Auren gripped his side tightly, groaning as he struggled to rise, trying to get a glimpse of what had sent him hurtling through the air like a weightless stone.
As his eyes landed on the abomination, his heart sank into his stomach, leaving him trembling. The simultaneous pangs of fear and hunger churned uneasily within him.
The creature was a grotesque fusion of horror—a swollen mass of flesh that looked as if it had erupted from the ground itself.
Its skin was a patchwork of dark, eerie tissue, crisscrossed with cracks through which boiling blood seeped. Its hollowed sucket burned with the reflection of a savage red light, and its fists were clenched tightly, resembling those of a seasoned boxer.
Auren hated boxers. Why fight fiercely for money or bets without the intent to kill your opponent?
Duels without the element of death were meaningless. To Auren, death was what gave a fight its weight, its significance. It was why he often refused duel requests, especially from Lucien.
At the end of the day, they'd always beg for mercy, knowing that the Light Archon's justice system forbade killing in such contests.
But now, standing before a creature capable of robbing him of his second chance at life, Auren found himself thinking differently.
He wanted to live, no matter what it took.
Frantically, he scanned his surroundings, hoping to find a weapon. His gaze flitted desperately from one spot to another, and just as he was about to give up, his hand brushed against a particularly sturdy stone.
Moving cautiously, Auren picked up the stone and fixed his gaze on the Cursed.
Though he had never fought a Cursed before, he wasn't a stranger to combat. From a young age, his father and brother had drilled the family swordsmanship style into him.
Between the ages of ten and fifteen, he had attended the academy, where every student learned about Blessings, their powers, and the art of the combat.
Most students graduated at fifteen, but Auren had completed his training in just two years. There had been nothing left for him to learn.
He might have been burdened with a curse instead of a blessing, but he was still the same prodigy.
Auren's eyes burned with fierce, unrelenting determination.
The creature emitted a cold, shrill cry and began its charge.
Despite its speed, it lacked legs or a lower body, dragging its grotesque, swollen form toward him like a bloated, crippled predator.
Its movements were unnervingly fast for its size, but they paled in comparison to the sentries' agility.
'Those damn sentries.'
Auren darted forward, leaping off the ground. He twisted midair and brought the stone crashing down onto the abomination's head with a forceful strike.
The creature let out a piercing scream, the blow reverberating through its grotesque body.
It glared at Auren, its eyeless sockets locking onto him with terrifying intensity. Though it lacked true eyes, the hollows exuded a sinister presence that made Auren's skin crawl.
His body trembled uncontrollably—whether from fear or the biting cold of the night, he couldn't tell.
Suddenly, the Cursed surged forward, faster than Auren had anticipated. Blood oozed from its cracked flesh in thick streams, solidifying into jagged spikes as it moved with a sudden supernatural charge.
Auren threw himself backward desperately crossing his hands over his face in a futile attempt to throw himself away from the monster.
But the spikes pierced through the narrow gap between him and the creature, impaling his face, chest, and shoulders with brutal force. It felt as though a spiked mace had slammed into his upper body.
Pain erupted across him, tearing a deep, guttural groan from his lips.
But the creature wasn't finished. With Auren now stuck on its spikes, it lunged greedily toward him, its needle-like teeth glinting in the dim light.
Gritting his teeth, Auren tore out his right hand painfully from the spikes and swung the stone in his hand with all his strength, smashing it against the creature's fist as it reached for him.
The blow tore through the abomination's hand, sending blood splattering into the air. The searing liquid struck Auren, sizzling on his skin like molten acid.
Despite the agony, Auren didn't hesitate. He channeled the pain into another vicious strike, slamming the stone into the creature's head with thunderous force.
The impact echoed through the night, disorienting the monster and causing it to stagger back.
Seizing the moment, Auren gritted his teeth again and yanked himself free from the spikes, stumbling backward as blood poured from the gashes across his body.
Cuts marred his face, chest, and arms. He was fortunate his eyes had been spared.
'I must survive…'
The thought ignited a fierce light in his eyes. He dashed forward, determined to finish the creature off before it could recover.
His plan was simple: he would bludgeon its head until it was nothing more than a splattered mass of bone and flesh.
But halfway through his charge, Auren's vision dimmed. The world blurred, spinning wildly around him.
---
[You have been poisoned by the Obese Crawler.]
[You have entered a paralysis state.]
'What?!'
The creature regained its composure, its bleeding head turning toward Auren with a twisted, lipless smirk. Its jagged teeth glinted as it crawled closer.
'No…'
Auren tried to move, but the paralysis was absolute. Not even the smallest fraction of his muscles responded.
Towering over him, the creature raised its fist high and brought it crashing down onto Auren's face.
The first blow sent his thoughts spiraling into darkness. The second left his vision flickering between black and white.
The pounding continued, relentless and merciless, until his head was reduced to a shattered, bloody pulp.
It was as if the creature had understood his plan and turned it against him.
'That should have been me doing this to you...'
Auren's thoughts faded into that foggy plane as a familiar, monotone voice echoed in the remnants of his consciousness.
---
[You have been slain by Obese Crawler]
[Source of death: poisoning and brutal head trauma.]
[You have leveled up]
[You have gained 10 stats points]
[You have leveled up]
[You have gained 10 stats points]
[Your endurance has risen by +10]
[Commencing Resurrection...]