Chapter 8: Ambushed from the Walls
Instinctively, Axel raised his left arm high overhead to block the incoming hit. The force of the club shattered through his arm with brutal efficiency, causing the blow to miss his head by mere inches.
"Ahhhhh!" Axel shrieked, his voice tearing through the chaotic battlefield as he clutched his shattered arm, desperately trying to flee from the relentless Fatek alien.
But his attempt was futile. The Fatek alien grabbed him by the neck, its iron grip lifting him off the ground. Axel felt his breath being squeezed out of him, panic surging through his veins.
'Shit! It's squeezing the life out of me! At this rate, I won't be able to dodge anymore... I can't even muster the Mana for my ability...'
Axel's vision blurred as he watched the Fatek alien pull back its hand, preparing to deliver a deadly swing aimed directly at his face. This was the end...
**SPLOOOSH!**
A spray of blood followed the brutal attack, and the Fatek alien let out a piercing scream. Its arm, the one holding the club, had been torn off at the shoulder. Axel's mind raced, struggling to comprehend who could have executed such a swift and precise attack.
Guild Leader Kart stood over the Fatek alien, his bloodied battle axe still humming with the aftermath of his powerful strike. With a grim determination, Kart swung the axe again, this time at the alien's throat, beheading it in one clean motion. The alien's grip on Axel's neck loosened, and its massive body crumpled to the floor with a resounding thud.
"ARRCCHHKK!" Axel fell to his knees, gasping for breath, his hand instinctively reaching to soothe his bruised neck. He was sure that another second in that alien's grasp would have resulted in his neck being shattered completely. 'He saved me... He killed that Fatek alien in less than a minute without breaking a sweat... As expected of the Guild Leader.'
Kart approached Axel, stretching out a hand to pull him up.
"Don't die on me yet, Mr. Teras," Kart said, his voice firm but carrying an undercurrent of concern.
Axel forced a weak smile, gripping Kart's strong hand as he was pulled back to his feet. As he steadied himself, he took in the battlefield around them. The scene was far worse than he had anticipated.
"I've never seen Fatek come from walls before," Axel admitted, a gnawing dread settling in his gut. The Fatek were supposed to be predictable, but this... this was something else entirely.
"Neither have I," Kart replied, his tone heavy with worry. "This is new territory for us. The aliens must be upgrading themselves again. This is another edge they have against us in this war."
The weight of Kart's words pressed down on Axel. He knew what it meant—things were bad, very bad. 'The war hasn't been going well for humans these days... If only I could be someone good enough to assist... Instead, I'm nothing.'
"Axel!..."
Axel felt a sharp yank on his shirt, and before he could react, Kart flung him into the air with ease. Axel's mind spun, trying to grasp why the Guild Leader would do such a thing. Then he saw it—a red, searing beam of lava-like energy shot across the ground, burning through Kart's legs from the ankles down.
Kart's agonized scream echoed through the chamber as he collapsed onto his back, his hands grasping at the charred remains of his legs. The pain was unbearable, evident in the tortured look on his face. 'I could have blocked it if I didn't save Teras,' Kart thought bitterly.
Axel, still reeling from being thrown, crashed onto his side. But there was no time to rest; he immediately sat up, searching for Kart amidst the chaos.
The sight that met Axel's eyes almost made him vomit. The once-mighty Guild Leader Kart lay broken and bloodied, with a massive, armorless Fatek alien towering over him. The beast had stomped on Kart repeatedly, crushing him beyond recognition.
'Come on, Axel... Help him!' Axel's thoughts screamed at him to move, but his body refused to obey. He was paralyzed, gripped by the overwhelming fear and emotions that weren't his own.
"Damn it! Not now, I can't be experiencing the backlash now... It's just my first time, I still have two more to go." Axel cursed under his breath. Typically, he could use his abilities on three people before the backlash hit, but this time it had come early, and it was crippling.
"Run—Axel," Kart's voice, weak and strained, was the last sound he made before the Fatek alien delivered a final, devastating stomp to his head, reducing it to a mess of blood and bone.
