(A/N: Finally appear my favourite and craziest character of this story. Enjoy!)
Chapter 10 - Hallway to Hell.
After putting the treasure capsules he won today into a closed empty room, as to not be encumbered by them while fighting, he moved back to his hunting spot to wait for other preys to appear…
Only to find out after an entire hour of waiting that the Death-Hounds had apparently already gone back to their nest for the night even though the sun was still up.
I swear! Can’t things just go my way for once?! Damn mutts! You’re only delaying your death by a day! I swear that tomorrow I will paint the walls red with your guts!
Annoyed, Asmund gave up on continuing his hunt further than this and went back to the place he left the capsules to bring them with him into his ‘room’, where he will open them.
When back in said room, Asmund fetched a bag of potato chips and a beer from a drawer, and sat on the bed while putting the grey gacha balls next to him.
Yawning lazily, Asmund opened the bag of potato chips and the can of beer and begun to enjoy his measly meal while lying on the bed.
Eating in silence, he was thinking about his plan for tomorrow and how he should proceed in killing every single Death-Hound in the hospital. No matter what kind of plan he thought of, it ended up as a simple ‘find & kill’... So he gave up on trying to do this any other way.
His dinner finished, he ate a chocolate bar as dessert, and then grabbed one of the 7 gacha balls on the bed.
Let’s see what I’m going to get today!
*Pop*
Dud.
*Pop*
Dud.
*Pop*
FUCKING DUD! COME ON ALREADY!
*Pop*
Oh! A black longsword! Nice! I needed a spare in case mine broke.
*Pop*
A lesser health potion, always useful I guess.
*Pop*
Dud.
*Pop*
And a lesser mana potion, not bad.
Today’s spoils of war isn’t bad, not the best one I had, but still not bad.
Somewhat satisfied with what he obtained from the treasure capsules, Asmund put the items into different drawers which contained the same type of items and then trained in his Blood Manipulation skill, since it was still too early to sleep. He wanted to get used to the difference between the ‘solid’ and ‘flexible’ property and how to best make equipement from those two.
He trained for two hours and went to bed as soon as the bright sun gave place to the peaceful moon, wanting to rise early to hunt Death-Hounds from the morning on.
… Meanwhile at the cafeteria.
"AHAHAHAHAAA!! It's just like I told you, isn't it?! Yet again I am right! That brat hasn't returned nor has he encouraged any strong monsters to attack us! In fact, there haven't been any monsters coming here at all!" -Inkei
"Y-yes! It's just as you say, Lord Inkei." -Old Man
"I bet that little shit went off and died while trying to lure monsters here to kill me, to kill you all! I am the one who saved you, by turning him away!" -Inkei
Why? Why did that youth have to go and die? If only he'd accepted that tyrant's offer, he could have eventually found a chance to kill him and save us all. He could have saved my daughter… Now she's little more than a doll. -Old Man
"L-Lord, p-please can m-my son have some more w-water? He's o-only 6 years old, he can't cope w-with so little…" -Woman
*thunk*
"There, you can lick the sweat off my foot and give him your saliva instead. How can I just give away our precious water like that? Do you think your son is special? We're all suffering from low rations here, stop being so selfish!" -Inkei
"... T-Thank you *lick* my L-lord *sob*" -Woman
"Hey, boy, look at your mother crying! She's wasting the extra water I so kindly offered from my own body so she could give it to you! Isn't she the worst?! HAHAHA!" -Inkei
This bastard! I'll kill him myself soon enough! Just you wait, you asshole… -Old man
Once again the cafeteria was filled with muffled sobs and the sound of an old man grinding his teeth from both frustration and hatred. Off in a corner away from the so-called Lord stood a young woman, the only other person besides him who seemed to be neither starving nor thirsty, with obvious disgust in her eyes but a slight smile on her lips as though thoroughly looking forward to something horrific.
…
Waking up with a slight headache, Asmund was confused until he noticed the empty beer cans scattered across the floor. It seemed his anger with the Death-Hounds' cowardice had not mixed well with alcohol…
“Tch!”
Clicking his tongue he moved away from the bed while kicking away the cans on his path to the bathroom. Although the faucet, toilet and shower weren’t gathering any water since days ago, not even the brownish one mixed with dirt, Asmund still had his Water Channeling skill, and thanks to it was still able to use the toilet and shower without any issues.
Like every morning, Asmund first relieved himself before taking a shower, changed back into his gear, and walked away from the bathroom. But unlike the previous mornings of this last week, he didn’t move to the bed to train his Blood Manipulation and instead prepared his blood equipment, readying himself for the hunt!
