The Slayer Ascension: Cursed and Blessed.-Chapter 52: Sprint against doom

Chapter 52

Gazel almost chuckled at Blaze’s choice of words, especially remembering what that white-haired freak had called him.

A cursed being.

Gazel figured that was just another title demons slapped on themselves. But what Blaze said was closer to the truth than even he realized.

They really were cursed.

And deep down, Gazel believed he might be the one who dragged them into this mess.

Forcing down the cold that threatened to freeze his insides solid, Gazel stood up and scanned their surroundings. Towering mountain peaks loomed in every direction, jagged and merciless. As far as his eyes could reach, there was nothing but snow. Endless, blinding, suffocating snow stretching far and wide.

"This is freaking driving me mad," Gazel snapped, his face flushing red with anger and dread.

"First that endless forest with no damn end. Then the burning desert that almost killed us. Now this. A frozen wasteland with no limit."

If this was the work of some twisted psychic god, Gazel prayed that thing would either stop... or just die. That would be far better.

"Come on," he said, clenching his fists. "Staying here won’t help. Let’s try to break out of this place as fast as we can."

Blaze looked at him, his expression dark and heavy.

"And what makes you so sure we can get out fast, as you call it?" Blaze asked. "If I remember correctly, the last place we were trapped in took days. We almost died. How is this any different?"

There was something raw in his voice. Not fear. Helplessness.

The truth was ugly. Blaze was weakened. The extreme cold gnawed at his Azura, suppressing it, limiting it. If they stayed here too long, the cold would freeze them to death. But staying in one place was just as deadly. They had to move. They had to find something. Anything.

So they walked.

Hours passed as they trudged through the snow. No exit. No sign. No escape. Just like the forest. Just like the desert.

They were stuck.

At the beginning of the journey, Blaze tried to lighten the mood. He cracked jokes. Spoke of the great Shuraks, beings powerful enough to reshape entire terrains to their will and bend the world itself.

Gazel didn’t buy it. Not for a second.

"If you think this place is cold," Blaze said at one point, "then you clearly haven’t seen the Frozen Palace. Compared to that, this is child’s play."

"Have you been there?" Gazel asked. "Or felt its cold to know that?"

Blaze’s reply was exactly what Gazel expected.

"Of course not. I only heard about it from my brother."

Gazel sighed. "Moron."

That wasn’t even the worst part.

The worst part was Blaze casually talking about his ancestor still being alive. One of the strongest Shural in existence. A being capable of living inside the sun. Dining and drinking within it.

"Have you dined and wined with that ancestor of yours in the sun?" Gazel asked, already knowing the answer.

What he didn’t expect was Blaze turning overly dramatic.

"What are you saying? Me? Go to the sun?" Blaze exclaimed. "No sane man would ever try that. They’d turn into cinders."

Gazel shot him a flat, demeaning look.

"Oh, about that," Blaze added casually, "didn’t I tell you? My ancestor is probably the most insane man to ever exist. That’s exactly why he does things like that."

By this point, Gazel couldn’t even be baffled by whatever nonsense Blaze was saying anymore. He was past irritation. Past disbelief. He just wanted to get the hell out of this place.

For a few more days, the duo kept walking.

That was when Gazel noticed it.

Something about Blaze had changed.

First, he wasn’t talking anymore. Not the jokes. Not the ridiculous stories. Not even the stupid bragging. The silence around him felt wrong.

Second was his complexion.

Blaze looked pale.

Not just tired pale. Not just cold pale. It was the kind of pale that crawled under your skin and made your chest tighten. Gazel was pale too, the cold was eating at him as well, but not like this. Not to Blaze’s level.

"What’s wrong with you?" Gazel asked.

Blaze waved him off. "I’m fine. Just... getting chilled a bit."

A lie. A weak one.

Minutes later, Blaze collapsed.

His body hit the snow with a dull thud. His eyes were unfocused, glassy. His limbs twitched, stiff and wrong.

Gazel froze.

Unbeknownst to him, all the days they had spent trudging through the snowy wasteland, Blaze had been under attack. Not him exactly. His fire Azura.

The cold permeating the air had been gnawing at it relentlessly, chipping away at it day by day, until it finally reached its limit.

His Azura died.

And once it did, the cold poured into his body unhindered.

