Flashes of purple.

Screams.

Grasping hands tearing at his clothes and blocking his sight.

Bodies pressing in on him from all sides.

Rotting breath nearly blinding him…

In the distance, seemingly so far away, the spear still danced, glinting purple above the press of heads.

Someone grabbed his hair and his head was jerked back.

Kicks landed against his shins, trying to bring him down.

No… I can’t! I… NO!

Nar roared with his entire being.

The sword came alive.

Back, forwards, sideways, he cleared the space around him in a whirlwind of death.

There was no room for thoughts. Only the simple goal of catching up to Viy and making it back out alive.

He was surrounded, and needed all of his attention and brain power to focus on his [Instinct].

The sense was a screaming mass of danger that warned him from all sides. However, in the chaos, there were subtle spikes. Touches. Sighs.

He couldn’t put it into words, nor fully understand their meaning. He only had a vague sense of priorities, of things that needed his attention first and of those that were concerns for later.

His senses flared around him, and Nar let go.

His sword left nothing but carnage in his wake.

More than once he had to wipe his eyes in panic, blinded from the blood of his enemies. But his sword arm never stopped.

Far away, he could just barely make the whooshing sound of the spear and the distinctive cries of pain and death that it wrought upon the enemy.

Nar adjusted his course.

The cannibals, as long as he kept them from him, were no match for his attribute enhanced body. And so he cut, and slashed, and hacked.

His anger lost its fire in the chaos and death, and everything grew distant.

Things were happening far, far away. As though it was someone else that held the sword. Someone else that killed with such ease and impunity.

The sword parted flesh and shattered bone, and caused horrific damaged…

Someone was effortlessly killing through countless sentient, and Nar was just following along. Numb to it all.

Without realizing it, he caught up with Viy, and the two spheres of death merged into one

“Viy!” he shouted, bursting back to reality.

Sound rushed back into him and his vision cleared.

“Nar?”

She was surrounded by corpses, and covered in dark blood from head to toe. The cannibals seemed weary of her, and of the piles of corpses that surrounded her testified as to why.

“Are you okay?” Nar asked.

He held up his sword, daring any of them to get close and chance it.

“I don’t know what’s happening!” she shouted, with a haunted look. “I-I was just at the line… And then… And then…”

A cannibal seemed to marshal his courage and stepped forward. All he managed to achieve was get a spear through his throat as reward for his lack of temerity.

“It doesn’t matter now! We need to get back to the line!” Nar shouted.

“Of course it matters! I’m losing my mind!” she shrieked, raising a hand to her temple.

Another cannibal reached for her weapon and she screamed and pushed back into the cannibals once more

“That's the wrong way! Ah, for the love of…”

Nar ran after her. “Viy!”

She sobbed and screamed, a deadly vortex surrounding her.

“I don’t know what’s happening! Leave me alone!” she shouted.

“Viy!”

“What do you want from me?”

“To get you back to the line!” Nar shouted in frustration.

A cluster of cannibals tried to jump him, and Nar was forced to let her go and defend himself.

He beat them without care. His sword might as well have been a club, bashing and mushing skulls under it.

The shifting masses dragged him back and forward in their rhythm, and for a moment he lost her.

“Nar? Where are you?”

“I’m here! Viy? Viy!”

“Here!”

Nar cut towards the sound of her voice.

“Nar!”

Before he could reach her, her spear cut in a wide arc, slaying half a dozen of them in a single slash.

Then, she leaped into his arms.

Nar stumbled back, pressing her against her chest.

“I got you!”

“I’m sorry!” she breathed against his chest. “My stamina’s…”

She turned to dead weight mid-sentence, and Nar almost went down with her.

“Viy? Viy?” he shouted, dread filling him. “No! Crystal! No!”

Something collapsed against his back, snarling in his ears.

Nar whirled with a cry and swung his sword out, cutting through anything and everything. He was forced to drop Viy in the chaos that surged for him.

No. No. NO!

He cut and stabbed.

He drew circles with his sword above Viy’s prone figure, and he managed to keep them away from her.

The cannibals, for their part, gave him the room. They watched him with shining purple eyes. They licked their lips and chuckled, biding their time.

