章節 9: Gutter barfight
The Dungeon City's gutters were a festering underbelly of poverty and despair, a place so devoid of hope that most wouldn't dare set foot inside. The streets, crumbling and overgrown with filth, teemed with the hollow-eyed remnants of once-living souls—people who had lost everything to debt, grief, or drugs. Now, they wandered aimlessly, empty husks of their former selves. These were not monsters in the conventional sense, but in their madness, they'd attack without warning, their hunger for anything to fill the void inside them insatiable. It was wise to keep your distance.
"Lovely" Raven muttered sarcastically as she strode down the ruined street, kicking a stray rat aside.
The gutters belonged to the wretched, the wicked, and the destitute—those the shining city above had abandoned. Disease spread unchecked, with filthy children playing in the muck like it was normal. The Fat Boar, a decrepit tavern in one of the city's most forsaken corners, loomed ahead. It was a sanctuary for criminals, its reputation so dark that even the authorities of Dungeon City left it untouched. No one wanted to deal with a nest of rats like this. And yet, Raven found herself here often.
She kicked open the tavern door, the familiar stench of stale beer and spilled wine assaulting her senses. Laughter erupted as she stepped inside.
"Hey! The stupid cat is back!" a voice called out, met with a chorus of mockery. Bets had been made on whether she'd return, and her mere presence sent ripples of disappointment through the crowd.
Raven scanned the room, ignoring the jeers. She wasn't looking for trouble today, she just wanted the rat who owed her. But the so-called "hero" was nowhere to be found.
'Figures. That bastard ain't stupid enough to stay here' she thought.
"Yo, that asshole lied to us!" shouted a scarred man, stabbing a knife into the table in frustration. The laughter died out, replaced by angry murmurs. The realization hit... the guy told a nasty lie and gave fake results for the bet.
Tensions escalated as accusations flew, patrons demanding their money back from each other. Raven moved toward the bar, indifferent to the brewing storm behind her. She just wanted a drink.
"Oi, serve me a beer!" she shouted at the bartender, a scruffy-looking man who sneered at her while cleaning a grimy glass with his spit.
"You ain't paid your room for days, girl!" he snapped, jabbing a finger into her chest. The two locked eyes, hostility simmering as she growled at him.
"What!?" Raven retorted, feigning offense.
But before she could press the matter, the tavern's fragile peace shattered. A table flipped over with a loud crash as a towering brute roared in fury, sending mugs and plates scattering. The noise spread like wildfire, igniting a brawl that Raven knew was inevitable. Chaos erupted as drunken men lunged at each other, fists flying and knives flashing.
"Serve me my damn beer, you rat-faced bastard!" Raven hurled a glass at the bartender, who dodged it with ease. She was done with pleasantries.
"That scum didn't pay me!" screamed a hooker from the stairs, pointing at a hobbit who was making a desperate dash for the exit.
The final spark came from a fat, drunk man who misinterpreted the chaos, his bleary eyes landing on a girl with a massive blade strapped to her back. He stumbled forward, spewing his foul breath at her.
"You think you're better than me?" he slurred.
The girl smirked. "Better than you? Fuck off"
Enraged, the man swung at her, but she ducked, throwing her drink in his face. The tavern erupted. Bandits seized the moment, knives drawn as they tackled the fat drunk into a table, splintering it to pieces. Coins spilled onto the floor, and the thieves pounced like vultures, fighting over the spoils while drunkards slugged each other, oblivious to the danger.
"Come at me, you fuckers!" screamed a flashy guy standing on a table, only to lose his balance and collapse in a heap, knocked out cold.
A wiry man with an X-shaped scar across his face swung a broken bottle at a thug, slicing flesh and drawing blood. The thug retaliated with a brutal punch to the ribs, the sickening crack drowned out by the cacophony of violence. Grunts, screams, and the shattering of glass filled the air as the tavern descended into bedlam.
"Where's my damn beer!?" Raven yelled, shoving a guy off her and snatching an abandoned bottle from a nearby table. She cursed when she realized it was empty.
Amid the chaos, the tavern owner, a grizzled old beastman, tried to restore order shouting for the idiots destroying his business to stop, but his attempts were cut short when the bartender smashed a bottle over his head.
"That's for not giving me a raise, old man!" the bartender shouted.
The brawl intensified. Bandits had pinned a thief against the bar, beating him senseless, while a group of drunkards in the corner fought among themselves, oblivious to everything else. Raven, still in the thick of it, ducked a flying bottle and shoved another thug into the fray, her laughter echoing through the tavern as she finally managed to snag a half-full mug from an unsuspecting patron.
Blood and spilled ale slicked the floor, turning the fight into a savage free-for-all. Tables were upended, chairs reduced to splinters, and the heavy scent of sweat, dust, and blood hung in the air. The Fat Boar had become a war zone, where no one cared for rules or survival, only violence.
At one point, Wormtongue, the corrupted guard, poked his head through the door, took one look at the scene, and immediately turned back around. Today was not a good day for drinking.
Raven, having dodged a few stabs and punches, finally sat down in a corner with her stolen beer. She raised her mug in a mock toast to Ito, the man who had ignited all this madness, laughing as the fight raged on around her.
"Thank you for the free drink Ito!" She shouted and kept watching for the battle that kept going.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票