Chapter 39 The Stand

Hunched over forms with razer sharp claws tipping elongated fingers burst from the mobile home. The three creatures moved with supernatural swiftness, almost blurring toward the lone man standing before them.

His swords flashed out, swiping away the clawed hands. He staggered back when a second creature struck. A quick counter left a deep gash on the tallest creature’s chest. Blackish blood leaked from the wound for a moment before it sealed.e Undeterred by the healing, he eyed the creatures moving to surround him, swords raised.

One creature, a tall female denoted by bare breasts, turned her gaze to Elysia before blurring toward her. A lightning fast slice of a sword cleaved through its left leg, sending the female creature to the ground. Before the man could perform a follow up attack, another creature of average height struck his right side. He brought up his sword to parry the claws, but the force behind the strike pushed him back a step right into the waiting claws of the largest creature with tufts of gray hair on its head.

The man’s eyes widened under his dark helmet, dropping to a crouch with his sword raised upward in the path of the charging creature. On a dime, the creature stopped mere centimeters from the sword, clawed hand swinging down on the outstretched sword. The sword clanged to the pavement, but the man already retreated several steps, cleaving through the leg of the healed female creature once again. In a wide arc, he sliced through the charging creature to his left, leaving only the taller, graying one standing.

He glanced back at Elysia, who watched the spectacle frozen in fear and awe, barely capable of following the movements. A forward roll retrieved his second sword. He slashed up in one fluid motion, cleaving through the last standing creature’s right leg at the hip.

The next thing Elysia knew, her savior had his arm around her waist. He hoisted her off the ground with one arm before dashing away. From her vantage point under his left arm, she watched the creatures rapidly heal and stand.

A minute later, they were in an attic storage room of the warehouse, hidden. The man dropped his stunned cargo on a folding metal chair before glancing out the dirty window with a view of the south side of the marina.

Elysia opened her mouth, but the man sent her a sharp look with a shack of his head before returning his attention to the window slight off to the side to hide his form from the outside. Terrified to move, she remained deathly still on the chair, somehow still holding her spear with a white knuckled grip.

After five minutes passed, the man relaxed. He returned his attention to Elysia as he removed his helmet, displaying a friendly smile. “Sorry for the rough treatment. I had to move quick. My name is Joe Walker.”

Tension released from Elysia’s body as she sighed with relief. “Thank you for saving me. Those things would’ve torn me apart.”

With a shrug, as if it wasn’t a big deal, he commented, “No problem.”

He tossed a meal bar from a backpack leaned against the wall before sitting on another chair, pulling out a cloth to wipe away the black blood caking his swords. The duo remained silent for several minutes as Elysia nibbled on the bar and he cleaned his swords.

After finishing the bar, Elysia’s nerves calmed enough to speak again, releasing the floodgates of questions. “So, what were those things? Am I right in assuming they were the rest of your team? They made it sound like you were the villain.”

Joe’s smile vanished, staring out the window for several seconds before starting. “I’m guessing they said I left in the night after burning their supplies? Well, I did those things. However, that’s not the entire story. I don’t know if they lied to you or don’t remember, but on the first night, we encountered a creature similar to what they are now. After a long battle lasting several hours, we slew it but not without wounds.”

Joe sucked in a shaky breath before continuing, “A few minutes after we slayed the creature, Macy collapsed with fever and seizures. Jake followed soon after leaving me and Marc, but at that point we knew he was next as he got scratched. He ordered me to burn the supplies and run.”

Elysia held her tongue as to not antagonize her only ally. I can’t say I feel bad for them. He forced me to solo a dungeon just because I was convenient. If things didn’t fall in my favor, he could have sent me to my death, but at the same time, no one deserves to turn into a monster. Now we need to focus on clearing the dungeon to escape.

After letting Joe calm down, Elysia asked, “So what is the plan?”

Joe’s hands opened and closed as he stared out the window, deep in thought.

Seeing he wasn’t going to answer soon, Elysia asked instead, “Do you think my lightning will be enough to put them down? There is no way I could fight these things head on, but maybe I could smite them while you keep them busy.”

Joe showed no reaction to her question for several seconds before his eyes widened. “That could work, but we would need to find a way to hold them down. I can keep up but my build focuses on speed and stealth, not strength.”

While nodding her head, Elysia suggested, “What if you slice their legs off like last time? That may give me enough time to smite them.”

Elysia joined him at the window. She spotted the creatures crawling on all fours, nose to the pavement as if sniffing something. Fortunately for them, they crawled in a circle, too dumb to realize they were following the same trail over and over.

“I’m guessing that was your doing?” Commented Elysia.

An almost unperceivable smile from as he spoke, “Yeah, one of my skills allows me to mess with scent trails. As long as we stay out of their hearing range, we are safe.”

“So am I right in assuming they turn back into humans during the day?” Asked Elysia, receiving a nod from Joe.

“What if we wait until the day and try to reason with them? Maybe they don’t know what they are.”