Viy had burned through her stamina, throwing her sills around with abandon in her frenzy. Now, she was exhausted, gone from the fight. And the cannibals around him seemed to know that it would only be a matter of time until Nar too, exhausted himself trying to protect the both of them.

Nar’s breath seized on his throat. Wherever he looked, he saw only sharp grins.

No… No…

One of them lashed forward and Nar jerked in fright, cutting air with his sword.

The cannibal laughed, and the circle jeered and whistled, closing in around them.

Leave! I gotta leave!

He spun round and round. Only teeth and mocking smiles all around him.

Where are the Doors? Where are the DOORS?

He panted, turning his sword right and left.

The circle grew tighter, coming in and out of focus in tandem with his panicked heartbeat.

No… No… Please, Crystal!

As he spun, his eyes caught sight of his status.

He was down to 76 points of stamina.

Damn it!

He had not used any skills, unlike Viy, fearful for his stamina. But the fighting alone had demanded everything out of his attributes, and the cost was evident.

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Even if his HP still stood, mostly intact, he was bound to run out of stamina. And then, he would be at the mercy of the enemy…

Sensing that their prey was distracted, the cannibals jumped him.

With a strangled cry, Nar swung his sword blindly, cutting down anything that approached him.

Hands latched onto him, across his back and neck, and he screamed.

An intense, sharp pain bloomed from his left shoulder, and his scream turned into a roar of rage and pain.

At his ear, someone snarled and bit into him.

[Quickening]!

The thought came to him from nowhere, and as energy filled him, he shook off the hands and the cannibal latched onto his shoulder.

It came away from him in a spray of blood and raging pain.

It was as though Nar blinked, and the Nexus changed.

One moment he was surrounded by cannibals, the next, he was surrounded by a dark mist, corpses maimed and slashed and deformed all around him.

Nar panted for air, his chest rising and falling with violence.

Around him, the cannibals howled and yipped, but none dared to move.

He felt something at his foot, and jumped in fright.

A cannibal looked up to him. He had Viy’s foot in his hands.

Anger contorted Nar’s features.

“Don’t touch her!” he growled, his voice barely human.

He leaned forward, reaching for the thing.

His sword brained the cannibal and Nar spun around, splattering the others in the blood of their comrade.

“What are you scared of?” he shouted. “Come on! Come on!”

He glanced at his stamina. He was down to an exact 60 points now, after using his skill and that bout of furious fighting.

His vision blurred with blood, and he blinked furiously, wiping his eyes.

He was lost. Surrounded by thousands of cannibals, and weighed down by Viy.

Exhausted as she was, there was no telling how long she would sleep for until she recovered.

Nar was learning the hard way that, just as he had been warned, once you ran out of stamina, you shut down.

No matter where you were or what was happening around you, the System put you down for your own safety. The ridiculousness of it almost made him laugh!

If he kept going, he would soon join Viy on the floor. And then, the cannibals would have their fill.

He cast his eyes to the spearwoman. She rested on the blood on the floor, her pale, but serene expression a stark contrast to what surrounded her.

I need to get out of here! Nar thought. I did my part! I came for her! It’s not my fault she blew through her stamina! It’s not my fault she went crazy!

The cannibals attacked again, snarling at him. Again, he repelled them.

She’s not well!

That’s not our problem!

Yes, it is!

No, it’s not! Leave her! We don’t care about her! We don’t care about any of them!

Nar clenched his jaw, slashing with his sword in a wide, horizontal arc, more meant to scare than to hurt.

A silence seemed to have descended onto him. Even the chaos of battle was muted.

He looked down at Viy.

If he left her there, those things would do anything and everything to her.

Did he really not care about that?

Was he really so cold that he was willing to sacrifice her to that fate, Clean or not?

Did she truly mean nothing to him? After all that time?

He felt as though he tethered on the edge of a great chasm, swaying towards the dark, bottomless pit whispering to him.

Her face blurred and swam before him.

Do you really not care what happens to her?

Her face suddenly grew into sharp focus, her long dark hair soaking into the blood.

He remembered the horror in her eyes, as sanity slipped through her grasp.

He remembered the pleading in them as she jumped to him, her stamina running out.

He leaned on his sword, and a slow breath escaped his lips.

