Author's Note: Thanks to Kyren for Proofreading.

****

Frozen Heat - Fighting Blind

Stuck in the darkness.

Admittedly, that’s probably one of humanity’s greatest fears. We surround ourselves with luminescence and light almost everyday. After all, when all that vibrance disappears…

… You're left with nothing.

That was me right now.

I sat there in the murky darkness, laying beside the scout I killed, while the monsters drew nearer.

The darkness expanded infinitely while it, paradoxically, confined me.

Briefly assessing the situation, I determined that I, somehow, had injured my occipital lobe; the part of the brain needed in order to process vision. Most likely, it was during my fall. Although, of course, I could be wrong. Maybe it was just carbon monoxide poisoning, but the painful throbbing in the back of my head seemed to tell me otherwise.

Ironically, I was very much like the Werewolves. They were practically blind themselves. Although they had improved hearing and a sense of smell to compensate, whereas, I did not.

They also had several more allies with them. Whereas, again, I did not.

My own allies, Cielle and Hina, were currently preoccupied. Or rather, they might be facing an even worse situation than me. After all, they were up against 40 instead of my 16- wait, that’s 15 if you don’t count this corpse next to me.

Anyways, I can’t just selfishly ask for their help while they were currently stuck in their own battles.

Besides, its not like I could if I wanted to. After all, the hallway was currently on fire.

I wanted, no I needed, to resolve this fight by myself….

****

With a roar that broke the tranquility of darkness, black chaos once again erupted.

From all around me I could clearly hear each and every pitter patter of moving paws. As if each subsequent noise reverberated fiercely into my cerebrum.

Even without the noise, I could clearly tell that they were on the attack once more.

Thinking that the wolves would be upon me soon enough, I moved into action. Rather than running away, I stayed confined next to the corpse- or rather, with slight effort, I raised the lifeless body slightly above the floor, in order to create a big enough gap for me to squeeze under.

Like that, I tucked myself under the corpse, using it as a makeshift shield, as the wolves descended.

They desperately slashed and bit. I could hear their growing frustration as the body of their former comrades kept me safe, and relatively unharmed; well, almost unharmed. Of course, every now and then, a protruding body part, my left leg, right elbow, etc, would get assaulted with a brief exchange of claws.

But still, the corpse worked well as an effective shield.

With impaired vision I gripped Efhermet and lunged it forward, towards wherever I heard growling or any sort of noise. Most of the time I came out lucky, my haphazard strikes landing on a few scouts, but, honestly, it was quite a bad situation

This situation was unfortunately made even worse, when my shield got taken away. With the combined effort of three Werewolf scouts, they lifted and tossed aside the helpful corpse, revealing me in all my exposed glory.

Once I felt the weight of the lifeless meat disappear, I instinctively scrambled.

Still on all fours, I rushed forward. With the wolf’s anatomy ingrained in my mind, I knew full well that they had rather long legs, as well as having quite a gap between those legs whenever they stood.

I scrambled between those legs, haphazardly bumping into fur covered feet in the process. As I weaved in and out of this forest of fur, I attacked simultaneously. I slashed out at every given opportunity. Through my haphazard attacks, I managed to sever the achilles tendon of one creature as well as stabbed another’s pelvis.

I heard a roaring screech of agony due to my subsequent attack, prompting an idea to sprout within me.

For one, right now, they probably couldn’t distinguish me any differently from the rest of the wolf pack considering I deliberately sprayed myself in wolf blood. What I figured out was a way to hide the noise I was making. It was really simple actually, what else could possibly hide noise? Even louder noise.

And that even louder noise presented itself as a wolf’s cry of pain.

With renewed vigor, I set about my counterattack, all the while I ran desperately away from the beasts.

Sticking close to the ground, I weaved in and out of their legs, causing subsequent chaos, as my masked smell, further impaired their hunting ability. Additionally, the random hits I aimed toward exposed areas, such as the achilles tendon and nether regions, caused a flurry of screeches and screams, masking my own desperate gasps for air.

Their earlier scramble towards me had already worked effectively against them. Right now, they were even blinder than me.

I continued my relentless, and haphazard, assault by kicking and stabbing at whatever claws or jaws that came close to my vicinity. And, of course, while I did relatively more damage to them, I still got injured, which was to be expected, considering everything.

Eventually though, the bystanding Alpha noticed this failing situation, and howled fiercely through the darkness. In an attempt to quell the situation and regain control of his pack, I imagine that he is currently trying to recall the scouts back to his side.

