Cherreads

Chapter 28 - The Smile That Bleeds

The monster was still doing better than me. 

 

Even wounded. 

Even blind in one eye. 

Even howling in pain like its lungs were made of broken glass— 

 

It refused to die. 

 

The entire field was unrecognizable. 

 

Two hundred meters of devastation. 

Trees reduced to jagged stumps. 

Ash. Dirt. Blood. 

Long grass, torn and soaked in gore, clung to both of us like funeral veils. 

 

I stood. 

 

Barely. 

 

Blood soaked my back. 

My uniform hung in strips. 

My breathing came in short, jagged rasps— 

Because one… no, two broken ribs were punched into my lungs. 

 

Every breath was a blade. 

 

But I was still healing. 

 

Flesh sealed. Bone cracked, then reformed. 

A slow, grinding miracle under my skin. 

 

My regeneration… it wasn't normal anymore. 

 

Somewhere deep inside, I was amazed. 

 

The rest of me? Focused. 

 

One dagger—still buried in its skull. 

The other—20 meters away, gleaming in the dirt. 

I was barehanded. And it was charging. 

 

A blur of black muscle and rage— 

 

I spun. 

 

And saw it. 

 

The tree. 

 

One I'd crashed through earlier. 

Now a splintered trunk, half-buried in the mud, thick and jagged like a divine hammer. 

 

Perfect. 

 

I sprinted toward it. 

Grabbed it. 

 

THRACK—! 

 

My nails cracked as I dug into the wood for grip.

Blood welled under each fingernail. 

Didn't matter. 

 

It didn't feel heavy. 

Not anymore. 

 

I ripped it free with a scream trapped in my throat. 

 

My body no longer cared what was possible. 

 

I turned— 

And sprinted toward the monster. 

 

SHEEEEEESH—!! 

 

The wind screamed past my ears. 

Each step a thunderclap beneath my broken ribs. 

The earth tore open behind me like the world itself wanted to drag me down. 

 

 No pain. 

No fear. 

Just one objective: Kill. 

 

Its mouth opened wide— 

Howl rising like a death siren— 

 

Too late. 

 

I jumped. 

Pushed off the ground with everything I had. 

Muscles tore. 

Ligaments snapped. 

 

 It didn't matter. 

I needed the height. 

The beast was twice my size. 

So I met it in the air. 

 

"BOOOOOOOOM!!!" 

 

The tree trunk smashed into its face. 

 

CRACK!! 

CRUNCH!! 

WOOD SHATTERED LIKE GLASS. 

 

Splinters flew like shrapnel. 

Its head snapped sideways. 

Blood and saliva splattered from its jaw like a struck hydrant. 

 

Its one remaining eye— 

 

Wide. 

Confused. 

Hurt. 

Two steps back. 

One foot dragged. 

 

Enough. 

I hit the ground hard— 

Rolled through scorched grass and shattered bark. 

 

My shoes? 

 

Gone. 

 

My bare feet slapped against the earth— 

Hot. 

Burning. 

 

The magic circuits from the fire traps still hissed beneath the soil. 

The heat licked at my skin like open flames. 

 

Flesh burned. 

Regeneration kicked in. 

Pain never left. 

 

I kept moving. 

 

Roll. Reach. Grab. 

 

The dagger. 

 

Cold metal. 

Familiar weight. 

My lifeline. 

 

I turned— 

 

"HAAAWLLLL—!!" 

 

It came again. 

 

Faster. 

Angrier. 

 

A black shadow of muscle and death. 

 

Its claws— 

 

SHIIIIIIRK—!! 

 

Split the air— 

 

The ground exploded where I stood. 

Rocks and blood lifted like shrapnel. 

 

I threw myself sideways— 

Just in time. 

 

The claw passed my face by inches. 

The wind pressure alone— 

 

SLASHED MY CHEEK OPEN. 

 

Blood sprayed. 

Didn't flinch. 

 

"—Tch!" 

 

The beast skidded— 

Talons digging into the earth like cleavers. 

Its wounded leg twitched violently. 

Blood gushed from its flank like a broken pipe. 

 

But still— 

 

It was faster than me. 

 

Just barely. 

