Midnight Massacre
The growling had long since stopped, and the silence had long since yielded. What followed was a low shaking. A rumble of the building that wasn’t as great nor as impactful as before, yet all the same, it filled me with a heavy sense of unease.
The shaking felt as if they originated from a standing army, marching through the city streets. Its origin was still a fair distance away from the cafeteria, yet my worry did not placate. I was not able to delve too deeply in this dark emotion, as my attention shifted out into the open hallway that connected the cafeteria to the rest of the building.
From out beyond the double doors, a figure materialized from the shadows. Unlike the previous instances of monster spawning I witnessed, this was different. The most striking difference was that it was not instantaneous, instead, the figure materialized from the ground up, starting with a pair of flimsy, almost childlike feet, and going all the way up, rounding out the process with a new formed head, one adorned with pointed and lopsided ears.
The new figure, the new monster, resembled a goblin. In fact, it was an almost mirror image of the green skinned midget, if it wasn’t for its skin color. A shade of black so dark and profound, that no shade of light could penetrate. If one lost even a moment’s focus, the creature would seemingly blend into the surrounding shadows.
It’s eyes were the only thing that stood out from that gloom of black. Creating a stark contrast to its canvas, beady white eyes, as small and circular as marbles adorned its head.
Above the creature, the window panel confirmed my rising suspicions.
Shadow Lurker: Model Goblin - Lv. 6
HP: 45/45
Seeing the all too familiar appearance of this creature, memories from the first day of the apocalypse flooded my psyche. These memories only fueled a growing premonition which I wanted to wholeheartedly reject with all my might. It was still too early to draw any real conclusions but if a shadow lurker could take up the vestige of a goblin, then was it possible for it to mimick the other monsters? Monsters that I’ve painstakingly killed before hand?
Before I could delve deeper into this strain of thought, more shadow lurkers spawned behind the previous one. In twos and threes, more and more manifested from the shadows, eventually, a whole slew of them, numbering no less than 30 crowded in that unnaturally wide hallway.
It was then that the frontlines of that small coalition of Goblin look alikes moved. They walked with a mechanical gait, yet strangely enough, it felt a lot more natural and fluid than it first appeared. It was an odd sight to behold, but it was enough to snap me out of my stupor.
Instantly, I barked orders out at President and Cielle, who, like me, had stupidly stood by as those monsters spawned.
“Cielle! Attack the front lines with your magic!” I wanted to confirm whether these things felt pain or not. “President, go and protect Cher! She is a priority!”
Not giving the others even a single glance back, I quickly picked up the skill book from the defeated Monarch Wisp, and rushed forward, towards the marching army of goblins.
Just as I exchanged the first hit with the first creature, a thin torrent of [Dark Gemini] whizzed passed and hit a nearby monster square in its head.
It did not scream nor shout, infact, I was fairly certain these things were incapable of sound, instead it thrashed its arms about in jittery pain. Grasping at its head in desperate fashion, it opened its mouth in silent agony, I could imagine a noiseless cry escaping from its pitch black throat.
With this, I confirmed one thing; these things weren’t the troublesome sort that took no damage from Cielle’s ability. In short, they felt pain.
Before Cielle could fire off another attack, I quickly instructed her to stop. I knew full well that her mana reserves weren’t at full potential right now, and honestly, wasting them on these obvious “small fries” would be counterproductive.
Using rope attached to the end of my Efhermet Dagger, I wielded my weapon like an impromptu chain and sickle, beheading a nearby Shadow goblin. As the monster’s hp rapidly reached zero, it exploded into a fine powder of black dust, dust that eventually evaporated into the shadows of the night.
Like this, I continued to attack using my dagger and rope. My aim was a bit awkward, as I lacked practice with this particular method of fighting, but my dexterity stat helped correct a few of my shortcomings.
As I beheaded another shadow goblin, I yelled above the stagnant air, “Cielle, don’t attack anymore! Go back with the others and help them out there if they need it! Conserve mana, and don’t get killed!”