Good, I’m ready! Let’s kill as much as I want!
Getting hyped about the prospect of killing all those annoying mutts, Asmund walked out of the room after moving away the barricade which was blocking the door, and locked it again from the outside as he walked out.
Now, should I wait near the entrance like always, roam aimlessly around or stay near a staircase leading to the basement? Hmmm, since I never hunted at morning, they probably don’t expect me to go after them at the moment, so the entrance should still be a good spot to hunt, yup, let’s go there!
His decision made, Asmund walked carelessly while humming to his destination. Maybe he still had some alcohol in his system, or he simply lost all fear of the Death-Hounds, but he was certainly not like his usual self. If he was, he would have noticed the loud stepping sounds which was coming from ahead, before he met head-on with a ridiculously big group of Death-Hounds.
…
The group was composed of 24 Death-Hounds: 6x level 1, 4x level 2, 4x level 3, a level 4, 3x level 5, 2x level 6, 2x level 7, a level 8 and a level 9. Them and Asmund stared at each other in silence as if they all couldn’t believe this was happening.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
But despite the fact that this situation was already quite shocking, the most surprising thing was the reaction of both sides.
When they saw this young human, whose body was still strangely beautiful and effeminate despite his eyes and the inumerous scars covering it, the monsters didn’t act as one would expect and charge at him to kill the juicy prey before them. No, they showed fear…
Probably due to the number of Death-Hounds who fell by his hands and the fact he is covered in blood all day long, Asmund gained a really unique smell which ingrains fear in any beast with a keen nose. It was especially true for the Death-Hounds who knew the origin of his smell, and that this man was their pack’s natural enemy.
This contrasted with Asmund’s own surprising reaction, which was a huge grin on his face alike the one of child who found interesting toys. The poor beasts really wanted to scram from here, as proud as they were they really didn’t want to have anything to do with this seemingly puny human!
Sadly for them, they didn’t have any choice in the matter anymore, since the first one to move was none other than a still smiling Asmund, who rushed at them while uncoiling his blade-whip.
Sensing the approaching threat, the Death-Hounds roared angrily, trying to get the courage to fight the demon in front of them head-on. And completely giving up on their safety, they started to charge, right as the fearsome sound of Asmund’s weapon was heard…
What followed was pure carnage. First the smaller Death-Hounds received the brunt of the blade-whip, their heads exploding like a watermelon in which someone put a powerful firecracker. Brain matter soon covered their comrades that were still alive, who did their best to ignore the gruesome yet unique sensation of the sticky material covering their skins.
As a good number of those weaklings died the group finally reached Asmund, who already swapped weapons by then, now wielding his giant sword in his right hand and gathering the blood of both of his simple gauntlets toward his left hand, turning it into a massive gauntlet with sharp talons at the end of his fingers.
Using his giant sword Asmund cut apart any Death-Hounds of a level higher than 5, while the rest of the weaklings got their head crushed by the grasp of his gauntlet and got their corpses used as a club against their fellow monsters.
This battle looked like some sort of sordid picture of hell, where no human had a place and where monsters and demons were battling each other. Be it brains, limbs, bones, guts or feces, an accumulation of disgusting matter was covering the floor, ceiling and walls. And in the middle of this carnage was the smiling Asmund, who was battling with everything he had, and enjoying himself like never before.
While biting into the neck of a level 1, he grabbed the side of a level 3 which was trying to bypass him. The poor beast kept whining as its entrails were being cut and stabbed by the gauntlet’s claws, but Asmund ignored its complaint and threw it against an approaching level 2, which was sent back several meters when they collided. While doing all this, his sword wielding hand was fighting the biggest monsters of the lot, as if it had a mind of its own. Slashing any approaching paws or jaws, either succeeding in dismembering them or at the very least forcing them to retreat.
Seconds passed, yet no Death-Hound was yet able to even scratch Asmund’s body, who at the moment looked like the embodiment of a god of war, so covered in blood and guts that not a single strand of his long hair was showing its natural black color.
Asmund completely lost himself to his bloodlust and urge to battle, no calculation was done in this fight, it was just pure instinct and reflexes.
He just wanted to kill and dismember his enemies, that was the only thought occupying his mind at the time.
KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL!
As if high on drugs, he could feel shivers of pleasure for each cut he made, for each brain he crushed, for each sound of despair he heard, for each pair of eyes losing their light, for each entrail ripped out, for each limb cut off.
