"Dean... How many minutes do you think it'll take us to reach the house?"
Lior, barefoot, was breathing heavily, sweat dripping from his forehead despite the freezing night air.
Dean looked up, instinctively gauging the distance.
— "Running? Ten minutes... But you're..."
He stopped mid-sentence.
— "Blind?" Lior completed with a bitter smile. "I know."
A heavy silence fell. Then slowly, Lior removed his shoes, planting the soles of his feet on the cold earth.
— "I want Condition Tellurique to send me everything. Every vibration, every breath. If we're going to run, I need to know what's around me."
He grimaced. Every stone, every twig would hurt. But he had no choice.
Dean frowned.
— "And the goblins in the house? Remember? We left them there…"
Lior straightened up, his gaze hidden behind a dark blindfold.
— "After what we just killed… goblins won't stop us."
— [System] Time until dawn: 3h00.
They were surrounded. Ten Werewolves, growling, salivating, ready to pounce.
— "We need to kill them all before we run," Lior said calmly. "We trap them, we slice them, then we get out."
He placed his hand on the ground, the earth vibrating under his fingers.
— "I'll soften the ground beneath them. You need to merge with your Shadow Twin and strike in one blow. But for that... we need a perfect circle."
Dean understood. He picked up a rock from the ground. Just a pebble, but for him, it was a symbol. He stood up slowly, as if finally confronting the fear he'd been dragging all night.
— "It's that damn stone I've been trying to crush from the start…"
He summoned his Shadow Twin, darkness rippling around him.
Lior, a bloody smile on his lips, shouted:
— "WE'RE GONNA SURVIVE, YOU BASTARDS!"
The fight began.
Lior ran in circles, shaping the earth. The Werewolves howled, stumbled, and as soon as they fell, Dean sliced them.
The air filled with screams, blood, and rage.
— [System] Werewolves killed: 30.
But the monsters wouldn't be tricked for long.
The Alpha entered the circle. The others stepped back.
A frozen silence settled. He was even faster, more terrifying than the giant beast they'd previously slain. And this time... it was personal.
He lunged at Lior.
Dean, caught off guard, didn't even see him move. The Alpha's fist crashed into Lior, slamming him to the ground. His foot pinned Lior's chest.
— "You're next."
Dean took a step back. The monster was too fast. Too strong.
His defensive skill activated on its own, a shadowy barrier barely absorbing the next blow.
But the monster frowned.
— "The double… I didn't see it."
Lior, gasping, spat blood.
— "System... put all my points into Healer…"
A wave of warmth dulled the pain, but the fractures remained.
He half-sat up, just enough to place his hand on the ground.
— "The circle is ready."
With a smooth motion, he turned the ground into quicksand. The Werewolves were trapped. The Alpha turned, surprised.
Lior spoke to him:
— "How... can you talk? Aren't you monsters?"
The Alpha stared at him. A long silence. Then he answered with a raspy voice.
— "We're... fleeing too. Since the start of the night. We're starving. My pack couldn't hunt. We came here... drawn by the scent of human blood. But we're not the predators… we're the prey."
Dean clenched his jaw.
— "What kind of monster makes Werewolves like you flee?"
— "A Lich," the Alpha replied.
Lior frowned.
— "What's a Lich?"
Dean answered slowly:
— "In video games… it's a super powerful monster. It can wipe out cities, summon undead, cause earthquakes… and worse."
The Alpha nodded.
— "That's why we attacked you. To survive."
Lior lowered his head.
— "I didn't have time to play video games. I worked… for a liar. In a world that never wanted me."
He placed his hand on the ground.
— "I'm blind. And I just beat Werewolves. Even you, the Alpha."
Dean, silent, clenched his fists.
He finally understood everything Lior had carried alone from the start.
The Alpha bowed slightly.
— "Become one of us. A Werewolf. You'll dominate everything."
Lior gave a sad smile.
— "If you'd offered to give me my sight back… maybe I would've accepted. But now… I'm fine the way I am."
He turned around.
— "Dean, we run."
— [System] Time until dawn: 2h50.
They started running, heading for the house.
Behind them, the Werewolves tried to follow, but their feet were still trapped in the shifting earth.
The Alpha let out a raspy laugh, almost admiring.
On the way, Lior stumbled every ten steps. Even barefoot, even with Condition Tellurique, he was still blind. He could sense, but he couldn't see.
He wasn't running… he was surviving.
With rage. With the earth. With Dean by his side.
And the night… was far from over.