3. The Elder and the Swordsman
Clang— Clang— Clang—
With each toll of the bell, my body became more sluggish. The surrounding black smoke, once ferocious, almost dissipated into a mist.
My slow movements made my swinging arms lose their previous speed and strength. Finally, a knight broke through the defense, his face twisted with ferocity as he leapt up and swung his sword down at me.
Clang—
The blade struck my abdomen, sparking against the armor and leaving a shallow white mark. The knight staggered from the impact, a pained expression on his face.
I, only just reacting, grabbed him and lifted him before my eyes, enduring the discomfort in my body, and watched his expression turn fierce as I whispered softly.
"Why kill me…"
"%￥%#%……" The knight's expression was terrifying as he desperately swung his sword at my firmly grasping right hand.
Due to the lack of armor on my hand, he inflicted several shallow cuts, from which black mist seeped out. I thought that must be my blood.
In a moment, several more knights closed in. They raised their long swords and leapt high, roaring with anger, slashing and stabbing. The swords clanged continuously against my armor, unable to harm me in the slightest.
Two knights, having jumped and swung too fiercely, lost their balance and fell into the black smoke that entwined my lower body. They were eroded in an instant, unable to struggle, turning to ash.
After absorbing two more pale blue lights, my body remained very heavy.
Were those pale blue lights the souls of the knights?
If so, then I truly am a terrifying monster.
I exhaled deeply, the air thick with the scent of blood.
You all truly hate me.
I felt weary.
I looked at the knights surrounding me, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Their eyes occasionally glanced at my right hand, seemingly wanting to save their comrade.
So I spoke to them.
"I do not wish to harm you, nor do you harm me. Let's stop fighting, shall we?" The woman's delicate voice carried a hint of pleading weakness.
"……￥￥Abyss*&……die￥%#!" The knight's angry words seemed to be partly understandable to me, perhaps because I had devoured so many.
"What am I?"
"…Human……Immortal……Holy……Protection……!" The knight in my grasp had a resolute look in his eyes, muttering half-understood words as his sword glowed faintly red, thrusting straight at my face.
Crack… Thud… Thud… Squelch…
The sounds of breaking bones and crushing organs came from my hand, the knight's eyes blood-red, blood and pieces of organs dripping from his mouth onto the back of my hand.
My gaze swept over the knights surrounding me, their faces a mix of sorrow and anger. I did not know what expression I wore, but I thought it must look somewhat weak.
Yet I was the one doing the slaughtering.
"Whoosh—" A piercing sound suddenly came from my right, and before I could turn, a massive force struck my right shoulder. My body uncontrollably flew several meters away, crashing heavily to the ground.
A piercing pain overwhelmed me. I sat up and looked back to see a golden spear with intricate engravings piercing through my armor and into my shoulder.
I couldn't see who had ambushed me. Trying to move my right arm, I trembled with pain; the spear must have reached the bone.
I dared not pull out the spear, instead, I swung my left hand, cutting an approaching knight in two, and struggled to stand.
Clang—
The suspended bell tolled again, the heaviness and dizziness intensifying. I clenched my teeth, trying to recall the black smoke still reaping knights nearby, but to my shock, I realized I didn't know how.
It seemed I could only release them, not command them.
I tried waving my arms at them, but to no effect. I shook my head vigorously, trying to clear some of the dizziness.
I needed to deal with the robed elder first; that bell was causing me too much pain. Without it, the knights couldn't harm me at all; they were nothing to fear.
Once again, I raised my hand and killed two knights who swung their swords at me. I looked towards the elder's position, estimating he was about a hundred meters away.
Not too far… Is there a chance?
I won't know unless I try!
"Roar—!!"
I let out a long cry, and the black smoke surged forward, whistling across the green fields, leaving a long trail of death, heading towards the elder's position.
At the same time, I lifted my heavy feet and, with all my strength, struggled to close the distance with the elder.
The hundred-meter gap was but a moment for the black smoke, which arrived at the location in an instant.
The robed elder brought his hands together, and a dazzling golden light emanated from him once more. The black smoke seemed to hit an invisible shield wall, halted in its tracks. No matter how many times it retreated and charged again from different angles, it was to no avail.
Seeing this, I gritted my teeth and quickened my pace, while once more swinging my left arm. Two black serpents, one after the other, roared towards the elder.
The three streams of black smoke converged into a vast cloud, finally enveloping the elder completely, the golden light suppressed to a faint glimmer.
The range of the bell's influence wasn't as extensive as I had imagined. As the distance grew, my steps became lighter, and soon I had halved the gap between the elder and me.
"Bang! Bang bang bang——"
The thick deathly black smoke enveloping the old man suddenly burst open, a streak of golden light grazed the air causing a series of explosions, flying straight towards me!
Damn, I can't dodge it!
In a moment of desperation, I raised my left arm high and swung down hard at the incoming brilliance!
