A feral beast was dragging itself through the mushroom forest. It was having an argument with itself, unaware of any onlookers. The eyes were dark, and its hair was messy.
"-were so right! Send me out to do your bidding! Whose idea was it to send the guy who just got here? Oh, wait! That's right, it was that stuck-up ancient demoness brat! I think I might strangle her later…-"
Clyde indeed felt like a feral beast. He was unsure of how long he had been in the forest. He was also just as equally unsure if he had been in another episode. The sight of his destination remained unchanged.
"-Am I crazy?"
It was unclear what was wrong with Clyde. The mushroom forest might have been the catalyst, but there were many underlying issues. Hopelessness from his inability to help his friends. There was no telling what they were going through right now. Then he was dragged into a civil war between a father and daughter! One that had been raging for hundreds of years.
Order after order, siege after siege, hell was proving worthy of its name. In the early days, Clyde often saw the light at the end of the tunnel, but now there was no end in sight.
If he really were to encounter the infamous Inferi Tank, his current mental state would be problematic. Alternatively, he might have been here so long that the sword was already taken. Clyde came to a stop, looking toward the sky.
"Alright, I'm done. I don't care if every ounce of my essence is drained."
A trail of lightning followed Clyde as he ran. During the blur, he noticed something. Slowing down his perception, Clyde witnessed the mushroom stems moving.
"That's it!"
The forest had been rearranging itself, different from the twisted woods. Whenever Clyde used his senses early on, it never seemed odd. The twisted woods would move at random times, regardless of Clyde's existence. Here, the mushrooms would deliberately move around, keeping him in the center of the forest. However, he was too fast now.
Limiting his perception, Clyde pushed further into his speed, more than ever before. The rush was exhilarating. Strangely, his heart seemed to be beating slower. He was running in a straight line, which caused him to destroy several mushroom trees in his path.
In one minute, Clyde escaped. Unfortunately, he had not slowed down in time before he reached the lake of fire. Unlike his dream, it was very much on fire.
'Oh dear… it's just fire anyway…'
Like a madman, Clyde committed to running straight across. He was knee-deep in flames, and if it wasn't for his armor, his skin would have melted. The pain was excruciating, but at the speed he was moving, the initial shock didn't last. Behind Clyde was a mountain of flames flying backward from his force.
It was impossible to know how far he had made it, but Clyde knew one thing.
'If my essence runs out before I get across, I'm dead.'
He knew that his limit was approaching. Passing out and waking back up wouldn't replenish his essence. That was something that took a raw amount of time.
Just before he fell over, he reached the other side. An impressive feat that he would tell Bell and the others about. Hitting the ground, Clyde passed out. Immediately getting back up, a new problem was created. With little to no energy, he wouldn't be able to defend himself. But he was so close now, and going back wasn't possible.
Nearby he heard running water, or in this case, blood. Following its stream, he could make it to the accursed sword. Hope was finally restored in Clyde's mind. It would take a little longer for his mental state to recover.
"See! I told you we would make it."
Clyde continued to ramble on to nobody for several minutes.
Out of every obstacle, he was told that he should be cautious of the mist. The green pollen wasn't unnavigable, but the mist would be if he ever left the river. So he stuck with it.
As he was walking, Clyde started to wonder.
'How exactly is there mist in the first place?'
It was possible a creature might be producing it. If that was the case, he should be fine. What was more worrying were the things that lived here. Clyde thought back to his brief encounter with the headless demon. Maeve explained to Clyde that the region of hell he was in was a safer one. This made sense as a civilization was allowed to exist. Although the further one traveled, the worse things were.
Strangely, nothing happened. Clyde successfully made it to his objective with no obstacles. Looking at the waterfall of blood, he stepped into the pond. Wading through blood, he was only a foot away from the cave.
Getting drenched in blood, Clyde went through the waterfall. He thought that he got here before the king's people, but a dead body was slumped over at the cave's entrance.
'Well then.'
Clyde doubted that he was alone. The tunnel had lanterns with blue flames lighting the walls. Walking down the tunnel, spots were full of arrows, in addition to holes in the ground. Someone had set off a lot of traps.
'It seems that 'Tank' brute-forced this place.'
Leisurely strolling through many set-off traps, Clyde found an iron door that was broken in half. Beyond that was an opening with a pedestal in the center. Tank was nowhere to be found, and the only thing in this room was a crummy broken sword.
'Is this the accursed sword… no, it's useless.'
Perhaps Tank thought the same thing and left. If that was the case, then at least the king's army didn't get an advantage. However, in Clyde's heart, he had come too far.
The blade of the sword had crumbled, leaving only a black, rusted hilt. Ignoring the warnings of Maeve, Clyde reached for the sword and picked it up.
The cave shook, causing stalactites to fall. That was when Clyde heard his own voice.
"Are you stupid or just ignorant?"
A complete copy of him was forming in front of him. Seeing himself, he noticed he looked different than he was used to; his hair had become more blonde, regrettably.
The imposter raised an identical broken blade, that was started to reform itself. Then the copy smiled.
"Come!"
That was when Clyde noticed his own blade was gone.