Joe shook his head, shoulders slumped. “No, they know what they are. I’ve been spying on them. Their plan all along was to wait until night to infect you. Fighting them during the day would be more dangerous, as they aren’t mindless beasts and can use skills. I could maybe beat one of them one on one, but no way could I handle them all at once.”

“So our best chance is to strike at night then? Do you have a plan to do it?” Inquired Elysia.

“What is your charge at?” Asked Joe.

After a quick check of her status, Elysia replied, “Over 500 currently.”

Joe let out a whistle. “Impressive for your level. I was expecting maybe 300.”

“It’s actually over 600, but my current charge is 500. My max charge was around 200 until recently.”

They fell silent as Joe watched the creatures formulating a plan. His eyes landed on a smaller pier only two meters wide with a grim but resolute expression. “Before we attack, I need you to promise me if I get infected, you need to strike me down before I turn. I want to die as a human.”

Unable to form the right words, Elysia just nodded her head.

Figuring that was the best he would get, he turned toward the exit, waving her to follow. “I have a plan, but it’s risky. If it fails, I’m not sure we will escape.”

“I’m guessing you want to lure them somewhere? They would tear through a RV or Mobile home alley so the only other option is a pier.”

“Correct. Our scouting informed us monsters don’t enter bodies of water. Let’s hope they follow the same rule.”

With a gist of what he had planned, Elysia followed him in silence as they dropped to the warehouse floor before circling around the marina along the shore to the narrowest pier on the south end near the site of the first battle.

Joe directed her to walk to the end of the pier before sprinting back to the oblivious creatures still following the fake scent trail. He threw a rock at the smaller male creature, earning himself an inhuman roar. As one, all three creatures turned to him. They chased him between RVs, smashing through anything that was in their way.

Her trembling hands clenched her spear, waiting as the creatures barreled toward their pier hot on the heels of the dark clothed human. They reached the pier seconds later, traveling halfway down the twenty meter long pier before Joe turned to face the creatures.

As he predicted, the creatures funneled down the pier single file. Joe took slices at the first creature, the smaller male formerly known as Jake. The creature moved with surprise fluidity, dodging most of Joe’s slices, only receiving a few instantly healed cuts.

Sick of waiting, Elysia sent an electrical current test shot just as Joe jumped back to dodge a claw swipe. The stream of electricity grounded itself a meter short on a steel tie down drilled into the concrete pier.

-40 Charge.

Joe backpedaled several steps, throwing a knife mid-step, burying the knife in the creature’s right shoulder. The creature wailed as it grabbed at the knife, but before it could dislodge it, another streak of lightning shot toward it. This time scoring a hit, with the knife acting like as a lightning rod.

-40 Charge.

The creature collapsed on the pier, smoking and twitching, but no kill notification came. Taking the opportunity, the female creature crawled over its brethren, spearing toward Joe with its claws extended.

A lightning fast slash of his sword separated both arms at the elbow, but the forward momentum sent the creature barreling into him. Joe crashed hard on his left shoulder, dropping his left hand sword. Covered in black blood, Joe sprang to his feet, left arm limp. Before the armless creature could recover, he stabbed his remaining sword down into its head, then jumped back as he scooped up his other sword.

Elysia let loose a lightning strike. With a thundering crack, the violet bolt struck the downed creature. The air filled with the smell of burned flesh as the lightning coursed through the creature, violently seizing its muscles for several seconds before it stilled.

Your Group Killed Level 83 Nightcrawler.

Level up! Level 46 Channeler.

Level up! Level 47 Channeler.

Level up! Level 48 Channeler.

Level up! Level 49 Channeler.

Before she could process what just happened, the now recovered smaller male creature charged forward while the last creature stood at the end of the pier as if aware of the trap set for them. With a quick yank, Joe popped his left arm back into its socket, pulling the charred sword from the dead creature.

As if the last attack fried nerves, the creature jerked forward much slower than normal. Still, despite its compromised state, Elysia squashed any temptation of facing the creature far beyond her level and capabilities.

With practiced ease, Joe dashed under the creature’s claws, sliding his swords through both of its hamstrings. It crashed to its knees just as Joe swung his left sword through its neck. The rock-hard muscles proved too tough, stopping the sword before it reached the spine. Joe let go of the sword, and jumped back as a bolt of lightning descended on the kneeling, half decapitated creature. Violet lightning ran along the sword into the creature’s spine, frying the spinal cord. Paralysis struck the creature, sending it to the pier face first, but it refused to die.

Elysia dashed forward with her electrified spear, piercing through its left eye, finally earning herself a kill notification.

Killed Level 91 Nightwalker.

Level up! Level 50 Channeler.

Congratulations! Class Evolution options available.

Level up! Level 51 Channeler.

Level up! Level 52 Channeler.

She looked up at Joe with a giant smile but froze, seeing the last creature blurring toward Joe’s unprotected back.