章節 23: The others in Goshem! part 5

John thrust his legs, making long strides as he drew closer to the dreadful scene. He reached a lump which was inclined steeply from behind, which he used as his vantage point to get a clear picture of what was going on. The beast was distracted by the countless monkeys that were throwing twigs, stones and dirt at it, leaving the girl temporarily free from instant death. The exposed flesh on her arm and the paw that was pressing against her face made it even harder for John to stand and watch. John decided to hurl stones of his own at the beast, with greater tenacity than the monkeys. Some of his attempts missed the mark but others did significant damage on the beast.

The beast which was at level 3, was taken by surprise by the stones John threw at it. Like fired bullets, they struck the thick layer of flesh, even staying wedged in some areas of its body. A stone totally blew its right eye ball away and most of its body was pierced by the multiple objects that John had thrown at it. The pain made the beast go berserk and it began to roar aloud. It then attempted to decimate the monkeys with one strike, emitting what looked like a red miasma on its paw. It missed many of the agile monkeys but managed to scratch one.

The monkey which was hit got marred by the powerful paw and then soon enough went up in flames. The beast could cause whatever it struck to burn and due to this realisation, the other monkeys desisted from harassing the beast. The monkeys that had acted as the means to delay the girl's end were shaken with the fear of also going up in flames. One by one, they distanced themselves from the girl and it seemed as if her fate was set in stone. Tinashe and Clarice, whom had caught up to John and witnessed this spectacle, weren't too excited about testing the beast's capabilities. The ginger haired girl who clearly needed their help could not be left alone to die like a hapless prey. John was fully aware of the dangers of facing a creature with a higher level in Goshem and didn't merely want to waste his heroics in something pointless, however, he quickly devised a plan.

"Tinashe, I am going in to get that animal away from that girl, once I get it away, make sure you get her away from this area." he said with a smouldering voice.

"Big guy are you fucken crazy? I mean I want to help her just as much as you but that lion will kill you. Don't risk it!" screamed out Clarice who didn't think his input would amount to anything.

"No, listen. I have a plan, but we need to act fast before that girl gets killed. I am counting on you young lad. Think of this is as what your war torn journalism life would be if you had lived to work for any of those news networks. I am counting on you." he said to Tinashe, holding him by the shoulder with an intense gaze. John meant every single word that came out of his mouth and Tinashe who seemed silent and scared shitless, feigned bravado. He wanted to be as far as possible from this bizarre creature, but at times, doing the right thing requires you to get out of your comfort zone. John leaped forward and left Tinashe and Clarice behind. Clarice was worried and still very pessimistic towards his plan. She screamed out to him for him to come back, but John didn't oblige her. As a man and also a human being with a conscience, he could not accept leaving a fellow human to die when he could have done something.

John had three things he needed to keep in mind when facing this beast: he had to separate it from the girl, deal with it's brute strength and not get slashed by its claws. The first thing he did was to strike down a tree quickly with his bare hands. He used his hands like they were a blunt axe chopping down wood. The force that was accompanied by his strength was greater than the pulverizing blow of a boulder. The process took nearly 2 minutes as he had to cut the other half so that it would be reasonable length that he could carry. Clarice wondered what was going on in his head and the noises somehow distracted the beast for a bit.

Tinashe had an idea of what the man was trying to achieve and told Clarice to calm down. Clarice wasn't at all convinced and tried by all means to get John to return unharmed. After the cutting was done, John injected his hands into the center of the tree, and wore it like an oversized glove that was 7'2 feet. He then raised it up with all his might like a heavy shield and began to walk towards the beast. If it weren't for his ridiculous physique, this feat would not have been possible. He picked up a rock with his free hand and began to shout at the beast as got closer to it.

"Hey animal crossing, I am here for the girl!" he said, being 10 metres away from it. The creature roared but seemed more interested in leaving with its meal than contesting him. It eventually sunk its teeth into her shoulder and lifted her into its mouth to flee away. The girl let out a louder cry than before and then John reacted by throwing the stone directly at the beast's mouth. The stone penetrated the thick skin behind its jaw and destroyed a region where its gums where. The beast felt tremendous pain and then dropped the girl down. A lot of blood was trickling down from its mouth, most of it being from the girl's body.

The beast had' had enough of John's antics. It was enraged and it began to pursue John. John tensed his right arm which was supporting the weight of the log and began to charge towards the beast. He could hear the powerful thuds but he didn't waver at all. Both the man and the beast collided in what looked like an interlocked scrum. The wood acted as a shield which was being scrapped by the beast's claws and the side that was exposed to the beast began to burn. John's feet sunk into the ground like a pitch fork as tried to push against the beast. Even with the newfound power he got from Goshem, the animal was pushing him back. John quickly made an xp purchase and boosted his strength to 85%. It wasn't enough for him to overwhelm it but the sudden boost caught it off guard. John made the beast slip and took this opportunity to deliver a heavy blow. The log smashed into the beast and sent it flying 20 feet high before it tumbled backwards. Most of the log had been broken down to pieces and John could feel this intense stun sensation from the arm he used to strike the animal. He was also sure that he had gotten splinters on his fingers but the adrenaline numbed his pain and he averted his attention to Tinashe.

