Chereads / The Looming Death / Chapter 18 - Shadow of death

Chapter 18 - Shadow of death

The monster still towered all alone, in the middle of the giant cave. Blocking the only way for the adventurer's group, to the injured Arsh on the ground. 

Amanda and Elsa fidgeted in their place, terrified by the monster in front of them. But, they didn't back away, instead, they started chanting spells, doing everything in their power to attack the giant monster. 

The 6 eyed beast looked rather bored, by their constant barrage of spells on his body. It didn't even put a scratch on its monumental body. Panicked, Leo grabbed Elsa, trying to keep her close to him, away from the giant monster.

The monster didn't even blink once after everything was said and done. Its eyes followed both Elsa and Leo to the back, unamused. The monster let out a sigh of disappointment, before yawning again.

The Millenium snorted, and leaped forward to them, sweeping his whole claws through the massive cave. The beast was bored, and wanted to end the farce of the fight.

Leo held Elsa's tiny body in his grip, every bit of hope leaving his body. He knew there was no way for any adventurer to stop an attack of that magnitude. 

Instead, he stood straight holding Elsa tightly in a hug. Waiting for the inevitable end, to come and take them. 

But, the claw never came for them, even after some seconds had passed. Confused by the sudden sound, Leo looked back at the towering, terrifying, three-headed Millenium again. But, this time everything was different.

".....Alan?"

He looked at his old friend, blocking the whole claw of the monster easily with his tar-black sword. 

He didn't know much about the madman named Alan. Before stumbling on the half dead Arsh in the forest.

But, After their sudden, uncharacterized meeting in the forest. They became regular acquaintances. 

Meeting him nearly every day, became a normal occurrence for Leo. Mostly due to the fact, he beat Arsh half to death, then dragged him to Leo for healing. 

Leo never knew what kind of person Alan was before. Even though he was quite popular throughout the town. Nobody was aware of his origins or nature. Alan was always a kind of mysterious figure.

Looking at the black shadow-cladded man, Leo came to know why that exactly was.

"Oh My! You look very bored. Care to play with me?"

Alan blocked the monster's claw, rendering it completely useless. The monster jumped backward, fear appearing in all six of its eyes. 

"Oh My! Oh My! Don't be so afraid. I didn't even start dissecting you"

Alan juggled his sword in the air, slowly moving toward the Millennium again. Leo looked at Alan's back, trying to scream, telling him to run away. Before, he was in the same position in Arsh.

But, before the words can leave his mouth. Something changed drastically. That was the demeanor of the six-headed beast.

Gone was its arrogant smirk, and bored expression. Completely replaced into something akin to true fear. 

Alan smiled, disappearing from its place, leaving no trace whatsoever of his body. Arsh smiled looking at the frightened monster. He knew what this spell was going to do, to the said monster.

A black sword came forward out of thin air, slightly above the monster's middle face with an unfathomable speed.

Surprised, the beast roared yet again, activating its magic spell. 

The gust of wind blew inside the cave, mostly centered around, where the black sword appeared before.

Alan's body came into view at the same moment, his expression sullen and bored. He stood still in the same place deadpan, completely unaffected by the wind spell. 

"....Are you even trying, little puppy?"

Alan tilted his head toward the three-headed monster. The monster's all three faces contorted in anger, he most likely had an understanding of what Alan was talking about.

Giving Alan a hateful look, the monster jumped toward him to attack straight. Alan backed away a little, before swinging his black sword from a little distance, in the direction of the monster.

The sword was enveloped inside a black flame, covering it inside out. The full menacing form of Arsh's tiny black fire. 

Alan released black flames by swinging his sword, in the shape of an arc, directly to the face of the three-headed monster. 

The monster dodged it by jumping aside, followed by dashing forward at Alan.

"Oh! You want to fight face-to-face now. Fine by me, Lil puppy"

The Millennium attacked him with its razor-sharp claws, swinging it horizontally. Trying to tear him to shreds, the same way it did to Arsh. 

But, Alan dodged it simply, sidestepping a little. That much speed meant very little to him.

Arsh was looking at the spectacle in front of him, his mouth hanging open. He knew Alan was strong. But never, even in his wildest dream, he considered the possibility of him being this strong.

To the point where killing a millennium was a mere joke to him. It was clear from the very start. Alan was just playing with the monster due to his sadistic tendencies. If he wanted, the fight would have ended in no more than a minute.

".....Yeah, my dear monster friend. He did the same to me on a daily basis, for almost a year. The only difference is, he is going to kill you for real, unlike me. I just hope you don't meet someone like him, even in your afterlife. "

Arsh hummed to himself, sympathizing with the losing monster.

Alan moved to the giant monster's middle face, cutting it down into 2 half pieces.

THUNK

The monster's giant flesh fell directly to the ground, followed by the river of blood gushing out from his face. 

The monster's body resounded, as it fell to the ground, howling in pain. It was still very much alive, even after losing a head. 

The monster started swinging its claws in every direction, trying to defend himself from the man in black shadow. The last straw that it can grab.

But, of course, it was of no use.

Alan moved again, cutting down all four of the monster's limbs with a bored expression on his face. He just wanted to end this now.

He slowly stepped in front of the other heads of the monster. Giving it an indifferent look. Before adding on-

"Sleep Well"

Alan slid his black sword, burning with black flames, down into the skull of the giant monster. 

The monster's body lit up in black flames, burning it down to ash in just a few seconds.

"Ohh! Hey kid, I found one of your daggers here. It is completely chipped, though"

Arsh stood up from the ground, partially healed from the spell Alan just chanted for him. Arsh snatched his dagger back from Alan's hand, turning towards the other members of the party.

Arsh gestured for Alan to follow him, moving towards the still-trembling companions. 

Arsh was confused himself, as to why was that.

"It's okay guys. The monster is already dead. By the way, this guy's name is Ala-"

The moment Arsh pointed his finger at his mentor. The adventurers took a fighting formation, their weapons pointing toward both Arsh and Alan. 

Elsa and Leo looked around, confused by the sudden actions of the adventurers. Arsh was equally confused. He was pretty sure he was on good terms with them before. He just can't put his finger, on why they suddenly chose to betray him.

"Arsh. Are you in allegiance with the Shadow of death?" 

Ethan asked, his voice trembling slightly. The other party members looked at Arsh, with a confused gaze at first. But, it soon changed into an expression of pure terror, upon hearing the name.

"...Who?"

Arsh asked, confused by the whole matter. How he was supposed to know about some guy, with a tacky ass name.

"You don't know about the Shadow of death? The most fearsome assassin of the southern continent."

Ethan spat, slipping between his words slightly. He seemed genuinely terrified by Alan. He pointed slightly at Alan, with his trembling eyes.

"He is a cold-blooded murderer. A fugitive from the south has already killed more than thousands of people. He has the second highest bounty in history, for his heinous crimes"

Ethan explained, still looking at Arsh with trembling eyes.

"Stop it, you. I'll blush"

Alan waved a hand at Ethan, covering his face with the other. Leo looked completely shocked by the sudden revelation, staring intently at Alan's face.

While the others shifted back a little with fear, still loosely standing in the fighting formation.

But, the most surprised one was Arsh. He never had imagined his mentor was the so-called- 'Shadow of death'

Arsh looked at Alan squint-eyed, trying to make eye contact with his potentially crazy mentor. 

The moment their eyes met, Arsh's face broke into a frown. Straddling, both the adventurers and Alan alike.

"....."

"....``The shadow of death''. Seriously?"

Just his source of the problem was something else entirely. …..He might be the crazy one instead.