He was finally able to see the bridge ahead of him.
It was covered in a white fog creating very low visibility due to which he couldn't make out the details clearly. All he could see were the planks, which were a shade darker than the bark of the trees in the forest. Long and thick dark green vines crawled around the planks and held the bridge together as there was no rope present.
'What is wrong with this place?' Ren screamed internally.
Clenching his teeth, he ignored the vines and stepped on the bridge.
The planks looked as if they were corroded by the thin veins spreading inside them, like a parasite sucking on its host.
Ren was pretty sure there was something wrong with this whole situation.
Looking behind, he could see that now only around a dozen or two vermins remained. The fire had reached the hollow trees but unlike Ren's expectation, the fire didn't slow down.
Instead, it burned even fiercer.
And the main surprise came when the fire didn't spread on the planks and the vines coiling around it stopped just before the bridge.
Ren didn't have the time to contemplate the reason, what mattered more to him was to escape from the horde.
But no matter how hard he ran, the distance between them didn't grow.
His lungs burned as he pushed himself harder.
'Where is it?' Ren's heart thumped loudly, adrenaline coursing through him as he tried to feel the life force of Fleshcleaver. But the next moment, what he feared the most happened. His pupils shrank to an almost tiny dot after not being able to feel Fleshcleaver's life force.
His chest heaved up and down, so much that he didn't even notice the vines moving away slowly as he stepped on them.
'I need to think of something or else I might… die.' His fingers curled up as he clenched his fists, sweat trickling down his forehead as he gasped for air.
One of the vermins had almost caught up to him. Sprinting had started to become a tedious task for him and he was now running at the pace of a normal teenager due to exhaustion.
Even with the level up, his fatigue hadn't been swept away completely. Ren didn't know how long he had been running on the bridge. The fog prevented him from seeing the end of the bridge or how much farther he had moved forward.
"Huff…huff…" but despite that, he bit his tongue and still ran.
Suddenly, a strike landed on his back and threw him forward.
"Gasp…"
The air got knocked out of his lungs as he rolled down the ground. His arms scraped against the rough edges of the plank and he started to bleed.
The planks groaned under his weight as he staggered a little before standing up.
A fresh claw mark now appeared on his back, the pain stung him as he stood up while gritting his teeth.
'I can't survive like this.' Realising he was in a perilous situation, the only option left for him was to fight.
With bloodshot eyes, Ren turned and was about to take out his axe to fight the horde but his eyes widened to find nothing.
"Did it fall down the bridge or in the forest?"
Not giving him any time to think, three vermin lunged at him simultaneously.
Ren dodged one of the attacks by ducking sideways and then kicked the vermin back, making all three of them fall in succession.
This scene surprised Ren.
'My strength..' Despite the exhaustion in his legs, a kick with all his force was enough to knock the three of them down at once.
Taking advantage, Ren kicked their bodies away and threw two of the vermins directly off the bridge.
Just as he turned around, a sudden hand appeared out of nowhere, grabbed his face, and pushed him directly to the ground.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…"
Ren screamed in pain as his head smashed directly against the plank. The impact left a ringing sound in his ears as blood trickled down from them, but somehow, he didn't lose consciousness.
"Dieeee…"
Enraged and scared, Ren screamed and kicked the vermin away with all his strength.
'Think, think, think.'
Panicking, he racked his brain to think of a way to survive but the pain wasn't helping.
Before he could decide whether to run or fight back, another vermin pounced on him. Its spine was more than two meters long and it looked like some kind of four-legged creature which now walked on two. Seeing the sight, adrenaline rushed in his veins as exhilaration pumped through him.
For a second, the world slowed down.
Ren could hear the sound of his own heartbeat thumping in a slow rhythm.
'Wha-What's this?'
Ren didn't understand what was going on, but he couldn't waste this chance.
Instinctively, he reached inside his inventory, and just as the vermin was about to reach him, a pot full of water landed straight on its face.
The impact threw it directly off the cliff.
The feeling Ren experienced started to subside as his nerves calmed down.
And slowly, the world returned to normal.
Whereas the remaining vermins stood frozen in shock.
Because what they had seen—no, they actually hadn't even seen anything. For them, a seemingly strange thing appeared out of nowhere in the hands of their retaliating prey which allowed him to take down one of their own.
Ren didn't miss this opportunity and threw another pot directly at the horde.
And before the strike could land, he turned around and started rushing forward with his remaining energy.