Episode 19

1

The Skeleton Knight did not seem worried. He said nothing; he had not made even the slightest sound when Caim crushed his carriage and horses, destroying them. Of course, his throat should not work, but the same went for his empty eyes, the unfathomable darkness of their sockets.

So it would be foolish to assume he did not speak because he could not speak.

What was not dangerous at all, what was even common sense, was to assume that what this monster was displaying was confidence. And that he had reasons to feel that way.

Even with his immense power, which was growing greater by the minute, Caim would not lower his guard. He would not become arrogant.

He supposed that failing and dying was still a possibility, but at the very least he would not die a fool's death. An avoidable death. A senseless tragedy.

Besides, this Tower was a challenge he had to overcome. It would make no sense for it to be made easy for him in any way.

"Do you think you can take me? Come on!"

If he could speak, if he could understand him, if he was not a typical monster as everything seemed to indicate, then maybe he could provoke him. Maybe he could make him make a fatal mistake.

From all parts of the corridor, his tentacles flew out.

Not as many tentacles as that monster had had, but each and every one of them was strong. And this number should be more than enough to trap the enemy.

Hadn’t it been said that he should not be overconfident? With a speed as if he had never needed the carriage in the first place, he danced around the tentacles, dodging them all. And his sword gleamed like moonlight each time he swung it.

A tentacle fell to the ground, dripping black blood.

One tentacle after another fell, writhing on the ground briefly, agonizing, before stopping. But he could not maintain that feat for long. With so many tentacles behind him, there was no way he could respond to all the attacks perfectly! He was a human skeleton.

Resurrected, given a new life by some dark power, and his physical abilities were clearly not those of a normal human being.

But there were still limits he could not exceed just by having a humanoid body.

Two arms, two legs.

How could he continue much longer against dozens of tentacles?

And yet, although it should not be possible, he was managing it. Spinning in the air. Almost as if he were dancing. The silver flash never failed to cut a tentacle; it only took one strike, what was special about that sword, damn it?

He had stolen an ancient ceremonial sword for the purpose of finding the Tower, but it seemed that this one was much more special, ah, damn it!

And if it were only the tentacles. If he were just resisting.

And it wasn’t like that. Besides that, the Skeleton Knight was advancing.

"You bastard!" Caim spat.

Meanwhile, he was of course "pushing" more tentacles out with everything he had. He was starting to worry that he couldn’t "push" tentacles to replace the lost ones faster than the enemy could cut them.

So what? he thought in the end. It was an incredible power, but it wasn't the only one he had.

Human Spider.

Between the tentacles and the burning spiderwebs, he had to fall. He had to fail at some point! He refused to believe he was that extraordinary when they had just reached the Second Floor.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Despite what had been said, despite his own warnings, he refused to believe such a thing.

He opened his mouth to shoot a couple of spiderwebs (the maximum he could shoot as fast as if they were the same projectile) hoping to catch him off guard while he spun in the air to dodge several tentacles at once.

But...

It was a mistake. The Skeleton Knight couldn’t move in the air to dodge, but he didn’t need to.

He simply swung the sword, and cut both spiderwebs effortlessly, and...

He’s here now.

He’s too close.

"Fuck!"

Caim backed away.

This time the skeleton's sword was coming for him like the scythe of death.

He backed away, put all his power into trying to dodge...

And it wasn’t enough.

He felt the extraordinary sword sinking into his own flesh. He clenched his teeth as blood filled his mouth, ran down his tongue, stained his teeth.

He had hit him hard, the bastard.

Not in the heart, but...

Fuck! Fuck!

"I’ve only just begun."

2

"Second floor means a different identical corridor, apparently," said Victoria. "I’m going to end up getting lost."

"We better hope it’s just a corridor. If the path splits, if we have to try our luck, guess correctly..."

"If it comes to that, I can try a few things. Don’t worry. Too much."

"Yeah. Not too much. I get it."

But she was. Too much, she couldn’t say, but quite a bit. They hadn’t run much after all, but her legs were trembling, and it had nothing to do with physical effort.

The shackle around his neck.

The damn shackles.

They had made her think of the day the journey had started, when Caim had almost been executed at the stake. Could there be a worse punishment than burning alive?

It had reminded her of how they had treated him then, and wherever they went.

Not just as an evil being. Not just.

But also as if he were not even human. As if he were nothing more than an animal.

She clenched his teeth. Soon she felt her mouth filling with blood, it running down her tongue, staining her teeth. She had bitten her tongue as hard as if trying to tear it out or swallow it.

Yonah couldn’t bear it.

She was not childish nor did she fantasize about a perfect world, but she couldn’t stand injustices when she saw them. Of course, Caim was not the only horned person she, that is, they had helped along the way.

Caim, of course, had offered them a place on the team, but they all had refused and gone to fend for themselves.

The point was that Caim naturally mattered more to her than the others, but she cared.

She might seem rough, but Yonah’s heart bled because the world was crazy... and she needed to do what she could to make it make sense again.

Above all, that’s why she had come so far, and...

Caim couldn’t die.

3

Caim grabbed the Skeleton Knight’s sword with both hands, which quickly became slippery with his own blood. How much blood. How much blood, fuck.

But the Knight was stronger than him, especially now that he had been seriously wounded.

So he couldn’t beat him in a contest of strength, even though there was no hint of doubt in his heart, that he had pulled on the sword with all his might even though he knew it would shred his organs on its way out, making it as bad an idea as removing a bullet.

He should have seen it coming. Caim took the easiest path.

He slid, throwing himself to the ground.

The sword sank deeper into him. He coughed, spat out more blood. Now it was clear. Maybe before it had only slashed a lung , but now he only had one left. The Skeleton Knight managed to look confused even without a face or eyes.

Naturally.

If he continued like this, he might die even if he won the fight. But there was no other way, and he couldn't die. He couldn't afford to.

Caim leapt, covering ten meters in an instant.

Of course, he didn't leap forward, but upward.

Towards the tentacles.

Caim couldn't pull the sword out of his body; he wasn't strong enough to win the tug-of-war against the Skeleton Knight. But at least he had enough strength to keep it where it was now that the enemy was the one wanting to pull it out.

He managed to pull the sword out, the bastard, but...

Too late.

The tentacles wrapped around him as if they were a gift because he had wasted too much time.

He saw him writhing uselessly against the tentacles as he fell back to the ground with a wide, red-painted smile.

"I've got you, bastard. I've got you. And I'm not letting go."

And then, the enemy's first reaction. A mocking laugh that seemed to come from the depths of some cavern.

"Your kind... are always extraordinary."

His entire body tensed like a bow ready to shoot. There was no need even to ask what he meant.

Could it be that the long-awaited answers were finally within reach?

Episode 19: FIN