Surgit entered the church and saw the beast running towards him. He decided to buy some time and used the pillars as cover, in order to force the beast to chase after him and close the distance. He felt more comfortable knowing that their fighting distance would be close. He assumed that he could read better through its attacks that way.

In no time, the beast was right in front of Surgit. They were on the east aisle. The beast had long arms and sharp claws. Surgit knew that its putrid breath was in fact due to its poisonous nature. He wasn’t willing to get hit by the monster and taste an agonizing death once more.

The beast’s claws came close to Surgit’s body several times. He managed to barely dodge the flurry of attacks that were coming at him. For a short time, he thought that he had a way of winning against this one. The attacks weren’t hard to read, and although their speed and strength were dangerous, he could dodge them.

The beast suddenly jumped back, realizing that its attacks were inefficient. It opened its arms again and Surgit knew what was coming, he instantly rolled to the right as the beast appeared on the spot he was in seconds ago, hugging the air. Its attacks were fast and dangerous indeed.

Surgit looked back towards the beast and saw only pillars. It disappeared from his line of sight, despite being four times bigger than any werewolf. He felt claws ripping through his back as he was propelled forward from the impact. He landed face first and tasted dirt and blood.

He rolled forward and faced the direction from which the attack came. The beast was standing licking the blood from its claws. It was starving indeed, and it was his blood it needed. Surgit quickly injected himself with a blood vial, alleviating the pain he felt. He then ran towards the beast that was still licking blood from its hand, and waiting patiently for its prey to get closer.

As he got within range of attack, its hand slammed the floor. Surgit dodged to the right and kept running towards his enemy. The other hand came towards him in a stabbing motion and Surgit jumped and landed on top of its arm. He used the extended limb as a ground to elevate himself more and jumped at its head.

He grabbed his cleaver in both hands and drove his weapon down towards the beast head. Sparkles flew around as he hit a concrete part of the church’s floor. The beast had jumped back and avoided his attack. Surgit looked up to see the beast running his way, ‘don’t blink, don’t blink!’ he kept repeating in his mind as his enemy got closer and closer.

Surgit saw an arm swinging his way and dodged to the side in order to avoid it, keeping his feet firm on the ground. He was waiting for his opponent to get closer and within range of attack. The second swing from the other arm came at him almost instantly.

He dodged it too but didn’t see the stabbing motion the previous arm had performed. He managed to avoid it in the nick of time as the beast’s sharp claws tore through his leather garb but left his body unscathed.

That soon changed as Surgit had diverted his eyes from his enemy for a second, which was enough to be punished for. A slamming attack smashed him to the ground so hard that his body bounced off the concrete.

As blood rushed out of his ears and mouth, and he was propelled into the air by the impact of the slam he had just received, Surgit felt an uppercut tear through his abdomen propelling him even higher.

He wished he could lose consciousness and wake up again next to the lamp but the suffering was far from over. As gravity pulled him back towards the ground, the beast was prepared, assembling its claws together in a pyramidal shape. He felt his spine breaking and his flesh being torn apart as the beast’s arms went through his body. He was skewered thanks to gravity’s help and his previous distraction. The beast threw him against a pillar and started licking the blood out of its arms. He remained down there, unmoving.

‘Well, that was humiliating.’ Surgit sat down next to the lamp, thinking back on his previous fight. He needed to know what went wrong and he needed to figure out any sign of weaknesses that he could’ve spotted.

The beast was fast and relentless. It was aggressive and it didn’t give him the slightest opportunity to observe and buy time until he could see an opening. The good challenge he craved for turned into a headache. He thought that he could enjoy a hard fight. He realized though that he enjoyed coming out victorious, not spending too much time trying to figure out a way to fell a monster that no human could ever hope to defeat.

He stood up and headed towards his new nemesis. He knew that the only way to win the fight was to engage it over and over again until he could find a way, a dim clue as to how to deal with that annoying abomination.

He was back again at the vast field that preceded the old church where the blood starved beast apparently resided. He noticed something he hadn’t paid much attention to however, and it concerned the bell ringing sound he was hearing all around.

The sound was similar to the whispers he heard whenever he inspected an item with insight. The sound then, must be inside his head and it activated whenever he came to this place specifically. He didn’t want to think about it more than necessary however as he had a beast to kill and he had to figure out a way to do so.

He got inside the church and was welcomed with his opponent. The flayed flesh that dangled on top of its head made it look even more hideous. And the screeching sounds it made that were apparently its screams were not only frightening but enough to freeze one’s blood in one’s veins.

Surgit advanced towards the monster and recited in his head his plan of attack. He knew that if he managed to strike first, he would have a slight advantage at reading through some of the attacks of the beast. ‘No one can have an endless attack pattern, not even a beast. It swings and stabs and it alternates between the two. Don’t forget about its speed and its grab attack!’

So he ran, he dodged the first barrage of fast swings and avoided the sharp claws. He ducked under a stabbing arm, which put him in a runner’s pose, before they propelled themselves for the race. He jumped towards the beast’s chest in full speed and slashed at it with his cleaver in an upward motion.

The monster’s flesh was cut open and purple blood splashed against Surgit’s chest. ‘First successful hi-‘with a back hand, the beast placated Surgit against a pillar. He struggled to remain conscious and grabbed with his arms, which bended backwards, against the pillar. He put his feet on the pillar and jumped high, landing behind the beast. He got a good start and he wasn’t willing to lose his advantage, even if he was in extreme pain. This time around, he was slightly faster than his opponent. He landed another hit at its back, injuring it once more before it could turn around and retaliate.

Two more missed swings and the beast jumped backwards. Creating a distance between the two of them was its advantage and it knew it. Surgit was prepared though and ran after the beast in order to close the recently created distance. He found himself in front of the beast’s hideous face and it tried to bite him.

He avoided the attack at the last minute by jumping backwards. ‘I shouldn’t have done that’ was the thought that crossed his mind before he received a hard punch to the chest that made him spit blood and fall to his knees. The beast slammed both its arms at Surgit in an attempt to crush him down. He rolled to the side and stood up. He quickly injected himself with a blood vial and ran towards the beast.

He found himself running towards empty space however as it teleported again behind him and punched him in the back, sending him face first towards the ground. As he tasted dirt and blood, he felt the beast’s claws holding him down from the head and pushing his skull against the floor. It was as if the beast was trying to squash his brain and end him there and then. Surgit took out his gun and aimed blindly at his violent oppressor. Click! Click! ‘Oh man! I forgot to get more bullets…’ was his last thought before his head exploded under pressure.