Allan quietly followed, hoping not to run into any Voidspawn. James then stopped abruptly, taking another moment to focus.
“Here's the plan.” he whispered, “You take a right here at this fork. Go a few blocks yonder and then circle back on the next. You will come up behind the monsters from their flank.”
Allan gave a brief nod. James’s plan made sense.
“I, on the other hand, will face them head on.”
“Are you sure?” Allan asked.
“Yes. I’ll keep them distracted long enough for you to ferret the survivors towards the gates. Besides, I’m the only one with the armor here who can fend off the Voidspawn. You'd just wind up being a snack.”
Allan chuckled at the lame joke, and watched as his friend disappeared behind a wall at the corner.
As instructed, he turned right on the path. He had hardly crossed a few blocks when a sound made him cautious and look behind. A black puddle of goo formed on the street, a dark monstrous head rising out of it in the center. Its legs flashed out like tentacles with steely claws at its end. The crimson eyes in its head made him feel vulnerable.
Threat Detected: Level 10 Voidspawn
HP| 1,000/1,000
Strengths: Long black tentacles allow for speed and easy subduing of prey. Head is covered with gnashing mouths full of razor-sharp teeth to allow for rapid devouring of trapped prey. Head is also covered with eyes to allow for 360-degree sight with intense focus. Will not remain killed.
Weaknesses: Can be subdued into a temporary liquefied state, but has a five minute delay before it is able to regenerate.
As the tentacles moved towards him, he staggered, keeping his spear ready to strike. One of them swooshed at his head, but he bent backward and avoided the attack by a few inches. The wind felt chilly, almost making him freeze on the spot. But he reverted to his original position, looking determined to face the monster ahead.
Another freaking Voidspawn!
His mind went wild with fear. He had not expected to face another one of these vile creatures by himself, let alone one that outranked him.
If they can't be killed, is it worth fighting?
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It wasn’t like the monster would just allow him to flee. Taking his eyes away from it might lead him to get entangled with those tentacles. Why did he always have to face monsters with tentacles? Weren’t those Aracken monsters with the weak but smelly armpits enough? His avatar had almost died there. And these Voidspawn were supposed to be more dangerous than them… not to mention un-killable. At least those crossbreed Aracken could be killed. He wondered how he was going to fight them.
Mustering his courage, he readied himself and ducked just in time to avoid another tentacle the creature had lashed at him.
Looking at its head made his heart tremble. Hundreds of mouths with a lot of sharp teeth snarled at him as it moved towards him. For a squid-like thing, it had tremendous speed. It made it that much harder for him to retreat. He could not have matched it if he had decided to run.
Now he understood why his friend was acting on edge. The mere presence of these Voidspawn had done away with his usual jovial nature. One slash and he would be down for the count. It would cut clean through his avatar's muscles. There wouldn’t be a shred of it in his body.
He jumped and threw himself to the side, no matter how much it hurt when he fell to the ground.
[-50 Damage]
Great. I got hit.
Duck, bend and a roll on the ground later, he was already feeling tired. After a series of curses, he hid behind a pillar and picked up a small abandoned club, which was just sitting there on the ground, and hit the monster over its head. It screeched loud enough to make him cover his ears, but he didn’t let the moment go to waste. Taking the opportunity, he ran down the street to his left.
Even though he felt out of breath, he ran, not once stopping. He did not care about the growing pain in his leg, one he had ignored. It seemed the steely claws had left behind a gift. It had sliced open the skin on his avatar's left leg. Only now had he realized the pain. It surged hot through his skin, yet he did not relent.
One look behind told him that the creature was closing in. It was picking up speed.
He stooped to grab a stone and threw it at the monster. He continued doing so until he hit one of its many eyes. The Voidspawn reared and wailed, its tentacles smashing through the brick roofs of the desolate houses.
Allan had no idea how to defeat the beast. At his level, he didn’t have the knowledge to even send it away. He wondered how his friend was faring. Allan knew he was expected to attack from the flank, but how could he? This miserable beast seemed intent on making him its target.
Freaking Voidspawn!
His eyes caught sight of a slightly opened door that led into a dark house. He ran towards it and when a tentacle tried to get in, he hacked at it with his spear.
[-10 HP]
The tip of his weapon grazed the steely claws, flickers of yellow flame blazing, a retching sound echoing through the alley. He ducked as the tentacle lashed. His reflexes strong enough, he jabbed at the tentacle as it whooshed above.
[-30 HP]
The creature shrieked somewhere, black drops of blood, thick as tar, oozed out of its wound and fell on his head. Feeling the wetness in his crisp hair, Allan staggered and drew his spear out quickly. The tentacle swished here and there, smashing the door to wooden splinters.
He ran deep inside, finding a stairway that spiraled downward. As he raced down the descent, the stairs groaned so loudly that he was worried they were ready to collapse. But it wouldn't matter. The fall wouldn't be that bad as compared to getting skewered by one of those tentacles.
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