Chapter 246 – Wrath of Nathan Evenhart
Soldier Norwin Dale:
"Run!" shouted a soldier beside me, his eyes wide with panic as we fled the nightmare chasing us. At the end of the corridor, Nathan Evenhart walked calmly, wielding a sword he had picked from a corpse with unsettling ease.
"Shit!" another soldier screamed, desperately trying to put distance between himself and the boy. Nathan raised his hand, conjuring a wind barrier that slammed the soldier against the wall with crushing force. The barrier pressed tighter and tighter as the man screamed in agony, until with a sickening pop, he burst like an overripe fruit.
"One less," Nathan said, his voice cold and devoid of emotion.
The soldiers around me scrambled to raise stone barriers in a desperate attempt to shield themselves. Massive stone walls rose in the corridor, and I, equally terrified, summoned another layer of protection. But it was all in vain.
BAM! The walls were obliterated in seconds, and Nathan continued his steady march forward, undeterred.
"Bastard!" one soldier yelled, lunging with his sword. Nathan effortlessly deflected the strike, slammed the man into the wall, and drove the blade into his chest.
"One less," he muttered again, his tone eerily consistent.
Nathan Evenhart moved onward, unstoppable. He pointed a finger, firing a lightning bolt that struck another soldier, sending him crashing to the ground. Without breaking stride, Nathan stepped forward and, reinforcing his foot with wind magic, delivered a devastating stomp. The man's head caved in with a sickening crunch.
"One less," Nathan repeated, advancing methodically.
I ran, driven by sheer terror, through corridors filled with horrors plucked straight from nightmares. I caught glimpses of atrocities as I fled, a woman with a body of stone and a face engulfed in flames was trampling soldiers, her fiery blade skewering them effortlessly. She hurled their charred bodies aside like discarded toys, their screams of agony reverberating in the air.
Turning into another corridor, I froze. A dog made of twisting vines and thorns gnawed on a bloody human leg.
I screamed, spinning around in panic, only to find my path blocked by a cloud of black mist. Out of the darkness, a man staggered forward, throwing himself to the ground.
"Help me!" he pleaded, but the mist dragged him back, thrashing him violently as blue flashes of lightning illuminated his mutilated form. His screams cut off abruptly, swallowed by the darkness.
Fueled by fear, I sprinted faster. Nathan's calm, deliberate footsteps echoed behind me, and his voice rang out again.
"One less."
I began to sob uncontrollably. The wall ahead exploded with a deafening crash, and from the rubble emerged a massive yellow knight. It seized a man, flinging him across the corridor before crushing him beneath its colossal weight.
"This is hell! We're in hell with evil incarnate!" a soldier shrieked as he ran past me. I followed him, consumed by the same raw terror.
The soldier slipped on a puddle of water. I reached out to help him, but the water… it smiled.
"Help me, dammit!" he screamed as the water coiled around him, swallowing him inch by inch.
I couldn't take it anymore. I turned and ran, tears streaming down my face as I screamed. Behind me, I could hear more cries of pain and the relentless sound of bodies being crushed, electrocuted, and torn apart.
I reached a door and flung it open, stumbling into a room filled with an entire garrison of soldiers.
"What's going on?! The nobles ordered us to stay here," one of them demanded, his voice tinged with confusion.
I tried to answer, but my legs shook so violently that I couldn't form words. I could only point to the door, gasping for breath, unable to convey the horror that awaited them.
"Close it! Seal the door with earth magic, barriers, anything you can muster!" I screamed, stumbling away, searching for an escape as fear consumed me.
The doors shook violently with each impact, each thunderous thud heralding death's approach. On my knees, my legs were too weak to hold me up. Panic coursed through me, my breaths ragged and shallow.
"Kneel!" I shouted at the others, desperation cracking my voice. "He said he'd show mercy if everyone kneels!"
Confused stares turned toward me. "What are you talking about?" one soldier asked, his tone laced with disbelief.
"KNEEL!" I screamed again, my voice breaking, drowning in terror.
The doors trembled even harder now, on the verge of giving way. I clamped my hands over my ears, bracing myself for the screams I knew would follow. The sickening crunch of bones and the wet sound of flesh being torn apart were the symphony of death I had heard too many times.
BAM! The door burst open with a deafening crash, but… silence followed.
For a moment, nothing moved. The oppressive stillness suffocated the room, the air growing heavier with each passing second. My wide eyes stayed fixed on the doorway as I knelt, trembling.
"What's happening out there? How many enemies are there?" a soldier asked, his voice tinged with nervousness.
"One!" I shouted, disbelief trembling in my voice. "It's all the work of a single boy!"