A moment’s pause took place long enough for me to slash out at 3 goblins simultaneously before a noticeably forced yell sounded out in response. “Y-Yes! Hide don’t lose!”
Hearing those sparse words of encouragement, a faint smile revealed itself on my face. That smile quickly disappeared only to be followed by a dark glint as I stepped forward and began my retaliation in earnest.
I spun the rope in hand feverishly. Various body parts flew as my rope moved and forced itself into the ranks of Shadow goblins. Occasionally, I’d retract the rope, only to throw it at an incoming monster. The attached dagger would either slice through vital spots, or incircle a helpless goblin, much like a lasso to a bull.
In the end, it took me two minutes. Two minutes to completely wipe out the 30 or so army of goblins.
I breathed out a heavy sigh of relief after the last monster exploded into a collection of black dust, but I did not allow myself to relax. Keeping up the tension from before, I immediately bolted back into the cafeteria, and headed towards where the others were at.
I held in my heart a faint hope that things weren’t as bad as what my mind was telling me.
My heart was wrong.
Already, with a single glance at the current scene before me, I could tell that no more than half of the people in the cafeteria were left alive.
Corpses, as fresh as a few seconds ago, littered the room. Torn body parts, severed heads, smashed bodies, broken limbs, melted flesh, a myriad of injuries, all which led to the same singular result of death.
The ones responsible for this were none other than the shadow lurkers.
Like I had feared, the Lurkers could take up the guise of others monsters that proliferated the Dungeon. Minotaurs, Werewolves, Cyclops, even blobs of darkness which I’ve never seen before but unconsciously knew to be a slime, they were all present.
Shadow Lurker: Model Werewolf - Level 23
HP: 300/300
Shadow Lurker: Model Minotaur - Level 15
HP: 300/300
Shadow Lurker: Model Slime - Level 6
HP: 45/45
Just glancing up at a few of the status panels that floated above their heads filled me with a sense of uneasy dread. Up until now, we had fought at most one type of monster at a time, never had we faced such a diverse range of enemies all at the same time.
I watched, just as another monster materialized. A shadow slime respawned directly on top of a comatose survivors exposed chest. The survivor in question spasmed wildly upon contact, just as another monster, a shadow minotaur, barrelled through the partitions and grabbed the survivor’s left calf. It forcibly lifted the man up, dislodging the slime in the process, and dangled him helplessly in the air. Without a second’s pause, it thrashed and spun the survivor around in horrific enthusiasm. I heard a faint popping sound as I imagined the survivor’s hip dislocating, before the minotaurs slammed the man onto the floor.
A splatter of blood adorned where the man’s face had hit the floor, but the minotaur did not yield there. It lifted the man up and once again slammed him down, face first into the tiled floor.
By the second hit, the man had died.
Seeing its captive dead in its arms, the minotaur’s eyes briefly scanned the room before they landed on me. In a casual manner, he flung the limp corpse my way before beginning a mad rush forward.
I gritted my teeth, just as I rotated my body to the side and dodged the shadow bull’s charge. As it passed me, I threw and hooked the dagger attached to a rope over one of its legs. Pulling back with a ferocious explosion of sudden strength, I tripped the beast and watched as it fell to the floor with a resounding thud. A few slimes that had been in its way were all squished to death upon impact.
Not wasting any time, I madly lunged at the Minotaur. I retracted the dagger, and brought it close to my chest just as I reached its back. I then slashed out directly at the base of its neck. It was convenient that these monsters still retained their original anatomical weaknesses, so a singular slash at a vital spot did more than enough damage to end its life.
As its body dematerialized, at the same time, I moved forward. I rushed out at the closest monster, a Shadow Werewolf, and began a desperate counterattack.
In the middle of my fight, four more monsters- 2 additional werewolves, 1 cyclops, and 1 Ipotane- interrupted. I dodged and avoided their combined force, weaving in and out between their hulking nightshade bodies. I brought down the cyclops with a stab to its eye, while I kicked a werewolf into the horse headed shadow monster that dared to attack me.
