Neo's whole body became stiff like a rock and his blood turned cold. All the color on his face vanished while icy drops of sweat rolled down his skin one by one when he spotted the dreadful creature beside him.
Withered skin akin to ash, two pairs of bony limbs from which the forelimbs represented a pair of long wings while the hindlimbs were small legs, both ending in with sharp claws.
The head, which seemed to rest on no neck at all, possessed three pairs of eyes, none of them having any pupils or color, only whiteness, and a pair of large ears that moved and twitched from time to time.
Moreover, Neo could easily see, and especially hear, how that horror clattered its razor-sharp teeth against each other, creating a sharp and hair-curling sound within the cave.
The beast looked like a bat with the physique and size of a monkey. It looked both terrifying and menacing, so much so that Neo felt he had no chance of surviving if that thing decided to attack him.
Luckily, however, it seemed the dreadful demon was blind, hence why it had yet to claim his life.
For now, he was safe.
And no, Neo didn't believe even for a second that it was just a hallucination, a trick of his mind. Although he was sometimes crazy and there were things he couldn't understand, such as his current situation, he knew with certainty that everything happening at the moment was real.
After all, the piercing pain throughout his whole body, his cut and wounded left eye, and the several smaller things he was feeling right now were just too existent to be mistaken.
'But still... This is just ridiculous! There is no way I can kill that damned thing!'
That was a monster in real flesh, a cursed embodiment of a nightmare, for god's sake!
There was no way in all existent hell he could kill that abomination, not even if all his wounds would miraculously heal all of a sudden. There was just no chance he could do it!
'Perhaps, if I remain still it will just go away... Right?'
However, that hope of his was shattered like a piece of fragile glass in the very next second.
[Warning! You have been assigned to complete a Special Legacy Quest!]
Whoosh!
_________________
[Legacy Quest]
• Type: Special
• Quest Description: Kill the Infected Beast!
• Time Limit: 5 minutes
• Rewards: 100 System Points & 2 Ordinary Items
_________________
'THE HELL!?!'
Neo almost screamed out loud when he saw the flickering panel in his line of sight, his face full of disbelief and confusion.
So this system or whatever truly existed just like the creature beside him and was not a hallucination either. Although it was a little bit unsettling how and why he gained this "Legacy System", he knew this was not the time to think about things like this.
If what that system was saying was actually true and he does die if he fails to complete the Quest, despite not knowing how, he had to do whatever he had to complete it!
...Even though it was the last thing he wanted to do now that he figured out that he was still alive!
'Curse it all! And how exactly do you expect me to kill that fiend?'
Neo clenched his teeth, trying to think of ways to get rid of that demon. Then, suddenly, he remember something and slowly turned his head to the other side and lowered his gaze.
And not even a second later, his eyes lit up with excitement.
'My savior!'
Right next to him, just a few inches away from his hand, a pocket knife covered in a layer of dried blood lay silently. A small but sharp weapon which probably was his only hope to kill the monster on his side!
'Though, can I really use it fast enough to kill that thing?'
The answer was probably, no, he couldn't. After all, the beast was not only about two meters away from him but was also very likely faster than him. If he moved to grab the knife or would definitely strike him faster than he could.
Thinking about this Neo frowned, shifted his attention back to the beast silently, and pondered.
[Time: 4 minutes and 46 seconds left!]
'What to do, what to do...'
"Why don't you lure it closer? Once it gets close enough you can easily deliver a fatal blow, either splitting its throat or piercing its skull. Though, if I were you, I would do the latter. It's safer."
Upon hearing Zen's suggestion Neo's frown deepened.
'Lure it closer? How?'
"What do you think? With sound, of course."
'Eh? Have you gone crazy? That's dangerous! What if it decides to plunge itself on me right away if I do that?'
"If that happens, you can only pray for a swift and painless death."
'...'
"What? Do you think you have any other choice?"
'I...'
Neo felt flustered, almost on the verge of crying though, when he saw how he now only had a little over 4 minutes to complete the Quest he clenched his teeth and slowly extended his left hand to the knife.
Once his fingers were around its handle, both carefully and without any sound he raised it above his chest, gripping it tightly.
'...Let's do this.'
Calming his wildly beating heart down a bit and trying to gain control over his trembling hand, Neo looked at the demon beside him and...
'Huh? Wait, wh-!?'
Swish!
Just as Neo wished to whistle softly at the beast, suddenly his pupils shrunk, and even before he had any chance to react something flashed in his line of sight and a sharp pain pierced his right eye!
"Arghghh!!!"
At that very moment, everything around Neo turned to pitch dark, pain, just as unbearable as the one he felt before losing his senses and appearing here, assaulting his other eye while the sound of something akin to wings flapping started to fill the space around him.
Unknown how, but it seemed the beast was well aware he was there all this time, and only now did it decide to strike... Just before he could.
"Aurgh! M-My eye! I... I can't see!"
Crying out loud with pain and anguish, Neo writhed on the ground in agony, just a second before his body froze stiff as a sharp pain pierced his right leg.
That damned nightmare was biting into him and was hungrily attempting to tear out pieces of flesh from his thigh!
"Urgh! Stop it! Stop biting me already if I say so!"
Ignoring the pain in his body, Neo yelled and moved subconsciously, swinging the knife in his hand where he felt the beast was and pierced its body.
"SCREECH!!!"
An almost earsplitting cry reverberated the following second, sending a tiny bit of delight through Neo's hurt body. However, that feeling of joy didn't last long as even though the beast was pierced by a knife, it was far from enough to kill it!
No, as a fact, it just made the demon even more furious and from the way it was starting to flap its wings, Neo understood it was ready to fly away to strike him once again from the air!
...If that happened, his chances to kill the creature, with both of his eyes wounded, will instantly become 0!
"I can't let that happen!"
Clenching his teeth and forcing himself to ignore all the pain in his body as well as pushing the fear in his heart back, Neo moved his other hand and grabbed the beast, one of its limbs to be more precise.
As to which limb, considering from the touch that it was small and boney, Neo would guess it was one of the horror's legs!
'I did it! I caught it!'
Neo yelled with joy in his heart, however, his joy quickly turned into anxiety when he felt the force with which the beast was trying to fly away.
It was very apparent that only a few seconds were needed before the fiend succeeded in escaping his grasp.
"No, you won't!"
Neo gripped the fiend's leg harder and pouring all of his strength into his arm, he yanked the cursed thing downward while also swinging his other hand, cleanly stabbing the knife into its body for the second time!
Squelch!
"SCREEEEECH!!!"
Feeling something hot splattering on his face, probably the beast's blood, Neo groaned with disgust, pulled the knife out, and stabbed the horror again.
Then again.
And again...
"Die! Die! Die already!!"
At first, the fiend tried to get free and flee using its sharp claws, however, as Neo completely ignored its onslaughts and continued to stab it mercilessly, the beast had no other chance but to...
Succumb to its fate and die a miserable death.