“For real?" Gaul started. "Is it really over, chief?"
Ehrwin let out a deep sigh and leaned back, a sense of relief washing over him. “I don’t think it could have survived after that head—”
Glob, glob, glob, the sound of bubbling filled the air. Smack of thick, black goo frothed and bubbled, crawling toward the shattered remains of the monster’s head.
No.
He recoiled in fear, his footsteps echoing with unease as the bubbling noise from the monster’s crushed head reverberated with terror, filling the air with dread.
“No fuckin’ way,” Gaul said.
The scattered fragments of black goo began to coalesce and in a matter of moments, they reformed back into the shape of the monster's head.
Is there no end to this nightmare?
The serpent’s cackles filled the air. “I must admit, I was caught off guard by that display. A valiant effort, all of you should be proud,” Bog said, a sinister glint in its eye. “But now, it’s my turn.”
Wind whipped at Ehrwin as he stumbled backward, dumbfounded, the massive body of the serpent slithering past him at an incredible speed. Suddenly, he realized with a start what Bog was after.
“Flint!” he cried out, but it was too late.
With a sickening crunch, Flint’s torso was severed from the rest of his body, leaving his lifeless form from the groin to the feet limp on the ground, blood flowing freely from the wound. The creature chewed noisily, masticating its meal with a cracking noise, as it devoured Flint.
Dolly’s piercing scream filled the air, her body convulsing with terror.
“Run!” Ehrwin yelled, his body trembling from the horror he had just witnessed. He grabbed dolly by the arm and yanked her out of shock, propelling her to run toward the exit.
He muttered curses as he ran; he didn’t want to die so young. Not again.
Ehrwin stumbled as his foot struck against an obstacle, sending him tumbling forward to the ground. He reached out with a desperate hand, seeking aid from Dolly.
“Fuck off! I should’ve never followed you!”
He lay there, dumbfounded, as he watched Dolly’s figure growing smaller and smaller as she walked further and further north. But just as she reached the shattered archway, a gust of wind, all too familiar, began to whip around him. Bog’s massive body slithered to Ehrwin’s right, striking him with its tail before it fully disappeared from view. Ehrwin was sent flying, tumbling head over heels until he finally came to a stop against a tree trunk.
Groaning in pain, Ehrwin’s entire body was wracked with agony. Then, he watched in horror as Bog’s maw closed in on Dolly. With a sickening crunch, the left side of her body was bitten clean off, leaving her divided in two and lying in a pool of her own blood. The creature stood there, feasting on the remains of its latest victim.
Ehrwin had never known true terror until this moment. He was numb, consumed by the thought of death.
He bit down hard on his lips, desperate to release the fear that threatened to overwhelm him.
With all his heart, he prayed to the Grim Reaper to take him away from this misery. But he knew deep down that it was an impossible wish.
With eyes closed, he gazed upon his HP, still sitting at 39, too much to allow for an easy death. The pressure of his teeth on his lips grew stronger, until he tasted the metallic tang of his own blood. He even considered biting off his own tongue, but before he could act on his thoughts, his mouth was pried open. The sensation was all too familiar, a déjà vu that sent his eyes snapping open. There stood Gaul, still bloodied and battered, administering his own potion to Ehrwin.
“Why?” Ehrwin managed to gasp out.
Gaul offered him a smile, one filled with warmth and kindness, unlike any Ehrwin had ever seen. “Chief, if it weren’t for you, I’d still be stuck in that prison, wallowing in my own filth. You gave me a second chance at life,”
Ehrwin’s wounds began to quickly heal against his wishes.
“You can still convince him, chief. I’ll be happy to pay for it with my blo—”
A maw of darkness enveloped Gaul, biting clean through his head and tearing it off his body. Blood spurted out in a shower, splattering over Ehrwin.
He gaped in horror as Gaul’s headless body landed on top of him, writhing even though it was now devoid of life.
It took several moments for the reality of the situation to sink in and when it did, Ehrwin let out a scream of terror.
Pushing the lifeless body aside, he stumbled to his feet and ran north, feeling like a small insect scurrying away from a snake.
However, he only managed a few steps before he slipped and fell, crashing to the ground once again.
“If only you had listened to me and fled, you would have been spared from witnessing the demise of your comrades,” Bog taunted. “Such foolishness, human.”
