Chapter 1 – Unbound
Part 1
"The last boss is a demon!?"
"What monster is that!?"
"I've never heard of a demon with such characteristics!"
'Em, being called a monster at first sight is a bit hurtful...'
They were shouting and seemed a bit hesitant. However, their hostility was evident and apparently I was the one being confronted.
Well, I hadn't had a chance to examine myself yet, so I didn't exactly know what I looked like, but I had a pretty good idea that I was probably some sort of a unique demon, as I concluded from the human's conversation. One thing I noticed though, was that I was about half as much taller than them, making me a giant of over 2.5 meters compared to them.
"If we defeat this guy, the treasure of the Tomb of the Ancients will all be ours!" One of them, who looked to be the leader of the group, announced to increase their morale. They were single-mindedly in their own world, dreaming about whatever riches they could obtain from here.
"Hey, umm, let's talk this out. I don't really want to fight," I tried to persuade them, fighting and straining myself straight off after waking up was a bit disagreeable. But whether the language I used was incorrect or for some other reason, they didn't listen.
"Attack!" the leader shouted.
'Ughh... Humans and their rash and inconsiderate judgement.'
Though on one side I was reluctant to engage in combat due to unfamiliarity to this world, my blood still ran hot from the prospect of a good fight. So, if someone was keen on taking me on, I'd gladly accept the challenge. There was nothing to lose... Well, except my life, possibly.
After they all had gotten into formation, combat was initiated by the two mages, as they shouted out, "Firebolt!".
I was almost surrounded – the swordsmen blocking the sides, while retreating backwards was obstructed by a large statue. Since I couldn't dodge the incoming balls of fire in time, I had to bet on defending by using magic myself.
However, I was still far too unfamiliar with this world, as I had actually been able to move for just about a few minutes. I had no idea how the magic system of this world worked.
Fortunately, to my pleasant surprise, but to the others' distress, as the fireballs hit, they just made a soft puff and disappeared. There wasn't any damage, only the spot where they hit became a little warm.
"Wha-! It negated the spells!?"
"Mages, use stronger spells!"
After seeing the result of the first strike, the commander, I presumed, ordered them to increase the damage of the spells.
Apparently, either I had such tough skin that low-level spells have no effect, or I might have quite good magic resistance. A little experimentation was still required to confirm those speculations.
As I was mulling over my body's abilities, one of the swordsmen saw an opening and dashed forward. Well, I probably had openings all over, as I didn't really pay attention to close combat at that point. Still, the man took the chance and went in for the attack.
However, the man's movements were unexpectedly slow, at least they seemed to me as such. I could observe every step, every shift in weight, and the slight motions of his body and arms that telegraphed the sword's path.
As a result, though the man had actually covered a distance of a few meters in an instant, I evaded the downward slash effortlessly. But I had also judged it to be best to use minimal movement, as to not run out of stamina, which I had yet to verify how much I had.
From the attacker's and the others' viewpoint, however, I had barely managed to dodge the blade. So, if they were to combine their attacks, they could easily overwhelm me. At least, they thought, they hoped as much.
Their teamwork was quite good, I must say, as were their individual skill levels. With well organized switches between them, they attacked in quick succession and left me no chance to retaliate. When the swordsmen had circled through their own strikes, they slightly retreated backwards, leaving me in the open and thus giving the mages a chance to attack. They finished a longer chant than what they had used before and shouted, "Fire Dragon!".
A ball of light, which was actually condensed mana, appeared at the tip of their staffs, which were pointed towards me. It burst into flames and, with an appropriate form, that of a dragon, flew towards me at a high speed.
Even at distance I felt the heat the roaring flames emitted. However, having become more confident in my abilities, I resolved to take the hit head on.
It ran into me with the force of a... small gust of wind. As the blaze enveloped me, it merely felt warm to touch, incomparably feeble against the permeating chill inside my body.
