The valley was a grotesque vision of carnage, its once imposing stony grandeur now bathed in a grim tableau of blood and fire. Cracks ran through the uneven stone bridge, like jagged scars carved into its surface. Shattered fragments of statues—arms, legs, shattered faces—lay scattered across the expanse, slick with gore.
The thick stench of iron filled the air, mingling with the acrid smoke curling from the fires set alight during the massacre.
Bodies littered the valley below, torn apart with savage brutality. The echoes of dying screams reverberated off the towering walls of stone, a symphony of despair that added to the oppressive atmosphere. Survivors stumbled through the chaos, their faces masks of pure terror. Servants, the same who had been subjugated by their nightmare overlords, were being hunted like prey.
The ground trembled as the smaller stone giants rampaged, their towering forms moving with terrifying speed for creatures of their size.
Every strike of their massive hands sent shockwaves through the earth, turning fleeing figures into bloodied stains against the rocks. One servant, a man clutching the limp body of a child, ran desperately toward the edge of the bridge. A giant's hand, jagged and unyielding, descended like the hammer of a wrathful god, crushing both father and child into the stone in a sickening splatter.
Boyd crouched near a cluster of fallen rocks, his heart pounding against his ribs. His gaze darted across the scene, the enormity of the slaughter tightening his throat. His mind raced with the system's incessant notifications still burned into his vision.
Quest Objective: Slay Nightmare Creatures – Progress: 0/09.
But what could he do against this? These creatures were beyond anything he had faced. Yet, the system's demand hung over him like an unrelenting weight.
A sudden movement caught his eye—a figure, cloaked in dark fabric, leaping into the fray.
The man with the club.
The cloaked man moved with lethal precision, his massive club a blur as it collided with one of the giants. The impact cracked the creature's stone chest, sending shards flying like shrapnel. The giant staggered, but before it could regain its footing, the man spun and brought the weapon down in a devastating arc. Stone shattered, and the giant collapsed into a heap of rubble.
Another giant, undeterred, lunged at him from behind. The cloaked man dropped into a roll, narrowly avoiding a massive fist that obliterated the ground where he had stood moments before. Dust and debris filled the air as he sprang to his feet, his movements fluid and unrelenting.
Boyd's eyes widened. Whoever this man was, he fought like a force of nature, his every strike calculated and brutal. Yet, even he was only human.
The second giant landed a glancing blow, sending the cloaked man skidding across the stone. He gritted his teeth, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, but his grip on the club never faltered.
Boyd's attention was ripped away as the bridge itself groaned, the weight of the 20-meter gargoyle—a towering nightmare of stone and malice—causing the structure to quake. Its movements were slow but deliberate, as it prepared to launch the apprehended servant. Boyd felt its malevolent gaze land on him, and his blood turned to ice.
The gargoyle didn't need to move quickly. It had no reason to rush; it knew Boyd had nowhere to run.
The cloaked man noticed Boyd and the looming giant at the same time. His expression darkened, eyes narrowing as he assessed the situation. For a split second, hesitation flashed across his face, but it vanished as quickly as it had appeared. He surged forward with impossible speed.
"Move!" he barked, his voice sharp and commanding.
Boyd barely had time to process the command before the cloaked man was upon him. He grabbed Boyd and hurled him to the side just as the servant was about to collide with Boyd. Unfortunately, the servant behind Boyd was collided with the thrown servant, and died on collision.
Boyd landed hard, the breath knocked from his lungs. He scrambled to his feet, coughing, just in time to see the cloaked man grab him by the arm and pull him away.
"We're leaving!" the man growled, dragging Boyd toward the edge of the forest trees.
"No!" Boyd protested, struggling against the iron grip. "The quest—if I don't finish it—"
"Quest? There's no finishing anything if you're dead!" the man snapped, his tone leaving no room for argument.
Wasting no time, he grabbed onto Boyd's collar and in the blink of an eye, dashed into the forest in a swift.
The chaos of the battlefield blurred as the cloaked man hauled Boyd into the forest. The stone monsters roared behind them, but their sounds faded as the trees swallowed them whole.
Boyd stumbled as the man shoved him forward, sending him sprawling against a tree. Pain shot through his side, but he forced himself to stand, glaring at the cloaked figure.
"What the hell are you doing?" Boyd demanded.
"Saving your life, you ungrateful idiot," the man shot back, his chest heaving as he caught his breath.
"I can't leave," Boyd said, his voice desperate.
"The system—"
"To hell with your system!" the man roared, cutting him off. "You're not finishing any quest if you're torn to pieces!"
Boyd faltered, his resolve wavering. The system's notifications burned in his mind, but so did the memory of his father's face—the desperation in his eyes when he had hired Boyd for this mission. If Boyd died here, what would happen to him?
Boyd's fists clenched at his sides, his nails digging into his palms. His thoughts were a chaotic whirlwind, each one colliding with the next. The system demanded progress. The cloaked man demanded retreat. And his father… his father's face loomed in his mind, filled with an expression Boyd hadn't seen before: vulnerability.