I can’t do it… he realized. No one deserves that. Nothing is worth that…

Viy had even come for him, before, in the dark. Risking her life for his, stepping out into a place she couldn’t even see in. She must have been terrified, but she had still done it. She had come and she had saved his life.

And now, she had entrusted hers to him.

Trust each other and support each other. That’s the only way.

That’s what his dad had told him. Again, and again.

He took a deep breath.

No.

He couldn’t abandon her, even if that meant the end of the line for him and his dad.

Even if that meant being eaten alive… He just couldn’t leave her. He wouldn’t.

Arms grabbed him from behind.

[Quickening]! he thought in panic.

He spun and lashed out, decapitating the cannibal that had dared to touch him.

I need to get us out of here.

He looked for the Doors again, but they tried to swipe Viy in his distraction.

With a cry, Nar leaned down and grabbed her arm. The cannibals holding Viy’s feet snarled at him, but Nar was stronger, and he pulled Viy out of their grip.

He rose and held her tightly against his chest, and swung at the two cannibals for their daring.

A heavy hand landed on him and pushed him down before he could chase after them.

Fear rushed through him as something slurped right next to his ear.

[Quickening]!

He jumped up and his sword got stuck on something hard.

Nar screamed when his eyes focused on this new enemy.

It had been an altei once. Now it was a bloated, lipless face.

Sharp teeth lined a circular mouth, and a long, slimy tongue dropped from it, reaching to its bulging chest.

The abomination swatted at him with a big, meaty hand, and Nar ducked under it.

He pushed against the sword with both hands.

[Heavy Attack]! he thought, yelling in its face.

The blade cut wetly through the muscular, gray-purple skinned cannibal, and the thing went down, still slurping.

In a panic he looked for Viy and saw that two cannibals had gotten hold of her again. They laughed as they jostled her in between them, pulling on her hair.

Nar was on them in a flash.

He cut them and cut them, and kept cutting until there was nothing but bloody bits.

He roared, swinging his sword to keep them at bay.

18 stamina! 18 left!

Where were those Doors? Where?

We have to get out of here!

Viy lay face down in the blood and he pulled her up, holding her against him. He hugged her tightly, and swung his blade around, daring anything to come out at him.

There! The Doors!

His stomach fell.

He had come too far.

The Doors loomed in the distance, and in between him and them, he knew that there were thousands of cannibals. Hungry. Mad. Ready to tear them limb from limb.

Nar heaved, gasping for air. His mouth tasted metallic.

He felt Viy slipping from his grasp and re-adjusted his hold on her.

A loud, angry slurp forced Nar to look behind him.

Two abominations pushed past their smaller brethren and considered him.

Run, Nar. Run. Drop her and run!

He pointed his sword at them.

I’m not leaving her behind! I’m not like that! I will never be like that!

The pair slurped at each other, then they separated and walked around Nar, circling him.

Around the combatants, the cannibals cheered and hooted, enjoying the spectacle.

Nar followed the two abominations with his eyes. He could already tell what was going to happen.

The two massive things took slow, measured steps.

Another altei, and a morsvar, from the looks of it, the two abominations stepped lightly around him, bellowing an agility and control over their limbs that Nar had not expected from something of their bulk.

A fat drop of red sweat slid down his face and down his neck.

I need to attack first. It’s my only chance, he decided. Down one, then the other!

One of them was almost behind him.

Wait for it…

Nar moved in sync with them, but he was holding Viy and the two cannibals easily kept him in between them. Around him, the cheering cannibals nearly downed out his very thoughts.

Not yet.

He had enough stamina for one more [Heavy Attack ] or [Quickening]. However, if he used either, he would be left almost emptied of stamina.

No. I need to save it.

However, if he did exhaust himself, at least he might not feel whatever they were about to do to him. The thought was almost tempting…

One of the hulking cannibals, the morsvar, the one that had gotten behind him, lifted its foot…

Now!

Nar slashed backwards, catching the thing unawares. His sword sliced shallowly across its chest, cutting the thing’s long tongue off.

He kept spinning, not waiting to see the result of his surprise attack.

His [Instinct] screamed at him, warning him of the threat coming at him from behind. Nar kept spinning, hoping to get the sword between them and the abomination.

A clawed hand closed over the back of his head, stopping him dead with a grunt.

The thing slurped angrily at his ear, and threw them down as if they weighed nothing.

