Mattimeo: Blood And Desire

5

Mattimeo found himself standing in the vast emptiness of space.

Darkness stretched endlessly in every direction. There was no ground beneath his feet and no stars within sight. Only an endless void surrounded him, filled with a chilling cold that seemed capable of freezing even the soul.

The cold seeped into his flesh and settled deep within his bones.

Far away in the distance, a faint light flickered.

Relief immediately washed over him.

Anything had to be better than this freezing darkness.

The moment the thought crossed his mind, an invisible force seized him.

Space blurred and the darkness twisted around him. Before he could react, he was dragged toward the distant light at an unimaginable speed.

At first, he felt relieved.

Then he instantly regretted it.

His eyes widened as the source of the light came into view.

He had arrived in the middle of a battlefield.

Not an ordinary battlefield, but one capable of shaking the entire universe.

Worlds were collapsing. Stars were being crushed into dust. Dimensions shattered apart beneath terrifying waves of power while the surrounding space trembled under the clash of countless supreme beings.

Mattimeo stood frozen.

He saw gigantic dragons whose bodies rivaled worlds in size. He saw godlike figures radiating enough power to distort reality around them. He saw demonic beings whose presence alone made space ripple and twist.

Every single one of them possessed strength beyond imagination.

These were existences capable of ruling worlds, creating laws, and destroying laws.

Yet all of them had gathered together to kill a single man.

The man stood alone amidst the endless army surrounding him.

His dark hair concealed half of his face while the visible half carried a faint, fearless smile.

His body was covered in wounds. Blood flowed endlessly from deep gashes across his flesh, yet he remained standing, unmoving and unbending like an eternal mountain refusing to collapse.

Countless attacks rained toward him. Divine light, demonic flames, dragon breaths, and powerful laws descended together with enough force to devastate worlds.

Yet the man showed no fear.

Then he moved.

His sword swept across the battlefield.

BOOM!

The surrounding attack formations shattered instantly.

Space cracked apart. Stars exploded. Several nearby worlds collapsed under the pressure of the attack alone while the surrounding powerhouses were blasted away in every direction.

When the shockwave finally settled, not a single enemy remained within ten meters of him.

Mattimeo's heart pounded.

His eyes shone with amazement.

How could one person possess such strength?

How could one man stand against so many terrifying existences?

For the first time in his life, he found himself wishing he could become someone like that.

As he continued observing the battle, the man suddenly stopped and turned directly toward him.

Mattimeo froze.

Throughout the battle, none of the powerful beings had shown any sign of noticing him. Many had passed directly through his position, causing him to assume he was invisible.

But now...

The man was staring straight at him.

There was no mistake.

Those eyes were focused entirely on him.

Although his hair concealed much of his face, Mattimeo could still tell he was extremely handsome. The kind of man countless women would find irresistible.

Then the man smirked.

A strange feeling immediately rose within Mattimeo's chest.

It felt as though the man could truly see him.

As though he knew he was there.

Then the pain arrived.

"AAARGH!"

A terrifying agony exploded inside his head.

It felt as if his brain were being ripped apart.

Mattimeo screamed.

The pain surpassed anything he had ever experienced. Every part of his body trembled violently as his vision blurred and the battlefield distorted around him.

Yet the agony only continued to grow stronger.

For a brief moment, he genuinely believed he was about to die.

Then suddenly...

A gigantic crimson dragon appeared.

Its enormous body blocked his entire view of the battlefield.

Ancient red scales covered its monstrous form while its eyes burned like blazing suns. The creature appeared without warning, completely cutting off his sight of the dark-haired man.

The next moment, everything shattered.

The battlefield disappeared.

The pain vanished.

Mattimeo's eyes snapped open as he woke up gasping for breath.

He glanced around, his eyes scanning the darkness.

The cave was pitch-black, with only faint traces of light filtering in from somewhere far away. For a moment, confusion flashed across his face.

Was he still in that place?

Only then did he realize he was lying on the ground.

Mattimeo pushed himself upright and stretched his stiff body. As sensation gradually returned to his limbs, fragments of memory began resurfacing.

The giant scorpions.

The poison.

The unbearable agony.

That was when he finally realized he was still inside the cave.

A frown formed on his face.

How was he able to stand so easily?

Everything that had happened remained vivid in his mind. The excruciating pain, the venom coursing through his body, the desperate struggle to stay conscious. He should have been severely injured, if not dead.

Then a crucial memory surfaced.

Back when he had been writhing in agony, he vaguely remembered seeing something streak toward him.

A red comet.

It had fallen from above and slammed directly into his body.

Or at least, that was what it had seemed like.

The instant it entered him, the pain had exploded to an unimaginable level, far beyond anything he had experienced before.

Mattimeo's brows knitted together.

What exactly had that thing been?

He swept his gaze across the cave.

Whatever that red comet was, how he had survived, and the strange dream he had experienced could all wait until later.

Right now, there was a far more urgent problem.

He needed to leave before those giant scorpions returned.

Survival came first.

Everything else could wait.

Without wasting another second, Mattimeo immediately left the cave.

He tried recalling the route he and the others had taken through the dungeon, intending to find his way back out. Yet as he walked, another thought gradually surfaced in his mind.

What if there was something deeper inside?

What if he could find a way to repair his spiritual root?

His steps slowed.

A fierce struggle erupted within him.

Leaving now was undoubtedly the safest choice.

But if he returned as a cripple, what future would he have?

After hesitating for a long while, his eyes gradually hardened with determination.

"Damn it."

He clenched his fists.

"It would be better to die in here than live as a cripple forever."

With his mind made up, Mattimeo abandoned the path leading out and continued deeper into the dungeon.

Fortunately, he encountered no danger along the way.

The silence around him remained undisturbed, and the journey proceeded far more smoothly than he had expected.

Then, without warning, a deafening roar echoed from behind him.

Mattimeo's heart nearly stopped.

His entire body stiffened.

Slowly, he turned around.

The moment his eyes locked onto the creature behind him, his blood ran cold.

A massive gray wolf nearly five feet tall stood only a short distance away, staring directly at him.