Of course, by then it was all too late.

In my chaotic wake I had already severed the achilles tendon of approximately 7 werewolves.

Those 7 crawled desperately on the floor, feebly attempting to escape with all their might.

With an impassive face, I followed a particularly noisy scout that tried to claw its way out of my range.

Groping through the darkness on all floors, I came upon the familiar sensation of matted fur, and with one fierce strike with my spare dagger, I pinned the creature’s left leg onto the ground.

The blade pierced both muscle and carpeted floor, effectively holding the monster in place.

I continued to crawl forward on the floor, until I eventually came to a stop where the wolf’s head rested.

It, annoyingly, yapped and yapped; wailing. I’m sure if I could see right now, droplets of tears would have been clearly visible on this pathetic monster’s face.

I moved to pin the creature down, sitting on top of its back, I propped Efhermet into the cavity where the back of its head and its neck connected.

With a well timed grunt, I pierced the bladed edge deep into its neck. I imagined the blade piercing through the spine, nerves, and tendons as the sickening sound of metal cutting through wet meat filled the room.

Like before, an eerie mechanical voice whispered melancholically, this time its words were slightly different; “[Fatal Blow....]”

Hearing this, I unconsciously smiled.

That was the beauty of anatomy. Even with all these game like statistics, a sure kill hit will surely kill.

Not giving myself time to rest, while the rest of the pack were still initiating their retreat, or should I say tactical surrender, I dislodged the spare dagger and lunged forward, towards another crawling wolf.

Systematically, I killed off most of the stragglers.

In the end, about 2 “crawlers” managed to successfully escape my scythe of death.

But still, that brought my total kill count to 5, leaving me with 11 more to go. Things were looking up ,that is, if I ignore the rising CO2 in the air.

I turned my head towards the back of the room, where I knew the wolves had congregated.

I stayed silent as I focused in on my hearing.

I blocked out my own restless heart beat, heavy panting, and any other useless noise, until I could hear the faint growling of 10 or so Werewolf Scouts.

I could tell they were getting restless. Much like me, they didn’t remain unaffected by the CO2. This battle was drawing nearer to its finale.

As if in response, I heard the deliberately heavy steps of the Alpha. Through the darkness, I heard it grow closer, most likely ready to finally start participating.

[Did it finally decide I was weak enough…?]

I imagined that, up until this point, the Alpha had assigned its pack to either kill me or, if that didn’t work, weaken me to an extent where I no longer posed a threat to him.

Currently I was blind, and had little over 50% of my HP remaining. I’d say I was plenty weakened.

I felt around in my pockets until I came across the single vial of red that I brought with me as a precaution.

This was my only potion, and despite how badly my position was, I had decided to save this for the boss.

Plus, the reason why I didn’t purposely use this earlier, when my vision started fading, was that I didn’t know whether it would heal my eyesight in the first place.

I’m not going to waste such an important item on only “possibility”.

But it's not like it matters now.

This was a final stand.

The last assault.

The conclusion to this long drawn out battle.

With a solemn face, I drank the potion vigorously. Instantly I could feel some of my injuries already fading as my body started aching less.

By the end of it all, I had recovered ⅕ of my total hp. As expected, it wasn’t enough to recover my vision.

I sighed once, before I looked up again.

[Well… its not like it mattered.]

Even without my vision, I will surely live. The situation isn’t all that bad anyways. I will surely live, no, I will not die.

I won’t die.

I obviously won’t die.

With a roar, violence once again rioted throughout the dark room.

I heard the menacing, terribly loud noise of stomping paws as they drew nearer. This time around, I didn’t run away. I took a tentative step forward, and then another, then another, before I also sprinted forward, both hands holding Efhermet and a spare dagger respectively.

I’d already given up on the fancy battle plans and the other, rather pathetic, ways of survival I had implemented. I was tired of it all, and sometimes, you just feel like duking it out head on. That’s what I decided.

The monsters roared fiercely. And shortly after, since it was just a large to medium sized room and not a complete battlefield, the pack and I clashed.

My right hand remained outstretched, testing the waters. Right now I was still blind, and fighting in the dark. Necessary sacrifices needed to be made.

Almost in an instant, something chomped down on my hand, making me wince. Fortunately for me, that wince quickly turned into a smile.

I planted my foot hard on the ground as I stopped my forward momentum. I then proceeded to stab Efhermet into the cheek of the Wolf that currently bit my hand. With a yelp, its jaw loosened, but that wasn’t really my goal.

