"Your plan is shit," Hamilton eyed the beast as it feasted.
"Yet here you are ," Jack gripped the wifi router in hand tighter.
" Yet here I am," he echoed Jack's words.
Jack took one last look at the blue screen , and prayed that what he was hoping was true. He approached the monster cautiously , aiming to hit it with the router and gain its attention.
The blue screen flickered when he laid his eyes on the beast .
[
Name : Wailing Hound
Origin : The world of Praiyas
Threat Level : 3
]
The Wailing Hound feasted upon the corpses without end , lavishing in the after taste of the souls that were once present in the bodies. Its rows of black canines worked without coordination , each independently grinding away to the monster's content.
As it was doing this ,Jack threw the router and the light object hit its head with considerable force.
It reacted instantly , raising its head to see a living soul standing before it. It went mad with excitement at seeing the humanoid white smoke as it ran away and disappeared round a corner.
As expected , it gave chase , discarding the corpses that offered nothing but a lingering taste of the souls that were once in them.
Being on the run from a Wailing Hound again spiked up Jack's adrenaline to the level it had been a while ago, heightening all his senses. Hamilton took a deep breath and started charging up his attack.
Linzy and the group watched in silence and horror as the monster beat a messy turn in front of their hiding spot, following Jack up the stairs. They hurdled closely behind the desk , fearful that the monster might notice them.
" Now's our chance , let's get to the other side and flee while we still can ," Timothy rose up from hiding once the beast was out of sight.
Hamilton's right hand was poised , his index finger aimed at the far corner of the wall where Jack would make a turn and come through.
The beast would follow closely and Jack would have to duck again just as he had done before. At that moment , Raging Furnace had to be charged up to its maximum output , so it could waste the hound in one shot.
" No , we can't leave them behind," Cynthia said , finding the strength to get off Timothy's back. Linzy quickly rose to her feet and caught the woman before she lost her footing and injured herself more.
" Jack's speed right now , it was beyond normal ," Linzy noted , remembering how the man's injury had healed itself back at the office.
The light bulb above Hamilton exploded , it was the last one and now a low darkness set upon the hallway.
" Cynthia , I will not be dying today ," Hamilton summoned her image to his thoughts to give himself courage.
Jack was putting everything on the line in the hope that he would finish the job. If he failed , then both of them would die . Cynthia and the rest would probably make it to the Parliament building if there were no more monsters in the building. But the odds of that being true were close to zero.
Jack , running for his life up the stairs , was shocked at how quickly he was moving without fatigue .
The blue screen flickered,
[ Stamina residue - 70% ]
" This is what I am talking about Bossman. With your current stats , you can keep up with a threat level three beast. But don't let it catch you , however , you'll die ," the inner voice rang , championing him in its own odd way.
Hamilton got his signal when Jack came through the corner , his eyes wide open with terror and exhilaration. Seeing the flaring orange light swirling around Hamilton's pointed finger , he threw himself forward and left everything to fate, again.
As his head hit the rising stairs in front of him , he saw the walls at his side glowing , reflecting the light that Raging Furnace gave off as it flew above him , its target being the beast behind.
He turned around to see the monster's jaws stop just inches from his body , its black jagged canines shrouded in the white smoke. It had a wide gaping hole going through its maw that went right through its head coming out at the back. Hamilton had done it.
The blue screen flickered,
[
Wailing Hound defeated ,
Rewards ; Wailing Hound bones x0, Wailing Hound scales x0 , Points x 0
Hint ; Rewards are only earned when you death is by your hand
]
Watching the large beast fall over to its side , Jack took some long overdue heavy breaths before directing his attention to Hamilton. He ignored the messages he was getting on the screen , knowing that he needed to get Hamilton to the first floor quickly before the first hound came down the stairs , drawn by the noise.
" They should have thought twice about rejecting you at the Mage Association , nice work man ," Jack grabbed Hamilton's hand and pulled him to his feet.
He took a moment to examine his hand , the one that had fired off the elemental attack. Its fingers were bloodied and charred , clear indication they'd not be shooting any more fire arrows in the foreseeable future.
" This is nothing more than a scratch , one session with a healing mage and I'll be fine in about two days ," Hamilton wrapped the injured fingers with his handkerchief. He then took a few steps down the stairs to check whether he still had the energy to walk himself.
" Two days huh , think we will survive that long ?" Jack wondered , watching the man struggle with simple stairs.
" Bossman , you're putting me to shame here. What kind of attitude is that? Of course you will make it, " the inner voice spoke.
" Okay that's it , who are you ?" Jack snapped at the voice . Hamilton turned , a perplexed look on his face.
"What?" he thought Jack was referring to him.
" No , I wasn't talking to you,"
Hamilton turned his head around , " We are the only ones here," then turned back to face Jack , " Look man , I know this has all been hard for you. But you need to keep it together for a bit longer. Once we leave this building , the Parliament is just across the street and we will be safe there,"
Jack was not going to argue with Hamilton. If he were in the man's shoes , he'd also think that he was running mad.
" Let's get out of here before the other hound comes ," Jack faked concession and led the way down the stairs.
He observed the dead beast for a moment before stepping over its body . The scales on it were rough , giving him sufficient friction.
Then he noticed that Hamilton wasn't following him.
" We don't have time Hamilto.." he cut his words short when he saw what seemed to be an apparition , standing between the dead beast and Hamilton , its glowing light illuminating the darkness of the hallway.
It was a young woman , dressed in an impeccable butler suit , her form slightly translucent and shrouded in a blue glow. Her back was facing him while her gaze was set upon Hamilton who was already pale as a ghost.
" Bossman's not crazy. He was talking to Aiko . Aiko thinks that you look like a fool ,so Aiko will not concern herself with learning your name " she smiled at Hamilton and gave him a cute wink.
Jack immediately recognized that to be the voice that had been ringing his head all along.
Aiko turned to face Jack and did a courteous bow , "Bossman , it's time to get going,"
Before Jack could form words , the woman glitched out of sight and the two men were left staring at each other.
They were now seriously doubting their senses , and no one could blame them.
"You made it ," Linzy jumped to her feet when she saw Jack and Hamilton arrive. She rushed past Hamilton , attacking Jack with a tight hug.
"We owe it to Hamilton , he killed it," Jack told her as the embrace ended.
" We need to get moving , we cannot stay here any longer . The ground floor is within reach!" Timothy said , relieved that the group was back together again .
He had been standing in the hallway that led to the next shaft of stairs, eager to finally leave the company building. Hamilton noticed that he no longer carried Cynthia on his back.
" Hey you , down here ," Cynthia smiled at the confused man. She was still hidden behind the desk , hard to notice if someone wasn't really looking.
"You're awake ," Hamilton did not know what to tell her.
" And look at your hand , it's injured ," Cynthia noted since the handkerchief around his hand was so poorly tied that it had started coming off.
" It's nothing ," Hamilton pulled it back , angry that he had let her see it.
Timothy was losing patience with them, " Hamilton , Cynthia , move .Jack , you and Linzy should be on these stairs already" He schooled them like errant children , as he had frequently done before.
" Take that flight of stairs and you're all wasted ," Aiko glitched into existence again , appearing beside Jack.