The horde of abominations had been following Dawn for the past three months, hungry for the taste of human souls. The group consisted of at least seven fallen and five corrupted abominations.
A skeleton knight, clad in white armor stained with vile black blood, led the charge. Dawn moved forward, meeting them in combat—doing the same thing he had been forced to do for the past several months.
Every night, there was no place for him to hide, so he fought. He had been forced to use the Forger's Crown at the cost of one of his emotions each night, to the point that he was dangerously close to becoming numb.
With the help of Flame, he had managed to survive these months of torture.
The skeleton knight reached him first, the blade of its black longsword swinging downward. Rolling to the side, Dawn dodged the blade and struck at the skeleton's uncovered legs, bringing it to its knees.
From the corner of his eye, he saw a giant sand serpent leaping from within the dunes, heading toward his location at a slowed pace, spitting venom that acted like acid. He shielded his body with the skeleton, yet drops of the acidic venom still seared his armor.
Throwing the skeleton's body at the sand serpent, he moved forward—or at least he tried to—as his leg was caught within the mouth of a sandworm hiding beneath the sand. Diving into its body, he began to cut, stab, burn, and sear its flesh from the inside until finally, the spell announced its death.
His breaths were shaky. The night had only begun, yet he had already killed his first abomination of the fallen rank.
Sensing the abominations moving toward his location, he quickly escaped the sandworm's corpse through its mouth, avoiding the piling bodies of his enemies.
The only reason Dawn was still alive was that the movements of the fallen and corrupted abominations were slowed. If not for that, he would have most certainly been dead.
His aching bones begged for mercy, but he could not, in good conscience, give it to them. His soul hadn't shattered only because of his newly acquired Soulforged attribute, which had made his soul into a stronger version of itself.
Before he had a single moment to contemplate what was happening, a tentacled abomination grabbed him and hurled him to the ground, shattering even more of his bones and forcing him to puke blood upon impact.
Summoning one of the enchantments he had been practicing for months—one that had served him well in both survival and combat—his tired and raspy voice, thick with blood, gargled out a desperate command:
"Blood Burn."
The blood that had spilled from his body ignited into white incandescent flames, burning everything it touched.
He could feel his essence draining—paying the price of the enchantment. Forging the enchantment within his soul and then applying it to the outside world cost him dearly.
Burning at least three of its eight tentacles, Dawn stumbled away from the corrupted abomination.
Circling his body, the sand serpent roared and growled in its corrupted, hissing tone as it lunged forward. Thinking fast, he used another enchantment that had saved his life many times before—"Burrow." He burrowed into the ground, hiding away from the abomination. After a few seconds, he leaped from the sands, appearing on the battlefield once more.
His body was exhausted. He could feel most, if not all, of his organs wanting to give up. Nearly every bone in his body had been shattered. He was bleeding from his nose, mouth, eyes, ears—every orifice imaginable.
The Gilded Rage Plate—a once-beautiful armor—was now bloodied and torn. A gaping hole had been carved through the center of it, slicing clean through his body. His hands trembled. His breaths were hollow, lacking air.
Yet, as the tide of abominations surged toward him once more, he steadied himself for battle.
Using the last of his essence, he carved another enchantment into his very being—this time, "Reforged." Reforging his body into a passable state, enhanced by Flame.
As the last of his essence was consumed, he felt his bones knitting themselves back together.
Standing, his most recent agonies still vivid in his mind, he leaped back, dodging the tail swipe of the sand serpent. He lured one of the abominations toward the beast, using it as a meat shield to absorb the serpent's acid-like venom.
Grabbing the turtle-like abomination he had used as a shield, he swung it by the tail, hurling it toward the serpent's head.
The serpent dodged, ducking under the turtle's body, but waiting beneath it was Dawn.
Realizing too late that its prey was below, the serpent lowered itself completely—just as Dawn leaped into the air, falling atop its head.
He plunged his blade into the serpent's eyes, blinding it. Then, searching deeper, he tore through its dark flesh, cleaving through sinew and bone, until at last, he cut into its brain—killing the abomination.