John called out his name and Tinashe reluctantly leaped over the lump of earth to retrieve the girl. Clarice was shocked by what was going on and felt like these fools were heading to their deaths. Her sense of self preservation made her stay behind like a coward as she watched these two men exhibit boldness. John knew that the beast was going to come back with fury so he decided to head on to face it. The beast had finished its tumble and was ready to come back with vengeance and soon enough, their clash would lead to one of them dying.

John ripped off the wooden log off his hand and thrust it like a javelin at the beast. The wood smashed into the left front leg of the beast which made it temporarily crash, but due to its will power, it rose from the ground and knocked the wood off its flesh. The red miasma began to engulf the entire body of the beast and John things were getting really dangerous. John then decided to run off into the jungle and beast followed him.

Tinashe found the girl and he quickly began to feel squeamish about seeing human blood, let alone fragments of human flesh that were scattered on the ground. The girl on the ground was panting and her clothes were painted red with her blood. Tinashe tried to lift her up but the girl screamed in discomfort. Tinashe noticed the hanging chewed bone on her arm and screamed in terror. The sight of her marred body was enough for Tinashe to lose his nerve. Clarice could see the boy struggling and believed that he needed to have haste with what he was doing. After realising that the boy was being rather difficult with the rescue mission, she betrayed herself and rushed towards him. Clarice who had a higher agility percentage bolted quickly and got to him.

She could hear the battle of John against the beast happening in the background and hoped that he would come out of it alive. Clarice saw the horrific state of the girl and wondered how anyone could succumb to this much and still be alive. She honestly was grossed out by this level of gratuity, but offered to help Tinashe. Clarice then told him, "I know this is fucked up, but we just have to hold it in until we get her over that hill. Shit, her hand. I can see her bone. Don't worry girl, we will get you to safety."

"Yeah, we gotta get her to a safe place before that thing gets back here. I really want to leave this place." he said,terrified that what happened to her could happen to them.

"No, take me to Malcolm, Malcom can fix me." said the ginger haired girl who sounded like she was pain.

"Malcom? Who is that? Wait, did she just speak?" asked Tinashe who seemed astonished.

"Please, take me to Malcom, ahh, mama, mama this hurts." said the girl who seemed to be gnashing her teeth in pain.

"Who is Malcom? Where is his place little girl?" asked Clarice who felt really tense and scared.

"Wait let's get her up there first and then we can find out who Malcolm is." plead Tinashe who really wanted to be on higher ground. The two of them then went on to climb over the lump of earth against the will of the girl who wanted to be taken to Malcom directly. Clarice took off her tank top and used it to apply pressure on the bite mark on the wound on the girl's shoulder. Clarice was left with a grey push-up bra and for a moment Tinashe got distracted. Clarice then scolded him by saying, "Don't zone off, cover her hand with your jersey or something. I don't think we should leave that wound exposed!" Tinashe obliged her and used his thin jersey to wrap her wound. The girl screamed relentlessly and her pain made him feel tearful. This was a rather unique scenario for him and he hoped that John would make it out alive.

John ran in the jungle tirelessly as the beast burnt down everything in its path. He reached a tree with several thick vines and began to unthread the entanglements. He took just enough to line them together so that he could make three layers of what seemed like a thick rope to make a large noose. John then stood out in the open like a matador, testing a raging bull, in this case, a raging beast. The beast picked up speed and then charged at him. John got within a few centimeters of distance and like a cowboy, threw the noose over its head and tightened it.

After that he jumped onto what looked like a gum tree with enormous branches and began coil the vine and then dropped down. He made his body seem like a pulley lifting a huge load, in this case, choking a burning beast. The beast was hung up in the air, suffocating as it did really violent convulse like actions with its limbs. John needed to kill it with asphyxiation before it burned the vine. The vines were fresh and probably had water in them, so he could at least bank on that.John felt like he was doing the worst weight lifting session as his muscles throbbed. He sweated intensely and kept at it. After a struggle, the beast died to being hung up and it died. John saw its life bar dissipate completely until he was sure that it was dead. When that was done, he fell to the ground and breathed heavily to recuperate. After 20 seconds of relaxing, he then sprinted back to the rest of his team.

John managed to make it back in time and immediately alleviated all the stress Tinashe and Clarice were going through. Clarice's current attire did surprise him but he ignored it for the sake of tending to the girl. Tinashe immediately gave him the information concerning the girl's demands and wondered what John was going to do. John wasn't a surgeon and he really wanted to get the girl medical attention. The girl assured him that Malcolm's place was close by and that she would direct them to the best of her ability. John then made the call and they moved out to Malcolm's base to save the girl's life.