Apotheosis

Martin teetered on the brink of death, feeling like he would collapse at any second. As he watched the retreating form of the queen blade locust, his chest heaved as profoundly, out of breath after his run. He never thought Zen would lead the queen blade locust away just in time to save his life!

The whistling wind rushed past his ears, and the woods fell away behind Zen on either side as Zen ran. Zen didn't choose any specific way because he had no idea where he was anyway!

Aside from running onward with all his effort, he hadn't had time to think of a plan.

The queen blade locust was chasing after him at a crazy speed. Although she had only one blade left, for Zen, she was still an invincible being.

"Scri-itch!" came the sound as a shadow of red flashed through the trees in the spot where Zen was a moment ago, leaving a ten feet long scar in the ground.

The queen was obviously much faster than Zen. In seconds she would overtake Zen!

"What now?"

questioned Zen looking around frantically as his heart gradually sank. Faced with such a powerful opponent, he didn't hold out for the fight to go his way.

"Scra-atch!"

came the ominous sound as the red shadow fell again, and at the same time the wind whizzed past. Zen surged up, avoiding the attack and rolled forward out of reach.

Colliding into shrubs and bramble as he made his way through the jungle, Zen saw a canyon come into view ahead. He looked around and noted that the canyon was about seventy or eighty feet wide.

'I'll have to jump the gorge!' decided Zen quickly in mind.

Racing to the edge of the canyon, Zen clenched his teeth, directed the strength of his entire body to the feet while pulling himself into the shape of a curved b

of a large cave.

He turned and looked at the jungle, spreading endlessly. When he sprinted away, he'd expected to find a place to duck into. But, there was no place to hide from the queen blade locust.

Without thinking, Zen could only seek refuge in the cave.

For humans, caves were far more dangerous inside than the outside.

Especially caves out in the wild, who knew what powerful creatures called the caves home?

But, Zen had no choice at the moment. It was futile to continue running. Zen could only hope there would be a chance for him to survive somehow in the cave.

When Zen got into the cave, the queen blade locust saw and followed close behind him without any hesitation. Hellbent on killing Zen, she just wouldn't give up.

It was such a spacious cave that even the large queen blade locust was able to walk freely inside. Fortunately, the cave also curved along, so that, although she was faster outside, inside the cave, Zen was quicker.

Therefore, the distance between them wasn't shortened.

As Zen went deeper and deeper into the cave, the thick smell of sulfur penetrated his nose. What was below this cave?