He shook his head, gritting his teeth.
"If I leave now," he said, his voice low but firm,
"what happens to the others? What happens to the servants? They're not going to stop killing just because I ran away!"
The cloaked man's expression hardened, his dark eyes narrowing as he stepped closer.
"You think I don't know that? You think I haven't seen what those monsters can do?" His voice dropped, a growl beneath the words.
"But staying here is suicide. You're not strong enough to fight them."
"And you are?" Boyd shot back, his voice rising with frustration. "What gives you the right to decide who lives and who dies?"
The cloaked man didn't flinch, but there was a flicker of something in his eyes—regret? Guilt? It was gone as quickly as it appeared.
"I'm deciding because you're too stupid to make the choice yourself. You don't survive this world by being a hero. You survive by being smart."
Boyd's chest heaved as he stared at the man, his fists trembling. Every instinct screamed at him to fight, to resist, to finish what he'd started. But the weight of reality pressed against him like an iron chain. The system's quest glowed in the corner of his vision, mocking him with its unyielding presence.
Slay Nightmare Creatures – Progress: 0/09.
He swallowed hard, his throat dry. "If I go with you," he said slowly, his voice barely above a whisper,
"will you promise me something?"
The cloaked man raised an eyebrow, his stance relaxing slightly.
"What?"
Boyd stepped closer, his gaze locking onto the man's.
"Promise me that once I'm out of here, you'll come back. You'll save the rest of them. You'll finish this fight."
The cloaked man's jaw tightened, his expression unreadable. He glanced away, his eyes scanning the darkened forest as if searching for an answer among the shadows. Finally, he sighed, his shoulders slumping.
"I swear," he said, his voice quieter now.
"I'll come back. I'll kill every last one of those monsters if it means getting them out alive."
"Swear it on your life," Boyd pressed, his eyes blazing.
The cloaked man met his gaze, and for a moment, the intensity between them was electric. Then he nodded, his expression grim. "On my life."
Boyd exhaled shakily, the tension in his body loosening just enough for him to nod. "Fine," he said. "Let's go."
Without another word, the cloaked man turned and knelt, motioning for Boyd to climb onto his back. Boyd hesitated for a moment, but the distant roars of the stone giants spurred him into action. He climbed on, gripping the man's shoulders tightly as the cloaked figure rose to his full height.
"Hold on." the man muttered, and then they were off.
The forest blurred around them as the cloaked man sprinted, his movements impossibly swift and fluid. Trees whipped past in a flurry of greens and browns, their leaves rustling in the wake of their passage. The ground beneath them was a blur of roots and rocks, but the man moved as if the uneven terrain didn't exist.
Boyd clung to him, his heart hammering in his chest. Each leap, each twist and turn, sent adrenaline coursing through his veins. He could feel the raw power in the man's movements, the way his muscles coiled and released like a predator on the hunt.
The cloaked man gritted his teeth, his pace quickening as the village came into view. "Almost there," he muttered, more to himself than to Boyd.
But just as they reached the edge of the clearing, something shifted. The air grew heavier, the faint hum of energy vibrating through the atmosphere. Boyd's grip tightened instinctively as the cloaked man faltered, his steps slowing.
And then it hit.
The cloaked man slammed into the veil barrier with the force of a charging bull. The impact sent him flying backward, Boyd still clinging to his back. They crashed to the ground in a tangle of limbs, the breath knocked out of both of them.
The man groaned, blood trickling from his nose as he sat up, his hand pressing against his face.
"Bloody hell," he muttered, his voice thick with pain.
Boyd rolled off him, coughing as he tried to catch his breath. He pushed himself up onto his elbows, his head spinning.
"What… what just happened?"
The cloaked man didn't answer immediately.
He climbed to his feet, his movements slow and deliberate, and approached the invisible barrier. He reached out cautiously, his fingers brushing against the air where the barrier began. It shimmered faintly, like heat waves rising from asphalt, and resisted his touch like solid stone.
"Damn it," he growled, slamming his fist against the barrier. It didn't budge.
Boyd staggered to his feet, his legs trembling beneath him. "What is that?"
"It's the veil." the man said, his tone clipped. "it's sealed the forest off."
"Change of plans." he said.
"We can't go through the veil. We'll have to find another way."
But when he turned back to Boyd, he froze. Boyd was gone.
The cloaked man's eyes widened, his gaze darting around the clearing. He saw only his own footprints and the imprint of where they had fallen after hitting the barrier.
"Boyd?" he called, his voice sharp.
There was no answer.
A faint weight on his back made him stop. Slowly, he turned his head, his breath catching in his throat.
Clinging to his back were hands—sharp, grotesque hands, their fingers curled tightly around his shoulders. They weren't human.
He spun around, his heart pounding as his eyes met a monstrous face. It was Boyd, or at least something that resembled him. His features were twisted, his skin dark and leathery. Golden eyes glowed with malice, and his mouth stretched into a wicked grin, revealing rows of jagged teeth.
The creature cackled softly, its voice a low, guttural sound that sent chills down the man's spine.
And then it lunged.