章節 14: Theatrical Entry
THUD
Arsh fell to the ground from the sudden impact. He softened his fall by catching some branches. Unfortunately for him, they broke too, resulting in him falling with slightly less impact.
'What was it? I wasn't able to follow it'
Arsh quickly stood up, running back in the direction of the town. His senses were haywire, some were warning him to run. Some were telling him to hide. But, all they had in common was, they were afraid.
'I don't even want to know what that was. I have to run away.'
But, it was too late for that now. He looked at the black shadow, emerging over, colliding with his own shadow.
'I have to do something about it quickly. Otherwise, I am not leaving this place alive
Arsh toddled through his pockets, trying to find the clear red daggers, made up of the bones of a fearsome monster. He took a deep breath, standing in a fighting stance.
"JJJJJAAAAAA"
Arsh heard a jarring howl near himself. He tightened the daggers in his hold, looking around for the source of the howl.
He lifted his head completely upward, looking into the neverending blue sky. Following the sound that came soon after.
"Ahhh. Shit! Here we go again"
Arsh saw a bird-like monster, hovering in circles, around the place he was standing. The flying creature looked rather small in the air due to the distance between them.
The monster had two arms and legs. His wings expanded from its hand to his legs.
'A gargoyle'
Arsh's every sense shot up. He was training for almost a year by now. But, he still felt little to no confidence, in taking the monster of that level on without Alan being around to protect him.
|S-S-moke screen|
Arsh chanted the newly learned spell, stuttering in panic. The wave of black smoke got released from his body, running in all directions. Making his whole body disappear completely, in the cloud of black smoke.
'No way in hell! I am going to fight that thing'
"I can't win against that thing. Not in a one-on-one fight. I can't even use my daggers on a flying monster. Neither do I have any high damaging spell."
'I am so screwed'
Arsh was silently standing in between the disappearing black smoke. He needed a foolproof plan to run away quickly, without being noticed by the monster or humans.
'Especially by that flying shit'
Arsh weaved an idea in the back of his head. He took a deep breath, trying to convince himself to go through with it. It was a bad, bad plan.
It was not going to be easy in any way, and most importantly, it was about to take a large toll on Arsh's sanity. He looked at his hands, trying to convince himself he was in the right.
He clenched his hands into hard fists. Holding the daggers in them with all of his might.
Arsh looked up, cracking his neck and fingers. He jumped a few times on the ground, trying to let the nervousness sink away. He took a deep breath, as the black smoke surrounding him disappeared.
Arsh slowly took a step forward, into the opposite path of the town. He let both of his hands touch the ground, his spine in the air.
He sprinted forward with the highest possible speed, and mustered up with all of his might. The flying monster jeered, following him closely from behind.
Arsh jumped up to a tree. But, not up to the top of the tree this time. It will just make it easier for the flying monster to catch him.
Arsh moved from branch to branch, stopping in between for little stops. Bating the monster to follow him.
'I have to lure the monster first. Just show it at the center of the commotion. Let them fight for their life and death among themselves. I just have to use a shadow envelope and be on my way'
Arsh swung from branch to branch at full speed, trying to not give the gargoyle any chance to catch or attack him in the middle of the jump.
"SCREECH"
Arsh again heard the screeching howl of the gargoyle. He looked back, only to find the monster, less than 30m away from me. Flying at a very low altitude.
"Shit! It found me"
|Smoke Screen|
He hurriedly chanted the spell again. Letting the wall of black smoke resurrect itself again. The gargoyle flapped its wind, trying to disperse the smoke.
But, It was of no use. The smoke was constantly emanating from Arsh's body, making it impossible for the beast to blow it away with its wings.
Every single beast in the vicinity took notice of the large rising smoke in the middle of the forest. The monster around the 6 people abruptly stopped, looking directly at the giant cloud of smoke.
'Shit! That was the worst thing I could have done.'
The monsters on the ground waited for some moments. Before, mindlessly ran into the smoke, trying to find the source of it, and tear it apart.
It created complete and utter chaos, as the monsters started tearing each other apart in the smoke. While the lone gargoyle was still hovering in the sky, waiting to get a chance for the strike.
'Tch. I have to get away quickly'
Arsh looked around in sheer terror. He didn't expect this to happen, he was just curious about the scream. Now, he was the one screaming internally.
As He moved slowly away from the black smoke, and closer to the shouts and roars of fellow humans. The voices around him started to be more comprehensible. Arsh can now make meaning of what they were talking about now.
"Amanda, are they healed? We need support here"
"No, they are not healed just ye-"
Arsh jumped to the nearest tree around him, trying to see through the commotion and beasts in the middle.
".....Is that…?"
When the area with adventures came into sight. Arsh spotted 2 familiar faces among the people, who were fighting solemnly against the horde of monsters.
Arsh's whole mind went into sudden turmoil, his heart ached to look at them.