 

My heart pounded like it wanted to claw out of my chest. 

My lungs were charcoal. 

I could feel blood pooling in them with every breath. 

 

But I stood tall— 

Gripping the dagger tighter. 

 

My eyes locked with its— 

 

"Come on then…" I muttered, spitting blood. 

"Let's end this." 

 

Even injured, this thing was still an apex predator. 

A wounded nightmare. 

A godless beast clinging to wrath. 

 

Now? 

It was furious. 

 

Each snarl vibrated through the dirt, rattling the marrow in my bones. 

Its hot breath came in bursts—like the exhaust of a dying war engine. 

 

 I can't let it control the tempo. 

Not again. 

 

I circled right. 

Its one remaining eye burned red—locked on me. 

 

Then— 

 

It charged. 

 

I dropped low— 

Fingers dug into the scorched dirt— 

 

HSSSS—!! 

 

It burned my skin to the bone in a microsecond. 

Then— 

 

Flash-healed.

 

I launched sideways— 

 

SHRRRRIP—!! 

 

Its claws shredded my uniform— 

Carved my shoulder down to white bone. 

 

Blood sprayed like mist from a torn throat. 

 

But I didn't stop. 

 

No time to stop. 

No right to stop. 

 

I spun behind it— 

 

And drove the dagger deep into the soft tissue behind its wounded leg. 

 

"GRRAAAAUUGHH!!" 

 

The beast collapsed. 

 

Boom. 

 

Dust and leaves erupted. 

Its massive frame slammed the earth hard enough to leave a crater. 

 

Now. 

Now's the time. 

 

I sprinted. 

 

Leapt onto its back. 

One shot. 

One kill. 

 

The other eye. 

End it. 

 

I raised my dagger. 

 

Then— 

 

WHAM!! 

 

Its paw snapped up like a piston— 

Intercepted the strike mid-air. 

 

"HAAAWLL!!" 

 

Its eye opened. 

 

Hell glowed inside. 

A crimson radiance that cracked reality. 

 

Not illusion. 

Not magic. 

Nightmare. 

 

I saw— 

Every failure. 

Every scream. 

Every second of hell. 

 

So vivid, I smelled the rot. 

Tasted the blood. 

Heard the sobs of those I couldn't save. 

 

The monster dragged it from me. 

 

Weaponized it. 

 

It wanted me to break from within. 

 

But— 

What it didn't know... 

 

I already live here. 

Every second. 

Every breath. 

 

Perfect Recall didn't protect me. 

It made me familiar with pain. 

 

This wasn't new. 

 

This wasn't even impressive. 

 

"Ghhah!!" 

 

I snapped through the haze. 

Teeth clenched. 

Eyes blazing. 

 

It swiped to take my head. 

 

I ducked. 

Slid. 

 

STAB!! 

 

Dagger slammed into the soft underside of its rear leg. 

 

STAB!! 

 

Again. Deeper. Twisting. 

 

Blood sprayed— 

Thick. Hot. Coating me like war paint. 

 

"HOWLLRRRGHH!!!" 

 

The beast kicked out— 

 

THAAAAAM!!! 

 

I flew. 

 

Cracked against the same boulder I'd used to shatter its skull earlier. 

 

My skull cracked this time. 

 

I felt my brain rattle against bone. 

 

Vision spun. 

Lungs shrieked for air. 

 

I hit the ground like a broken doll— 

And didn't move. 

 

Couldn't. 

Chest on fire. 

Breath ragged. 

Everything… fading. 

 

But— 

I wasn't dead. 

 

Not yet. 

I looked up. 

 

The Obsidian Howler— 

Still standing. 

Bleeding. 

Muzzle a mess of fire-burned flesh and poison rot. 

 

It howled. 

Louder than ever. 

Like the end of the world was screaming with it. 

 

And in that moment— 

With blood in my mouth, dirt in my wounds, and death dragging its claws across my chest— 

 

I smiled. 

 

Because I wasn't done either. 

--------

[Author's Note:]

Lucifer bled— I felt it while writing.

If even a shred of that hit you, show some love with a Power Stone or Golden Ticket.

The finale of this fight lands tomorrow. ]

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