Chereads / Shadow Slave: Immortal Ice / Chapter 44 - The Decaying Birds

Chapter 44 - The Decaying Birds

As the Nightmare Creature lunged with deadly intend, Eirwen sidestepped at the last possible moment, the sharp wind whistling as the tiger shot past him.

The creature's claws barely grazed his shoulder, leaving nothing more than a shallow scratch on his armour.

There was no time to relax though, as the next enemy closed in. It was the humanoid monster -the same one that had punched a hole through Eirwen's chest before- its sharp wing aimed to cleave him in two.

With wide eyes Eirwen tracked the creature and braced himself, raising his longsword before himself in a defensive stance. Even while focusing on the new enemy, his mind was still sharp and ready for the tiger, who for some reason was idling.

The strange bird and Eirwen's silver blade collided in less than a second with a loud boom, the Nightmare Creature striking him like a missile. Despite his solid footing, he was pushed backward, the stone cracking beneath his armored feet.

With a grunt, he shoved the creature to the side, using its own momentum to redirect its attack.

A sharp fire of pain coursed through his bones as the collision shook his very core, but his longsword proved sturdy enough. It even managed to shatter the bones on the Nightmare Creatures wing with a loud crack. 

Eirwen spun the sword in his right hand, shifting his stance in an instant -determined not to waste a second-, his eyes locked on the beast which was already pushing itself up.

The moment an opening flashed, he struck furiously, slashing down with titanic speed and severing the monster's right arm in one clean arc.

The limb fell to the wet, stony floor and hot steam billowed from the clean wound just below its shoulder. The monster's agonized cries echoed in the cold air as it emitted a bloodcurdling screech.

Before Eirwen could land the final blow though, a crushing force slammed into his side, as if a boulder had been hurled at him. The impact sent him tumbling forward, crashing into the wounded Nightmare Creature beside him.

Eirwen twisted mid-fall, driving the silver blade into the creature's stomach with a groan. The longsword sliced through fur and skin effortlessly, embedding deep with a sickening crunch.

The voices in his head appeared once more, constantly saying the same thing over and over again.

Kill.

Devour.

With a heavy thud, they crashed to the ground and Eirwen found himself straddling the creature's furry abdomen, the blood still pooling around the wound. It seemed weaker than it should have been, but Eirwen was too consumed by rage to care.

Seizing the moment, Eirwen scrambled up toward the Nightmare Creature's head.

Coating his knuckles in flames from Dragon's Breath, he unleashed a barrage of titanic punches, each blow reducing the creature's skull into a grotesque, bloodied and unrecognizable pulp as it desperately thrashed around with its legs.

Frenziedly, he gripped its skull and slammed it into the ground repeatedly, the impact causing it to splinter and nearly explode upon the cracked ground beneath it.

Finally with the last slam it stopped moving.

The Spell's voice rang in his ear as he let go.

[You have slain an Awakened Monster: Decaying Bird!]

[You have consumed a Soul]

[Devour the Flesh for more]

Taking in a lungful of the cold air he felt the steaming blood drip from his face and hair. Here he felt so much stronger for some reason. The weird emotional state he was in was also not helping him understand anything.

Eirwen could clearly feel something leaking from Leviathan into him.

He looked down at the corpse for a split second, regretting the fact that he couldn't devour it right now. [Hydra's choice] was meanwhile still etched into the corpses belly behind him.

'Next one,' Leviathan warned, 'They might be completely out of their mind and slowly dying, but you still should be careful, child. Be especially careful of the six-winged one.'

Eirwen stood, then briefly tapped into his Memory's Enchantment. With a soft hum, the blade floated out of the dead bird's body and back into his gauntleted hand, its silver absorbing the bright light around him.

The collision from whatever hit him had left him with fractured bones, but his Flaw swiftly mended them. His knuckles, too, had endured repeated fractures and regeneration during his short frenzy, further draining his Cores. At least Dragon's Breath was less taxing on his reserves than his Flaw.

"I have to wrap this up before I run dry," Eirwen cursed, spitting the blood that had gathered in his mouth onto the corpse before him.

Looking around, Eirwen quickly assessed the situation, despite the wrath leaking into his mind.

He was surrounded on both sides. Oddly though, the six-winged creature remained inactive.

The winged tiger, however, lunged forward again from behind with a roar. Eirwen had had enough of the hyperactive-overgrown-cat by this point.