Nar exhaled forcefully, letting go of Viy, as air was pushed out of his chest.

Whatever that thing was, that strength was beyond what a normal sentient should have been capable of. It was probably on pair with his own!

The abomination raised its arms above its head, its tongue slurping viciously, and the circle of cannibals roared in approval, inching closer for the finale.

Their prey was down. It was time for the fun!

Nar searched the mess that coated the floor for his sword. He patted blindly around him, his eyes never leaving the abomination above him.

The thing looked at him with black, lidless and pupilless, dark purple eyes.

Damn it…

A light shone on the thing’s eyes.

It looked up, straightening, all of its attention on whatever that light was.

Nar looked down and finally found his sword.

His fingers closed around the hilt and he shot upwards, thrusting the sword up through the abomination's jaw.

It shook, surprised, and something whistled above their heads.

Abandoning the sword, Nar only had time to look up to see what it was. Then jumped on top of Viy, closing his eyes tightly.

The shockwave sent bodies flying past them.

Groaning and deaf, Nar risked looking up.

[Aura Projectiles] shone above the battle.

They seemed to almost glide, gracefully, almost stopping mid-air.

Nar stared at them, not believing his eyes.

So many… Just how much stamina does that caster have?

The balls of bright aura reached the peak of their trajectory and angled down.

White, explosive death fell upon the cannibals.

Nar covered Viy with his body, and closed his eyes again, as more and more of them came crashing down.

Cannibals disintegrated or were blown to pieces by the furious aura.

The shockwaves hit him again and again.

His ears screamed for relief, and his back hurt from the repeated impacts, but he held tightly to Viy.

When the Nexus stopped shaking around him, Nar risked looking up.

In the high-pitched silence, he saw cannibals running for their lives.

Around them, thousands had been reduced to ash and charred bits.

Nar could only stare, shocked, at the mighty display of aura.

This… How?

He was lost for words.

How could aura be so powerful?

How could it be this… This effective and useful in combat?

Aura was their punishment. The only way to power their machines since they had been deprived of aether…

To use aura was to suffer, to endure a thousand slicing cuts of agony within your veins. It was atonement for the Original Sin.

So how? How could a curse be this powerful? How could it be used like this?

And why was it that disgusting thing, and not aether, that was saving his life for the second time that day?

Nar sat back, and pulled Viy over his legs, away from the mess on the floor.

Shocked, he watched the cannibals’ silent retreat.

The [Aura Projectile]s had been more than they what had been willing to pay for their meal, and hot on their trail, Climbers rushed past Nar, screaming in silent rage.

The battle had shifted.

The cannibals were now the prey and the Climbers were hungry for revenge.

Something collapsed against his back.

Tuk came into view, with tears in his eyes. He shouted something, shaking him.

Mul and Gad stepped into his field of sight too. The tank said something, but Nar shook his head.

He pointed at his ears and she understood.

Instead, she motioned to the floor where he sat on and pointed at it insistently. Nar nodded in reply.

With that settled, she motioned for the other two, and they turned to join the chase.

Tuk looked back, flashing him with a concerned look, then they were gone in the unleashed wrath of hundreds of Climbers.

Now left alone, Nar closed his eyes and grimaced.

His chest hurt.

Everything hurt.

“Ah…”

His eyes snapped open.

In front of him, in the ringing silence, a cannibal struggled for air.

Nar stared at him, his sight blurry, and coming in and out of focus.

The ringing still blocked all sound from the Nexus, so why could he hear the man so clearly?

The cannibal coughed, blood flying from his mouth.

He had a gash through his chest that bled profusely, and he leaned against a pile of corpses. Nar wondered idly if he had been the one to cause that wound.

His enemy seemed to sense eyes on him, and their eyes met.

The man’s eyes didn’t reflect the purple light as brightly anymore.

They didn’t inspire fear. Not even disgust or hatred.

Nar stared at him blankly, his sight coming and going out of focus on his face.

“Why?”

Nar blinked, slowly.

“Why?” the fallen Climber asked again.

Then he seized, and choked on his blood. His eyes never left Nar’s.

“Why what?” Nar found himself asking.

But the eyes at last, were just dark, and empty. And they held no answers for him.

Nar held onto Viy and closed his eyes. And waited for it all to end.