With my right hand free, and its mouth opened, I retracted the spare dagger for a brief moment, before I let it loose and rocketed it towards the beasts slack jawed mouth. It pierced the back of its throat, causing a subsequent gurgling sound to be let loose.

With both blades firmly against the wolf’s head, I propped the beast onto my own shoulder, before I let loose a well executed throw. Bringing the wolf over head I, like a judo practitioner, slammed it down besides the carpeted floor. The generated impact drove the spare dagger deeper into the throat of the beast.

Quickly, I yanked away the blades, before I set about my own attack. I placed one knee against its chest before I started my assault. I slashed out at its nose, throat, ears, and eyes Really, I aimed at only where its most vulnerable body parts were.

This overly complicated exchange lasted for about 3 seconds, enough time for another beast to approach.

As I heard the growling to my right, I quickly dismounted the now wailing wolf, before I moved forward. I ran recklessly while I held my blades outstretched. A moment later, they pierced a wolf’s chest cavity, and I attacked once more.

One, two, three….9 slashes. I desperately continued attacking before another wolf bit me in the shoulder.

[Damn, this mutt….]

With a grunt, I dislodged Efhermet away from the nearby wolf, and I stabbed at the head of the wolf currently biting me. After 5 or so stabs, mostly to its nose and eyes, it finally let go with a pained wail.

Unfortunately, another one bit down on my leg.

I stabbed at where its eye might be, only for my blade to glance of its cheek bone. Frustrated, I prepared to stab back down once more, before another wolf bit my right hand.

I winced through the pain as I repositioned the spare dagger in my hand so that the bladed edge faced my direction, before I fiercely yanked my arm back. The blade chipped and dislodged a row of its teeth, prompting the beast to let go.

I then quickly brought down both daggers onto the wolf that was biting my leg.

In this darkness, I could only hear the wailing screams, and feel the spurt of fresh blood as it covered my leg.

It finally let go after it died.

In this process, I had lost 20% of my hp.

Despite that, despite the fact that one of their own died, they immediately resumed their attack. But that was fine with me. No matter what they do, I won’t die.

I slashed out at a wolf who roared fiercely to my side.

I won’t die.

Two beasts lunged forward in unison. Their combined weight pushed me to the ground. They would have almost pinned me down, had I not rolled away in time. I then quickly retaliated with several frantic stabs at both their faces.

I won’t die.

As I continued stabbing, another wolf bit down on my shoulder. It bit my previously injured shoulder, causing me to wail in pain.

I won’t die.

I lodged my blades into its eye socket in retaliation. It wailed even louder than me.

I won’t die.

The Alpha’s sudden roar brought my attention, and my face turned desperately towards the noise.

I won’t die. Damnit I won’t die.

I sprinted forward, flailing my daggers at whatever nipped and prodded at me during my assault.

I could hear the Alpha howl once more as I drew nearer.

I won’t die. I won’t die. I won’t die. I won’t die. I won’t die. I won’t die. I won’t die.

“I WON’T DIE!”

My yell matched the Alpha’s own in every aspect of desperation and bravado.

My right hand stretched outward, as if in an attempt to stab at the beast.

Unfortunately, from my hand all the way up to my elbow, an even eerier darkness consumed it, and a jolt of pain rocketed my system.

I could feel the hot blood ooze out of my hand, as something, many somethings, pierced my arm.

The fucker bit me.

But that was fine. All within expected calculations. I wasn’t dead yet.

Luckily my arm wasn’t completely bitten off, rather, my hand was currently within the monster’s mouth.

Twisting the spare dagger inside its mouth, I repositioned it, before I stabbed down on its tongue. Not stopping there, I flailed my right hand around, activating [Dissect] in the process.

A little while later, its jaw opened loosely, as a river of new blood dripped out from its now severed tongue.

The Alpha spat out, and I heard the wet thump of its tongue as it hit the carpet; the gushing of blood followed.

Of course I didn’t stop there.

While it spat out its tongue, Efhermet proceeded to stab down at the side of its neck. The blade met resistance from its thick hide of fur, but I didn’t care. I placed more strength into the blade, forcing it to go deeper and deeper, gouging out an even worse injury.

The alpha attempted to howl, only for a gurgling sound to come forth.

It had already started bleeding. The blood congregated greatly in its slack jawed mouth.

I won’t die. No, rather, I’ll make sure this thing dies.