Seeing every single one of their comrades dying under Asmund’s rampage, the 5 Death-Hounds still alive already lost what little courage they were able to gather and now had but one thought in mind… ‘Let’s run away as fast as possible!’
Fighting to the death? What use is there to it when 19 before you tried only to die miserably without being able to even as much as put pressure on that demon?
Fleeing was by far the smartest thing to do at this point. The real question was: would he let them do that? The answer was obviously ‘NO’!
Running after the fleeing monsters like a rabid dog, Asmund used his whip to either cut or break one of their hind legs, and killed them by crushing their head under his foot. He did so for 4 of them that is, purposely letting a level 2 escape with his life.
Now go and fetch your little friends for me!
A sinister smile on his face, Asmund looked at the back of the fleeing Death-Hound as he somehow left the trance like state of mind he was in until now.
Walking around the corpses to collect the capsules that were dropped, he counted the result of this hunt, which was: a level up, 460 Credits, 11 treasure capsules, and after absorbing the blood essences he gained a point in Constitution, one in Power and one in Mind.
It’s really getting harder to obtain points through absorbing the Death-Hounds blood essence, I mean there was a lot of high level ones this time, and as for the Mind, I probably gained a point because it pilled up from all the previous absorption. Well, 3 points was still a really good batch, that said.
The capsules in hand, Asmund moved away from the corpses to put them into an empty room like usual. Afterwards he walked out of the room and waited in the hallway for the arrival of the Death-Hounds' punitive force.
/ A short while ago. /
If Asmund had been paying attention as he left his room in the morning, he'd have noticed that he unconsciously took a different route than normal. This route led him to encounter the large pack of Death-Hounds that were not only taking advantage of how Asmund never hunts in the morning, but were also avoiding the hallways Asmund usually travels by using their sense of smell to detect the old blood from their kin.
Because of this, the place Asmund and the pack ran into each other was actually a crossroads a little distance away but still in sight from the cafeteria's barricade, as well as in sight of the single pair of eyes peering through the one gap left between the tables…
There's too many! If those monsters are coming here then we're doomed! Did that man not die and actually sent more Death-Hounds to kill us like he promised?! Oh shit, that useless fucking piece of shit rapist brother! Why did you provoke a guy who can survive in the hallways?!
Eh…? Isn't that him? Why does he look surprised…? FUCK!! WHAT WAS THAT?! 5 OF THEIR HEADS EXPLODED WITH A SINGLE ATTACK?!
Wait, so he isn't leading them here?! Was this just a coincidence? Are… Are they scared of him? No way, the whole group are scared of him, more than they should be for him killing 5 of the smaller ones just now. Were they coming this way to try and avoid him while he was coming here to threaten my brother again, that's why both he and they were surprised when they saw each other?
What weapon even is that, though? That colour… it's like blood. NO! IT IS BLOOD?! I definitely just saw his gloves melt into blood and then reform into a Warverine-looking thing! How the hell did he do that?! This guy, is he actually more of a monster than those dogs? He looks like he's enjoying this way too- HE BIT IT?! HE RIPPED ITS THROAT OUT WITH HIS TEETH?! THAT'S DISGU- actually kinda hot? He looks pretty good with red hair, it matches his eyes, and despite being so strong he's still quite slim… mmmm~
"Lady Shiori, you should still be in bed at this time, there's no need for you to help with watch duty." -Old Man
Ah! He's gone… He killed them all so quickly, only a handful managed to run away. I can't believe I'm almost feeling sorry for the monster dogs that are trying to eat all of humanity.
"*Cough* Lady Shiori?" -Old Man
"Hmm? Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts. I don't mind taking watch duty, it's better than doing nothing. Besides, something interesting happened just now." -Shiori
"Something interesting…? Oh no, are the monsters back?! I should go warn the-" -Old Man
"No need to warn anyone, two packs of those monster dogs just fought and wiped each other out. They were quite a distance from here down the corridor, too, so it'll be fine. Could you bring me a cup of water? You can have half of it." -Shiori
Oh he's back! All that blood, it almost looks like a terrifyingly badass tribal face tattoo. What's he picking up? Is some part of the monsters useful? Interesting…
"As you wish, Lady Shiori. Thank you." -Old Man
Magic… That was magic, right?! He held out his hands and the monsters' blood floated up and got absorbed through his skin! So I wasn't imagining things when his gloves melted? Holy shit. Who is he? No, what is he? Did demi-gods appear along with the monsters?
He's leaving again? I wonder if he'll ever come back to kill my brother? I want to talk to him…