"I’m so tired... Can you imagine that, tin? Of course not, tal can’t get tired. Lucky you..."
His voice, like his body, was very weak. It was hoarse and barely louder than the rustling of swaying leaves.
"How long has it been since I fought that creature... Eight hours? Maybe ten... I haven’t had anything to eat. Or drink... I’m hurt, Paymax. I want to sleep, and I’m very, very tired... But that creature isn’t. It’s not even tired. It can’t get tired, just like you..."
"Wow, Mr. Nobody! It must be really hard for you right now."
"Yes... You’re absolutely right about that."
"If you feel like you can’t handle it alone, you can always ask for help!"
"No, Paymax, I can’t... Because you’re not there."
"No?! So you’re talking to yourself right now? That sounds really pathetic!"
"Haa... Go to hell."
Paymax really still hadn’t been activated.
The man who called himself Mr. Nobody imitated Paymax’s speech, slightly changing the tone of his voice and raising his hand with the bracelet turned off.
The wound on his back not only caused pain at the mont, but also made it difficult to stop the bleeding.
At that mont, he had a high fever and was delirious. He didn’t know if it was due to infection or sothing else, but with each passing hour, it only got worse.
Sudden hallucinations and rolling waves of pain kept him from sleeping.
Ryskar’s lunge completely tore his backpack, throwing all his ager food supplies and small equipnt to the ground. Even his pistol fell out, leaving him with only a dagger, binoculars, and the cable.
In addition, the claw had pierced a hole in his water flask. He only noticed this after he stopped the bleeding. By that ti, most of the water had simply leaked out. Two sips of liquid at the bottom of the torn backpack were all he could get. In such conditions, washing the wound was out of the question.
"Looks like it’s the end, Paymax... I hate to say it, but it seems you’re not destined to bring prosperity to the whole world."
"No, Mr. Nobody! Don’t give up! You have to hold on!"
"Have to?"
His own words stumped him.
"Have to hold on? But Paymax, why should I do that? Do I have to... Answer , Paymax, why do I have to hold on?"
"..."
His raised hand, like himself, remained silent.
Unable to find an answer within himself, he closed his eyes and leaned carefully against the white tree trunk, which was already sared with his blood. Red leaves tickled his face, and surely he could hear the familiar whispers and calls...
However, the voices and sounds from the hallucinations in his head were much louder.
"You know, Paymax, she said... My mom told not to be afraid. She told , ’Don’t be afraid...’ "
"Wow! What else did she say to you?"
His face was sared with scarlet liquid. He coughed weakly, then wiped the blood from his mouth wearily.
"Then... She loved music so much, Paymax. Mom asked to play her favorite song... Can you imagine, she had a cassette player? I always laughed at that, because in our ti it seed like nonsense... But at that mont, I wasn’t laughing. I think I was crying then, Paymax."
"Oh... What song was it, Mr. Nobody?"
He rubbed his eyes wearily and tried to connect his thoughts and sounds into words.
"I think it went..."
He cleared his throat and began to speak quietly. His voice was terribly painful, but his pale face seed to brighten a little for the first ti.
"See die on Bleecker Street."
"I’m bored with being god."
"See sneering in my car."
"I’m driving to my star..."
For just a mont... his face was graced with a subtle, barely noticeable smile, completely unimaginable in such a situation.
"I’m not afraid, Mom..." he whispered barely audibly, then continued humming.
"I’m listening to the music with no fear."
"And if you are sincere... You can hear it too."
His humming broke off along with the expression on his face, which appeared only for a mont. He couldn’t hear the music anymore.
"And how did it go on? What happened next?" croaked the imaginary Paymax.
"Next..." His eyes widened. He was looking ahead, but at the sa ti, he wasn’t looking there. He was looking through everything, at sothing only he could see. "Then she told ... She said... She said, and I... I did..."
A sudden flood of mories was replaced by a paralyzing sound. An explosion rang out in his head, erasing everything that could be erased.
He didn’t go on with the song. Nor with his mother’s last words.
"So answer , Paymax. Why do I have to hold on? Why do I have to fight and continue suf..."
