«The pilgrims! Stop them!»
¡Whack!
As we advanced through the cave, the skulls of all the soldiers we passed split. Every time he killed five of them, he got a slight increase in stats, but it was so small that he barely noticed it given the situation.
At this rate, we will reach the exit in an hour...
As I continued to move forward, the anxiety throbbing in the back of my mind refused to dissipate.
«Bjorn... When is Erwen coming back?»
Even Ainar was worried. Imagine how I felt.
Something happened? Was she injured or did she die? Anxiety was eating away at me, but it was no longer in my hands. All I could do was keep running as hard as I could and have faith that Erwen would catch up with us.
[You have killed 405 soldiers. All your stats have increased by +1.]
[You have killed 410 soldiers. All your stats have increased by +1.]
[You have killed 415 soldiers...]
How long until now? Maybe thirty minutes?
As our fate grew closer and closer, my concern about what had happened to Erwen grew.
Stomp.
Despite not taking a single break since we started running, we were suddenly forced to stop.
«Hadn't I told you, pilgrims? There is only one way for you to get out of this cave alive».
Now he was standing in our way.
I didn't understand it. He had been behind us all this time, so how was it possible that he was now here ahead, blocking our path? Our pace had even slowly increased over time as our stats went up.
So... how had he caught up with us?
Something was wrong. However, before I could worry about it, we had other things to take care of. «Get ready to fight, Ainar».
After hearing my order, Ainar took our comrade, whose body he had been carrying all this time, and laid her on the ground. «...Rest a little, magician».
Dreadfear watched us and let out a cold laugh. «How ridiculous».
Maybe it was. However, the moment he appeared in our path, the only idea that came to mind was to give the fight a chance.
It could be possible now with our current statistics.
Out of habit, I covered my upper body with the shield and lowered my posture, despite knowing that it would be of little use to me. What could a cheap iron shield do against a knight who used the aura?
We stared at each other in complete silence, waiting for the other to make the first move. After a moment, he uttered the same sentence. «My offer. Still standing».
Was something wrong with this guy? How the hell hadn't he already given up his little backstabbing game?
Still, if he wanted to talk, he wasn't going to waste the opportunity. «...What happened to Erwen?» I had to ask the question that had been eating away at my mind as we ran for hours straight.
«If you mean that pilgrim, then she's dead», he responded dryly.
«Mentates».
«I guess you're talking about denying what you already know».
Why had I bothered to ask him? It was ridiculous to think that he could believe the words of a boss character whose main theme was betrayal.
«Believe me or not, that doesn't change the truth. No matter how much you think you're doing the right thing, in the end, you're nothing more than a dirty piece of...»
There was no reason to continue listening.
I ran forward shouting: «Ainar!». However, as soon as the distance between us was reduced, he drew his aura-coated sword.
Step.
Immediately, I backed away and put myself out of reach. Taking advantage of the gap created when he pointed it at me, Ainar approached. «Behel-aaaaaah!», he shouted, stabbing him with his sword in a powerful blow. He leaned to the side.
¡Clang!
His sword slammed to the ground, where he had been a few moments ago. However, it was too early to consider our assault a failure. Fighting as a team meant breaking the enemy's stance, alternating between attack and defense, and finding the right moment to strike.
Hit.
When he dodged Ainar's blow, I threw my useless shield against his ugly face. Then, with his field of vision blocked, I took a big step forward and brandished my mace. Once again, he was able to react in time, moving his sword into the path of my mace. It was clear that, at this rate, I would cut my mace in two easily.
Swoosh.
So I used all the strength I had to quickly change the trajectory of my blow.
¡Fwoosh!
My mace cut through the air, completely dodging his sword, and...
Dagger!
Ainar's sword sank into his shoulder just in time.
Good good. We were able to deliver the first blow.
But we couldn't be content with that. There was no reason to leave him and retire now. After all, a battle was essentially a game of who could make the most moves.
Attack, block or dodge: You had a split second to choose one of those three options, and then your next move, and then the next. Thanks to our quick thinking, we were able to limit the number of movements I could make.
Step.