While engulfed in the flames, I noticed, with my untouched eyes, a look of victory appear on the mens' faces. However, it was instantly replaced with that of terror as the flames simmered away.
"H-, how could this be!? It even negated that!?" one of the mages stuttered, shaken by the sight.
The rest of them stood firm, however, as they prepared for the second assault. Seems they had experienced a fair deal of unexpected situations and knew how to deal with them – by not getting distracted, that is.
Since I had confirmed the opponents' abilities, I decided to go on the offensive myself.
I dashed towards the nearest enemy, only needing two steps to close a distance of a few meters. Even I was amazed by the acceleration. Well, as physics and inertia command, I was unable to stop the rush and rammed right into him, throwing him against the wall with such force that he made a "Guah!" sound and coughed up blood. His internal organs were probably seriously damaged by it.
The others recovered from the moment of stupor faster than me, allowing one of them to have a clear opening for a sword thrust. Still bewildered by my body's capabilities, I only came to my senses when something stung the side of my body, as if a mosquito had bitten.
Looking at the wide-eyed, open-mouthed men, I couldn't grasp what had happened immediately, but only when I saw the weapon of the man closest to me – the sword was bent, totally flexed like a folded knife.
'Eem... seems like I'm impervious to all damage.' I thought, at least to the degree these adventurers, which was how I settled on calling them, were capable of producing.
"No way!?"
Even they were truly startled by it, seen from their dropping morale, as they inadvertently backed a few steps away from me.
Having recovered from the daze of that impressive rush, I determined myself to not get surprised by anything my body has to offer anymore.
I continued my advance.
I also had an advantage – my strong arms reached well the length of their twohanders, and with the addition of my height, I could get a hit in without much difficulty, if we were already facing off.
So, with just a step I closed the distance between another one. My great speed gave me a superior position, as I also sidestepped and got behind the opponent without him being able to react.
I brought down my heavy fist and smashed into the guy's head. Though actually I was holding back, trying to stun him, the poor man was still squished, folded together, as his armor bent and his spine shattered.
During the impact for some reason the ache and chill in my body were relieved slightly. But right now I had no time to ponder on it, there still were others to deal with.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
"Don't falter! There must be a weak point! Surround it and keep attacking!"
The leader commanded with a loud voice that erased the others' anxiety. How charismatic.
However, I didn't give them a chance to reform their encirclement, as I went on to the next person.
Once more I managed to get behind him faster than anyone could react. With a clap, with the motion of clapping, I squashed his head. 'Too much power again...' I had tried give him a shake, to knock him out, however, the helmet offered no resistance, as the man's head was made into porridge and bits of it splurted out from the openings.
Again, as I held onto what remained of the man's head, I felt a comfortable sensation run through me, the cold inside me was soothed. Interesting, now enough so that it requires investigating straight away.
The chance came when I dodged the attack of one of the men. Stepping closer in, I grabbed him by the throat, lifting him up.
'Aaahh... this feeling...'
"GRAAAHH!"
As I held onto his neck the discomfort inside me was continuously being eased, while at the same time the man was screaming in pain, more so than what my grip could have caused. In moments he quieted down, became lethargic, and didn't resist anymore, while I myself felt more and more invigorated.
"It has 'Drain life' ability!!?" The men despaired.
'Drain life, is it? Seems something like that, however, it feels a bit different...'
The problem was I couldn't control it, not right now at least.
When I turned my gaze towards the next target, his sword visibly shook as he unsteadily started backing off, terror in his eyes. The others, too, were disheartened, unable to hold their ground. Seems that the ability is something quite terrifying, as it decisively broke their spirits.
They didn't run away, however, only kept a longer distance. Did they still think they had a chance, or perhaps were their minds so clouded that they hoped for some kind of a miracle?
'I shouldn't let my guard down.'
The reason for why they didn't escape was revealed when the commander called out,
"Kh! I'm going to summon the fire elemental! Protect me!"
