God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.-Chapter 1077: A Battle of Principles (4).

Running in all fours through the twisting maze of burrows he had created, Blatt the Wretched was filled with terror and panic.

The world around him was falling to pieces.

Or perhaps, it had always been that way, and this final straw was what had made it all finally come undone.

The Redscale Colony was a strange place. A patchwork creation filled with creatures and beasts from far and wide.

Insects and vermin. Furry beasts and scaly monsters. Even flying creatures and a few amphibians...

It was supposed to be a colorful and unique place.

And perhaps it would come to be this way given enough time.

However, as things stood, it had only become more and more of a nightmare for creatures like him.

Small, pitiful creatures like him that survived of eating grubs and being ready to run at any moment.

He had thought that staying out of the plains and hunting grounds would be much safer. However, even in the Colony, his once large brood was now reduced to just him.

The rest of his family had been eaten!

Mostly by larger hunting birds and a few felines with the uncanny, vile taste for their flesh.

In the end, there was nothing he could do about it.

Although the rules of the Colony did exist, in the end, the Queen had not done much to enforce them. And when that happens, those with sharper fangs and claws saw it as a means to push it to the absolute limit.

They were all just trapped in a large cage, waiting to be devoured.

As he raced through his secluded burrow, a section of the tunnel collapsed, forcing him to quickly change directions.

’If I go thru’ ’ere, I’ll have to surface for a while.’

With the chaos going on above ground, that would go only one way.

Terribly.

A good fate for him, would be him not seeing what got him before he did. Then, he wouldn’t even have to feel as his neck was broken and his body was devoured.

’In the end, it was always meant to be like this. I’m just a wretch rat, after all.’

Indeed.

What use was a rat either way?

He served no grand purpose in the larger scheme of things.

But even then, he didn’t want to die to readily.

’If it comes down to it, I’ll fight even as they eat me up! Blatt the Wretched shall not die in vain!’

With a loud squeak of defiance, the great Blatt the Wretched, he who had slain a hundred and eaten them whole, rushed out of a random hole in the ground.

Back on the surface, Blatt ran furiously as he dodged the rain of rubble and death.

He ran furiously, not stopping for even a moment.

"This was a bad idea! I’m doomed!" The great Blatt instantly became overwhelmed with terror and fear.

However, he could not stop. Death by squashing was not a noble way to go out at all!

And so he kept running.

However, Blatt the Wretched was called wretched for a reason. He didn’t seem to have the most luck of all the beasts in the lands...

A shadow came right over him, locking out the sligh glow of the grey clouds only eyes as sensitive as his could see.

Amidst the dust and chaos, with a nose so sensitive, it could sense a rotting corpse from dozens of kilometers away, Blatt picked up a familiar stench.

It was the stench of blood and impending doom.

A signature stench of those who hunted down others.

In the end, he wound not be able to escape.

His small feet rapidly beating against the ground, Blatt squeaked out in terror as the shadow descended.

He was of the {Black-hide Rat} species. They were known for being very cowardly and easy prey.

’This is the end.’

Blatt felt something wrap around it and pull him off the ground. He closed his eyes in grim acceptance.

"Damn it! Would you stop screeching already?!"

Blatt’s eyes shot open.

He suddenly realized he was no longer on the ground.

Looking around, he could clearly see he was soaring through the air.

He had very been in the air before, mostly, because that was usually the last thing many {Black-hide Rats} saw before their deaths.

"W-wha—"

He looked around.

There were shifting silver scales around him, but that was not the most pressing presence he could sense.

He looked up.

’Something about this scent...’

It was familiar.

The nose of Blatt the Wretched twitched,

"Cain the Human?!"

Cain glanced down at the pudgy rat with mixed feelings.

He was a bit surprised when he, perched on the back of Lyos the {Argent Amphithere}, saw a small shadow running through the rumbling everything.

He has quickly rushed in, curious to see what had managed to survived area so close to the dangerous ground zero.

He was shocked to see a family face.

Or snout...

Tears filled the eyes of the little guy,

"Could it be I’m not dead?!"

Cain smiled wryly,

"You are still alive."

From what he could see, Cain noticed that the {Black-hide Rat} had not grown a lot in terms of power. It was mostly just as weak as he had first met it.

"Thank the goddess. I thought I was a goner." Blatt the Wretched sobbed.

Cain stared at the creature for some time before putting it onto the back of his contracted beast, 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"Looks like you might have to change your name from Blatt the Wretched to Blatt the Lucky."

Blatt cleaned his eyes then glanced down. Immediately,the shrieked and ran towards Cain,

"W-what is this?! What are we in?!"

Cain smacked its back, "Relax."

Cain shifted his position and glanced down from the back of the {Argent Amphithere},

"Looks like things are progressing much better than I had expected."

Blatt finally gathered the courage to look over.

The rat was immediately stunned,

"That is..."

He had expected a disaster of such magnitude would have resulted in the death of most that lived in the underbelly of the Colony. Unexpectedly, he could see several streams of beasts rushing out of the crumbling Colony. The beasts moved with purpose and speed, making it clear this was not panicked stampede.

With his dark, beady eyes, the rat glanced at Cain with amazement in his eyes.

Then he fell to his knees and bowed repeatedly,

"Boss Cain! Please, let me serve you!"