The number of monsters that the group encountered only seemed to swell even further after crossing the chasm.
Perhaps it was because the area from before was too close to the edge of the No-Man's Land.
Or perhaps the giant monster hiding there was deterring any creature who was aware of its presence.
Either way, they were now having a lot more trouble trying to stay hidden.
Niko glanced back at Hana, who was following close behind him. She was clearly shaken up after brushing with the horrors of the Abyss, her face pale and her hands trembling.
He didn't blame her for being afraid. The entire region was filled with the Abyss's influence, which weakened people's wills and tried to chip away at their sanity, so it was only natural that she was so scared.
If anything, he was impressed that she still kept moving despite that. She was a lot braver than he had thought.
Niko sighed. He still wished that he could have avoided bringing her to this terrible place, but it was the safest option they had.
They needed to reach the eastern coast if they hoped to get to the Aresian continent, and there were only two regions that lead towards the eastern coasts.
One was the vast stretch of No-Man's Lands, full of terrible monsters.
And the other...
Niko glanced towards the northern horizon.
There was nothing in sight, and he could see the blue sky unobstructed.
And that worried him, because there had once been a towering mountain range there, its terrifying peaks blocking out the view of the northern skies.
But after the Great Catastrophe, the mountain range vanished.
It had simply disappeared overnight, without even a trace.
Once civilization started recovering from the effects of those terrible events, various explorers set out to learn what had happened to the mountains.
However, most never returned, and the few that did had completely lost their sanity.
Of course, those were old stories passed down through the living settlements for decades, so they weren't exactly reliable.
But still, the fact that a group of terrifying peaks had vanished entirely made him wary of that region.
So, even though that place was within the borders of the kingdoms of the living, Niko was more apprehensive about it than he was about the No-Man's Land they were passing through.
But the No-Man's Land wasn't exactly pleasant either, so he tried to move through it as fast as possible.
As the three of them continued to walk forward, a slight disturbance reached Niko's senses.
It was a trapped soul.
Hana stopped, noticing the familiar change in Niko's expression.
She waited for him to head towards the disturbance, expecting him to go help the soul.
But strangely enough, he stayed in place, his expression seeming...almost pained.
Niko clenched his fist as he looked at the spot where the disturbance came from. It was true that he had sensed a soul, but he had also sensed something else.
A foul, black rot that grew through that soul.
It pulsed and spread, enveloping the struggling soul like a cocoon.
The cocoon then rippled, swelled, changed.
A litany of cracks and screams erupted from within the cocoon as it morphed to acquire a vaguely humanoid form.
A pair of long, clawed hands sprouted out from it, followed by a pair of reptilian legs. Then came the shriveled, skeletal torso and a head carrying a mouth full of sharp teeth.
The creature's body, intangible at first, untethered itself from its old, rotting corpse, before quickly taking on a solid form.
It hunched over, six translucent wings unfurling from its back, before launching itself towards another creature and biting into its flesh.
It had all happened in a single moment.
Niko sighed.
That one moment stood as a harsh reminder of his purpose, and of the consequences of his failure.
Niko lowered his gaze, standing in place for a few moments.
A slight tremor spread through the ground beneath them, and a deafening roar assaulted their ears.
"Not again..." Leta sighed in exasperation.
Another Abyss Spawn had spotted them.
A terrifying ape rushed towards them, its three, disproportionate arms flailing madly in the air.
As if that wasn't bad enough, its roar had attracted the attention of other nearby monsters.
So now the group also had to deal with a large flying centipede, a scorpion with fire shooting out from its tail, and a walking carnivorous plant.
Hana tensed up, still trembling as she reluctantly got ready to fight, but Niko raised a hand and stopped her.
He finally raised his head back up, calmly glaring at the approaching beasts. He was growing tired of these abominations.
He walked forward, towards the approaching ape, and tapped his foot on the ground.
The ape leaped towards him with an outstretched fist, aiming to smash the boy's head.
But a skeletal hand shot out from the ground, its fingers ending in sharp claws. The claws pierced through the ape's chest just as it was about to land.
The rest of the skeleton's upper body rose from the ground, its hollow, glowing eyes locking on to the ape's dying ones for a split second.
Then, the skeleton swiped its hand upwards, eviscerating the ape's body in one swift motion.