Ehrwin’s heart cried out in despair, and he begged for an end to the endless suffering.
“Please,” he muttered, “just kill me.”
But then, he felt the cool, familiar dampness of mist seeping into his skin, shrouding his surroundings and blurring his vision until he could no longer see beyond the veil of fog.
Suddenly, he felt a hand wrap around his and lift him to his feet. He was too numb, too exhausted to resist, and let himself be led away, behind a tree trunk. The mist parted at a particular section to reveal a pair of sharp hazel eyes, the only feature he could make out in the dense fog.
“Who are you?”
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“Someone who can provide you with the means to take down that monster. Can you fight?”
Thoughts careened through his mind as he was seized by a sense of overwhelming anxiety. His head felt as though it was being squeezed in a vice, while streams of sweat flowed down his forehead.
“No,” he said meekly, “I don’t want to fight anymore.”
“Even after what he did to your friends?”
Ehrwin winced.
“What is the meaning of this inexplicable mist? This place was supposed to be free of it upon the demise of that wretched hag. Have you, perchance, had a hand in this, human? What else did you pilfer from Othelia’s hut? Show yourself now. For if not, I shall make it my personal mission to see to it that your entire household is wiped out once I get out of here. And trust me, I shall enjoy it, I never had the slightest fondness for that insufferable Olaf Bargunri.”
At that very moment, something in Ehrwin had snapped. His hand clenched reflexively as a feeling, rare and all-consuming, took hold of him - rage. This was not a mere flicker of annoyance, but a blazing inferno of fury.
“How do I kill him?” he asked through gritted teeth.
Out of the mist, a delicate, slender hand emerged. “Your sword.”
One, two, three, four, five. Five drops of the dark ink were carefully smeared onto the blade from a phial.
“Hit him with it,” she said, handing him back his sword.
“Hit him? How do I even get close to him?”
The hand disappeared back into the mist. “That’s up to you to figure out. You’re the swordsman,” the voice replied.
“Damn this mist! Pay heed! This is your final warning! Come out now or prepare for a fate worse than death.”
“Over here.” The mist began to clear, revealing the bulging eyes of the serpent.
“I give up.” Ehrwin dropped his sword, which fell to the ground without any sound.
Silence hung as they both stared into each other.
“One would think that a chance for salvation would be eagerly seized, but no, it seems that fate has a different plan for you. How curious.”
“I could never abandon them, and you know that very well, however, I appreciate you offering me the opportunity. Now, I am ready to face my fate.”
“Pity, really. After all the effort I exerted to preserve your life, first by rescuing you and then by showing leniency, I hoped that it wouldn’t end in this manner.”
“Neither did I.”
“Any last words?”
“Yes, I won’t plead for my life. But I have one last request.”
“What?”
“You see, Bog, I have lived a life of chronic powerlessness. I am a historical aberration, the first noble to be bereft of magic. My father, the Duke, believes my existence to be a mistake. My brothers hold no high regards for me either. But before I meet my end, I wish to take one final swing at you with my sword,” Ehrwin lifted his blade aloft, “and find solace in the fact that I was able to land a blow on a deity, if only for a moment.”
Bog’s features twisted into a scowl as he gingerly inclined his head towards the sword.
Ehrwin’s legs trembled, his resolve wavering as the serpent’s massive head loomed closer. He wanted to turn on his heels and run, to abandon this reckless plan of his, but he stood his ground, his jaw tightening with determination.
Bog’s gaze meticulously appraised the sword.
“That pitiful weapon will not mar me in the slightest,” Bog declared.
“I am aware,” Ehrwin replied through gritted teeth. “But to strike even once, to feel a semblance of power, it is worth it to me.”
Bog sneered with a condescending laugh. “You humans never cease to amaze me with your melodramatic antics. Very well, I will indulge your final request as I do owe you a debt. But do not be mistaken, I have no interest in sparing your life.”
Bog’s head was now so close to Ehrwin that he could have touched it. The serpentine deity tilted his head upwards, regarding the human with a haughty expression.
“Go ahead, take your swings. Indulge in the delusion of power, as many times as you desire.”
Ehrwin gripped his sword with both hands and pointed it toward the rough, black surface before him. He tried to ram the blade into the surface, but it wouldn’t penetrate.
