If this place were hell or punishment... Then this creature carried out the sentence — the embodiment of cruelty and fear.
Intuition suggested that it was this creature that had devoured the heart of the previous owner of his body. Perhaps now his soul dwelled somewhere among the bloody trees, never finding peace... Such thoughts made him tremble with fear even more.
"..." It walked slowly, still licking the blood from its jaws, and did not take its eyes off its victim.
Massive mechanized paws with red claws slowly descended, causing the ground to tremble.
"D-damn…" he whispered in a trembling voice.
His feet involuntarily began to retreat. However, he did not dare turn his back on the creature or break eye contact.
Although all his instincts were literally screaming at him to run without looking back, he understood how reckless that would be. He probably wouldn't last even a couple of seconds.
"...!" Retreating methodically, he tried to steady his trembling hand to hold the gun and the severed finger together.
"..." Predatory red eyes watched his actions, moving closer and closer.
The only similarity between the Red Lamb Ryskar and its younger brother was the white composite mechanized parts. In shape, it resembled not a cute fossa, but a huge tiger, reaching 4 or 5 meters in length. It was a natural predator, and its fearsome mechanical body matched that description.
And yet, the most striking feature was its sharp muzzle. It was red not only because of the blood of chewed bodies. Its color was like that from the beginning, as if the creator had assumed that his creation would have to be "smeared" quite often and had taken care of this in advance.
"…" And now he had already found his gun in his pocket and even placed the severed finger on the trigger.
Despite his animal fear, his psychological problems, and unwillingness to live, helped to pull himself together faster than anyone else would have in his place.
The creature was about 10 meters away from him, and he was about to shoot...
"...!" But he was unlucky enough to catch a glimpse of the mechanized monster's open mouth. What was inside and what it used to grind its victims.
His mind instantly imagined hundreds of people who were unlucky enough to end up in that mouth. Their terribly cruel, ground-up demise. The same agonizing end awaited him.
He knew it.
'I'll be next.'
Someone whispered:
"They'll tear you to pieces..."
'Those things in its jaws will tear me to pieces!'
This made him want to just kneel and accept his fate, but...
"TO HELL WITH IT!!!" he yelled, finally raising his gun.
It was the signal for the start of the battle between man and monster.
Ryskar leaped forward with a terrifying mechanical roar.
Somehow, he managed to hold the dagger, his severed finger on the trigger, and the gun with just his two hands.
With his first leap, Ryskar halved the distance between himself and his prey.
At that very moment, he firmly grasped the pistol with both hands and focused his attention on the crosshairs.
Ryskar took a running start and wanted to reach his victim with his next leap.
He waited for that moment and pulled the trigger with all his might.
*Bang-bang-bang!* The sound resembled the explosions of very loud firecrackers, and bullets poured out in a torrent.
The pistol, resembling a high-tech nail gun, turned out to be incredibly rapid-fire. In an instant, it fired seven bullets with unusual blue tracers. Unfortunately, due to such rapid fire, the recoil was simply monstrous.
"...!" Initially, he aimed at the creature's face, but after the first bullet, he was forced to change his plan.
He was thrown sideways, nearly crashing to the ground, hoping to control the burst of fire at least that way.
The first bullet hit the metal that formed the creature's cheekbone. The second flew higher...
But all the others, except for the last one, hit their target and left sparks on the Ryskar's body.
Five out of seven, it was a real miracle! Unfortunately, because of the sounds and flashes, he closed his eyes and did not see the results of his actions, but...
The real miracle was something else.
"Pha...!" he exhaled in shock, because he smelled the thick, metallic stench of blood right under his nose.
This made him open his eyes, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Ryskar's bloody muzzle a mere inches from his left shoulder.
Time seemed to stand still.
The creature was in mid-flight and couldn't reach him. However, the predator's narrow eyes met the pitiful eyes of its prey.
They flashed with bloodlust because the lamb had miraculously dodged its jaws.
"…!!!" What was happening made his heart race wildly.
He hit it with almost all his bullets, but it had no effect!
Without understanding what he was doing, he forced his trembling legs to move and took off running.
Glancing back, he saw the massive beast breaking with all its paws, causing the earth to scatter in all directions. But it didn't stop it, and the creature's snout slammed into a tree.
He didn't look back and just started running.
A moment later, he heard a terrible roar behind him, telling him that the creature was angry.
All other thoughts left him. He thought only of how scared he was.
...
"Ha... ha... ha..." He breathed rapidly, not worrying about conserving his stamina.
His eyes were wide open, filled with terror. He ran as fast as he could, zigzagging between the trees. His wildly beating heart was ready to burst out of his chest from fear and adrenaline.
He turned around while running and raised his gun again. The predatory red eyes were not far away and were following close behind him.
*Bang, bang, bang!* Hardly even looking, he emptied the rest of his magazine, he emptied the rest of his magazine into those red flashes.
And although he did so, he already understood that even if he hit it with all the bullets, it would cause absolutely no damage.
"DAMN IT!" he yelled.
He didn't know which button was responsible for what, so he just started hitting the gun. After a moment, he got lucky, and the empty magazine fell out. He instinctively wanted to replace it with a new one, but quickly changed his mind.
His hand reached into the quick-access pocket on his backpack and pulled out an oblong oval object of pale red light.
He pulled the red string, and a moment later, sparks flew from the object.
He exhaled and turned around.
The ground beneath his feet shook, and the charging Ryskar rushed straight at him.
"Try eating this!" he shouted and threw the projectile.
And although his whole body was shaking with emotion and convulsions... Luck was finally on his side again — he hit it.
The projectile sparkled in the air and flew straight into the creature's mouth. A feeling of anticipation arose in his heart...
And, as if obeying his cry, the Ryskar opened its mouth and swallowed the object.
Orange sparks began to form in its bloody mouth, foreshadowing something loud.
His eyes opened in disbelief, and he waited for the next second to hear and see...
Clearly not this.
*Pssh...* A hissing sound rang out, and orange light spread across the creature's face.
Just light, no explosion.
'It's not dynamite?!' The realization made his heart sink and his eye twitch.
Without realizing it, he stood still and waited for the explosion. But instead, the Ryskar simply absorbed the signal flare and continued to chase him.
It felt like the end. His gun was unloaded, the monster was rushing forward, and the ground was shaking from its footsteps...
And he was just standing there.
"Damn..." he spat bitterly and tightened his grip on the dagger.