Fueled by fury, Eirwen spun on his heel and growled at the oncoming enemy, spinning his longsword around his arm as he braced to meet the Nightmare Creature head-on. He trusted Leviathan to watch over the second enemy while he took care of this one.

As the winged tiger shot toward him, propelled by its feathered wings, Eirwen gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands and raised it high above his head, ready to strike.

Eirwen roared, activating [Dragon's Breath] and letting the flames shoot out from his knuckles and engulf his long silver blade. The sword greedily absorbed the bright light from above while glowing with orange flames.

Cutting through the air with a growl, the tiger's outstretched paws were ready to sink its dagger-like claws into him and tear him apart.

Eirwen's furious eyes widened as he tapped into his Aspect, imitating Leviathan.

Just moments before the Nightmare Creature could sink its claws into him, Eirwen's longsword shot down diagonally, crashing into one of the paws and shattering it on impact. Eirwen could feel his bones and muscles strain and cry as the force behind the clash sunk into him. But he kept going, his sword never coming to a stop.

Stepping into the falling monster, Eirwen shoved the shattered paw aside, narrowly dodging the second claw as the tiger twisted in mid-air, its body slamming to the side from the inertia.

"Should've stayed down," Eirwen spat, seizing the opportunity as the beast's fall worked in his favor.

Already close to its belly, Eirwen didn't hesitate, his sword moving with pure wrath and force.

With a guttural roar, he cleaved through the Nightmare Creature's chest, slicing diagonally to its maw and grotesquely bisecting its head down the center.

[You have slain an Awakened Monster: Decaying Bird!]

[You have consumed a Soul]

[Devour the Flesh for more]

 

Breathing heavily, Eirwen dropped to his knee. The blood -red and steaming- oozing from the corpse beside him splattered onto his armor and face as the flames on his sword flickered out.

His current problem was the final Nightmare Creature, which oddly remained in place, almost as if waiting for something.

'Fight and if you lose, I will kill it for you. Gladly so too!' Leviathan's voice cut through his thoughts sharply, the furious whispers momentarily dying down before they surged back, louder than before.

Pushing himself up and ignoring Leviathan and the voices as much as he could, Eirwen grabbed his bloodied sword with a sharp curse, "What are you staring at?"

The Nightmare Creature's response came almost immediately as it stepped forward, its talons splashing through the water left behind by the melted snow.

Just as Eirwen intended to rush forward and deal with it, an overwhelming pressure suddenly slammed down on him. It forced him back onto his knees with a loud thud, the impact cracking the stone beneath him as his bones groaned under the force.

"The fuck?!" he groaned, glaring up at the Nightmare Creature with fury in his eyes. His face twitched, already ready to tap into [Kraken's Grasp] if the situation demanded it. But he wasn't even sure if he had enough Essence for that.

As the Nightmare Creature loomed over him, it raised one of its talons, gripping his head and golden hair. Pain shot through him as the sharp talons sank into his skull, scraping dangerously close to his brain.

The whispers and screams grew deafening with every breath, each one fueling the rage already burning inside him. 

Not even a second later after it grabbed him, Eirwen's golden eyes glowed, a teal shade manifesting in them.

But before Eirwen could even tap into the Recording, the remaining Nightmare Creature lifted him high into the air, its talons digging deeper into his head.

With deadly silence, it slammed him brutally back onto the wet ground.

The impact shattered the earth beneath him, cracking his skull and ribs, the pain exploding across his body. Blood poured from the the slits in his armour. Groaning he tried to push himself up. But the creature's talons seized him again, pulling him up once more.

He tried to activate [Kraken's Grasp], but his concentration shattered as he was violently slammed into the ground once more. The world blurred, and for a fraction of a second, consciousness slipped away from him.

Eirwen cursed through gritted teeth, blood spilling from his mouth as he spat it onto the Nightmare Creature's taloned leg before him.

More and more of Eirwen's Essence poured into his Flaw, mending the shattered bones and healing his wounds. Flesh reknit itself in an instant and his body was fully restored in mere seconds.

But now he had no Essence for [Kraken's Grasp] and Leviathan wasn't striking a Deal with him for some reason.

Just as his mind burned with fury, desperately searching for an escape, a deafening sonic boom ripped through the air above him.

An excited voice echoed from above, "Don't touch the water if you don't want to get electrocuted!" The words rang out just before a figure landed nearby with a thunderous thud, sending a wave of water splashing around.

It was the little gremlin himself. Raijin.