"Ca-captain?" Axel's voice trembled as he whispered, his mind struggling to accept what had just happened. Kart was dead, and with him, the last hope of turning the tide in this battle. Axel could feel his composure slipping away, his thoughts spiraling into despair.
The Fatek alien boss, still towering over Kart's lifeless body, turned its gaze toward Axel. Its eyes were filled with a cold, murderous intent.
"Human! D... Human must die!" it muttered, its voice a guttural snarl as it began to approach Axel with thunderous, earth-shaking steps.
Each step drove Axel deeper into terror. He was still paralyzed, his body refusing to move even as death loomed closer. He could see the beast's fangs, sharp and ready to tear him apart, but he couldn't force his limbs to respond. 'Anyone... Please help—'
Desperation flooded his veins as he scanned the battlefield. Everywhere he looked, the scene was the same—Fatek aliens emerging from the walls, slaughtering the remaining guild members in a relentless, one-sided massacre. What was supposed to be a simple grade C raid had turned into a bloodbath, a nightmare beyond anything they had ever imagined.
Realizing that no help was coming, Axel's eyes darted to his dagger, lying just a few meters away. 'There's no help coming! I have to reach it first!' Axel willed himself to move, crawling toward the dagger with every ounce of strength he could muster.
"Axel! Help!" A voice pierced through the chaos, freezing Axel in place. He turned around to see the source of the desperate cry.
It was the Fatek alien boss again, but this time, it was holding a bloodied woman in its grip. Her eyes were wide with terror, tears streaming down her face as she clutched a broken staff in her trembling hands.
Axel's heart dropped. He recognized her instantly. "Veka!"
She was covered in her own blood, her face contorted with pain and fear. The same look of helplessness that Axel had worn just moments ago was now etched across her features. She was begging for help, just as he had.
"Don't do it, don't hurt her!" Axel screamed, leaping to his feet and running toward them, his hand outstretched in a futile attempt to reach her.
The Fatek alien boss laughed, a deep, mocking sound that reverberated through the chamber. "Human weak, puny," it sneered, tightening its grip on Veka.
Tears streamed down Axel's face as he pushed himself harder, stretching out his hand to cover the last distance between him and Veka. 'Again, I'm too late... I'm always too late or too weak to make a difference... All my life, I've always been less privileged to save anyone! Why is it always this way?'
Axel's voice broke as he screamed, pouring every ounce of his will into that last desperate lunge, when—
**SPLAT!**
Veka's head exploded under the Fatek alien boss's grip, her lifeless body crumpling to the ground. The sight of her brutal death sent a wave of cold, paralyzing shock through Axel's system.
"You bastard!" Axel roared, his voice thick with rage and grief. He threw himself at the Fatek alien boss, flinging his fist at its gut. But his attack was useless, his fist skidding off the alien's rock-hard flesh like it was striking a concrete wall.
"Meat!" The Fatek alien boss sneered, grabbing Axel by the throat and lifting him off the ground with a single hand. The crushing pressure on his neck sent shockwaves of pain through his body, snapping bones in the process.
"Ecchk!" Axel choked out, his scream muffled as his airways were constricted. Everything was happening so fast that he wasn't sure if he was already dead or not.
His blood rushed to his brain, and his vision turned red. His entire body was battered, broken, and beyond repair. 'Damn! Is this how useless I am? I've always been a disgrace to my family. Maybe it would be better if it ended here... But...'
'I don't want to give up just yet! I want to become stronger, I want to be a great hunter, I want to catch up to those who have left me behind! I want to make not just my parents proud... But myself.'
Axel's eyes widened in terror as the Fatek alien boss opened its massive jaws, revealing rows of sharp, gleaming fangs. The beast was preparing to devour him, to rip his head from his body and plunge him into eternal darkness.
'This is it... In both worlds, the strong devour the weak. But I also want to live... Shouldn't the weak have a choice?'
With that final thought, the Fatek alien boss plunged Axel's head in, and a feint scream echoed afterwards...