"Boom——"
The dust that exploded into the sky instantly obscured my vision, a giant spear identical to the one stuck in my right shoulder was deeply smashed into the ground, slanting at my feet. The ground cracked inch by inch, and my left hand was trembling faintly.
It's numb, but still has feeling. My right hand can no longer move, and it would be troublesome if my left hand was seriously injured.
But with the dust as cover, he shouldn't be able to see me now, opportunity!
I swiftly moved forward, after covering a distance of more than ten meters, I leaped high with a "bang", the black smoke wrapped around my body was as thick as liquid, turning into a violent black meteor, crashing towards the old man surrounded by the black smoke.
"Boom——！！！" Without any barrier, it broke through the golden light that was almost gone, the fierce power brought up large chunks of mud splattering in all directions.
Something's not right… It feels like I hit nothing, where is he?
Suddenly, the familiar heaviness and dizziness once again swept over my body, a golden bell lifted high above the thick fog of black smoke, while the robed old man had already disappeared without a trace.
I've been tricked! That old man seems to be a magic user, most mages in games have life-saving skills like teleportation!
Could it be that this damn old man can do it too? I should have thought of this earlier!
I slowly retreated, struggling with the intense discomfort, trying to quickly get out of the range of the golden bell, while observing the entire battlefield.
Most knights were still dealing with the black smoke released earlier. Rather than dealing, it was more like they were desperately trying to escape. The protection the old man had placed on them didn't seem to be very effective.
Even if a few knights escaped the pursuit of the black smoke, they couldn't keep up with my speed and could only eat dust behind me.
After a quick glance around, I still couldn't see the old man, where was he hiding?
Behind the battlefield, the knight leader was still standing in the original direction, riding a horned beast with a watchful eye.
But it seemed that he had no intention of joining the fight for the time being.
Watching from the sidelines?
Or waiting for me to be exhausted before coming up to finish me off?
But next to him, the other two beasts no longer had riders on their backs.
The robed old man should still be nearby, but where is that swordsman? Although I only glanced at him from a distance, I felt that the aura on the swordsman was much more dangerous than the old man, when did he disappear?
My body is really too heavy, it seems like I've only retreated less than twenty meters in this short time.
My head hurts… my right shoulder hurts, my whole body feels uncomfortable, I'm a bit out of breath, I really want to just lie down and sleep…
While I was thinking wildly, a deep bell sound rang out in the sky again.
Hum——
An even more terrifying force pressed down, the ground beneath my feet instantly cracked, the black flames on my body wildly swayed, and there were signs of being extinguished.
Another golden bell appeared above my head, so it's possible to have two at the same time!
Where is he! Where is that damn old man!
The immense pressure from the two golden bells made it impossible for me to even lift my arms, at this moment, using all my strength, I could barely keep from falling.
Suddenly, a flash of silver light in front, a face with stubble and sharp features suddenly appeared in front of me.
It's that swordsman! My heart skipped a beat, instinctively I felt this person was very dangerous, I immediately wanted to jump away to distance myself, but my body couldn't react at all.
The huge pressure from the two golden bells made it impossible for me to even make a slight movement.
The next moment, the swordsman's feet flashed with electricity, bringing up several streaks of blue light across the lawn, and the sky filled with silver flowers rose up blocking my sight.
I only felt a pain in my chest, and my huge body was instantly thrown backward, drawing an arc of tens of meters in the air, "bang" as I hit the ground, and slid back several meters before barely stopping.
Pain, my body felt like it was falling apart, I struggled to look up …at my chest, where a silver sword was completely embedded.
"Uuuuuu…" I tried to scream, but the pain was so intense that I couldn't make a sound. My body shook violently, lying on the ground, gasping for air.
With a thunderous "boom!", the swordsman appeared again, his feet planted on my body.
I forced my eyes open, looking up at his youthful face. His eyes were as blue as the sky, his long gray-white hair tied back, and the sparse stubble on his jaw gave him a rebellious air.
The remaining blue lightning coursed over his shining silver armor, and his white cloak fluttered behind him, an aura of nobility and valor surrounding him.
So dazzling… I too longed to be such a knight, slaying evil.
Given a chance at rebirth, why was I made into a monster?
A creature that looks… so ominous.
"Die, monster," the swordsman said, stepping on my chest, pulling out the sword, his body crackling with electricity, and thrusting down again with force.
Ah, that phrase, I finally understood.
"Uuuuuu…" With the last of my strength, I raised my left hand to grasp the blade, preventing it from piercing further, my body erupting in black smoke once more, whipping up a fierce wind that enveloped both me and the swordsman.
"A futile struggle," he said, as lightning enveloped his body, the blinding edge of his sword causing my arm to go numb, the blade once again sinking into my chest.
A great cloud of black mist burst from my chest, and I could feel something rapidly draining away.
Ah, I'm afraid I'm dying.
Once again.
Comments
Post a Comment