The soldier blinked at me, his face contorted in confusion and ridicule. "You're afraid of a boy?" he asked, half-laughing, half-incredulous.
I looked at him, tears streaming down my face. "Don't say that…" I whispered, my voice barely audible, drenched in despair. "Now… even kneeling won't save you…"
At that moment, a man came staggering in from the hallway I had fled, his body engulfed in flames. Half of him was charred beyond recognition, his arms gone. He stumbled into our midst, collapsing in a heap, his burning corpse smoldering on the ground.
"Less one…" a chilling voice echoed from the shadows. Tears streamed down my face as my mind broke under the weight of fear.
A black smoke surged into the room, writhing like a living predator. It wasn't just ominous. It was malevolent, an extension of the boy's wrath. The cloud enveloped the room with an overwhelming presence, forcing us to huddle together like cornered prey.
"What the hell is that? A golem!?" a soldier shouted, his voice breaking as he tried to make sense of the chaos.
Emerging from the suffocating blackness, the boy walked in with slow, deliberate steps. Blood spattered his body, and his eyes scanned us with cold detachment, like a butcher choosing his next cut.
"I'm kneeling!" I cried, my voice quivering, desperate to avoid his wrath. But he didn't even glance at me. I was nothing to him, a ghost in the room, as his focus shifted to the other soldiers.
"You're surrounded, kid!" a soldier bellowed, trying to sound confident. "This is a full garrison, and we have mages. Surrender or die!"
The boy remained unfazed, his icy gaze drifting across the room as if weighing his options. Without even looking at the soldier who had dared to challenge him, he replied with chilling simplicity: "You have one choice. How it ends is up to you."
The soldier scoffed, laughing nervously. "What choice?"
"Die… or die."
Uneasy laughter broke the tense silence. The soldiers exchanged nervous glances, mocking the boy's threat, oblivious to the nightmare they were about to face.
I knew better. I had seen the destruction he left behind. I knew what was coming. Trembling, I wished I could burrow through the wall with my earth magic and escape. But fear of drawing his attention kept me rooted to the spot, kneeling and helpless.
"Have fun," the boy murmured, and at his command, the black cloud advanced.
The screams started again. The creature, formed from that dense smoke, attacked with a ferocity I had never seen. Men ran, tried to react, but it was futile. Their swords sliced through the air, but they couldn't harm the cloud. It seemed intangible, invulnerable.
Then, I watched the smoke enter a soldier's mouth. He fell to the ground, writhing in agony, his body shaking violently before exploding from within. Parts of him flew in all directions, and the room was filled with the horrendous sound of flesh tearing.
The screams continued to echo, mingling with the sound of the smoke devouring their bodies. I remained on my knees, unable to do anything but listen, terror consuming me as I awaited my turn to become another victim of this storm of horror.
Fear paralyzed me as I watched the boy, the black cloud moving behind him like a living shadow. He approached me, each slow step carrying an oppressive tension. His cold eyes met mine, and he looked down at me, his presence overwhelming.
"Go!" he ordered, his voice low and emotionless. "Tell the men to kneel and pray for my mercy."
I stood up, trembling, trying to make the smallest movement possible to avoid provoking his wrath. As soon as I ran toward the door, a feminine voice rang out through the room, freezing me in place.
"Where do you think you're going, soldier?" The voice was filled with cold malice. I turned back and saw five figures entering through the same door the boy had come from. Their energy was palpable, and I immediately recognized them. They were the Ten Fingers, the most powerful mages of this place.
"You must stay and fight to the death for your lord," the woman laughed. The sound of her laughter was disturbing, almost insane.
One of the mages advanced. "You gave us quite a blow with that lightning strike. Somehow, you had put it inside the cloud before being caught. I wanted to keep going at that moment, but my duty as a guard was to take the nobles to safety. But now... it seems like there's nothing to stop us."
The boy slowly turned, his eyes fixed on the new opponents. The black cloud beside him seemed to analyze the five with the same coldness.
The boy snapped his fingers, and the black cloud golem disappeared.
"It seems this battle is too complicated for me to let him participate," the boy said, his voice now filled with a sinister confidence.
The woman smiled bitterly. "Dealing with a bunch of weak mages is one thing, kid. But we are the best mages in this place. Unfortunately, my group is divided, and part of us is outside," she said, the provocation clear in her voice. "But five of us... are more than enough to handle you."
The mages exchanged glances, preparing for the confrontation, their hands already wrapped in magic. I, caught in the middle of this nightmare, didn't know what to do. Everything seemed beyond my comprehension. The air grew dense, the tension between the boy and the mages building with each passing second.
And then the confrontation began.