At his behest the others quickly took action, fire lit in their eyes yet again, and formed a protective blockade around their leader. He was probably going to use something that would only be used as a last effort.
I stayed put and decided to observe. Though I was a bit hesitant on allowing him to finish and uncertain whether I could defeat whatever he was about to summon, I still chose to see through it.
The man took out a scroll from his breast pocket, unrolled it, and started chanting barely audibly, however I could still make out what he said. When he finished he yelled out, "Summon, Greater Fire Elemental!".
The temperature in the room rose sharply, the space in front of me rippled, and suddenly an intense flaming vortex 3 meters wide burst into existence. The air around was sucked into it as it revolved, and it started shrinking slowly. However, it wasn't disappearing, but actually condensing together and forming a figure.
It took a diabolic shape – its body was made of fervent flames, with two arms and two legs that extended into burning blades, and a distorted demonic face with two horns growing out of the sides of its head.
It immediately made a preemptive strike, as a fireball, much larger and searing than what the mages had used before, appeared above it, without the delay of chanting, and shot towards me.
That I didn't dare to take head on, so I tried to evade by jumping backwards. When it landed at the spot I just recently was, it exploded into another whirling fire, as if the flames of hell had suddenly erupted in the middle of the room.
I was thrown back against a wall. The impact of the latter didn't do much, however, there did seem to be slight damage on my frontside, as some of the skin was a bit scalded. This opponent was definitely one to be aware of and not take lightly.
However, then I saw the collateral damage it had caused, as the three men in front of the leader had also fallen in the area of effect of the attack. They weren't as lucky as I, though. Their bodies were almost incinerated and even their metal armor had started melting.
The leader and the two mages behind him had been hurled away by the shockwave.
Was there a miscalculation somewhere? Was it due to such a close distance, or this enclosed space, or perhaps they didn't know the creature's power when they planned to summon it, thus resulting in such a situation.
But then the fire elemental, as it was called, just unannouncedly sizzled away, leaving nothing behind. The room became quiet, almost quiet, as only some faint groaning remained.
Heedfully I approached the three, going around the smoldering molten rock floor the inferno had generated. I walked past the man I had attacked the very first, the one I accidentally had ended up ramming into the wall, and noted that he, too, was dead. The reason probably being that very rush and the impact.
Two of the remaining three, including the leader, were beyond help, as their skin was completely charred with pieces of metal armor melding into it, and could be deemed to be among the dead already.
The now dead commander was still holding onto a partially burned paper, the scroll which had been used to summon the elemental. It seemed quite resistant, presumably due to being an enchanted scroll. Still, it had no use anymore.
The third one, however, was still alive. With rasping sounds he managed to take only short gasps of air, desperately holding on to his life.
Unfortunately, I didn't know any healing magic, otherwise I might have healed him up. I could've experimented, true, and possibly even created some sort of method of healing, but that thought just didn't cross my mind at that point.
He passed on shortly.
'Aah, how unfortunate... Noone survived...'
I surveyed the surroundings, but, besides the already confirmed coffins, sculptures and lights, there wasn't much else that had any impression of significance. However, one thing piqued my interest – a miniature chest just beside the shrine at the back of the room. Though it had no visible lock, its distinct engravings caught my attention. Interested, I walked up to it, and as I was about to touch it, a black miasma surged out from an opening on its cover and enveloped me wholly.
However, nothing malign happened, and in seconds it dissipated. The chest was now open. Inspecting it, then peeking inside, I found a piece of fabric, and as I picked it up, it unfolded into a dark, almost pitch-black long robe, clean and in good condition, untouched by the wear of time. How convenient! Naked thus far, I at least now had something to cover myself with.
With all business done, it was time to depart... -what place was it again?- The Tomb of the Ancients, according to the men. I had no other information nor even the slightest idea of what this place actually was besides its name.
I found only a single exit. So I entered and trudged the path of the dim, eerie corridor leading to whatever my preordained destination would be.
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