As he struggled and wrestled with the information he had been just handed, Nero's ears twitched.

He frowned and quickly composed himself.

Then he turned to the sobbing Aisha. Hesitating for a moment, he pulled her hands down and wiped the tears away from her cheeks,

"Aisha. This might seem insensitive of me, but I really need you to follow everything I say."

Aisha stared at him with teary eyes.

The serious, but concerned look on Nero's face was all she could see. For a moment, it was her entire world.

She nodded absentmindedly.

Nero smiled softly,

"Great."

***

A few minutes later...

Movement came from the direction of the camp.

Nero sucked in a deep breath.

A minute later, a figure could be seen approaching them. It was Lucy.

She walked up to Nero and stared him down.

Nero gulped, but didn't back down at all, instead meeting her gaze.

In moments like this, it was best not to give in at all.

He knew without a doubt that he absolutely couldn't trust any of these people.

Putting his life in their hands was just far too risky.

Seeing the obvious caution in his eyes, Lucy smirked.

The flame of desire in her eyes were rekindled as she bit her lips slightly.

However, she did well to suppress it,

"We leave in ten minutes." She said coldly then turned around and began walking away.

Nero sighed in relief.

Then he turned to Aisha who was busy glaring at Lucy's receding back.

He grimaced, but was glad to see she wasn't acting out anymore.

'Looks like I've finally figured out the cause of her transformation.'

He frowned, 'An ancient Demon, huh... Although I'd like to know more, now's not the time.'

"Let's go."

Aisha nodded. She paused for a moment then turned to him,

"Nero, whatever you do, you can't trust any one of them. They are all bad people."

Nero was silent for a moment.

Then he nodded, "I know."

He wasn't foolish. Neither was he a naive kid.

He had known that there was an overwhelmingly large chance that he would be putting his life on the line, especially with the weapons he held.

After all, the dark hunger that plagued this world was followed closely by the rotten stench of greed.

Greed for money and power. Those who had both could love a slightly better life than the next person.

And if you had a lot, you could live like an emperor, free of worry and of fear.

And so, the darkness crept into the hearts of all like a persistent rot, eating at them until they gave into the darkness.

Of course, there were those who readily gave into the darkness. Those were usually a dime a dozen.

Nero sucked in a deep breath.

In any case, he was sure he was not an easy target.

Besides, he was no genius, but he was not an idiot either. He could tell more than a few things just by being observant.

And throughout his journey with the party, he had observed more than a few things.

Things that included those that could be trusted and those that couldn't.

He frowned as he walked beside Aisha towards the camp.

All that was left, was for him to figure out a route to escape. He still had his map with him, and despite deviating from the road, he wasn't confident in making his way back.

However, with how dangerous this place seemed, he doubted it would be easy.

'Then, there's the others...'

He turned to Aisha.

While he was confident in escaping by himself, he was not so sure about...

'No. It can be done.'

He was not a heartless bastard.

In the not so distant past, he had to run away and leave others behind.

Now, he wouldn't do that. He was, at the very least, strong enough to bring them along his escape.

'Still, convincing that guy might take some effort.'

Nero sighed, wondering what he should do.

Just then, a scream snapped him out of his thoughts.

He froze and exchanged glanced with a surprised Aisha.

Without wasting time, he wrapped his hand around Aisha's waist.

'It's a good thing she's so light.' he thought to himself.

Aisha responded quickly, wrapping her arms around his neck and legs around his waist.

Nero dashed forward, already drawing the Silver Blade in one swoop.

Under the dark fog of night, the Silver Blade offered a slight glow that cut through the blackness.

Aisha leaned in closer, hugging him even tighter.

In a few seconds, they had arrived.

When they arrived, Nero could see that the entire camp was in disarray.

Weapons were drawn and everyone seemed frantic.

"Fucking hell! We might be looking at an entire swarm of the bastards!" Fallow roared out as he cut something out of the air.

It splattered onto the ground with a wet sound, its two halves falling to the ground.

That was when Nero noticed it.

The slight hum of wings flapping.

He slowly lifted his gaze into the darkness he had just come out from.

At first, it was low and tempered, drowned by distance.

But as the distance began to shrink, the drinking became louder.

"Shit!" He cursed as he pulled Aisha and rushed towards the others.

"Lucy, what is going on?!" He yelled out.

Lucy turned to him, a grim look on her face,

"We are facing a swarm of Night Hornets."

Nero raised a brow. He had never heard of those creatures before.

Seeing him raise a brow, Lucy explained, her expression darkening with every word,

"Night Hornets are a rather constant existence in Malady's Garden."

Nero frowned at her strange choice of words. However, it became much more clearer when she explained.

"They are a swarm that stick to a certain flight path through the forest. As long as those paths are avoided, they can be generally avoided, aside from a few stragglers here and there."

Lucy mumbled a curse,

"This path is not along their route."

Nero grimaced, "Their route has changed?!"

"Maybe. We might never goddamn know now. Fuck!" She hissed through gritted teeth, her eyes turning to the side.

That was when Nero saw what made his stomach drop.

One of the men that belonged to Fallow's party lay dead on the ground.

His entire body was covered in strange growths filled with an fluorescent fluid.

And within the sacs of fluid, were squirming larvae...

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