Christopher was running through the darkness, his hurried steps raising the dirty water from the place as he ran at high speed towards the light of the exit while thinking.
"I have to do something, I have to fight."
But his thoughts were interrupted by a distorted roar that suddenly appeared on his left, when he turned around, the blonde saw a black figure heading towards him with the mouth of his trunk open and going at full speed.
The creature's form was hideous and misshapen, even in the midst of the darkness it was possible to see its grotesque form with ribbons appearing chaotically from its back as it extended its hands with sharp claws towards the blonde's face.
Seeing that the creature would approach the blonde thought.
"Shit, why right now? [Activation]!"
The yellow glow appeared in Christopher's eyes as the sharp claws approached his face while the creature's mouth seemed to open as it approached, making even its teeth protrude grotesquely.
The creature continued to approach the blonde who in a desperate attempt tried to protect his body with his arms, seeing only the creature's claws approach to hurt him.
But in an instant when he was about to be hit by the creature, he saw a beam of orange energy appear amidst all the darkness beside the creature's face, in a blink of an eye it was possible to see that it was Arthur's sword bathed in high-speed aura being fired at the monster.
Before the monster noticed he was hit squarely and had his face pierced by the blade, deflecting his attack from the blonde being dragged by the power of the blow.
The monster snarled and screamed from the torso as it was pushed to the wall by the blade, where it was nailed with the sword running through its face.
Christopher's eyes widened with the image as he saw Arthur being illuminated by the little light that entered the cave, his posture was throwing and he was panting and his eyes were still glowing in the orange hue that gradually faded as his body gave way, falling to his knees on the floor still panting.
The swordsman felt the effort weighing on his entire body, added to the blows he had previously taken from the creature that continued to growl on the wall.
Seeing the situation, the blonde ran and spoke.
"Arth!"
But soon he was interrupted by the monster's growl becoming louder and more aggressive, amidst the darkness the bizarre sounds of the creature did not diminish as the figure struggled while trying to free itself.
Christopher's eyes widened and he glanced once more at Arthur, looking wary as the swordsman remained panting and head down.
There didn't seem to be another way out there, so Christopher gritted his teeth irritably and ran back in a hurry towards the exit, leaving with quick steps and still wet from the water, disappearing from Arthur's vision shortly afterwards.
The swordsman felt his body heavy, he had used his activation over and over in addition to techniques that seemed to reflect on his body, Arthur felt his body warmer while drops of sweat ran down his face and dripped into the brownish mud.
His breathing was labored and louder to the point that he couldn't even lift his head due to fatigue, what relieved him was hearing the creature's grunts that gradually subsided.
Arthur gathered strength and tried to stand up supporting himself on his own hand, getting to his feet even with difficulty while lifting his head slightly seeing only a slightly distorted light to his left.
The swordsman's vision was blurred and it was difficult to see clearly in front of him, all he could see was that he was slowly approaching the light even if his steps were slow and he was injured, at some point he would arrive despite having a difficult walk.
Gradually his thoughts were clearing, placing his hand under his injured arm without the sword, he clenched his teeth irritably and asked in his mind.
"I can't fight in the dark… how the hell does this animal see me?"
He questioned himself and the moment he did, he felt his leg fail, causing him to lose strength and fall into the water, making the sound of dispersing water be heard.
Even though he tried to hold himself back, all he could do was keep his face from touching the floor, while he looked towards the exit noticing that the light was closer, which made him feel relief along with his pain going away, but along with he realized that the environment was now in total silence.
Realizing that the place was calm, Arthur raised his head slightly and noticed that he no longer heard the sound of the creature on the wall, it didn't seem to be anywhere anymore, there was only his heavy breathing in all that darkness.
A strange sensation ran through his body, as if he felt observed through a shiver throughout his body at the same time that he felt that something was close.
Arthur tried to get up and take a step towards the exit, but his leg wouldn't move and he felt something gripping his calf tightly.
It was like the weight of a rock was tied to his leg and the sensation made him break out in a cold sweat as he slowly shook his head looking back.
The whole environment was dark and his vision barely reached the walls, but due to the proximity to the exit it was possible to see the humanoid form that grabbed his still paralyzed leg, the tentacles remained aggressive on his back and face where he had been cut, but it was also possible to see some black lines running through the iron blade that was stuck in the creature's face.
Despite having the gun in its face, the monster remained expressionless and without appearing to take much damage as it moved its other hand to hold the same leg as Arthur, who was paralyzed and unable to move.
Silence remained as the creature stared and Arthur felt his heart beat louder and faster, while thoughts flowed through his head and he wondered.
"Didn't that thing die? Is he pierced by the sword in the face and is he still alive?"
"He grabbed me, how can I escape now?"
"Damn it, Chris abandoned me?"
"Why does no one wake up?"
"I will die?"
Arthur widened his eyes still paralyzed, even if he tried to move, his body did not respond.
