Demon Immortal
Demon Immortal - Chapter 43: Cave

Duncan's blade bit into the tiger's back with a vicious gleam. As much as Duncan tried to cleave its neck, the tiger moved at the last moment sensing danger. So, Duncan was only able to land a hit on its back.

Even then, Duncan's sword wasn't able to sink deep. The tiger's thick muscles hindered its progress and Duncan didn't have the required strength to just cleave into the tiger.

The tiger roared and backed away a few steps. It watched Duncan warily, but its attention wasn't entirely on Duncan. It kept looking into the distance as if it was sensing something.

Duncan also felt an unprecedented sense of danger emanating from deep within him. Even when the beast tide began, he hadn't felt such a danger. It aroused Duncan from the state he was in as his survival instinct kicked in.

Duncan shook his head and looked around. He didn't exactly remember what he was doing, but he had some impressions of it. Those impressions were like hazy images spread amidst a mist.

Duncan can clearly identify them, but he couldn't exactly understand what he was thinking in that mind. It was as if he was in a strange stupor until now and just now woke up from it.

And with it came the pain that Duncan hadn't been feeling until now.

Duncan's body sagged as he felt his entire body emanating pain. He realized that he might have fallen into a berserker state or something similar to it. He had heard about them from other mercenaries when he was out drinking in Starmist City, but he never imagined that he would fall into it as well.

Duncan warily looked at the tiger that he was supposed to be battling. Neither Duncan nor the tiger was in the mood to battle. All their survival instincts were blaring out telling them to escape this place.

And these instincts were pretty powerful in the beasts compared to humans. As a result, the tiger was the first to bolt. It didn't even pause or look back, it just bolted outright without any indication.

When the tiger began moving, Duncan was worried that it would attack him. Right now, he was in no shape to continue to fight. However, Duncan's worries didn't come to fruition.

The tiger bolted away from the location as if its tail was on fire. Duncan was confused for a bit at first, then later when his instincts also started urging him to leave, Duncan decided to heed them.

After seeing the tiger which had the upper hand flee, Duncan knew he would not be a match for whatever it was that had spooked the tiger into running. Duncan's mind theorized that it might have been a demonic beast. It was highly possible as the beast tide was occurring.

Duncan knew he was no match for any demonic beast. So, he too decided to escape from this location. However, the problem was that his right leg was mangled badly by the fight he had been in.

So, Duncan knew that he couldn't run away like the tiger. He searched around to see if there was any hiding place nearby. Luckily for Duncan, he saw a small cave-like structure in the distance. Duncan started limping his way towards it but paused to pick up the wine gourd that was knocked away from him during the fight.

He knew that drinking this wine might not be a good solution, but needed something to numb his pain at that moment. So, Duncan did the only thing he could do and took a gulp of that wine.

Duncan felt a strong energy rush into his body when he swallowed the wine. His body felt like it was entirely on fire. Duncan couldn't stop but roar loudly in pain as the wine started burning his insides.

Luckily, the wine also numbed his mind from feeling the pain in his legs. Duncan quickly made his way toward the cave. He could feel the sense of danger increasing with each passing minute. He knew that he was running out of time.

Duncan didn't hesitate much and started running despite the pain that was once more beginning to shoot from his legs. He gritted his teeth and urged on without pausing to check up on his leg.

He wondered idly if his legs would become dysfunctional after this.

Just as he neared the cave, he heard a roar from behind him that shook Duncan's mind. Duncan felt as if he was surrounded by bloodthirsty beasts all around and it became difficult for him to even breathe.

His entire body was locked up in fear as he felt the roar echo all around him. Duncan knew that he needed to move, but his legs weren't cooperating. So, he did the only thing he could do. He stabbed his other leg with his sword and tried to use the sudden pain to rouse himself.

Luckily it worked, Duncan staggered forward to reach the cave. But, with both his legs hurt he couldn't push himself fast. As he tried to go faster, his legs gave out and fell forward on his face.

Duncan didn't stop however, he slowly started dragging himself to the cave with the help of his hands. The stones cut into his hands and they started bleeding. As he dragged himself through the ground, his entire body began to be covered in rashes.

Duncan didn't mind any of this. All he could think about now was to take shelter in that cave. He didn't want to see what the source of that roar was or whether it was coming in this direction.

Duncan slowly crawled inside the cave and breathed a sigh of relief. His entire body was on fire, both inside and outside. The wine was burning his body from the inside and the rashes and injuries he sustained were burning from the outside.

Duncan could hardly keep control of his mind. He felt like roaring out in pain. But, he knew that it would be suicidal to do so. He didn't want the attention of whatever was coming in this direction. He knew that it would only end in his death.

So, he bit his cheek and endured the pain.

In order to get his mind off the pain he was enduring, Duncan looked around at the cave. The cave was not that big. It was a small cave. Duncan could already see the end of the cave from where he was resting.

As it was night, the visibility was really low. But, Duncan could make out a few things. The cave didn't look like someone had lived in it for long. It looked as if it was created recently as well. From the cuts running around the roof and the side, Duncan deduced that someone had manually created this cave not long ago.

Duncan idly wondered how much power it would take to do something like that. He was also sure that a cultivator must have created the cave to rest for a night or so. Duncan inwardly admired the power to create a shelter whenever one wished to.

Having experienced camping in the wild, Duncan knew that this was a very handy skill to have. A shelter normally gave peace of mind to someone who was in the wild. It needn't be something big or very defensive, just its presence was enough to help you rest your mind a bit.

Duncan also once more realized how easy it was for cultivators to obtain that bit of security he usually craved while in wild. Even today's disaster wouldn't be much if he was a cultivator, to be honest.

Whether it was the bandits, the wolves, or even the tiger, they wouldn't be a match for cultivators in general. Duncan yearned deep inside his heart to possess such power. His experience today had made it clear to him that without power he would be nothing but a fish on the chopping block in this world.

As his mind started wavering and Duncan started to relax from his tense state, Duncan realized that the coming from his body had lessened a bit. Both from inside and outside.

Duncan became curious and sat up to check what the reason for this was. According to his estimation, he would need some time to even recover from the rashes he suffered trying to get into this cave.

Duncan looked down and saw the rashes he suffered were gone a little by now. He didn't know how it had happened and was baffled by the sudden change in his body.

Duncan looked around to see if there was anything in the cave that would have been the cause for it. Unfortunately, the night was too dark for him to get any clear visual. Duncan had heard about some miraculous treasures that will be able to cure people's ailments easily, he wondered if he had stumbled upon something like that.

As his mind thought about the treasure, Duncan also realized that the clarity he had for a moment while escaping the bandits wasn't natural either. He theorized that a treasure must have been born in the Grasslands and it was probably a very rare treasure for it to have such an effect despite the long distance.

This also revealed why the Grasslands had been in turmoil for some time now. Duncan also realized that the birth of the treasure might be the cause of the beast tide as well. He didn't know what kind of treasure would cause such a commotion, but he was sure that it must something rare.

When he realized this, Duncan knew that he couldn't head out anytime soon until the Grasslands calmed down. After all, if the treasure was the reason behind the beast tide, there might be some fight over the treasure happening outside right now as well.

And Duncan didn't want to get caught in that.

He had been barely able to keep his life facing wild beasts, against demonic beasts and cultivators, he would be like an annoying fly that they would be able to swat to death with nonchalance.

As if to prove his guess right, Duncan heard someone fighting in the distance.

*****

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