The Last Circle-Chapter 10: Fight or Flight

Nameless stood petrified amidst the rumbling, enthralled by the sight of the greater hellbound beast. It was still far away, but he knew first hand just how quickly the Sinner variants could move, and that titan was no mere Sinner variant.

What was worse was that the avian beast was on its way as well, thanks to the greater hellbound beast toppling over their one line of defence against it. Perhaps that was no issue to it, but to Nameless, that meant everything, for the single reason he chose to go through the chasm was to avoid the terrifying caws and talons that preyed above.

And to add insult to injury, there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. He may have had the Shard of Sin to conceal his presence, but it's not like the Sinner Hellbound Beasts were going to chase after him when they fled a greater variant of themselves anyway. Neither was it going to be helpful against what manner of abomination the greater one was, nor would it help against the avian beast.

And he didn't have a weapon... Truly not a situation he was fond of.

Running was impossible, given how hard it was to walk—let alone stand—thanks to the hellbound beasts and their "bigger cousin", as he would put it.

So was that it for this attempt? Was there truly nothing else he could do but stand there, awaiting his death?

He scowled, infuriated by his weakness and incapability, watching as tens of lesser hellbound beasts were sent flying into the air whenever the greater one swung its many arms.

'What am I supposed to do?' he asked himself, often glancing between the flying beast's descent and the stampede of hellbound beasts. 'The bigger cousin and the chicken just had to ruin everything!'

After staring for too long, lost in a sea of thoughts, fear, and frustration, an idea popped into his mind as his fingers ached against the rough and weathered stone pillars:

'If the chicken is flying down, then perhaps I go up?'

It was an idea, to say the least. After all, the pillars were rather stable, despite the growing seismic force. It also happened to be the shortest path out of the stampede's way, though that would not matter if he kept wasting time with his dilemma.

He shook his head, snapping out of his thoughts as he dug his fingers into the grooves of the rock wall, feeling the edges dig into his soft skin.

'Stop thinking! Just go!'

And so he did just that, though it certainly proved to be easier said than done. With his inexperience, finding stable rocks to latch onto was difficult. For instance, the one he tried stepping on ended up with it breaking off, nearly resulting with him falling.

But luckily, he was able to catch himself hanging by one hand. He looked down, watching as the rocks bounced along the ground endlessly, a signal that the stampede was only drawing nearer.

He looked straight up, watching as the "chicken" soared through the air, gracefully twirling and flapping its wings. Each flap was followed by a light and soothing breeze that traced his fingers and body.

He took one more look at the stampede, seeing that he still had more than enough time to scale the rocks, but even so, an overwhelming sense of dread filled him as the greater hellbound beast's roar filled the mostly quiet atmosphere.

With a pounding heart that wanted to jump out of his body, adrenaline coursing in his veins, and an iron will to survive, he continued climbing.

'Why did I have to get myself stuck in Hell!?'

More rocks broke underneath his weight, but he was quick to react. Each grab saved himself from what he could only assume would be death if he fell onto the sharp stones below.

His heart pounded with a measured rhythm. The rumbling added on with its sustained bass line. His clenched jaws brought about a strong tinnitus. His hands and feet suffered shallow cuts on the jagged protrusions.

If time felt convoluted before, it never felt clearer now. Each second was precious; one small mistake was all it would take to send him back to the beginning of the Ninth Circle of Hell. One small mistake would thin his already slim chance of reaching Heaven even further.

The top was nearly within reach, just within his sight, and the stampede was beginning to sound clearer. The heavy flaps of wings brought about strong gusts that made it harder for him to pull himself up. Each heartbeat shook his already quaking body. The bloodlust of the beasts became palpable with its suffocating taint. The world-shattering roars, the deathly caws...

Was he going to make it?

The light at the end of the tunnel grew clearer as he pulled himself up to the surface. Below, the first line of hellbound beasts were just beginning to pass through and around the path he once walked, bringing aggressive tremors that made it difficult to stand on even on the surface.

But even so, Nameless took his chance to run, for he could see the towering figure of the greater hellbound beast just within the corner of his eye. It was still a considerable distance away, but even so, he feared for his chances of getting out of its way.

Although the first obstacle had been cleared, a new one presented itself as Nameless looked ahead:

'Damn it! I don't think I can make the jump!'

Under normal circumstances—whatever that meant in Hell—he would've heard the bell ring, but he was too focused on staring at the gap between each platform that spanned in length at least ten times his height.

There was just no way he could cross it without falling back down, plunging to his doom.

Except, a ridiculous idea popped in his mind. He watched as the envoy imps around this area were now beginning to take to the skies, and his fiery eyes flickered as he thought:

'Time to fly!'

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With a resolved mind, he pushed beyond his limits, taking bigger steps, rushing for the envoy imps, staring at their weirdly large and wrinkly, brain-like, pink heads.

The once-light winds from the flaps of the avian beast had grown into a force that did all in its power to knock him off his feet, sending dust scattering into his face. The roar of the greater hellbound beast reverberated through his body and the pillars, but Nameless had already decided his fate—who or what would stop him now?

With a fearless and graceful leap, he reached out for the three-toed, clawed envoy imp feet, catching it while landing atop the head of another.

The imps retaliated with a dissonant outcry, making him twitch and feel like his ears were bleeding, but such pain was a small price to pay for their taxi into the air. Moments later, he found himself leaping off, rolling as he collided with the next pillar, and back on the run.

Nameless looked over his shoulder, watching as the greater hellbound beast—dwarfed by the colossal "chicken" that shadowed the land and blocked out the sky in its outstretched, red-orange wings—was now merely five or six pillar's away.

The sounds of toppling pillars added to the chaos that was a cacophony of roars, shrieks, caws, rumbling, and flapping wings. His mind and ears wanted to explode.

'Just one more!' he told himself, watching as he was only a couple of steps away from the ledge, ready to jump, even if he wouldn't be able to make it.

The envoy imps were nice enough to let him hitch a ride, but no more remained, for they all took to the skies.

Just as he was ready to jump, his heart dropped, for he felt the pillar give up as the greater hellbound beast sent it toppling. His mouth gaped, he lost his breath, and his eyes bulged while his arms and legs flailed around as he started falling with the pillar.

Then, the pillar crashed into the ground, scattering rubble and dust everywhere.