Before the ape's body could even fall to the ground, the Child of Death disappeared from his spot, reappearing right above the flying centipede.
He kicked hard, sending the centipede plummeting down onto the scorpion. Niko crashed down on them just a moment later, crushing them both under his foot.
The scorpion shot a jet of flame from its tail, aiming right at Niko's face.
He ducked down, narrowly avoiding being burned to a crisp. The centipede turned its head up towards him, biting down on his arm with its mandibles and locking him in place.
The scorpion aimed its tail at him again, preparing to shoot another jet of flames.
But Niko's face remained perfectly calm.
With one swift motion, he tore off his trapped arm, before jumping high in the air to avoid the scorpion's flames.
A green glow flowed out from where his arm had been, quickly regrowing the lost limb.
He turned his head towards the two monsters and raised his remaining arm in their direction.
The barren ground began to part, as a sharp blade of jagged bone rose to impale the two monsters.
It all ended in mere moments.
But then a pair of massive vines wrapped around Niko's leg, pulling down and smashing him onto the ground below.
The carnivorous plant had finally caught up to them.
Niko turned towards it, summoning several spikes in an attempt to attack it, but the vines holding on to him jerked and flailed, tossing him around and making it impossible for him to focus.
And then, the scorpion suddenly moved, slowly raising its tail to aim it at Niko while the carnivorous plant pinned him in place.
But before it could release its flames again, a set of smaller vines rose from the ground, binding and pulling on its tail.
Niko glanced briefly at Hana and nodded. He hadn't wanted to have her fight in her current state, but he was glad for the help.
Then, he turned his attention back towards the carnivorous plant.
This time he didn't summon any spikes, simply releasing more of his power instead. And just as he did, the vines coiled around his leg started rotting away, freeing him from the bind.
The carnivorous plant writhed in pain and anger, its gaping mouth filling up with a disgusting, corrosive fluid.
The scorpion screeched madly, its massive pincers snapping wildly as it tore itself free from Hana's vines. It took aim again, straining itself as it quickly shot out another jet of scorching flames.
Niko remained perfectly calm.
His missing arm finished growing back, and he used both arms to grab on to the writhing tentacles of the carnivorous plant.
He strained his muscles as he pulled with all his strength.
The carnivorous plant tried to resist, using its roots to plant itself firmly on the ground. But it was no use, as Niko's monstrous strength ripped out the entire chunk of land that the plant was rooted to.
Before the ravenous plant could melt him with its acidic juices, Niko swinged it forward, tossing it towards the scorpion.
By the time the scorpion finally unleashed the flames from its tail, the carnivorous plant was already hurtling through the air towards it.
The stream of fire incinerated the plant's fleshy body, turning it into a huge, charred mess that fell onto the scorpion, crushing it.
The corrosive liquid in the plant's mouth caught fire and spilled all over the scorpion's body, melting it alive and enveloping it in its own flames.
Both monsters screamed madly, slashing and biting at each other, but it was no use.
It was too late for them to survive.
Not wanting to see them suffering, Niko raised his hand, causing dozens of jagged spikes to shoot up from the ground, killing both Abyss Spawns right there and then.
Just as he was about to turn and head back to where Hana and Leta were, a sharp pain pierced his side.
He turned to see a gaunt creature with long, humanoid arms, reptilian legs and translucent wings.
It was the same soul he had witnessed being consumed by the Abyss mere moments ago.
Its sharp claws were digging into his flesh, looking to pierce through his abdomen but failing to do any more than leaving a shallow wound.
Its stared hungrily at him, yet its eyes contained a hint of confusion, as if it wasn't sure what it was even doing.
And then, those eyes widened, a pained scream erupting from its mouth as a blade of jagged bone rose from the ground and impaled its torso.
Niko sighed as he watched the light in the creature's eyes fading away.
But as it did, he also saw something else in its eye—relief...and gratitude.
Niko stared into its murky eyes, before giving it a small nod.
And then, shortly after it had been born, the young Abyss Spawn died, its corrupted blood streaming down the length of the jagged blade and seeping into the dry ground below.
Niko moved on from the bodies of the dead beasts, his wounds quickly healing as he rejoined the rest of his group.
Looking at Hana's worried face, he gave her a small, reassuring smile, before pointing east.
There, a patch of lush green land could be seen in the distance.
They were almost out of the No-Man's Land.