Turning in the direction of the cacophony of ear-piercing shrieks, many slaves rose their heads- only to see frosty shards of ice raining on them from above.
They instantly fidgeted, lurking away with a desperate surge of energy.
Shadows moved in the endless dark, stretching infinitely into the void beyond. The slaves entangled by the runic binding chains fell to the ground, pulling others along with them.
Klaus was able to remain upright, calm and composed. Mostly because he had already expected something similar.
Calm and collected, he gazed at the sky, his cold pair of eyes piercing the darkness and then he rolled to his left.
Moments later, shards of ice hurtled into the spot he stood on moments prior and exploded, showering everything around in sharp, frosty shards.
Of course, others weren't that quick. As shards of ice and stone continued to rain down on them like some fearsome wrath of the heavens above, many were wounded, and a few even lost their lives.
Wails of agony and pain pierced through the endless dark, chilling everyone's heart to the core.
"Get the slaves to safety- Now!"
Napoleon gave the order, calmly jumping off his stallion.
He was immediately followed behind by his loyal warriors.
Anarzel was shouting angrily, trying to get the slaves towards the relative safety of the mountain slope. However, before the slaves could heed his command, something moved.
Sending a tremor through the stones beneath their feet. Whatever it was- fell right between the caravan and the mountain wall, plunging everything into a stifling quiet.
Thump... Thump...
At first, it looked like a lump of dirty snow, round in shape and as cute as a parlour dog. However, once the creature unfurled its long limbs and rose, it towered over the stone platform like a nightmarish omen of death and... agony.
The creature had long, multijointed hands- two of which ended up in a set of horrifying claws, the other two were shorter, but certainly sturdier, ending with almost human-like fingers.
...On its head, three white eyes regarded the slaves beneath, with insect-like indifference. Beneath them lay a terrifying maw crowded with razor-sharp teeth, half open, while dripping with saliva, as though in... anticipation.
But what unnerved Klaus the most were the endless worm-like creatures moving under the creature's skin.
And unfortunately for him, he could see them clearly because he was one of the unlucky souls closest to the monstrosity, getting a nauseating first-row view.
And then,
All hell broke loose.
The creature moved but Napoleon was already before it.
Slashing forward at a terrifying pace.
Slaaassh!!!
The creature also slashed forward, its bony claws slamming onto the crimson sword.
Tremor~
Tremors ran through Napoleon's hand and despite the veins bulging heavily across his hands.
Katchaaa!!!!
His sword broke into two, his eyes widened in shock as a terrifying pair of hands inched closer.
Every second-
Tick~
Tick~
Every single moment felt like an eternity.
And worse,
Thump... Thump...
His haunter abilities weren't working on the nightmarish creature and even his nightstep ability was locked.
H-...he couldn't make use of any of his abilities!
'...Noo!!! I can't die!... Not yet!'
He roared out, a terrifying aura emanating from his body.
Raising his hand into the air.
He punched out with every ounce of strength contained within him.
Kaboooooommm!!!
His punch met with the creature's and,
Kaaatchaaa!!!!!
"Aaaaaaaargghh!!"
His hand snapped into two as the dark, nightmarish hand slammed onto him.
Baaaang!!!!
Even at the last moment, I could feel the fear, and the despair overflowing from his body.
His eyes in particular were filled with unwillingness as,
Splatter!
The terrifying claws finally delivered.
Napoleon- the third: the conqueror! bursted into a pile of blood and paste.
'Wtf!' My eyes widened, shock rippling through every fiber of my being.
I knew just how strong the bastard was. But t-his,
He couldn't even take a single move of the creature.
Shifting my gaze towards the nightmarish creature now engaged with the angered higher-ups.
I sucked in a cold deep breath.
'...Just how strong is it?'
As I watched on.
I soon received my answers.
"Bastard!"
"Dieee…!!"
"Go to hell!!!"
Groundbreaker with his tower shield and war hammer dashed forward, the ground he stood on moments prior shattering into pieces.
Step~
Step~
Tears welled in his eyes as he struck out with devastating force.
