Chapter 47 - The Terrible Decision
The entire group trembled, everywhere they looked there were monsters, and more were arriving by the second.
"T-t-there are... s-s-so many of Sinister Peculiar rank!" Anna stammered in fear.
Even Alice shuddered. They knew they could handle these monsters if they were alone, but there were hundreds here. All of them were of the same rank and sub-rank as the cave wolf Luke had nearly killed himself to defeat, and they seemed to have some understanding of using their Segments. They were a bit smaller than a human, and while not as powerful as the unknown Undine, their sheer numbers were terrifying. They would struggle to handle two or three... but there were over a hundred here.
Alice raised her sword. "Clear a path, we fight our way out."
Damn it! Damn it!
"I-I-I don't have a weapon!" Anna cried desperately, holding up her dagger as she trembled.
Wall! Wall! Wall! I need to get to a wall!
Seeing the small, frightened redhead, Luke clicked his tongue. "Stay between me and Alice."
God, this... is going to be tough.
Conjuring his hammer, he took a deep breath. The group prepared themselves as the Sinister Peculiar rank monsters began to charge at them. Luke swung his hammer, knocking down two and pushing them back. Alice made sparks run through her body with the Thunder Mantle.
'Rooooooaaaar!' they roared in unison.
The group ran, fighting off everything that lunged at them. Alice cut through everything in front of her, the creatures jumping back as they were shocked.
Luke took the rear, swinging his hammer horizontally and knocking as many monsters away as possible. The small redhead was squeezed between them, clutching her dagger. She pointed it in one direction, heard a noise, and pointed it in another. There wasn't much she could do.
As they moved, fighting off the creatures, Luke cursed his power for being so useless offensively. He laughed at the irony that his power reflected his empty nature. While part of him screamed to run away, he told that voice to shut up and focused on what was in front of him.
'Boom!'
A creature flew and hit the wall, thrown by Alice, of course. She spun her sword like a whirlwind of blades. She couldn't overdo it, feeling her prana flowing like a waterfall until it would eventually run dry.
Because they were lesser lethality monsters, she used her legs and free arm to kick them away. Sometimes the monsters touched her and got shocked, jumping away, while Anna had to concentrate on not bumping into Alice amidst the chaos.
By now, Luke's torch had been dispelled, and he kept trying to formulate a plan with the cards he had. The only thing that came to mind was the diary, but he cursed himself for not reading what that item did.
The monsters shrieked like hyenas and leaped at them. Luke noticed some crawling on the ground to try and grab their legs. Alice quickly stomped on one's head, crushing it completely.
Hitting one that grabbed his waist, Luke felt two more jump onto his arm. He thrashed and swung his hammer to hit others, preventing them from jumping on him.
Damn it!
He could see they were nearing the stairs. At that moment, he had three creatures clinging to him, pulling him towards the horde, feeling their claws digging deeper and tearing at him.
Fuck!
Bearing the weight of the monsters, he continued to swing his hammer, spinning it.
Almost there.
Another monster jumped and covered his face.
That's it.
He held his breath, trying to control his intangibility to sink into the ground. He didn't know if it would work. In fact, he was sure it wouldn't. But then he remembered the small redhead next to him, who would be defenseless if he did that.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
Swinging his hammer with one hand, he conjured the torch in the other and thrust it into the eye of the creature blocking his vision. Dispelling the torch, he grabbed the hammer and swung it wildly at the others.
Looking back, he saw that Anna was already descending the stairs, running.
"Run!" he shouted, stopping at the top of the stairs.
I hope they find a way out of this place. These guys are tearing me apart, but as long as I can get to a wall, they won't follow me there.
More creatures jumped on him as Luke thrashed about, trying to get closer to the wall while swinging his hammer.
Suddenly, he felt immense pain and a powerful shock coursed through his entire body. The creatures clinging to him leapt away. His whole body seized up from the pressure, preventing him from jumping as something held him tightly.
"Sorry," Alice, who was touching Luke's back, pulled him up by the shoulder. His entire body ached, his vision blacking out, and he could only hear a buzzing sound.
Supporting Luke as she dragged him, Alice reached a wooden door.
"Hurry!" shouted Anna.
