They ran through the forest now… or rather, through the infamous Blood Zone and Azel could finally understand why the place carried such a chilling, visceral name.
It smelled like blood.
Not metaphorical blood and not the mild iron scent that stayed after battle… no, it was the thick, nauseating, coppery stench of fresh, wet blood soaked into the earth, the air, the bark, the wind.
Every breath tasted like blood and even the mist rolling between the trees looked tinged red, as if the fog itself was blood.
Everywhere he turned, Azel saw the forest shifting.
Trees that should've been green were blooming red petals. Not red flowers… literal blood-colored growths that looked like veins carved into bark and among them hung strange fruit the color of raw meat.
"What kind of cursed forest is this…" he muttered under his breath.
"We haven't run into any monsters…" Azel said aloud as they continued sprinting deeper in the direction of the monster's lair.