The man was forced to remain defensive and focus on blocking or dodging. Thanks to the pressure we put on him, we were able to reduce the risk of him attacking us. And the other two options open to him were limited.
Left. Yes, I knew you would move left.
¡Zas!
He was forced to turn his body to dodge our attacks, causing him to fall from his posture. As a result, he managed to limit the damage he took, but in exchange, the fight became easier for us and even harder for our opponent.
We all fell into a vicious cycle of exchanging blows. No matter how much advantage we had, we couldn't let our guard down. He was a knight who used aura. A single attack from him would be enough to finish us off, and all battles were inevitably accompanied by unforeseen variables.
¡Fwoosh!
He raised his sword again, with just the right trajectory to intercept my mace. This time, things were different. Seeing his sword approaching my mace, I was forced to turn my body to dodge it, thinking that losing my weapon would be the worst possible outcome. However, that decision exposed me.
Hit.
He didn't pass up the opportunity and kicked me in the stomach. I didn't take any real damage, but the real threat lay in how he used that momentum to quickly turn the tables of the battle against us.
Slash!
Ainar slashed him in the thigh, but it was too late.
Slash!
At the same moment, he buried his sword in my stomach.
Ah, eso duele.
I really didn't expect him to attack me so recklessly.
Although she watched him stab me, Ainar didn't bother to ask me if I was okay or not, but instead continued her attack like the veteran she was. «Aaah!»
I quickly stood up and returned to the fight. Lying on the floor in pain wasn't going to stop me from bleeding to death. It didn't matter how many injuries I suffered in the process: I had to kill that guy before he killed me. If killing him put an end to this raid, then he could heal me once we were out.
«¡Become-aaaaaa!»
Thus, a bloody battle broke out. Even facing him two on one with improved stats, it was a tough fight, especially since our numerical advantage didn't last long. «For the empire!» Out of nowhere, a group of soldiers appeared and ran towards us, making things even more difficult. Still, not all of them were bad.
Cut!
Thanks to them, he had a reserve of reserve weapons.
Hit.
As soon as my mace fell to the ground, now split in two, I grabbed another weapon from the body of a fallen soldier. A sword, a hammer, a mace... The type of weapon did not matter. I just needed something long enough to hit him with all my strength.
¡Zas!
First the arms, then the legs, then the torso, shoulders, eyes and ears... The wounds continued to accumulate all over the body. Still, it was clear that he wasn't doing much better.
¡Fwoosh!
His blows, each of which contained all the power and skill of a knight, had gradually slowed down and lost strength. Even his aura was smaller than before. One of his arms was seriously injured and his left leg, which Ainar had stabbed a couple of times, had become so flaccid that he could barely use it.
Ready.
We would win. At this rate, he would fall before us. With that thought in mind, I raised the hammer in my hands and put all my weight behind my next blow. But...
[Captain White, Dreadfear, has dropped to less than 15% health.]
With a bomb-like burst of energy, my body was thrown to the side and crashed into a wall. Stars exploded behind my eyelids from the impact, but I quickly forced myself to stand up so I could see what had just happened through blurry eyes.
«Shit».
I couldn't help but swear in a situation like that.
[Captain White, Dreadfear, has released Eternal Nightmare. His health has fully recovered].
In an instant, his wounds healed completely as he took a step towards me. «My offer...» he said calmly. «Still standing».
What the hell are you talking about?
«Dime…» Le contesté. «¿Fuiste created by loros?»
He didn't answer my question. Instead, without saying another word, he stabbed me in the stomach.
«It's... game... of... ass... broken...»
My vision turned black.
***
[Your health has fallen to less than 5%. Active narcolepsy. Your Natural Regeneration has increased significantly temporarily. You have fallen into a state of Unconsciousness].
***
I felt like I was drifting down a river in complete darkness, driven solely by my thoughts as they came to the surface.
How the hell did they expect us to kill a bastard like the Lord of Terror, Dreadfear?
The answer was simple.
It was impossible. I misunderstood the situation because of the sudden increase in our stats, but it was nothing more than a trap from the jump. To begin with, he was not a character made to be fought.
Enough.