They were running, and with what little consciousness Luke had left, he understood that she had saved him.
Behind him, the monsters that had been knocked off by the shock were getting back up. As they had touched Luke, they had been shocked, and anyone touching them felt the same, causing many creatures to be thrown in all directions.
Luke tried to speak but held his mouth shut because of the drool dripping down. The shock had been powerful, but not deadly... yet he felt at death's door. It had been a long time since he had taken a shock of that level.
As they passed through the door, Anna shut it. Alice took her place and positioned a piece of wood to lock the door. Seeing Luke's condition, the redhead approached him and began healing him.
Coming to his senses, Luke realized his hammer had fallen during the shock. He dispelled it.
The creatures began pounding on the wooden door, shrieking.
"Are you okay, Luke?" Alice asked. All Luke could do was give a thumbs-up.
Gods! I'll remember never to make her angry.
Getting up with difficulty, Anna's healing was working.
"Thank you," Luke said.
"I thought I was going to die back there," Anna replied.
The brief moment of peace didn't last as the wooden door began to tremble under the weight and pounding of the creatures.
"We're screwed," Anna complained.
Looking back, Luke saw a single tunnel descending.
"We only have one option."
The door made another sound, and a bolt flew off.
The trio ran and jumped, sliding down the tunnel.
As they slid, a purple light flashed, and like lightning, the vision in front of them exploded. Reality was shattering like a broken mirror. They could see their reflections in a mirror that emitted purple lightning and fractured, revealing a vast dark blue sky filled with storm clouds.
"What?!" they screamed, trying to stop themselves from sliding with all their might.
A golden card floated in the air, depicting a sea and an island.
"What's happening?" Luke shouted. The noise of reality breaking apart, the lightning, the wind, everything combined made them feel like they were facing a hurricane.
"A Campaign Map!" Alice yelled.
"What?" Anna screamed, incredulously repeating, "No! No! No!"
The wind grew stronger, and the sound of shattering glass echoed in all directions.
"I don't understand, what's happening?" Luke was the most confused.
"This is a very… very rare phenomenon," Alice shouted, trying to explain amidst the chaotic noise.
"It appears in random places, a separate dimension within the card. A unique map with an exclusive campaign in its own world."
"But I thought… it can't be that the signs led us to this?"
"They didn't…" Anna said, pale.
"Most likely, our exit is now right in front of us, behind the Campaign Map portal. Maybe there are a lot of people right there, but unfortunately, we'll never reach them."
"But why?" Luke shouted, asking.
"A Campaign Map is a fragment of reality; it can stay there for days or years. It's a rare event that many people covet, but unfortunately for us… it's blocking our way."
Alice looked up and saw that the creatures had managed to get in.
"We don't have time," she shouted. "We won't have time to wait for this thing to disappear; we'll be dead by then."
The monsters glared down at them from above.
"We have to enter the Campaign Map."
"But we don't have the strength to complete it!" Anna was shocked.
"We don't need to. All we have to do is find the exit, and we'll end up on the other side of this wall."
"Hahahaha," Luke started laughing, "It's just problem after problem. How hard is a Campaign Map?"
"Impossible for us, the bosses there are legendary, at the very least!" Anna shouted.
"We don't need to face them. We're not trying to complete the campaign. All we need to do is find the exit," Alice tried to reassure them, but neither looked very confident.
"I could just throw myself into the wall here and wait for these monsters to leave…" Luke tried to argue.
"You could. I don't know how long you can keep your power active. But you could stay here and escape. Though I doubt it would work to pass through the wall and descend around the portal. It's too close and probably covers even the walls. The choice is yours; you have more escape options than we do. But something tells me you'll come too."
"I-I-I… if you're going, Alice, I'm going with you," Anna tried to sound confident but just fumbled.
Looking at the two girls while the world collapsed in front of them, Luke made his decision.
"Damn… maybe you need a guy with crazy ideas over there… so let's go. Since I'm going to die anyway."
Alice smiled and extended her hand.
They grabbed each other's arms to stay together.
The trio of Deviants jumped into the Campaign Map portal together, evaporating into the air, swallowed by the vast expanse of lightning and shattering glass.