The hammer slammed upward, veins bulging furiously across his arms.
Kaabooooooommm!!!!
It struck the supernatural creature with a terrifying force, but it only succeeded in angering the creature.
With a loud howl that deafened their ears, blood dripped onto the ground beneath them.
It slashed out with its bony claws, and groundbreaker could now feel it.
H-he now understood why the Emperor wasn't able to move.
The pressure was insane beyond what words could expanseate on.
But,
"Aaaaaaaaaargggh!!!"" he couldn't give up.
He had to keep fighting. H-he had to avenge the emperor.
...Using every last bit of strength contained within him, he raised his tower shield into the air.
And then,
Baaaaaaaanggg!!!!
The claw landed, the impact sent him smashing into the ground, a jarring pain rippling through every fiber of his being as he dug a long ridge along his path of retreat.
Crash!
Crash!
He crashed through the ground, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
Drip!
Drip!
It dripped onto the ground beneath him.
Thud!
He finally came to a stop.
Bruised and bloodied.
"Akh- Agh." A groan escaped his lips as he tried to stand up.
Tried to kill the damn thing.
But,
"Kgha- Kha." He only ended up worsening his condition.
Coughing out a mouthful of blood, he collapsed onto the ground, once again.
~Crash.
His eyes blurred as he clawed at the ground.
Trying to find something.
Anything he could use as a balm against the intense pain in his chest.
Tears streaked down the corner of his eyes, as his breath slowly left him:
'...I'm sorry Emperor. I failed you. I'm sorry…'
Tears dripped onto the ground, a terrifying pain pierced his heart, a pain even worse than the broken bones and rumpled organs.
His shield had been broken and he himself was barely only hanging on.
Gazing ahead as blood slowly flowed out of his body, leaving him in excruciating pain.
The others were now engaged with the monstrosity.
M-meliv was dead.
Tears continued to pool in his eyes.
Even Belmond was barely hanging on just like him.
"I'm sorry."
"...I'm sorry."
Tears continued to stream down the corner of his eyes, an intense pain piercing right at his heart.
...Naeraza and Tatiana were the only ones still standing. But even then, they were barely holding up.
Bloodied, broken bones.
They were a total mess.
"Die you bastard! Diee!!! Diee…!!!"
Tatiana roared out in anger, tears welled in her eyes as she dashed forward, the ground she stood on moments prior, shattering into shards and fragments.
"Diee!!!" Naeraza was quick to follow.
With his rising flame unit, that was slowly but certainly diminishing in numbers.
They were able to stop the creature.
Albeit barely.
Step~
Step~
"Diiiieee…!!!"
The rising flame unit roared out in unison and then,
All hell broke loose, once again.
***
I didn't need to be told.
I knew it was only a matter of time before they also met their doom.
Whatever this creature was.
It certainly wasn't something that should be appearing in a first arcane trial.
'Just damn it!'
I knew I had to act.
I had to do something.
That soon became clear.
But what could I possibly do?
I was shackled, and worse, even my abilities were sealed.
And I could feel it now.
Despair.
It was slowly crawling its way towards me.
S-lowly eating me from the inside.
I-It was slowly consuming me.
Just then,
My vision was drawn towards a dead body, which was starting to convulse with growing violence.
On the opposite side of the corpse, the short slave was looking at it with a horrified expression on his face.
I waved at him to get his attention.
"Fool! What are you staring at?! Get away from it!"
The short, stout slave tried but immediately fell down. The chain was twisted between the three of us, pinned down under the broad-shouldered slave's weight.
Clenching my teeth.
Right under my eyes, the corpse was going through a nightmarish metamorphose.
Dark spiky bones extended from its back. Its muscles bulged and wriggled as though trying to change shape. The fingernails were turning into sharp claws; its face slowly cracked and split, revealing a twisted face with one too many rows of dark-crimson-like fangs.
'...A- a Tyrant!' I stared ahead, in shock.
That would explain why no one could defeat the creature or even hope to defeat it.
It was a fucking tyrant.
'Damn it! Just damn it!'
Exhaling sharply, I tried to calm down.