He wondered if the girl shrouded in mist was playing a trick on him, perhaps she was even an accomplice of Bog’s. Nevertheless, if he was going to die, he might as well use Bog’s throat as a punching bag to release all of his pent-up anger.
Fuck you. He growled internally, as he repeatedly stabbed.
Fuck you. He thought of Flint as he stabbed. The man had not much to say, but he’d always been there for him.
Fuck you. He continued to strike, teeth gritted and anger pulsing through his veins as Dolly’s grin filled his mind. He thought about their kiss, his first kiss.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. He went on and on, steel thudding against the rock-like surface, until his hands ached and he began to pant. He closed his eyes and saw Gaul. A stupid fuck, he was. A stupid fuck who had saved his life time and time again.
The memories of his companions, who he had shared countless meals and laughters with around a campfire, came flooding back to him. The same companions who were brutally devoured before his very eyes. He could still hear their screams, see their blood spill onto the ground, and feel the crushing weight of his own helplessness.
A deep sense of emptiness settled in him as he realized they were the closest he ever came to having friends in this world.
“Fuck…you,” he muttered, as he let his hand drop and his sword slipped, tilting his head upward, smiling wryly, finally resigning to his fate.
“How swiftly you tire,” Bog jeered. “I expected a bit more fervor from you, to release a few more pent-up frustrations. But it appears your reserves are depleted. Fear not, I shall relieve you of your su-suff-sufferrrrrrrr...”
Bog thrashed and convulsed. Its muscles violently quivered while dark and viscous fluid spewed forth from its maw. Its eyes rolled into the back of its head. Then, with a deafening blast that echoed like the beating of a thousand drums, the creature’s body exploded in a gruesome display of destruction, a shower of gooey black droplets rained down in all directions.
Ehrwin stumbled backward in shock and horror, his body enveloped in the thick, noxious dark fluid that reeked of decay and death. His ears were ringing, and his senses were disorientated.
He remained motionless, his body wracked with pain. After a timeless interval, he mustered the strength to push himself to his knee with a pained groan. He slowly opened his eyes, bracing himself for the horrors he was sure to behold. And what he saw filled him with revulsion.
Stained in black, he was. The landscape had transformed into a monochromatic hellscape, completely covered in the gooey black substance.
The acrid stench of decay was overpowering, causing Ehrwin to retch and gag, his senses assailed by the sheer misery of his surroundings.
He wished that was the end of it. Unfortunately, just as he thought it could not get any worse, a searing pain suddenly emerged within his head.
He let out a bloodcurdling scream, clutching his head in a desperate attempt to quell the torment. His eyes squeezed shut, and his entire body was contorted in a grimace.
[Congratulations, you have earned the title, “Butcher of the Bog!”]
[ERROR.]
[Mana value cannot be null.]
[ERROR.]
[Class value cannot be null.]
[ERROR.]
[01011011 01000001 01100100 01101101 01101001 01101110 00100000 01100001 01100011 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110010 01100101 01110001 01110101 01101001 01110010 01100101 01100100 01011101]
[Reinitializing system, please wait.]
And then the world went black.
----------------------------------------
Red, Blue, Green. A kaleidoscope of colors swirled before his closed eyelids. He felt strange as indescribable sensations coursed through his body, sensations that transcended mere words and emotions.
His eyes fluttered open, and he beheld the sight of a young woman with hair the color of a blazing sunset. Her gaze was fixed upon him, and a gentle smile graced her lips.
Ehrwin was struck by the piercing beauty of her hazel eyes, and he felt as though he had seen them before, although he couldn’t recall where. Her features were unique and unconventional, yet he found her alluring. He couldn’t quite place her ethnicity, and he wondered if he was even alive. Why was his head resting on her lap?
Behind her, the sky was a canvas painted in hues and shades of red. He felt a strange sense of familiarity as he looked at the clear sky, as though he had not seen such a sight in a long time.
He glanced back and forth between the red sky and the girl with vibrant red tresses.
“Angel?” he rasped, his voice barely more than a whisper.
The girl let out a soft chuckle.
“You aren’t dead, if that’s what you’re thinking,” she spoke with an accent. A unique accent, one he couldn’t place, but he quite liked.
Suddenly, a bolt of pain shot through one side of Ehrwin’s skull, causing him to wince and close his eyes. As he accessed his stats sheet, he saw something very unusual, something that defied logic.