'I suggest the owner to go to Ligi.'
'What?!?! Go to that devil? Are you kidding?!'
'........'
The system stayed silent and ignored Bang's righteous indignation. He ran even further from the demon, fearing that the system would take over his body and present it to the demon.
The ground started to shake, the soil started to loosen, and everyone stopped running. Some members lost their balance and fell on the ground face first. Lobo fell on the ground after tripping on a stone, too focused on looking at the holy grail.
His head faced the ground with sweat pouring down his face. His face knitted, frustrated at the fact that his line of sight was away from the holy grail. It was like a void deep in his heart. Just looking at the holy grail filled his whole body with joy and ecstasy.
He pushed himself back, wanting to look at the holy grail as soon as possible. Just as his chest left the ground, he felt a force pulling him towards the ground. He looked down only to see a dehydrated hand with only skin and bones. The skin had an abnormal blueish black hue.
Stunned at the sudden macabre hand grasping at his shirt with such force that his shirt had torn apart, his instincts took over as his blade sliced the hand. He quickly got up and backed away from the bloodless stump in the ground.
He heard a scream from his left only to see the same creepy hand grasping at the neck of his comrade. Without hesitation, he rushed over to his comrade and separated the hand clawing in his neck.
The ground was suddenly filled with hands protruding from the ground. He positioned himself in front of his fellow members and displayed his blade.
"Gather to your positions!"
The steadfast voice of their leader gave them instructions when they needed it the most. In the darkest of their times, their leader will always be there to be the light. When things get too complicated, their leader is always there to keep them grounded.
They performed the positions they practiced countless times before. They were sloppy, slow, and messy in comparison to their performance in their practice but that is to be expected when things don't go as planned.
Gotang stood at the front, keeping his focus on the hands that were slowly showing themselves from the ground. At this point, the shoulders were now showing. It used its hands and dug itself out from the ground showing its repulsive face.
What came out was faces mutilated with parts of their jaws showing. Some had open brains missing their skulls and some were dismembered with all their limbs. They did not bleed red blood but released black goo from their orifices.
Lobo reapplied green liquid to his sword caressing the edge, ready to cut up whatever monster it encounters. He rushed to the humanoid monster closest to him and raised his sword as it gleamed in the dim light.
"Wait stop!"
Lobo heard a warning sound from one of his members. He looked around, wary of any crisis that warranted a warning from his members. He locked eyes with the humanoid monster only to be speechless at the sight. This face was familiar to him.
The humanoid monster came up to Lobo and opened its jaws, ready to take a bite out of Lobo. He couldn't react. This face was someone he knew; it was someone he spent most of his life with. This was his comrade who joined in the conquest for the holy grail. This was the man who he trusted with his life and most importantly, this was his friend.
He was supposed to be dead, consumed by the earth but here he was. The smiling face of his friend was superpositioned to the monstrosity he was seeing right now. It made him lower his guard. The humanoid monster closed its jaws with Lobo's arm inside, emotionless.
Gotang pulled Lobo away from the bite just in the nick of time. Lobo was thrown on the ground laying on his back, still stunned from the sudden influx of nostalgia. He couldn't imagine his friend doing him harm, not now or ever. He laid there with his jaws wide open, speechless.
Gotang recognized him. He wasn't an integral part of the group but he was a member. Any member they have in their group is considered family for him and vice versa. He knitted his eyebrows and raised his sword, slashing the humanoid monster without hesitation.
The other members didn't move. Although they knew that their fallen comrades were dead, they didn't think that they could kill the monsters without feeling hesitation.
"What are you doing? These aren't your comrades, they're dead. They wouldn't want their bodies desecrated by the fact that they harmed any of us. I'm not gonna let that happen."
Their leader assured them of their purpose. They are here right now for the holy grail, the same with their fallen comrades. If they become the reason that they fail, their spirits wouldn't be content.
They demonstrated their love and respect to their fallen comrades by butchering these humanoid monsters. It seemed endless as more and more came out of the ground.
Bang saw these humanoid monsters and thought of only one thing, zombies. The fog and the dim lighting only served to intensify the gloomy situation.
Bang heard flapping wings, feeling the cold air touch his neck. His hairs immediately stood on end as he remembered their primary concern in this situation. He turned around and saw the demon floating in the air with an ominous deadpan face.
His system gave him an instruction and spoke, happy that it wasn't an instruction to go to the demon.
"Ligi wake up!"
Bang shouted to the best of his lungs. The demon was high up in the air and looked directly at him. He flinched, regretting the fact that he gathered the demon's attention. In gaming terms, he has the 'aggro' but he has absolutely no defenses necessary to tank the damages.
Gotang was busy dealing with the zombies but hearing Bang shout, he remembered the demon. He turned around and shouted to his members.
"You guys deal with this."
He rushed to the front and faced the demon. He looked up and saw the demon shake his head and then smiled, giving him an eery feeling.
"HA....HA.....HA.....Ligi's no...longer here..."
A low grumbling voice spoke out with a quiet voice yet it reached straight deep into their hearts like he was speaking directly at them.
"Fluid security."
Gotang spoke under his breath and activated his skill, knowing that it was off cooldown. Violet liquid surrounded him and formed the same armor he wore when he fought the oni. It exuded strength and vitality which caught the attention of the demon.
"Hoh.....a.....skill....too bad...its just....mere....replication."
The demon then looked up in the sky and spoke with a low grumbling voice.
"Let....me....show...you....the...real....thing."
Black sludge started to flow out from its chest. It flowed directly into its forearm and its hands.
"falcatae quoque mortuo."
Bang heard the demon speak a different language. It was strangely familiar but he didn't know where he heard it.
The black sludge then piled up on itself and created a large cylinder that became a handle. More sludge came out and created a large arching blade on the top of the handle, creating a large scythe.
The demon descended to the ground and everything surrounded it started to decay. The grasses lost their vigor and crumbled into dust as the wind blew by. The damp ground started to lose its moisture and cracks started to propagate in the ground.
Gotang gulped. This was an unknown being with an unknown power. He knew that this would be a fight to the death, his death. If he had his ultimate, he would have stood a fighting chance but even then he didn't like his chances. He gripped his violet sword tight and prepared for a bloodbath.
The demon flew across the ground, unhurried, towards Gotang and raised its black scythe. It sliced towards Gotang, leaving black sludge in the air and shooting off a thin liquid of black sludge.
Gotang dodged to the right, surprised by the fact that its attack was slow enough for him to dodge. It attacked again, this time closing in on Gotang with its black scythe. All this time, it had its eyes on Gotang and attacking him with slow attacks.
"Ha...ha....ha....."
The demon laughed and turned its head towards Lobo who had his back to the demon, occupied with the zombies. It raised its scythe and shot off the same thin black sludge. Gotang looked towards Lobo and constricted all the muscles on his legs rushing towards Lobo to intercept the black sludge.
Before he could intercept the attack, he felt another movement from the demon. It raised its scythe and attacked Gotang but this time, the sludge had more velocity. The two attacks would reach Gotang and Lobo at the same time.
"Ha....ha...ha...choose.....wisely..."