Chapter 4 - Curses and Smiles

It only took a single moment for Seth’s momentum to deflate like a balloon. Along with that deflation was a wicked tail slap that packed the force of about five boulders.

Immediately Seth got hit, the world spun around as he literally flew in the air like a cannonball. He landed in what looked like an ancient water fountain that had turned to a sickly shade of green. God knows how long it has been contaminated.

One thing was certain. It didn’t taste good. He could personally testify to that!

‘Fuck, did I just get mom-slapped?!’ angrily thought Seth.

Seth’s blood dyed the green water fountain. Some parts of his flesh tore apart to form a section filled with multiple holes. Fleshy mush combined with the spilled blood.

Seth was drowning.

He could not move his body. The amount of bones that had broken in him was not something he could count.

His blood came out profusely, and his eyes struggled to stay awake.

‘What is this feeling….?’

He was scared, terrified to the bones, but there was also an indescribable emotion swirling in his heart. This feeling was foreign to him. He could not identify the cause of the experience, which only made matters worse.

Seth tugged at this feeling. ‘I can feel it. A refined urge not to battle, but to cause carnage, to spill blood. I can—’

Suddenly, a thick object wrapped around his body. It brought him out of the water, allowing him to breathe the air once more.

Soon, Seth came face to face with the beast.

Its pure yellow eyes stared directly at him. It was then Seth noticed how little he looked in front of the beast. No wonder the beast gazed at him the same way humans gazed at rats.

“Heh, is this retribution for being a professional ant terminator?” mocked Seth as blood spilled out of his mouth.

The beast opened its foul mouth.

The tail holding Seth moved closer to the mouth. Seth could already see the jagged row of teeth that seemingly went deeper into its mouth.

“Oh fuck! I don’t want to go in there. Damn beast, your personal hygiene sucks.”

He feared going into the beast’s mouth more than anything else. The breath that came out of its mouth could take lives in a single whiff. Facing great foulness, it was taking Seth his entire effort to stay in the land of the living. Even as he struggled, he could not find the strength in him to break free of the beast’s hold.

*Shew!*

The whistling of an unstoppable arrow reached Seth’s ears. Before he knew it, a brown blur passed over his face. The direction of the blur targeted the eye of the beast!

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The beast blocked the blur, which later revealed itself to be an arrow with a barbed tip, with one of its tails. It purposely used the spiked side of its tail to block the arrow, but the arrow disregarded the spikes and forcefully tore into the tail.

The arrow’s tip came out of the other side of the tail-the side which housed an eye of the beast.

*Screech!*

The beast roared in pain.

It tried shaking the arrow off its tail, but the force behind the arrow made sure it was too firm to be shaken off. While it tended to its injured tail, it didn’t realize that its prey had slipped out of its other tail.

Seth withdrew his breath as he snaked behind the beast.

‘My guess was right. Its weakness is also its strength. What idiot leaves its eye vulnerable? It surely knew that. That must be why it shielded the attack with its spiked part!’

No matter the race of the being, the eye would always remain one of its vulnerable spot.

Seth viewed the beast as unfortunate. It had eyes on its tails, putting it at an instant disadvantage. However, since the other side of the tail was forked, that disadvantage became void. The beauty of evolution.

‘However, the arrow still damaged it. The style of the arrow- it was made for such a scenario! Whoever shot it knew what they were doing!’

As Seth kept observing the series of events, an array of arrows landed on the beast. Each of the arrows was aimed at each of its tails, but not all of them struck gold!

It didn’t matter, though.

Two arrows embedded themselves in two of its tails, only leaving one of them undisturbed.

‘These arrows can’t tell enemies from friends. I need to leave.’

Seth dragged his body away from the injured beast.

He didn’t think of killing the beast. That was a dream that would forever remain a dream.

His body was currently broken. Even if he were in a good shape, there was nothing he could work with that could slay the beast.

Ultimately, he had a mission. The mission was to survive, and survive, he would!

Soon, another arrow struck one eye on the beast’s head.

A small ball rolled in front of the beast. Despite its immense pain, it curiously spied at the small ball. That was the move that doomed it. Instantly, the ball exploded, releasing a blinding light.

The light covered the surroundings. Seth shielded his eyes before the blinding light could damage it further.

He heard the wails of the beast. The sound of a terrifying roar filled with bitterness reached his sensitive ears.

‘What happened?’

After the blinding light disappeared, Seth got the shock of his life. There was a man atop the beast. Surely, the man didn’t ask for permission.

The beast laid flat on the ground, while a greatsword etched into its chest. The man held the hilt of the greatsword.

His pose screamed “epic”. Donning a heavy armor, even his foot caused tremendous pain for the beast, as it visibly showed.

The embers of life began leaving the beast. Using its last surge of energy, it swatted the only remaining tail it had left, catching the valiant man off guard.

The beast attempted to run away. It stumbled while moving. Even its determination was unable to take it far. It slumbered beside Seth, who merely stared into its side.

Seth mentally prayed, “Go in peace.”

This was his chance. He ignored his body injuries and punctured the good eye of the beast with his hand. That proved to be the last straw for the beast. Its body gave in to death and its injured heart stopped beating.

Seth was not relieved, though. He could hear some footsteps rushing towards him. Turning his head, he quickly met the group responsible for saving him. He already knew of the group a while back. Somehow, he was able to locate them.

They hid atop a building prior to approaching him. It was there they attacked the beast from. In essence, they were his savior.

So, Seth flashed his most shameless smile. “Brave warriors, thank you for—”

It was then he noticed one of them had a crossbow aimed at him, while the others smiled vilely. A smile he knew all too well. Their smiles reminded him of how he felt when he cheated his friends when playing games, without them knowing.

Seth cursed, “Oh, fuck me!”

The last thing he remembered was the warrior shooting the arrow.