Robert Vlaho
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[DEVILICH] Chapter 4 - The Horde
🕑 Added 2024-03-26 12:18:20 +0000 UTCAs I found myself naked and running from a sword flying directly at me, I knew one thing. If that thing hit me, I would return to being pummeled. And if that happened, it was likely that I wouldn’t survive.
My thoughts accelerated to the point where I felt like time had slowed. I had no way to dodge or move out of the way, and the weapon was too close, so I simply swung my fist in what I felt was a futile effort to redirect the projectile away from my body. However—
As my fist impacted the side of the blade, I watched it dent the metal as the force of the strike turned the point away from me, but it didn’t deflect it entirely, as I was still struck by the side of the blade and pinned against the wall for a moment, but as the sword bounced back, leaving me with nothing more than a few cracked ribs that were already healing with deep itchiness, I could continue running.
For the first time since I laid my eyes on it, the armored giant made a sound. It started screeching with a demonic fervor, its voice sounding like the smashing of a million metal pipes.
I hurried my steps as I reached the exit, warily eyeing the creature as it stopped screaming and started running to get its sword.
Although I should have been free to escape, for some reason, I felt like this wasn’t over yet.
My suspicions were confirmed as, a moment later, I heard the skeleton’s thundering footsteps close in on me. I couldn’t help but look back, only to catch the skeleton, its body glowing with a sinister, gray light, preparing to throw its sword at me again.
“Shit!” I yelled as I contorted my body, barely managing to step out of the way in time for the blade to miss me by a hair’s breadth. What the hell kind of sword flew like that!? It felt as if this creature could simply ignore the laws of physics and do whatever it wanted!
I continued running, jumping over the sword that had tumbled to the ground. I could only rely on my speed as I kept accelerating, praying to whoever was listening that I didn’t trip and fall.
The skeletal knight's footsteps kept getting closer to me, but it wasn’t gaining on me as quickly as before I sped up. I reached the fork and turned down the path that would take me outside.
As I reached the straight section of the cave, my back felt severely exposed, and I bolted forward, running with all I had. Contrary to my expectations, the creature didn’t throw its sword at me this time.
Because as soon as it stepped into the clearing, its footsteps closed in on me in seconds.
I took a startled look back only to spot the creature getting ready to lunge at me. Without any alternatives, I dropped to the ground just in time for the armored giant to fly over my head.
I rushed back up to my feet, cursing internally as I found my path blocked.
The giant turned around and raised its titanic sword, swinging it at me wildly, its power so extreme that it simply ignored the walls as its weapon effortlessly carved a path through them, making the stone wither into dust with each swing.
I kept leaping back, desperately making space between myself and the skeletal knight as my mind rushed. Should I turn back? But where would I go? I had no clue how long my body would last in these circumstances.
Although I kept backing away, it didn’t take long for the knight to start landing glancing blows, carving deep rends in my upper torso and arms. I knew I had to fall back before it bisected me again.
I growled as I turned around and started running. A second later, I leaned to the side, just in time for the massive sword to cut into my ribs and nearly knock me to the ground. I was shocked that I had thought to move aside preemptively and even more surprised that my evasion actually worked.
I kept running back, and the skeleton slowed down again as it followed after me. It seemed to be able to locate me even if it couldn’t see me, and it had no reason to rush when it knew that I had nowhere to run.
Mentally, I juggled my options. I could either go back to the room with the creepy gate or return down the path where the cave had collapsed.
I had no intention of approaching those cursed doors again, and my previous trip to that room nearly killed me. It didn’t take long to realize that returning to where I first appeared was my only actual choice, even if I had no idea whether going there was worth it.
I quickly reached my destination.
The thought of hiding in the rubble briefly flashed in my mind, but I remembered that such tricks likely wouldn’t fool the creature chasing me.
I took a moment to examine the situation. The room was full of large, splintered boulders and pretty much nothing else as far as I could see. There was little to work with.
I heard the smashing of the knight’s footsteps echo behind me, and with the sound, a few chunks of stone fell from the ceiling above, cluttering to the pile of rocks on the ground.
I took a closer look above, quickly concluding that the cavern wasn’t stable. An idea flashed through my mind. As a test, I picked up a large stone. Raising it off the ground was effortless, and I threw it to the other side of the room with a grunt. It flew as if it had been shot out of a catapult, slamming into the wall and breaking off a chunk of it.
My eyes slowly drifted to the ceiling above. I moved over to the other side of the room and waited.
Less than a minute later, the armored giant finally reached the chamber and bulldozed through the mass of debris to reach me without slowing down. The stones restricted it substantially, but not nearly as much as I would have liked.
As soon as it was around the middle of the room, I leaped to the side, running around the outer perimeter of the chamber. The creature immediately started running, but not at me; instead, it was running toward the exit, seemingly aiming to cut me off.
I gritted my teeth, feeling somewhat intimidated by this monster’s apparent intelligence. But I had no choice but to go through with my plan.
I looked for the closest boulder I was confident in lifting off the ground and grabbed it with both arms, planting my feet firmly on the ground and throwing it up at the ceiling with all I had.
The makeshift projectile struck a little ahead of the running knight and, with a loud crash, dislodged a massive chunk of stone that fell on the knight’s head. The giant didn’t even look as it swung its sword and crushed the falling rock into pieces.
I felt incredible frustration and, honestly, quite a bit of panic as I grabbed another rock and threw it at the ceiling above. It struck again, but this time, it didn’t dislodge a tiny chunk—instead, it collapsed a colossal slab, releasing a shower of stone that buried the knight beneath.
The pile rumbled loudly as the giant shifted, and despite being entombed under tons of rock, it seemed that it wouldn’t be trapped indefinitely. But it was unable to move at the moment.
Grasping my chance without hesitation, I sprinted toward the exit, continuing as I entered the cave. Soon, I reached the fork and went right, heading out. I heard nothing for a while, but it didn’t take long for the deafening sound of footsteps to echo around me again.
It was approaching at an impossible speed, and I felt the pressure as I doubled down. I reached a tight turn, and rather than reduce my speed, I let myself bounce off the wall, allowing it to redirect my momentum.
Just as I was about to reach the next turn, no more than a few meters away from leaving the cave, the clattering of heavy armor rang through my ears, but this time, rather than allow it to cut me off, I jumped into the air.
The knight’s helmeted head slammed into my back, propelling me into the wall. I bounced off it and tumbled outside the cave. Before I could get up, I felt sharp claws tear a rend down the length of my shoulder blade. I whimpered in surprise as I looked up.
If the smell wasn’t enough indication already, seeing the numerous rotting corpses gathering around me alerted me that I was being surrounded by zombies.
I gritted my teeth and got up, pushing through the mass of rotting flesh.
I heard a scream behind my back, and then another, and yet another.
All the undead around me gathered as they rushed at me, doing their best to block my path as the armored giant got up and continued its chase.