"Because villains have to suffer. They have to be punished."
"That’s right... Because that’s exactly what I deserve."
...
And although the branches often intertwined, climbing in this position was pure hell.
However, when the feverish haze and shivering eased a little, his mind was tornted by one mystery. It concerned the whispering trees and this forest as a whole.
The strange thing was that the whispers told him to run, and the spots on the trees in the shape of human faces clearly indicated the direction.
During the chase, he decided that they pointed to a specific tree that was slightly different from the others in thickness. However, after making a desperate attempt to get to that very tree, he realized he was wrong. The spots on the periphery of his consciousness continued to point the way forward, even after the thick tree, so there was sothing else ahead.
’But it seems like my next chase will end in the first five seconds.’
Soone is whispering.
"It will tear you to pieces."
Soone is calling.
"Run..."
"I know, I know..." he replied wearily.
He still had his binoculars with him, and every half hour he frantically checked Ryskar’s position. However, he had not yet spotted it; the predator had simply vanished.
Of course, he did not believe it. The recurring whispers made it instinctively clear that Ryskar was close. Very close.
Speaking of whispers.
"..." He touched the red foliage and ran his hand over the dark spot on the trunk.
Of course, the reaction to his touch wasn’t completely unexpected. Dark red smudges remained on his palm from the leaves, and when he touched the spots, his fingertips felt strange vibrations. It was a little strange, but it did not explain the whispering, as if the leaves were twitching and the spots were shifting.
However, having barely spent any ti in this world at all, he had already co to terms with the idea that even the most absurd things could be real here.
"Is it possible that the trees in this forest harbor the souls of those who were devoured by this creature?"
That was the first and most obsessive idea that ca to his mind.
It wasn’t that he had suddenly decided to believe in such miracles or anything like that. This version seed close to reality to him because he had seen proof of the existence of souls with his own eyes.
After all, he had seen his own soul.
Darker than the void, looking like millions of black layers stacked together. He saw his black soul, just as he saw that unforgettable being opposite him...
"Haah..." He sighed hoarsely and heavily.
The thought of thousands of souls who had never found peace, but were instead locked away in the bloody forest, evoked sothing heavy and gloomy within him.
"I wish I could promise to kill that creature... but I’m afraid I can’t."
The trees did not respond to his words, and he did not intend to explain anything to them.
There was no need for any preliminaries or preparations. And although a person could go without water for a couple of days before reaching this point, it seed unnecessary. Changing location or trying to trick the predator also seed pointless, and besides, he clearly didn’t have the strength for such a thing.
He didn’t even need intuition for this — the predator would find him anywhere. All that remained was to go down, and the Red Lamb Ryskar would certainly prove it.
He checked the improvised bandage on his back one last ti, consisting of torn pieces of fabric held together, and wondered how it had managed not to fall apart.
Then he patted the tree trunk lightly with his hand and spoke to it one last ti.
"I will not be afraid... That is what I can promise."
He took the dagger in his teeth and wrapped his hands around the tal rope. His palms were covered in calluses, bruises, and so kind of dark bloodstains, but he had nothing left to use as bandages.
He began his descent.
...
The piercing pain in his back made his jaw clench, and his legs tremble. Several tis, he thought the wound had reopened, but it seed that everything was fine for now.
When his feet cautiously touched the surface, no one suddenly attacked him. No one pounced, knocked him down, tore him apart, or devoured him...
And for a couple of seconds, it seed to him the predator had really missed him...
But it was there. Just as it had promised.
"..." Heavy paws causing the ground behind it to tremble — that was clear proof.
Ryskar was no longer hiding. As in their first encounter, it slowly approached its prey, but...
The chanical beast kept licking the claw on its paw.
It was the very claw with which it had wounded its victim.
"..." The lamb’s face did not change to anger at the provocation.
He watched Ryskar approach without any expression.
Despite the pain, the hands holding the rope and the dagger did not tremble.
It was as if he truly felt no fear. As promised
"Try to take what you want, kitten," he muttered hoarsely.
The predator needed no further encouragent. Ryskar let out a piercing growl and rushed after his prey.
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