As I fought, my eyes scanned the sea of chaos for the others. While at this point, I had completely given up on the cafeteria “leechers” after all, I did not possess the ability to both protect and defend, the others should still be fighting in here. Hina, Cielle, even Kido, they should still be alive, at the very least, they were capable of movement.
It took me a while, but I finally saw a bobbing head, perk up between a couple of monsters. Focusing my stare, I confirmed a desperately fighting figure.
I bisected another werewolf before I instantly twisted my body and sprinted in the direction of the person I had seen. I cut our distance using [Rushing Dash], all the while I delivered slashed and blows to those monsters I passed by.
Movement through the cafeteria had become increasingly difficult. The amount of Shadow Lurkers were constantly increasing, and the space available for actual movement had become a rare commodity.
As I neared, I saw two people desperately fighting against three minotaurs. As it stood, they were obviously being overwhelmed, and not far from their battle, I could see at least half a dozen monsters approaching. Without any intervention, these people would die a dog’s death, trampled and stomped on by the soundless feet of monsters.
I jumped up, and using a crouching wolf (one that had been slashing and ripping apart a dead survivor) as a back board, I flew through the air shortly before I landed on a minotaur’s exposed back. I grabbed at one of its horns before it could react, and forcibly yanked it to the side. Its body, in compliance shifted to the right, where it hit and toppled over another minotaur. They both fell to the floor just as I leapt to the left. I hopped backs and landed on the remaining, upright minotaur. I sliced at the base of its neck, but it did not die in one hit. I slashed a few more times, all hitting the same spot in frantic desperation. I cleaved out about 3 inches into the neck, before it finally toppled over and died.
I threw a quick glance at the two I had saved. It was the Library Committee girl and the teacher, people from the President’s circle of friends. Currently, those two were taking advantage of the opportunity I created, and rushed at the fallen minotaurs with desperate madness. It didn’t take long before, under concentrated blows to their vitals, the minotaurs died and exploded into a fine mist of darkness.
As they heaved a heavy sigh of relief and shot a glance at the approaching monsters, I spoke, “Where are the others?”
They shot me a look, one that conveyed a sense of relief upon my arrival, before they answered. It was the teacher, one whose name I had long forgotten, that answered, “The others… Hokusei left with Cielle before this” -he motioned to the room- “happened. I haven’t seen those two since. As for the rest, they were on their way to the library, transporting a few survivors…”
“I see…” I nodded quietly, as I tightened the grip on my dagger in hand.
The president and Cher were already long gone after I returned from hallway. I didn’t know where those two were, which filled me with endless worry. At the same time, Cielle’s whereabouts were equally as worrying. She separated from the Prez under my orders and should have been heading in this direction. The sudden influx of monsters may have hampered her meeting with the others.
For all I know, she could be alone right now, fighting off a horde of shadowy killers. She was somebody with weak defense, and with no vanguard available, I feared for her survival.
Our best bet at this point was to head over to the library, and hopefully meet up with the others.
Just as I grieved, a flash of inspiration took hold of me; I still had the walkie talkies.
I took out the convenient device, just as a couple of monsters reached our location.
“Damn, I won’t be able to call anyone in this situation…” I grimaced while I shifted my focus up ahead. “You two, take up the vanguard. Don’t do anything stupid, and try to just block and avoid their attacks.”
I quickly instructed, just as I stepped forward and joined the other two at the front lines. I exchanged weapons, switching out my impromptu chain and sickle for the boken.
I briefly looked around the room, noting that the other monsters had killed off most of the surviving cafeteria leeches by this point, and were now rearing their heads our way.
BOOM!
A deafening sound rang from far across the cafeteria just as the nearest monster reached us. The sudden noise shook our earlier formation, but we were able to properly receive their attack without much trouble.
The teacher with the fish eyes dealt with a cyclops. It was obvious that due to the level difference, one hit from that thing would have crippled him to no end, but thankfully, due to its slow speed, he was able to avoid it with little trouble.
