---- Blindly.


    Without knowing where she was going.


    Branches tore at her flimsy shirt, roots threatened to trip her, but she pushed forward , her breath ragged The beasts heavy footfalls thundered behind her, closing the distance with every step but she didn''t dare to look back.


    Her teary eyed stay focussed on the vast expanse of the forest ahead of her.


    She doesn''t know how long she had been running, her legs burned with exertion, and her chest was ready to explode when she saw a silhouette in front of her.


    At first she thought it was him...


    But the closer she went, her hope morphed into fear.


    A second creature stood ahead.


    Its red eyes glowed like embers, and it blocked her path with a menacing snarl She tried to run to the right, when another emerged from there.


    Left...


    she went left to already find one standing there.


    ---- Chapter 453 She..


    She was surrounded Could it be...


    that these creatures couldmunicate amongst themselves.


    Or how would they know...


    Her hope died in that instant.


    Cornered and exhausted, she stumbled to a halt, her body trembling.


    There was no escape.


    ---- Chapter 454 Tired, she closed her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks.


    Her eyes catch a trees bark near her feet and she picks it up to defend when his words echo in her mind.


    A selfish person like you doesn''t deserve to live, yet look at you.


    You are breathing, taking in breaths which you dont even deserve in the first ce! Her grip falters on the branch...


    Would it be really better if she gave up now? Llow long will she fight? Death is inevitable.


    Wouldn''t it be better if it came sooner? You have been selfish and only ever cared about filling your own stomach! What do you know about sacrifice?huh? Maybe she will never know what it felt If only her life was more meaningful.


    [er death would have some significance.


    ---- The creatures advanced, their snarls growing louder, filling the hollow emptiness inside her.


    She felt their rancid breath on her skin, the oppressive heat of their presence pressing down on her like a heavy fog.


    The branch slipped from her grasp,nding with a muted thud in the dirt.


    Her arms wrapped around herself, clutching the fractured pieces of her soul Slowly, she sank to her knees, her eyes shutting tight as she braced for the end She waited.


    And waited.


    But it didnte.


    A sharp scream tore through the night, followed by a sickening crunch.


    Her eyes snapped open to see chaos unfold.


    One by one, the creatures fell, their monstrous bodies cleaved in half.


    ck blood pooled around her, soaking the forest floor in its vile stench.


    Her trembling gaze lifted, and there he was.


    Damien.


    He stood amidst the carnage, his chest heaving as if