Simply looking at that thing sent my body into alertness. There would be no second chances, no mistakes allowed. Killing it was not an option; my hands would barely tickle it. The environment was also useless.
The Ranked Longclaw tilted its head, pondering about Jiwan and the others. It had no intention of letting them go, only giving them a head start. It was going to come, kill me, and hunt the others.
A flawed plan. First, it miscalculated about the river. It planned on jumping all the way to the boat, but it would never stand it. We had no way of knowing for sure, but there were many theories floating around the Ath’Taren didn’t know about water before coming to this world.
They feared it, at least during the [Timeless First Day]. Jiwan and the others would fall into the water, together with the demon, but they would survive as long as they didn’t stop. It shouldn’t have let them on the boat.
And second, I would not let things go its way.
I dashed forward. Crazy, but it first needed to see me as a threat to forget about the others. Reality was not that sweet. The claws came at blinding speed in a cross slash as soon as I stepped into its range. I barely had time to back away. The tiniest touch cut through my shirt, leaving shallow cuts and blood dripping down.
That thing seemed amused. His attention was on me now. Jiwan and the others were no longer important; I was his prime target. The left claw came in a thrust, and I felt the chilling breeze of death passing by as I dodged once more.
Each move it made was a death sentence. One I could only delay, not forever avoid. Dodging took its toll on me, more tiring than all the running. Sweat dripped like a waterfall, the exercise pumping up the Ath’Taren poison in my system.
I felt heavy, making mistakes. One of those cost me. The claws slashed my right shoulder. I could barely get away with a roll. The wound hit the ground, almost making me scream in pain. My blood painted a trail, but I had no time to pain attention to it.
I almost reached my limit. I hoped Jiwan and the others got away, and that they were far enough so this thing wouldn’t go after them once it was done with me.
I tried a feint, but the Longclaw didn’t even move, knowing I couldn’t hurt it. Somehow, it even feels like it was mocking me. That pissed me off. Even the Ath’Taren Generals dared not look down on me.
I put all that was left of my power in a powerful punch, hitting it square in the body. My entire body reverberated instead, as if I had just hit an iron wall, but it hunched a bit and moved back slightly. And that felt good. At least until I noticed it wasn’t reacting at all, staying there in front of me.
It felt like it was mocking me again, but it was probably only a bit of a surprise. I was the first strong human it came across. Since the time it was mindless, it has killed dozens, or even hundreds, so far. With intelligence, it made its own decisions, and could even remember some simple orders. It hesitated.
I was a warrior.
I was a warrior, but even a warrior needed to know when to retreat.
That little opening was not what I aimed for, but what I could use. I bolted back like crazy, hoping my stamina was still enough to get away. It didn’t take long for it to come after me. Its mobility was lower than a normal Longclaw in exchange for greater power. However, it was still enough to stay on my tail with this tired body.
It leaped into the air, trying to stab with both claws as it fell. I rolled away once more, and its attack destroyed the ground. I kept running, not even caring whether I would run too. I just desperately ran away.
Soon I noticed this path would lead me to the bridge. I couldn’t let that happen. It was one thing not to warn those people, because they would not believe me. It was another one to mob drop a fucking Ranked Longclaw on them.
I grit my teeth, taking a detour, the monster still at my back. Longclaws ignored me. They wouldn’t mess with a stronger one and take its prey. The blood loss blurred my vision. Or maybe it was the poison?
I couldn’t get away any longer. My instinct was just to find somewhere to hide, hoping the Longclaw gets bored, loses my trail or finds more interesting prey to hunt.
“In here, quickly!”
A familiar voice called for me. An extended hand signaled for me to go there, and I did. I didn’t have time to think. If anyone extended me a hand, I would gladly take it. I turned after crossing the door…
But they extended me a blade instead, right through my sides. I felt the stinging pain, the warm liquid flowing out, but reacted instantly, backhanding the assailant.
He hit the wall, but I didn’t have the strength to finish him in one hit. The figure laying on the floor surprised me, its silly face twisted in pleasure.
“Hahahaha, serves you right for humiliating me in front of Sooyeon!!!!”
Ben.
Fucking Ben.
How did I not sense this bastard following me? Was he not afraid of dying? Was it only a coincidence?
Items of our world might be useless against the invaders, but they were still effective on people despite their low durability.
“You!” I must have looked like a crazed demon. All I wanted was to tear this bastard to pieces. He looked surprised. My strike almost knocked him out cold, but he still put out a grin of pleasure after seeing the state I was in.
He thought the knife wound was enough to stop me from killing him, but I would still have time if the Longclaw didn’t reach us. It tried to stab me again. I jumped, passing Ben on the way, and grabbing him by the collar.
I could have snapped his neck just as easily as he fooled me, yet I used him as bait instead, throwing him in front of the Ranked Longclaw, hoping to buy precious time.
Poor choice.
The Ath’Taren acted as if it never noticed the bastard. It was weird even for a Ranked Longclaw to pass a free kill. Then I remembered what bothered me about fucking Ben ever since before, and how he stayed close to us and Sooyeon without me noticing. Not that the Longclaw ignored him; it couldn’t sense anything.
Ben definitely didn’t open the system. He would be much stronger. With the [World Merge], he probably gained an innate ability related to stealth. It was the only reason I could think of, how he avoided the Longclaws before, and why this Ranked Longclaw couldn’t sense him.
A fitting ability for this treacherous bastard. I saw the terrified look on his face as he wet himself in front of the Longclaw, but that was not enough to comfort me, because the Longclaw was already here. This time I lost too much blood, and had no strength to run.
I breathed my last as the claws were about to tear me apart. Ben opened a twisted smile as my fate was sealed.
I had two lives. The second one was too short. I did nothing I wanted to. I wanted to create a place where the survivors could live, use my experience to make things a little better in this hell of a new world.
But it wasn’t a complete waste. I changed some destinies. Jiwan, the Class Rep, Sooyeon, the little sister, and Haze. My last thought was about hope.
I hoped they would survive, and do what I couldn’t.
As I thought about the end, a door opened to me. Time seemed to stop.
I knew this too well.
The system that changed the world.
The Path of All Things.