Facing a creature of that level that had survived direct hits from an iron sword and was piercing through and still managed to move, was something too strong, something too absurd for anything he had seen so far.
His memories took him to the previous day where he remembered Oliver who had talked about monsters and that he shouldn't face them alone, but that feeling was indescribable, it was like an ant facing something bigger than himself.
He couldn't move for fear, until in the blink of an eye he saw the creature move, targeting his hand with claws and attacking towards his face.
The claws approached Arthur's face that he saw almost as if they were moving slowly, his orange eyes glowed and he tried to dodge, but his body didn't have enough mobility and it would be a clean hit, until a feeling of heat took over his body. the back of his head and a momentary glow dazzled his vision.
The silence was quickly filled by a continuous scream along with a firm step beside him that raised water, in an instant the brightness diminished and passed in front of his eyes and Arthur saw Christopher passing by his side at high speed with his eyes shining in yellow , holding a torch in each hand, the one he used to attack went like a ball of fire passing through the creature's hand and hitting the mouth that was on the creature's torso with violence.
The creature was strained as it let out a loud, shrill scream as it choked on the torch making horrible, distorted sounds, Christopher snarled as he tried to push and force the torch into the creature's throat and then screamed.
"SWALK THIS!"
By surprise the creature could not react while being burned, Arthur widened his eyes in surprise and felt his leg being pulled, he was knocked down but the creature soon let go and seeing the opportunity, Christopher widened his eyes that glowed brighter in yellow.
[Activation!]
With a quick movement seeing the chance that had arisen, then Christopher forced the torch up trying to take advantage of the monster's moment of surprise, making the creature's feet fail and using his strength against the creature, Chris advanced making his weight fall on her, knocking her to the ground and forcing the torch even further.
The creature screamed and its tentacles struggled aggressively along with it trying to blindly attack its front while trying to hit Christopher.
The blonde widened his eyes, which were starting to fade back to their normal tone, but then he screamed.
"THE SWORD, ARTH!"
They were in an absurd exchange of forces and it looked like Christopher was going to lose at any moment, Arthur realized that it wasn't over yet, with a quick movement he widened his eyes and propelled his body forward to get up, already extending his hand and grabbing the hilt of the sword.
The creature was still struggling with violence and Arthur took advantage of the moment, he clenched his teeth to force and quickly pulled the sword from the monster's face, a black liquid squirted as if it were blood, making the creature again scream in pain.
Christopher showed a slight smile, but after being so pressed, the monster let out a loud roar and still being choked by the torch, it seemed that they would manage to keep him trapped for a while, but quickly the teeth moved and the mouth closed quickly, crushing the torch and sending splinters of wood flying.
The blonde was taken by surprise and managed to retreat, but soon saw the creature move with the tentacles coming together and pushing his body forward in a quick impulse to get up, during the advance, the creature opened its mouth advancing on Christopher who tried to back away, eyes wide with fright.
For a brief moment as he walked away with the other torch in hand, the blonde could see the inside of the creature's mouth and at the end he seemed to see something round and small, similar to a crystal in the monster's throat, even seeming to have a certain shine.
Christopher tried to retreat from the creature's advance, but it was faster and would hit him.
He clenched his teeth and was already preparing to be bitten, but in an instant another step occurred in the water and he saw Arthur on the creature's back with the sword in one of his hands, using the gap that the stopped tentacles had left, already turning his head. body ready to deliver a blow.
The creature did not notice Arthur and the swordsman took advantage, again the blade of his sword glowed in an orange tone.
[Beruh Style: Split]
The brightness of the blade seemed to ignite and became an aura emanating from the sword as if they were orange flames and half transparent, in an instant the swordsman turned his body and slashed the creature's face.
During the advance the creature was hit by the blow, the sword entered the monster's face and again after cutting a part, the sword stopped, as if it were striking a stone, making a metallic sound echo when the creature's face was thrown to the side, being pulled away from Christopher during his advance.
By the brute force of the blow, the monster went sideways and almost fell into the water, moving five meters away from the young people, standing still and confused as the cut area began to manifest more of those black tentacles.
Arthur stopped next to Chris who stopped backing up and stared at Arthur still with wide eyes, the blonde was panting and with a broken torch in his hands next to a common one, Arthur also looked tired and was panting with his head a little lower , looking to the side staring at the blonde.
"I thought you had abandoned me..."
Chris remained wide-eyed, still in fright, but then sighed as he tried to control his breathing.
"Don't talk nonsense, we got into this together and we're going out together too..."
Soon the blonde pointed the torch forward and revealed the creature that seemed to be still suffering from the damage, bringing his hand to his face as he squirmed with his tentacles still moving insanely, while raising his head slightly as the monstrous snarls became louder. aggressive.
The two realized that the fight was still going to continue and so they raised their weapons ready to advance.