I still had to focus on the task at hand before thinking about any other thing.
The scholar was just a few steps behind the short one, pointing at the shackles with a pale, white face.
That remark was far from helpful, but given the current circumstances, his shock was understandable.
Being shackled was already bad enough, but being shackled to such horror.
T-hat… was totally unfair.
And my conclusion that things weren't right didn't have anything to do with fear or despair. It was more of the fact that the whole situation just didn't feel right: the spell, mysterious as it's, has its own set of rules. There were rules for what type of creature could appear in any given Trial, too.
Supernatural creatures had their own hierarchy: from mindless beasts to monsters, followed by Aemons, Daevis, Tyrants, Terrors and so much more- that I currently hoped I never had to worry about-.
All in all, the first trial are usually always populated by beasts, monsters, and in worst cases- Aemons. Rarely with a Daevis mixed in it. And I have never, ever heard or perhaps I've but I didn't want to believe in it- a creature ranked higher than a Daevis, appearing in a first Arcane Trial.
...And why should I?
The creature had just spawned a lesser version of itself- an ability exclusive to tyrants and those above them.
Wouldn't that just be unfair in all essence of the world.
But most importantly:
…What was this tyrant even doing in a first trail?
But as aggrieved as I currently was, I knew I couldn't afford to slow down.
I needed to act, and act fast.
Unfair or not, I only had myself to save myself.
The broad-shouldered man- well what was left of him, anyway- slowly rose, his body convulsing even more violently as bones broke and reshaped themselves before our eyes.
***
Without giving it time to fully come to his senses, Klaus jumped forward, grabbing onto the length of the slackened chain. The monster now fully equipped with five long claws surged forward to meet him, but Klaus simply sidestepped it with one calculated movement.
Step~
Step~
Stepping closer, he threw the chain around the monster's shoulders and pulled, pinning its hand to its body. Before the creature could properly react, Klaus instantly moved, wrapping the chain around it several times, barely saving his face from being bitten off by the creature's terrifying maw.
"Huff... Huff.' Panting heavily.
The good thing was, the monster couldn't move its hands now.
The bad news however was the fact that, the length of the chain he used to immobilize it was gone, leaving almost no distance between Klaus and the larva.
"You two!" Klaus called out to his two fellow slaves. "Pull on the chain as though your lives depend on it!"
Because they did.
The short slave and the scholar stared at him, but then understanding what he was thinking, started to move.
Grabbing the chain from the opposite directions to themselves, they pulled as hard as they could, tightening the chain's grip on the monster and not letting it shake loose.
'Yes!'
Kraaa!!!
The monster bulged its muscles, trying to break free and the chains creaked, caught on the bony spikes, as though slowly breaking apart.
'Damn it!'
Without wasting any more time, Klaus threw his hands into the air and caught the creature's neck with the short, thinner chain connecting his shackles together.
Then he ran, circling the monster with a quick step and pulled, ending up back to back with the creature- far enough to keep the maws away.
Klaus knew with his abilities being restricted, he wasn't strong enough to strangle the larva with his bare hands.
But using his own back as a lever and the weight of his whole body to pull the shackles down, he at least stood a chance.
He pulled down with all his might, the monster's bony spikes crushing against his skin.
Creak!
Creak!
The monster continued to struggle, clicking loudly and trying to break apart, the chain tying him down.
Now it was just a question of what would break first- the chain or the monster itself.
'Die!!! Die you bastard!!'
Blood dripped onto the ground beneath him.
Drip!
Drip!
Mixed with sweat, they rolled down Klaus's face as he pulled, and pulled.
'Just fucking die!!!'
Pulling down with every ounce of strength contained within him. Every single moment- every single second felt like an eternity. His strength and stamina- what little he had of them- were quickly running out.
His bruised and bloodied back, wrists and muscles being pierced by the bony spikes were all in agony.
And then, finally, Klaus felt the body go limp.
And,
Thump... Thump...
"Hu… Hu." he collapsed to his knees.
Relieve, fleeting yet soothing coursed through every fiber of his being- even if only for a single moment.