'I can't leave them alone'
He wanted to be as merciless as possible, leaving no strings attached to anyone ever. But, he wasn't able to do so at all. They were more important to him, then he ever accounted them for. They were like the last torch of care and love for him after he lost everything.
Arsh took deep, quick breaths, trying to slow down his quickened heartbeat.
'What the hell are they doing here?'
Arsh felt the beastly killing intent again, all over his body from every direction. He had the choice to run away from this hellhole. Leaving every human present there to their inevitable fate.
He sprinted forward toward the middle of the commotion, leaving all thoughts of running away and fear aside. He decided to save them, in the end.
'Fuck it! I can't run away anyway'
|Shadow envelope|
The menacing black, shadow armor formed around his body. As soon as he jiggled his daggers in his hands.
'Let's see, how many strikes this armor can take from monsters?'
He moved toward the horde of thousands of monsters, smiling a dark menacing smile.
The horde consisted mostly of coyote level one on the inside, and the primate level one guarding the exit. It left no room for exit or run away, but it was also easy to enter between them.
Arsh's presence diminished completely, standing in the middle of the dense forest.
He moved through the horde of monsters at a quick pace, avoiding running into them as much as humanly possible.
But, the spell was still not stealth. The sun was high up in the sky, and even though the trees were blocking it, there was still plenty of light in the forest.
That meant Arsh was never completely incorporeal, and he knew this fact. He killed the monster who noticed him, in a flash, before the monster could warn the other one.
In no time at all. He glazed quickly, through the gaps between the monsters, killing them internally in the formation.
Arsh was near arm's length away from the group of adventurers. But, due to his diminished presence, not a single one of them noticed them.
"...PAPA!!"
Arsh remembered the voice, from the shrill screech. He turned his head violently, eyes attached to the view in front of him, with complete horror dawning on his senses.
The gargoyle had fished the little girl from the group, high up in the air. Arsh looked at the flying beast, blood rushing towards his head.
He leaped over to the head of a towering monster in the back row, where the strongest monsters stood. He stepped on his giant head, and leaped high up in the sky.
Due to the amount of strength Arsh used in utter rage. The monster's skull shattered completely, resulting in the monster's giant body falling down with a dramatic thud. Arsh flew through the wind, jumping with all of his might.
'Whatever it takes'
He wanted to save the girl, at any given cost. She was one of the few, Arsh really cared about in this ever-so-cruel world.
Arsh reached near the wing of the giant flying beast. The gargoyle turned his head, looking directly at Arsh. The giant beast shuddered in surprise, sending a flying claw toward him.
Arsh was a little grazed by the claw. But, he took the opportunity to grab its legs, to keep himself from falling directly down.
The monster started rotating itself in the sky, in an attempt to throw Arsh away.
But, Arsh was ready for it. He wanted to give this flying monster death, as cruelly as possible.
He removed his dagger, smiling a dark and menacing smile.
He remembered a spell that can obliterate an opponent like a gargoyle completely. If used right.
|Black Fire|
Nothing is more painful than being burned alive.
The tiny little flare burned through his daggers tingling. He saw the eyes of the frightened beast in the sky. Smiling with pleasure, he let his flaring black dagger, dig deep into the spine of the flying beast.
"BURN!"
Due to it being a flying type monster. its body temperature was unusually higher than anything in the world. To keep it alive from any kind of winter in the air. A defensive mechanism. As well as the cause of its downfall.
A body like it just needed a little bit of fire, to light it completely apart.
Arsh grabbed the little girl from his claw, and let the 2nd dagger burning with black fire pierce through its body from behind again.
The gargoyle screeched in pain, falling directly down toward the body. its body lit on fire from the inside. Arsh didn't stop the spell, letting the dagger act as the direct conductor of the heat.
Arsh caught the little girl in midair tightly. He grabbed the burning monster completely, due to it being burned from the inside. It wasn't that hot to hold on for now.
The monster still flapped its wings, in a futile attempt to survive the fall. But, It only helped Arsh greatly. It cushioned the damage of the fall for him.
The monster fell directly down from the sky, along with Arsh and Elsa.
THUD
From the sky, a black cannonball-like thing fell directly in between the monster and the humans, creating a boundary between them. As the dust cleared slowly. They all went silent, humans and monsters alike. looking at the giant monster's body burning by the black fire. And the solemn person sitting on the corpse of the monster, like the throne of an unowned king.
The monsters and humans both sank in dread, looking at the entity sitting on the throne of black flame. Fear crept inside them, and they all took a step back, the moment they heard footfalls.
Every step he took, resounded through the whole silent forest. After a moment, his face came into view, for everyone to see. Arsh hugged Elsa tightly in his hold, who was trembling with incorrigible fear.
Elsa stopped trembling, opening her almond-shaped eyes to take a clear look at him. She looked directly at Arsh into his crimson-red eyes, her eyes tilting in confusion.
"Brother? Is that you?"
Arsh smiled silently, pulling both of his daggers out of the gargoyle's body. He jumped down in front of the adventurers, holding Elsa with him.
"Yes. I guess I am"
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