the very fringes of the forest. Even if a commotion was made, it probably wouldn't attract the attention of more Abominations.
Probably...
'What do I do now?'
Indeed, what could he do?
Since he had picked the fight, of course, he had to have the resolve to see it through to the very end.
The Pig Demon screeched and lunged at him again. With practiced movements, Dust sidestepped and aimed for its eyes.
The tip of his blade glanced off the beast's curved tusks, deflected away completely.
He pulled back swiftly, dodging a smash from the creature's front limbs.
The creature pursued relentlessly, throwing out violent, bone breaking jab after jab, all of which he deflected with his blade.
However, the pressure was wearing on him.
He was unable to block a blow.
Dust was sent reeling backwards, his shoulder completely dislocated. The abominable beast followed up with a charge, lunging at his chest.
If it were to successfully make contact with his body, its curved tusks would pierce right through him and he would die a gruesome death.
The panic in Dust's eyes turned into grim desperation.
The purple leaves stirred up and scattered through the sky as Dust moved, dodging death by a hair's width.
His dislocated arm suddenly popped back into place. Ignoring the blinding pain shooting through his arm, Dust punched forward.
The dark eyes of the beast glimmered with sinister rage as it stretched its maw open. Time seemed to slow as it bit down violently.
Dust's scream tore through the ashen heavens.
A guttural sound of content rose from the throat of the beast.
It was clearly pleased with itself.
In response to this dire situation, Dust acted quickly and struck down with the Rippling Blade.
Not at the Pig Demon...
But at his own arm.
Flesh, and then bone were severed in one clean stroke as Dust fell backwards.
Unconcerned about the state of the human it was about to fully devour, the Pig Demon snorted as it ground the arm between itself jaws and then swallowed.
"Freaking retard." Dust's voice was hoarse with pain.
However, there was a sense of gloating hidden in the words.
Suddenly, the Pig Demon began froze.
Then it fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth.
A sinister look appeared in Dust's eyes as he lunged forward with the Rippling Blade and stabbed the thrashing beast through the mouth, severing its brain from the base of its spine.
In the arm the Abomination had swallowed, there had been a vial of a suspicious, sweet smelling liquid— the sap of the Purple Evergrowth tree he had collected.
With one final spasm, the Abomination trembled and never moved again.
***
{Rejoice, Heretic. You have slain the Pig Demon}.
Marks of Sin: (22/1000).