Chapter 18 – The Boss's Magical Card
A strong gust of wind swept through the area amid the tremors. The chapel was cracking and tearing apart. Screams echoed from all directions, accompanied by a sadistic, childlike laughter that seemed to come from everywhere. The sound of horse hooves surrounded them as if an army on horseback encircled the area.
The entire place shook as an earthquake began to bring it down. The monster locked eyes with Lucan and charged at him. Just as it got close, the ground emitted a deafening noise. Cracks began to spread from all directions. Both Lucan and the monster stared in shock as the ground beneath them started to disappear and collapse.
Trying to stand, Lucan couldn't manage. The ground gave way, and he began to plummet. Lucan tried to scream but was thrown to the side, hitting his back. The entire floor fell, and in mid-air, he saw the monster falling too.
Boom!
Lucan crashed face-first onto a wooden floor. More and more debris fell from what remained of the chapel floor. Struggling and in pain, he tried to stand, but it was in vain. Soon, the wooden platform he was on began to give way under the weight, collapsing again. This time, the fall wasn't as long, and he landed on another wooden floor.
Looking up, he spat blood and observed the distance he had fallen. Suddenly, the floor gave way again. With the accumulated weight of the stones from the chapel floor, Lucan's weight, the monster's weight, and the weight of the previous wooden platform, the floor crumbled. This time, it hit another wooden level, which also gave way. Lucan felt every impact as he fell along with the debris. Eventually, he realized he was in free fall. Looking down, he barely had time to react before he felt his body hit the water.
Having broken parts of his body, Lucan couldn't muster the strength to swim. He couldn't tell which direction was up or down in the water. As he tried to swim, a tremendous force hit him, pulling him deeper. The ruins and stone structures from the chapel floor collapsed on top of him, weighing him down further until he touched the bottom.
Lucan was buried under debris underwater. When he hit the bottom, the weight crushed his abdomen, causing him to reflexively open his mouth to scream in pain and gasp for air. Water rushed in, and he quickly closed his mouth, realizing he was trapped. Panic set in as he was completely buried.
His little remaining air had escaped with the pressure of the impact on his abdomen. Lucan was dying, and in the darkness, he couldn't tell if his vision was fading. All he could see was darkness.
No… I can't die.
A faint melody echoed in his mind, the favorite song of that person, a song from another time…
I'm not dying here, not in this shit situation!
Focusing his dwindling strength, he became intangible and phased through the debris. Having reached the bottom, there was only one option left... the surface. He kept swimming, even though he felt his life slipping away, just a step from death. Lucan swam, and whether it lasted seconds, minutes, or hours, his broken body never stopped moving.
Finally, breaking the surface, he gasped for air, inhaling as much as he could. His burning lungs began to feel the relief of oxygen filling them.
Cough... cough... cough...
Lucan coughed and coughed. As he lay on the stone platform, he looked at his torn cloak and dismissed it. He knew the cloak would eventually return, restored, but he wanted to see the extent of his injuries. Underneath was his old clothing from the Inner World, now shredded and blood-soaked. Lucan saw more holes than fabric, with blood streaming out. He could rely on the cloak's lupine restoration, but he knew the little power it had left couldn't keep it stable, and it certainly couldn't heal his broken bones, deep wounds, and internal bleeding.
Falling back onto the stone platform, he accepted death. If he were to die, it would be from blood loss and not drowning. He wanted to go out knowing he had given everything to survive.
[You have killed the second form of the Epic Mutated Snapjaw Wendigo.]
"Impossible!" he exclaimed, spitting out water and blood.
At that moment, he had forgotten the existence of the monster.
How did that creature die? I didn't kill it.
[You have claimed a card.]
Coughing, Lucan sat up and looked at something that left him incredulous. In front of him stood a black pillar with a blade-like tip. Despite being completely black, it resembled an obsidian glass, emitting a strange glow and an eerie sensation. Impaled on the black pillar, in the middle of the stone platform, was the Wendigo.
"It can't be..."
Lucan trembled, realizing he could have been the one impaled on that blade-like pillar.
[You have claimed a card.]
The golden letters danced before Lucan and then dissipated like sand.
"Two?"
Laughter began to echo from all directions. A wind arose, and the gravity grew heavier. The area started to flicker, becoming momentarily dark as if Lucan was blinking.
On the other side of the stone platform, past the small lake, was a hall. Lucan was startled.
Several people were staring at him, their gazes empty. Each person wore different clothing from various eras and styles. The clothes were dirty, torn, and simultaneously old. The people had pale, yellowish skin, dripping a black liquid. They were...
Corpses... and they are staring at me.
The crowd of dead stood on the other side of the black lake, and Lucan understood who they were.
Whispers...
From the middle of the crowd, a white rabbit emerged and stood before them. The rabbit stared at Lucan, its eyes red and its fur white as snow. The hypnotic gaze of the creature paralyzed him. A mix of fear and dread came over him; this was no ordinary rabbit.
"You shouldn't stare at the rabbit..." a feminine voice said.
A chain clattered and fell from above, coming from the chapel.
"Who are you?" Lucan tried to speak but gave up. Speaking caused unbearable pain, likely from a broken rib. Even breathing was excruciating.
A burning pain emanated from his chest, forcing him to lie back down. The pain grew deeper, like a blade sinking into his heart. Lucan tried to scream, but nothing came out.
Placing his hand on his chest, he grasped the source of the pain.
A black flower?
"It seems that saved you just in time..." said the feminine voice.
The black flower disintegrated like black sand.
[You have consumed a fragment of the Inner God.]
[Fragment 1 of 5.]
Lucan's body began to convulse, feeling pressure across every inch of his form. Icy and sometimes hot winds seeped into his wounds, bones snapping back into place with audible cracks. Each injury burned, and to his amazement, they started to disappear. His aching back returned to normal, the puncture wounds from the monster's claws vanished. Running a finger along his back, he confirmed the gashes were gone.
"How?" Lucan whispered, incredulous.
Lying on the cold ground, he ignored the beings observing him from the other side of the lake, surrendering to his exhaustion. Then, from the remnants of the chapel's floor above, he noticed a woman sitting on the edge, staring down at him.
The woman was entirely gray, almost black, and wore a white cloak that contrasted starkly with her skin. She held a wooden staff, her long, straight black hair cascading around her. Her deep gaze seemed to pierce his very soul.
"Hello, Luke," she said, waving.