Gazel rushed to his side and grabbed his arm.

Cold.

Not just cold. Dreadfully cold. Like touching solid ice.

Gazel was freezing too, his hands numb and aching, but Blaze’s body felt wrong. Dangerous. Like death had already started claiming him.

"What the hell do I do..." Gazel muttered.

He stripped off his outer layer and covered Blaze with it, teeth clenched as the cold bit harder into his own skin. It hurt. It burned. But it wouldn’t kill him. Not today.

Maybe in a few days.

He wrapped Blaze tighter, used every piece of clothing they had, then hoisted him onto his back.

It was stupid.

Carrying dead weight would slow him down. Drain him faster. Make survival harder.

Gazel didn’t care. Not even a little.

As far as he knew, this place was endless. But so were the others. And they broke those.

The forest broke when they destroyed it. Every tree. Every root.

The desert broke with a single drop of water from that cursed spring.

So this place could be broken too.

He just needed to find how.

But no matter what he thought of, no matter what he tried to reason out, the world stayed the same.

Endless snow.

Endless white.

Nothing.

No signs. No clues. No hope.

Just like the desert.

Just like before.

For the first time, Gazel felt it clearly.

They might actually die here.

Then his expression darkened.

His heart slammed harder against his ribs.

On the horizon, the sky began to twist.

A snowstorm was forming.

Massive. Violent. Devouring the land as it grew.

So this was how it ended.

The worst had just become worse.

Getting caught in that wasn’t just dangerous. It was death.

Gazel adjusted Blaze’s weight on his back and ran.

He ran faster than he ever thought he could.

His feet tore across the snow, breath ripping from his lungs, muscles screaming as he pushed his body beyond its limit. The storm chased him, howling louder, closer.

"Damn it," Gazel cursed.

He cursed his luck. He cursed this cursed world.

He even cursed the red-haired idiot on his back.

For a split second, the thought crossed his mind.

Drop him.

Lose the weight.

Double your speed.

Live.

His teeth clenched so hard they hurt.

"No," he growled.

He wouldn’t.

"Come on," Gazel snarled under his breath as the storm closed in, faster and faster.

Inside him, something began to burn.

Desperation.

Rage.

Guilt.

Determination.

Spite.

They piled together, feeding each other, roaring louder with every step.

And before Gazel even realized it, something about him began to change.

Bit by bit.

The snow beneath his feet cracked.

His hair stood on end.

That wasn’t even the biggest change.

Power flooded his body. All of it. Strength. Speed. Everything he had doubled in an instant. His teeth sharpened slightly, his jaw tightening as if something inside him was forcing its way out. The blue in his eyes darkened, tainted by a creeping hue of red.

He surged forward.

The weight of Blaze on his back faded, no longer a burden, as if the world itself had decided to let him move. His speed exploded, carrying him across the snow at a terrifying pace.

He shot forward.

But even that wasn’t enough.

If anything, all he was doing was buying time. Seconds. Heartbeats. Staying just barely out of the snowstorm’s grasp.

"Damn it," Gazel hissed.

There was no escaping it.

Just then, he heard it.

A sound.

A heartbeat.

Not his.

Not Blaze’s.

And definitely human.

His eyes snapped to the side.

A jagged mini mountain stood there, half-buried in snow. No entrance. No cracks. Nothing that suggested life. And yet, he was certain.

Inside that mountain, someone was there.

A human.

Placing everything on that single possibility, Gazel changed direction and ran. He aimed straight for the rock face, bracing himself to smash through it.

Instead, his body passed right through.

Like the rock wasn’t there at all.

On the other side, reality shifted.

What awaited him was beyond anything he imagined.

A roughly made chamber carved into stone. Simple. Crude. But lived in. Tools lined one wall. Supplies stacked neatly in another corner.

And resting lazily on a rocky bed was a young man.

He wore an eyepatch over his left eye.

In his hand was a cup of what looked like fresh wine.

The man took a slow sip, then turned his head toward Gazel. His gaze moved from Gazel to Blaze on his back, then he smiled.

"Welcome, fellow human," he said calmly. "You’re safe. For the meantime, at least. So rest assured."

Behind that calm smile, his thoughts were far less composed.

Finally.

I can get the hell out of this nightmare.

To be continued...