In contrast, the Library Committee girl was having significantly more trouble. She faced off against two Shadow Lurkers, an Ipotane and Minotaur working side by side with the sole purpose of bringing her down. She mostly blocked with the base of her sword, but gradually, their consecutive blows were numbing her hands and arms.
Her struggle was plainly obvious from the look of concentrated agony on her face.
Seeing this, I wasted no time with dealing with the monsters that attacked me. Three shadow werewolves. All rushed in sync. I took in a deep intake of breath, in response to their rushing assault.
Just as they were a hairsbreadth away from me, I suddenly let loose a fierce, and purposely loud yell.
Due to their heightened senses, the Wolves’ staggered awkwardly for a moment, their minds rattled by the unexpected sound attack. I took opportunity of this brief pause to attack.
I sent a flurry of heavy blows towards their night black bodies. I crippled two, and killed one, before I immediately shifted my attention towards the Library girl’s monsters.
Before I could attack though, without warning, a monster began materializing behind me. It was a Shadowlurker that took on the guise of one of the amphibious monsters I battled in the school swimming pool.
It leapt towards me, its webbed claws aimed squarely at my back. I saw its rush through the corner of my eye, and threw a disdainful look of annoyance towards its beady eyed face. Twisting my body sideways, I barely avoided the monster, before I launched a counter attack of my own.
Using my twisted body as leverage, I twisted my torso once more, this time in the opposite direction. I reared the boken with both hands, and just like a baseball player would with a bat, I aimed and hit the monster while it was still in mid air. Combining the centrifugal force generated by my twist, as well as my own inhuman strength, the boken hit the monster squarely on its side, sending the creature flying towards the direction of the Ipotane and Minotaur combo that harassed the library girl.
Before I could appreciate my “home run”, the other approaching monsters had already closed the distance, and causing things to progress further into a downward spiral.
The teacher was being overwhelmed by more and more monsters, and was eventually forced to move back. I was forced to use [hard scale] in order to resist the attacks I could not dodge due to the sheer volume of monsters present. This action severely drained my stamina, causing my movements to dull and my mind to fog. The Library girl effectively killed off the Ipotane, Minotaur, and Amphibian shadow lurkers after repeated head bashed to their skulls.
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The Library girl’s victory was miniscule in comparison to our situation. Shortly after, more monsters replaced those she defeated, and she was eventually forced to retreat backwards. I too, was slowly being overwhelmed. While individually, I was stronger than any of the shadow lurkers, in front of an endless stream of enemies, I was powerless. No matter how many I killed or crippled, more would take their place, like an endless conveyer belt of dark destruction.
My stamina was reaching critical condition, and my hp was slowly draining away. I could not use [Dissect], or [Rushing Dash] anymore due to my dwindling stamina. After a while, using [Hardscape] any further would end up being detrimental rather than advantageous.
I was forced to move back, just like the other two. We eventually found ourselves pinned to a wall mostly in order to prevent any attacks from behind. While this was a small stroke of luck in a rather dreary situation, the unfortunate aspect of this was that the library was all the way across the opposite side of the cafeteria.
We were the farthest possible location away from our goal.
Just then, another explosion sounded out from near the library, but right now, that was of little consequence.
“Uuu…*sniff*sniff*” From besides me I could hear stifled sobs coming from the library girl. Glancing briefly at her expression, I could tell that she had lost all hope in our survival. The teacher had also taken up a similar mindset, his eyes were more murky and clouded than usual.
Breathing heavily, I surveyed the room frantically. We were pinned against a wall, and the monsters were drawing closer, like a sea of darkness that threatened to devour everything up. While this was indeed a bleak situation, I felt that it wasn’t all too hopeless.
It was barely noticeable, but the horde was less than it had been at the start. No more shadow lurkers were currently spawning, and the ones that we did kill were numerous and took quite a chunk out of their total war potential.
Of course, I did not believe that the Shadow Lurkers only spawned in the Cafeteria, but at the very least, no more was spawning here.
It was slight, but there was hope. We could survive. If we could not run away and avoid them, then the only other option left was to kill all of them.
