"...Holy crap!"
That was the first thought that came to my mind.
"Hu… Hu…"
I froze on the spot, as though immobilized by countless, invisible chains. Dread and terror slowly coiling around my chest like an iron vice.
It was then that Mia and the rest of the cohort finally noticed my tense expression.
Only then did they finally notice the stifling silence that permeated the atmosphere. The kind that made their heartbeats the loudest sound.
Ba- thump! Ba- thump!
Their muscles tensed as they rose to their feet.
Mia's gaze shifted towards me, hands tightening around her sword. "What's wrong?"
Her eyes, as always, held that same uncompromising calm. But now… they had this slight tinge of wariness flickering within them.
But…
"Uh… Uh…"
I couldn't reply to her question. I-It was as though I'd lost the ability to speak.
"Huff… Huff…"
I could only raise my trembling hands into the air, pointing forward, towards… them.
In an instant, Mia's eyes came to rest on them. At the same time that she did, lightning bolts streaked through the cracked sky, illuminating the dessicated, rotten hands slithering in the darkness.
At that moment, we all saw them. We all saw the… demogorgons.
Akin to the nightmarish form of a dog. Except this dog was a lot bigger and a thousand times more… nightmarish. They had vicious saliva dripping down the corner of their mouths, dark tentacles writhing hungrily within. Yet that wasn't the scary part.
The demorgogons.
They had numerous faces attached to their heads, along with numerous hands; dessicated and rotten. Their hunched backs, yet the most dreaded, were imbued with dark, corrosive spikes.
"...!!"
At that moment, no one moved. W-We couldn't. It was as though fear had turned our limbs into stone.
Aezel also caught sight of the strange scene, his expression darkening as he summoned back from his soul space, his set of bow and arrows.
A chilling coldness seeped into our bones, and in that moment, everywhere went… silent.
Eerily silent...
The kind of silent that made it harder to think. Harder to breathe.
"Ukh- Ukh." I struggled to breath.
...It was then that the blind girl's grip on Aezel's hand tightened even further. With a shivering voice, she questioned:
"Aezel, what's going on?"
"N-Nothing."
Aezel forced a smile. "Nothing worth fretting over."
'…I hope.'
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
As I stared at the tens of nightmarish creatures, a thought slowly crept into my mind.
'Why hadn't we noticed them earlier?'
I mused under my breath, confusion and fear rapidly creeping in.
But of course, the answer to my question was so obvious that I blamed myself for not realizing it earlier.
Due to the unnatural terrain of the dark maze, which was usually a mix of crimson and azure; and sometimes, a malevolent dark color, we had failed to notice the demogorgons. Mostly due to the spikes protruding from their backs, making them seem no different than some… part of the dune's natural features.
But now…
As we focused and watched with bated breaths, bolts of lightning flickering across the cracked sky above, we were able to see the monsters clearly.
...Too clearly.
At that point however, Aezel glanced at Mia and questioned with a raised brow.
"How did they end up here?"
I shrugged and then replied with a grim expression. "...Who knows. But, we do know why."
"To escape from the dark mist?" Aezel muttered with a raised brow, a deep scowl marring his features.
'Indeed. The dark mist was more than enough to make them think of other alternatives. And…
What better place to hide from the dark mist, than a nearby dune structure.' I mused under my breath, the scowl of my face deepening even further.
It must have been a hell of a trip to make it here, which also explains why they were all…
Sleeping~~
"They are all sleeping. So… what do we do?" I questioned, my gaze shifting towards Mia.
Of course, I knew the answer to my ridiculous question. But to me, the thought of battling tens of nightmarish creatures was even more ridiculous!
"We fight." Mia replied, eyes filled with intense determination.
For a second there, I truly believed she'd lost it. Fight them? Tens of them?!
Just one had pushed me to my limits. I couldn't even start to fathom what ten of them could do to me.
Forcing down the unease coiling around my chest, I gritted my teeth and spoke:
"This is tens of them we're talking about! Each one tougher than steel. With claws twice as sharp. And worse, the only way to kill them is by slaying their necks clean off their bodies."
I scowled.
"And with how tall the bastards are, are we supposed to ask them to lower themselves to our height?"
At that moment, I noted the calm and determined expression on Mia's face, and exhaled sharply.
"...All I'm saying is that we can avoid them."
Mia shook her head.
"We can't. Whether we like it or not, facing them tonight is the best chance we've got at defeating them."
She exhaled.
"If we were to wait till tomorrow. The only advantage we have, the element of surprise, will be long gone by then. And by that time… I don't think I need to tell you guys, just how ugly things could get very quickly."
"It-I..."
I tried to refute her words, yet no word escaped my lips.
...Unfortunately, all she'd said was nothing but the truth.
'Agh! If only you knew how annoying that was.'
With a sharp exhale, I tried to grip hold the Antraizel spear. But…
It was then that a cold, seething realization settled in.
'I-I couldn't find my weapon. But how…?'
Confusion marred my features as I searched for the spear. Yet, I wasn't able to find it. And…
My heart thundered in my ears, the fear within me intensifying with each breath that I took.
Judging by the others' expressions, they didn't seem to notice that I had a missing spear. No… I doubted they even knew I ever had one.
'What the hell is going on? A-An eldritch horror?'
Confused and fear-stricken, I tried to calm down. Tried to breathe.