With my motive set, and my determination practically overflowing, I clambered on top of the Alpha’s back. Every step of my way, I stabbed Efhermet and the spare dagger haphazardly into the Monster’s back, riddling his body with numerous punctures and holes.

[I won’t fucking die!]

It gurgled desperately, as it clawed at me with its hands. I parried, blocked, and dodged. I did everything in order to stay aloft. I maintained this position since below me, a stream of angry, injured, and furious Werewolf Scouts waited. On its legs, the Alpha stood twice as tall as the rest of them, giving me enough leverage to be effectively out of their range.

The Alpha was rapidly losing blood, and, as it lost more and more, it became even more rattled and frantic.

Its arms now desperately groped and prodded at its back in a vain attempt to get at me. Unfortunately, I was quite agile. Like a pesky cockroach, I moved and avoided, until eventually, I reached the top of its head. I then proceeded to stab both my daggers down onto its ears.

With the new injury, another wave of gurgling resounded from the Alpha’s throat. Of course, I didn’t stop there either. Using the half severed ears as a sort of piloting system, I twisted and maneuvered them in order to warrant a range of actions from the Alpha.

Much like I did with my first minotaur encounter, by applying force into my yank, I was able to move the Alpha whichever way I wanted. And move it I did.

I twisted his earlobes, prompting him to move forward.

I had one goal. I wanted the Alpha to move where I felt the rush of cold air blast through as I heard the metallic tang of the howling tunnel.

Eventually I was able to successfully maneuver the Alpha directly under the ventilation opening from which I came from. Well, at least I think we were under it.

With this, I surely won’t die.

On unsteady, shaking feet, I slowly stood up on top of the Alpha’s back. This was a particularly difficult task to do, considering how shaky and unstable my footing was.

I looked up, hopefully, at what I expected to be the ceiling. Like before, all I saw was darkness, but in my mind’s eye, I pictured the rough, rusted, square like opening in the ceiling.

I was planning to jump. From this height, I could make the leap rather easily. What concerned me was the fact that I couldn’t see the opening. The only thing I could rely on was subsequently fresh air it blasted out, as well as the hollow howls of the shaft- well that and my own gut feeling.

This was an important gamble, one I was willing to make in order to crawl out of this canine hell hole.

Panting heavily, I crouched down, grasping firmly at the Alpha’s fur in order to steady myself.

Before I jumped though, I propped the spare dagger onto the small gap between the Alpha’s neck and the back of its head.

I placed my right foot on top of the hilt, careful not to add too much force or too little.

With that, I readied myself.

One…

The beast restlessly flailed, as it gurgled in anger.

Two…

The wolfpack below me was now furiously yapping away. I’m sure some had already started clambering on top of their boss in order to get to me.

Three…

[...I won’t die. At least… not today.]

With that final thought racing through my mind, I jumped up while I, simultaneously applied force onto my right leg.

The generated momentum drove the spare dagger deep into the Alpha’s neck. Unlike before, it only prompted a critical hit, which I was fine with, after all it would eventually die of blood loss. I made sure of that with the injury on its tongue.

In turn, I also propelled myself upwards. My hands outstretched, ready to receive whatever came closer, be it the ceiling or the opening.

With luck I would either survive, or fall back down into the endless darkness.

I could feel the rush of oxygen, as I instinctively took my first breath of oxygenated air.

I could hear the metallic echo as my head passed through the opening.

I could feel the rusty scrape of metal as my hand grabbed and held tightly onto the ventilation shaft’s surface.

….

…

For a moment, my feet dangled in mid air. A feeling of relief quickly washed over me, but I buried that down as I began climbing up into the shafts.

Once I was safely within, I sighed, and for a moment, I just laid there motionless, my head touching the cool metallic surface of the ducts.

Fresh air whirled around me.

The Co2 hadn’t collected enough to reach the top of the ceiling yet, so oxygenated air still circulated. I monopolized on this opportunity as I took greedy gulps of air.

I knew that, eventually, I would have to crawl my way out of the shafts, but for now, I just laid here.

I ignored the angry howls below me, the uncomfortable aching throbbing at the back of my head, even the fact that I had started to lose feeling in my right arm.

I ignored all that and just sat idle.

I enjoyed this brief moment of victory.

****

After the following poll last chapter, it seems like the majority of reader's are fine w/ the current length of the fight scenes. Although, I will strive to improve, maybe shortening the fights, to the extent where I remove any unnecessary excessive detail, but still keep it as detail filled as in the past. Like a mix of both worlds you know.

Anyways, Follow, favorite, rate and review if you like this my fic in general.