Blood Eater-

Before Nyx could even comprehend what was happening, a gushing flood of blazing red crashed towards him, forcing him to retreat and stumble back so as to not get burned.

Peering up, he could quickly see what had caused his withdrawal.

Rei's boot repeatedly stomped down onto one of the blades, further and further lodging it deeper into its skull — each time coming with a new wave of blood combusting into fire as soon as it left the body.

After a few more stomps, she stopped.

He couldn't help but take awe in her appearance; she moved with the grace of a saint — red eyes both cold yet compassionate, each subtle movement making her short white hair sway in the wind. She seemed to take no heed of the scorching flames and boiling fumes which made contact with her, only glaring downwards with an expression of death lingering on her face.

In fact, the vapor surrounding and rising from the body made her seem otherworldly — as if she were an angel of hell rather than a human.

Her gaze shifted towards Nyx's spear, violently ripping it out as if it were nothing but a stick.

"Your weapon," She spoke, voice soft and emotionless, "It's broken."

Nyx, feeling a bit awkward, took a while to respond. "Y-yes... it appears that way."

She turned back towards the Terror, gripping both her blades and throwing one to Nyx, "Use this. Without it, you'll be broken too-" She stopped herself, taking a moment to glare at Nyx's wounds before speaking again. "Maybe you already are..."

Before anyone could say anything further, Acher stepped forward and chimed in. "You shouldn't have been so... reckless. You could've been hurt."

"Does it matter?" She asked, slightly tensing her eyes, "It's dead."

Not even giving a moment for anyone to respond, Rei quickly turned and began to walk away.

Much to everyone's surprise, from the darkness emerged none other than Seren, the boy with the guns and the skill of a Phantom.

"Where the hell are you going?" He exclaimed, running up and gripping her shoulder in a foolish attempt to stop her. He spun her around, trying to speak some sense into her, but it was a doomed attempt.

He moved back, arm curling away from her as she spoke; "I'm going to kill the wolves. Follow me or don't, I don't care."

And just like that, she marched off further into the canyon.

"Damn~!" He murmured, peering toward Nyx with a frown glued to his face.

"Excuse me…" Nyx spoke, "I have some questions."

Seren didn't even try to hide the contempt on his face, a gaze appearing that of pure disbelief. "'Excuse me? I have some questions?' This isn't a damn classroom, for god's sake. Just speak."

"Right…" he muttered before continuing, "Do you know what's going on? Why are there so many Terrors here?"

"Hell if I know. All I can figure out is this wasn't part of the plan. Damn Starfall..."

Acher stepped forward, pointing towards the silver blade Nyx held in his hand. "And what about those? Aren't these the weapons that the stern Phantom guy had?"

Nyx hadn't even noticed, but upon being told, these were indeed the dual blades he saw on Rylands back, and Rei's spear she got during selection was nowhere to be found.

"Yeah, they are. Rei had broke her weapon- no… she 'lost' it down the throat of another Terror. The entire thing."

Upon hearing this, Nyx and Acher were in visible disbelief — pure bewilderment stained their faces. Seren couldn't help but give a slight smirk as he continued:

"The guy said he wouldn't need them, and tossed them to her in replacement."

Nyx didn't hesitate to ask his next question. "Where is Ryland now?"

"Not with us. After giving her both his swords, he ran off somewhere down the canyon with a few other Phantoms. I haven't seen him since."

Upon hearing this, Nyx passed a subtle glance towards Acher, and him doing the same back. "You don't think..."

Seren nodded. "Wherever they went, they're likely not coming back for us. For the time being, we're on our own."

A deep silence hung over the group. Nyx could feel his own nerves starting to get the better of him. 'If what Seren said was true... then we're completely on our own. We're completely stranded...'

Finally, Silas spoke. "Shouldn't we try and follow Rei..?"

Seren gave a slight tick in response. "Yeah. She's cocky, but she's that way for a reason. Let's go."

The group didn't speak any further. In silent agreement, they tried their best to keep up with Rei as she bravely — or stupidly — walked into the unknown. By now, everything surrounding them had gone completely silent. The sound of fighting no longer filled their ears. The sound of Terrors was creepily no longer present.

As far as they knew, they were the last people left alive. Together, they were forced to survive.

* * *

After a bit of walking, the path they marched down finally came to a close. Slowly, they one by one jumped their way down a series of dilapidated rooves, until finally making contact with the canyon floor.

Nyx set his gaze upwards — he watched in awe as his vision began to warp. The canyon, when viewed from the bottom, felt impossibly tall — stretching so high it nearly made him shutter, worried as though it could collapse on top of them at any moment.

Now, they were in a basin filled with dark alleys, destroyed homes and nameless streets. Unknown terrors possibly snuck behind every corner of the city, and they couldn't do anything about it. All they could do was walk and pray they find a way back up to the surface.