Chapter 33- Origin (Part 2)
The thing that the monster spat out was a disgusting, half-eaten human head that had saliva mixed with blood covering it, half of the skull was gone and the other half was cracked and crushed making the head look like a deflated balloon. Looking at the eyes of the dead human, they were widened to the extreme, horrified, clueless as to how his death came in such a manner.
'This is one of the prisoners that came here with me.' Akio recognized the man and could only click his tongue at the displeasing sight. His eyes immediately shifted to the abomination that was looking at them from the darkness.
"Hahahah! Finally, a strong fellow that can rile me up!! Lucky me!" Keth shouted as he punched the palm of his hand, grinning widely like a maniac.
"If you want a quick death then go fight it." Akio suddenly said as he picked up his sword from the ground and stared coldly ahead of him.
"What do you mean, brat?" Keth asked.
"Look around you…"
"Hm?"
Instinctively, his gaze shifted to his surroundings, and that's when he understood what Akio meant by that. Other than the huge monster hiding in the darkness, there were numerous other smaller creatures lurking in the area. These creatures were surprisingly the Lizardmen that they had been killing for the past hours. However, the difference is their overwhelming numbers.
What's even worse is that in this army of Lizards were even Lizard Knights that stared at them menacingly. Akio quickly realized that these two things were even stronger than anything he had faced. Each and every one of them was approaching them slowly, closing the distance in a union like an actual army.
'This is really bad. We are completely surrounded and that thing is most likely their leader.' He kept his calm as his hand tightened on the Blood Eye Odachi.
The situation was deadly if not outright impossible. Well, if Akio was alone then that would've been the case but since there were two other people with him, their chances were now a little bit higher than zero.
"Damn, three vs one hundred? That seems fair enough to me! Hahahahah!!" Keth, in his most casual tone, laughed at the absurd fight they were about to engage in.
"W-What do you mean fair?! We are gonna get eaten alive!" Toru intercepted with a hesitant look on his face.
"Fuuh, I think if we want to survive, we have to work together." Akio voiced out his idea.
"Y-Yes! As Akio said! We must help each other."
"Heh? Work together?! Help each other?! What nonsense! Just don't fucking step in my way, brats!"
Then, without hesitation, Keth rushed ahead like a maniac, not caring for the fact that he will face a whole army of monsters.
The smaller Lizardmen stepped up and blew their tongues out, aiming for him. If it was one tongue then the matter wouldn't be that hard, however, when that number is multiplied by 20 then the toughest of people would still find trouble in dealing with them. Well, that was what Akio assumed at first until he saw what Keth did0
Stretching his arms, he grabbed the tongues as if they were small pebbles thrown at him.
"Gotcha'! HA!!!" Yelling, he pulled the tongues powerfully, tearing them up as if they were pieces of paper.
Rivers of blood splurted out of the lizardmen as they fell one after the other.
"HAHAHAHAH!! Approach me, bastards!" Laughing on top of the dead corpses of his enemies, Keth looked like a demon of the battlefield.
As for Akio, he looked in another direction and pointed his sword there.
"I will take that direction. You take another one." He said to Toru before he blasted off like a whirlwind.
"H-Huh?! Wait! Don't leave me here like this!!" The young man yelled. But, his screams fell on deaf ears.
'Let's see how my sword will do.'
This was the first time he will use his red sword to its full extent in a tough battle.
Brandishing the Blood Eye Odachi, Akio reached the swarms of monsters.
*Swish*
Swinging powerfully, the sword sliced through numerous monsters, cutting their heads and limbs as if they were nothing.
[You have killed a level 4 Lizardman.]
[You have…]
[You have…]
[...]
[...]
[You have leveled up from level 8 to level 9.]
[You have acquired 2 points to allocate freely.]
[You have leveled…]
[You have acquired…]
[You have leveled…]
[You have acquired…]
.
.
.
A long series of notifications appeared in Akio's vision one after the other. But, he ignored them all and swung his sword again as he ducked down to avoid many tongues aiming for him. Even though he knew that with his strength which was now over three times that of a normal human, he can tank their hits but he didn't want to unnecessarily get hurt. This was mainly a fight of endurance rather than pure, raw strength after all.
With the second swing, countless more lizards fell down and succumbed to their gruesome fate. The notifications kept dinging in his head like a ringing bell that can't stop. Along with each kill, Akio noticed that he leveled up again and again. His Evolver stigma was being used to its full potential at the moment, making Akio get great benefits from each kill. The amount of Holem essence he was consuming far exceeded anyone else and so his leveling-up speed reached a ridiculous point.
'I'm crowded!' Clenching his teeth, Akio sped up his swinging as he killed more and more Lizardmen. Their numbers were ever-increasing no matter how many Akio kills.
On the other side, Keth was crushing and breaking every monster he came across. The sound of bones and necks cracking filled the place. He was akin to a bulldozer destroying everything that stood in front of it, never stopping for a second.
"HAAAAAAAH!!!" Roaring like an outraged beast, his aura became even stronger than before, and along with it, his speed, strength, and stamina increased. Even though none noticed it but Keth had unleashed his stigma.
As for Toru, he was surprisingly standing his ground as he used his short sword to efficiently end the lives of his enemies. From an outsider's point of view, the trio looked like three monsters erasing a huge number of enemies. Each one of them had his unique powers and weaknesses yet they were unstoppable by the Lizardmen… Until that eventually happened.
'Tsk, they are here!' Akio cursed as he stabbed one Lizardman that tried to sneak behind him. Then, he stared at the first strong enemy he will face.
One of the Lizard Knights reached Akio and attacked him mercilessly, ignoring even its kin that could end up getting hit by the same attack.
*BANG*
Jumping back, Akio avoided the attack quite easily before he quickly dashed toward the monster. His aim was to slice both of its legs and make it fall down before finishing it off swiftly. However, if it was only a 1v1 between the two of them, it would've been easy.
'Tsk, I can't approach it! The Lizards are accumulating again!'
Seeing the problem, Akio could only refocus on the smaller enemies again. He needed to cut down their numbers more for him to find a good opportunity.
It was easier done.
His sword moved quickly, slashing everywhere around him. That's when he found himself in trouble.
'Shit!'
The Lizard knight blew another tongue attack that Akio found himself incapable of dodging. The tight space he was in didn't allow him to move much.
*Cling* *BANG*
Using the sword as his last resort, he crossed it in front of him in the form of a shield. When the hit connected, Akio felt his arms shudder and his whole being arc back as if he was hit by a moving train.
The muscles on his legs tried to absorb the hit but could only hold on for a few seconds before Akio was blasted away.
"Tsk, this is annoying!" Cursing, Akio fell down roughly on the ground before he stood up again.
"Whassup, brat?! Got your ass beaten this quickly?! Hahahaha!"
"Ptuh, shut up!" Spitting out, Akio glared at the creature.
"I will show what I can do…"
At that moment, Akio's fighting spirit rose to a new height. This fight had suddenly turned personal after hearing Keth's mockery.
'Death Paths…' His eyes became a deeper shade of red.
(A//N: Thank you everyone for supporting the book with power stones, golden tickets, and comments. I'm deeply grateful. Let's all keep it up :) )