It was stupidly simple.
We just had to kill all of them. I will kill all of them.
Making up my mind, I fished around in my pockets and took out the stamina potion that I had pocketed from Satou’s corpse. I downed it in the flash, and stared grimly at the horde. I could not help but smile wryly at the situation.
I once again frantically observed my surroundings. While I did say I’d kill them all, honestly speaking, unless I did something unconventional, then my chances of survival are practically zero.
My eyes shifted restlessly around the room. I took in the horde of monsters, the attached and dim lights that sprawled the room, and the dozens or so wires that ran through and connected those lights, probably to a backup generator or something. The strewn about desks, and broken tables, I also noticed. Even what lay above me, from the rafters, and ventilation shafts, to the attached sprinklers on the ceiling.
Wait… A flash of inspiration. I could see it.
“Oi, you two,” I called out. “Calm down already, I have a way out.”
“Eh?” They simultaneously uttered while looking up at me with faces of disbelief. The Library girl, stopped sniveling and asked, “Really? You’re not lying are you?”
I flashed them a toothy grin, for the first time, I felt utter confidence in surviving this situation.
“Yeah, I have a really good idea.” I eyed the horde as we spoke. We would enter another clash soon, at most we had 20 seconds of time left. Luckily, their sheer number made it impossible to move properly. “But first, tell me about the school’s sprinkler system.”
“The sprinklers…?” The teacher’s voice shifted into a tone of confusion, but nonetheless, he promptly answered. There was a bit of an accent in his voice. “The sprinklers are broken, I think. They won’t react to fire or smoke, the school was planning on fixing it during the summer, but… as you can see, they never got around to it.”
12 seconds left.
“Do they still have water?” I asked.
“Umm…. this isn’t my area of expertise, but, yes, I think they should still be connected to the water pipes. They are separate from the main water frame, and should still run properly, even after a month of no maintenance.”
Hearing this, my smile only broadened.
There were 4 seconds left.
“Good, then that makes everything better. Final question then,” I exchanged blows with a minotaur, pushing it back, causing it to topple over into its comrades. I turned around, and asked with a hint of playful banter, “Do you think I can survive an electrocution?”
I avoided an oncoming werewolf, just as I pulled out a spare dagger, and threw it towards one of the sprinklers hanging on the ceiling. The knife bounced off the sprinkler, but it did leave a considerable dent on its surface.
“You two, find a table or something to stand on, I’ll handle the rest.” I gave those brief orders, just as I swerved around another monster. I avoided a Werewolf type’s open jaw, and pulled out another dagger. Weaving in and out, I climbed onto the back of a Cyclop type, and, with a jumping start, threw the dagger at the same previous sprinkler.
This time, it successfully hit, and a gush of water rained down from above. It drenched me and the Shadow lurkers sopping wet, as well as created a puddle of water underneath our feet. Only one sprinkler activated, but its range was considerably large, dowsing close to 40 monsters wet with water. Another sprinkler should do the trick.
Unfortunately, I ran out of spare daggers. Despite that, I was unyielding. I landed on the floor, just as an Ipotane crashed into me. I felt my body crack, just as he slammed me into a nearby Cyclops. My choked on a breath upon impact, before my body fell limply to the floor.
Before the Ipotane, or Cyclops could do any further damage, I rolled across the sleek tiles, and avoided a hoof that had been aimed at my skull.
I rolled a few feet away from the monsters, and locked eyes with another sprinkler. Trapped, cornered, and severely lacking projectile weaponry, I desperately threw my boken at the hanging sprinkler. The strength I placed in that single throw far exceeded anything I ever mustered up until now.
The Wooden sword sliced through the air like a flying disc, before it reached its target with a heavy bang. The sprinkler head busted open, and instead of a fine mist of liquid, the water flowed directly down, like a thin waterfall. My throw had been a bit too strong, and completely broke the sprinkler, but it wasn’t all that detrimental. The water that slowly congregated began expanding, covering a large portion of the floor which a majority of the Shadow lurkers stood on.