It was hard, but eventually, I'd succeed.
'Now. Think Dean. Think!'
...The longer I pondered on it, the faster the pieces started to align. And before I knew it, it all soon dawned on me.
At that moment, my eyes widened in shock.
'No... No way.'
My body had grazed the dark sea a while ago. Albeit barely, it was still more than enough to bring into effect the dark mist's corrosive trait.
And… the most important factor?
Judging by the weird intensity of the chaotic blue flame, and its sudden reinvigoration. Added to its consumption of my previous weapon back in the cursed land. I was able to come to an unsettling conclusion.
"The chaotic blue flame... It feeds on weapons."
The conclusion sent a chill through me.
The discomforting thought of being in the middle of a battlefield, surrounded by thousands of horrifying entities and then suddenly… my weapon vanishes into thin air, soon crept into the walls of my mind, sending cold chills slithering down my spine.
I shuddered at the various irrational thoughts creeping into the walls of my mind. But I immediately forced them down. After all...
If there was one thing I was sure of, that was the fact that this world operates on a clear sense of rule. And there was no such thing as no explanation behind... something. Be it an entity or a... being.
Everything in this damn world has an explanation to it.
"The same rule applies here. There must be a reason the flame acts this way. I just have to figure it out."
And, as I calmed myself, willing my rapidly beating heart to slow down, my eyes widened as a chilling realization settled in.
"The chaotic blue flame."
It devours weapons when it needs to do something for me. Or… to be more precise, the consumption of weapons feeds it with enough energy needed for it to be transmitted and be used by me.
The first time it happened was when I had gotten the flame which re-forged my body. Or so I had thought. But now… now, it seems that I was wrong.
"I'd only lost the dark bone after stepping into the portal."
Hence, it was safe to assume that I'd encountered an eldritch horror in the midst of the teleportation!
As the various realizations settled in and as the pieces aligned, I stood frozen in sheer terror as fear rapidly crept in.
Yet, that wasn't the worst part.
A grim expression darkened my features.
The worst of it all was the fact that I'd no memories of when and how the weapons were taken away from me, or to be more precise, consumed by the flame.
"It almost seems as though my mind is subconsciously trying to stop me from delving into those parts of my memories."
And…
It was then that realization dawned on me. Hitting harder than a moving truck.
The blue flame.
"It's one of the love-craftian entities whose existence shouldn't be known of."
"...Now, that explains everything."
Surprisingly, despite the grimness of my current situation, I was somehow able to maintain my calm.
I didn't even know if I should be happy or feel the other way, at the thought of being in possession of such a thing. Or rather… being.
But now was not the time to ponder on that. Right now, I had more troubling matters to focus on.
As everyone tensed up, preparing for the inevitable battle. I scratched the back of my head and smiled a wry smile.
"Does anyone have a spare weapon?"
My words were met with looks of incredulity and disbelief.
"H-How the heck have you survived this long without as much of a weapon?"
I glanced at Aezel and shrugged.
"By improvising."
That was the truth anyway. But he didn't seem to believe me. Not that I could bother to explain myself.
But come to think about it…
I had really never gotten myself a weapon. Most times, heck, all the time, I simply improvise with what I have got.
…Though, it wasn't like I was left with any other choice.
"Here," the blind girl stretched her hand forth. "You can have mine."
"...Thanks."
I nodded as I took the azure dagger from her hands.
Taking it from her hands, I couldn't help but smile at its glistening edge.
This was made just for me. Stabbing people in the back, k-... Wait, why will I stab others in the back?
I scratched the back of my head. "Uh- well, I'm sure there will be a damn good reason for that anyway."
I nodded and glanced at Mia.
"Now what?"
"Now… we attack."
In that moment, I glanced back at the ten or so nightmarish creatures and couldn't help but suck in a cold, deep breath.
'…Seems like we have no other choice.'
I exhaled lightly. Knowing I could do nothing but grit my teeth and go on with this ridiculous plan of ours.
Over the course of a few minutes, we soon came up with a plan.
A simple yet… hopefully, efficient one.
Aezel would protect the blind girl from a safe, hidden spot while supporting us with arrows.
Mia was of course responsible for fighting the demorgogons.
And that left me even more curious.
'...Just how strong is she?'
I couldn't help but wonder. Though as fate would have it, I would soon get to see for myself.
And last but not the least.
My role.
It was actually quite simple and much to my liking.
I was responsible for sneak attacks and well… garnering the attention of the nightmarish creatures.
And…
All this was just the first step of the plan I'd formulated.
As everyone readied themselves, muscles tensed, hands tightened around their weapons.
I took in a deep, heavy breath and…
Step!
Dashed into the distance.
I ran and ran, and eventually, when I was far away from the rest of the cohort.
A dark smile curled up my lips.
And in that moment, a piercing cacophony reverberated through the endless night.
In response, massive shadows writhed in the darkness, rotten hands glistening like nightmarish blood in the dark.
And as they rose to their massive feet, their hollow eyes glistening with unheld malice.
My voice tore through the quiet night:
"Come get me you piece of CRAPS!"
Immediately, I turned back and took to my heels. Cursing under my breath as I ran with every ounce of strength left within me.
In that moment, eyes… slits… hollow sockets that flashed with condensed murderous intent came to lie on me.
And then,
…All hell broke loose.