Now, I waited.
I weaved in and out, careful not to slip and fall on the wettened surface. The monsters were having equally as much trouble as me moving about, but they were relentless. If they slipped, then the others would simply climb over their bodies. In fact, doing so made it easier for them. In the face of such tenacity, dodging became a lifeline. I felt that the moment I stopped, the instant one of them gets a hold of me, that would be when I die.
All I could do was continually dodge and move towards the direction of the cables while I waited for the water to spread out evenly on the floor.
Eventually, the water beneath our feets had reached a sufficient amount, soaking up a majority of the cafeteria. At the same time, I finally reached the cables and wires that connected the giant stand lights to whatever back up generator this school had. Most of the cables were connected to an external porter that connected to a larger than average cable that snaked its way on the floor.
I took a giant leap backwards, avoiding a furious slash from a Shadow Werewolf while at the same time, cutting the distance between me and the giant cable.
I landed besides the cable with a tremendous splash. Droplets of water jumped up around me as I shot a glance at the cable.
The cable was about as thick as my arm, and it was covered in an insulating layer of rubber.
I shot another tense glance at the room around me. I confirmed that the other two were currently standing on top of a raised table, desperately fighting off the surrounding monsters around them. The monster horde had separated into two distinct groups around us. The majority were approaching me, while a few stranglers stuck and pursued the other two. I could not tell what the condition was like near the library end of the cafeteria. There was simply too many Shadow Lurkers Obstructing my vision.
A took a deep breath, and wielded Efhermet dagger in hand. Soon the Shadow lurkers would be upon me once more. The distance I had previously created was no more than 4 meters afterall.
I knelt down besides the wire. I floated my dagger directly above the wire, while at the same time, I fished inside my pockets for the red vial I received from Satou’s corpse. I twisted the top open, and gingerly held its opening with my mouth. I did not drink it yet, but I was prepared to.
I wasn’t satisfied with this though, and pulled out 3 more vials of red liquid from my personal stash. I did the same thing as before, and bit down onto the vials, holding them in place at their openings. My current appearance, one with 4 vials squished into my open mouth with my cheeks puffed up and my body covered in water looked ridiculous, but I did not care.
Without a moment’s hesitation, without anymore delay, I slashed downwards, my mind racing with the singular thought ‘[Dissect]!’
The skill activated, and the bladed edge sliced through the cable like butter, and immediately after, electrical sparks flew out. A surge of electricity traveled through the blade going all the way up to the hilt before finally shocking me with an unexpectedly dangerous amount of electricity. The jolt that spasmed through my body forcible made my muscles contract. I could physically feel my body burning from the inside out, but I gritted through the pain. Miraculously, I managed to withstand the shock and did not blackout.
Almost simultaneously, the electricity also traveled through the water, and electrocuted the surrounding monsters. Their bodies jolted upright in shock while the sound of a few falling individuals could be vaguely made out.
I tilted my head back, forcing the red liquid to flow down my throat and activate. As the electricity shaved off more and more of my hp, the familiar red liquid counteracted that affect.
Around me, a symphony of light and electrical discharge filled the room, while I forcibly gritted through the process, hoping that I could withstand the trial before I croaked.
I don’t know how much time passed. My mind was filled only with the constant aching of my body. I could smell my hair burning, and my skin sizzling, but I did not dare to move. I momentarily turned deaf, but I did not care. I could feel the blood on my skin evaporate like steam, but I paid it no mind.
I simply gritted my teeth, and hoped those 4 vials of HP potion were enough.
Eventually, after what felt like 2 lifetimes, my hands unconsciously grabbed at the covered ends of the severed cable, and forcibly lifted them up, disconnecting the electricity from the rest of the water.
A few sparks radiated out from the opening, but the electrical shocks came to an abrupt stop.
I stared blankly at the cable for a few seconds, before my head tilted to the side. I spat out the vials in my mouth, their empty containers rolling helplessly in a puddle of water, just as I turned around to look at the scene behind me.
A majority of the monsters were lying prone on the ground. Most of them were not dead, but merely injured. A few of them took less damage than I expected, but in the end, the results were satisfactory. Looking closely, I could even make out the status effect [Paralyzed] floating above their heads.
My eyes landed on the teacher and the library girl who were still standing helplessly on top of a table. They were, for lack of a better term, unharmed. The cafeteria lunch tables were the type with rubber casings at the end of their legs. This practical design was used in order to prevent scratching the floors. It was a stroke of luck that prevented the conduction of the electricity.
While they were unharmed, and most of the monsters were lying prone, things were not all settled. For one, most of the monsters were still alive. And upon closer inspection, without all the Shadow Lurkers blocking our way, I could finally make out the situation regarding the cafeteria. The entrance to the library had been destroyed. It lay in rubble, along with anything and everything that stood within a 3 meter radius of the previously impeccable library double doors.
I could guess what had caused this, but it now meant finding another way to the library, if we had any hope or intention of reuniting with the others.
Seeing as I could do nothing about this problem, I decided to tackle the other issue. If the paralyzed Shadow lurkers were allowed to remain alive any longer, then the paralysis might wear off. If that were to happen, then we would be back at square one.
With such grim delusions in mind, I moved to kill the remaining monsters. Unfortunately, my body did not move as well as I wanted it too. It did not take long to discover I had also contracted the [Paralyze] status effect.
Feeling helpless, I could only call out and instruct the other two to kill the remaining monsters.
They complied and soon, I was now sitting at the same spot, holding aloft the exposed cable, while the teacher and the library girl methodically culled the remaining monsters.
I could only imagine the amount of exp those two were currently receiving as they practically farmed the half dead monsters like an actual farmer plucking ripe carrots.
As they killed, I had nothing to do in the meantime. My body was getting better and better as time passed, the effects of Paralysis eventually wearing off, but still the strain of actual movement was too great a burden for now. Luckily, the monsters seemed to be recovering at a slower rate than me, so for the time being everything was working out perfectly.
As I quietly sat, my mind wandered.
In my desperate attempt to survive, I had completely forgotten about the others. I did not worry much about the cafeteria survivors, as they had been killed off by the time things had progressed to that dire state, but I did worry about Cielle, Cher, and the others.
If they had gotten caught up in that earlier attack….
Luckily though, that wasn’t the case. Looking around, I did not see their bodies within the mess of corpses and paralyzed monsters that currently stained the floor.
I waited for 10 more minutes before the paralysis finally wore off.
I limped over to the other two, and just before I was about to say a few words of congratulations, a certain occurrence caught my eye’s attention.
In the center of the cafeteria, something was materializing.
Dark particles swirled endlessly around, coming together and coalescing at the center of the room. Unlike before, this materialization was taking a considerably longer amount of time to finish. In addition, the swirling particles of darkness that congregated on that obscured figure were much more dense, more heavily packed than previously.
Darkness swirled around, while a pair of white dots stood at the center of this mess. They eventually came together, forming distinctly anatomical structures made out of pitch black.
Eventually the torrent of rippling darkness settled down.
In its place, a lone figure stood at the center of the room.
It was a jet black silhouette, with two marble shaped balls of white on its head. The figure was humanoid. It had the physique of a regular teenager, and, as far as I could tell, was weaponless. It wasn’t wearing any clothes, but it did not need to. Although it looked human, at the same time it was not. It had no genitalia, but had the unmistakable broad shoulders, narrow hips and chiseled chin of a man.
What’s more, it had a pitch black bird’s nest that could be called hair. The unkempt mess was stylized in a frighteningly familiar fashion. In fact, the whole figure possessed a distinctly familiar appearance.
“Oi, oi…” I sighed inwardly. “This is getting ridiculous now…”
I couldn’t help but double check the Shadow Lurker’s appearance once more. Yep, no matter how I look at it... “This… this is…”
Elite Monster
Shadow Mimic - Level 37
HP: 660/660
“No matter how you look at it, isn’t this thing supposed to be me?”
****
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