He had interpreted everything wrong. We should have run to the exit as soon as we saw it. We shouldn't have tried to fight him.
It was supposed to be a hide-and-seek game.
Increasing our stats was just a small improvement given to us to make things fairer while running away from him. A head-to-head battle was never an option.
«Ugh…»
Now he was paying the price for making the wrong decision.
[Your health has risen above 15%. Your Unconscious state has changed to a state of Paralysis. Your Natural Regeneration increase has decreased slightly].
When I opened my eyes, I was on Ainar's back.
«Take them...!» The soldiers' screams sounded behind us, but Ainar continued running forward at full speed.
«Hey? B-Bjorn...? You're awake? Are you... okay? Can you hear me?»
I forced myself to open my mouth even though I could barely move. «I'm... fine... Explain the situation to me...»
«Ah! Okay...» Ainar was quick to catch up with me even as I kept running away. «You collapsed... and suddenly... the whole cave began to shake. And that guy... stopped moving. I jumped at the chance and grabbed you... and ran quickly with you in tow...»
Did it stop moving? Did it go through the altar?
It was not known. It was the first time I had experienced this hidden level, so I had no idea what was going on, and I also had no system log to tell me.
«...Time?»
«I don't know. Maybe five minutes...?»
So I was unconscious for about five minutes.
«But are you okay?», she asked frantically.
«I'm... fine. I just can't move...».
What was happening to me?
After thinking about it for a moment, there was a theory that seemed likely. Narcolepsy was a passive ability that activated when your health fell below 5%. At 15%, your status changed to Paralyzed. Then, once you got back to 30%, the effects disappeared completely.
So... I have skills too.
Not just Versyl and Erwen. I also started with a skill. But since it was a passive ability, I had only realized it now.
That means Ainar must have one too...
What was yours? No idea, but there was no time to experiment and find out either.
«Left...»
«¿Eh?»
«Go left...»
«Oh...»
I fired directions at Ainar as I tried to put my thoughts in order, still slumped against his back. However, a particularly loud sound soon caught my attention.
Huff, huff…
His breathing was much heavier now than before, to the point of being worrying.
«Ainar... are you okay?»
«I'm... fine...»
No, she didn't look good at all.
«It's just that... I can't... use my hands... and I'm... a little hurt... but it's okay...»
Suddenly a question occurred to me. Since he carried me on his back, he couldn't use his hands, so how did he deal with the soldiers who stood in our way? Had he been lucky enough to not meet any soldiers in the last five minutes?
I didn't ask myself that for a long time. He soon showed me exactly how he handled them.
«...Disgusting pilgrims!» A group of soldiers jumped from one of the crossroads, getting right in our path.
The way Ainar confronted them was direct. He kept running. No, rather, he accelerated and crashed into them.
Stab!
Her sharp weapons pounced on her body, but with both arms behind her holding me, all I could do was withstand her attacks and protect her vital organs as best I could. His shoulders, arms and legs ended up covered in wounds, some large and some small. In the end, however, Ainar was able to get ahead.
The soldiers we crossed paths with joined the group chasing us from behind. As I watched all this, I heard Ainar's breathing become even heavier than before.
Huff… Huff…
Meanwhile, I couldn't say a word.
Ainar immediately noticed my silence and asked: «Bjorn... Have you... hurt yourself?».
«…To.»
This was too risky. He was obviously on the verge of collapse. And at this rate, even if we managed to get out of here, his injuries could end up being impossible to treat. We didn't even have a potion with us. His best option was to lie down and wait for my paralysis to end. That way, I wouldn't need to carry myself anymore.
«I can't... do that.»
However, for some reason, Ainar stubbornly refused to stop.
"¿Por qué...?"
«The moment you collapsed... I saw... the future».
«…What about the future?»
«The magician... When he died... I saw him then too. I thought it was just a random hallucination, but... now I think... it's kind of a skill».
Why was he acting like this? What had he seen?
I asked him, but he didn't want to tell me. «I... I can not stop. Trust me».
Once again I was speechless.
«Yo… definitely no… caeré».
Ainar's voice was full of determination. Knowing that I had no hope of changing her mind, I bit my tongue as she continued to move forward in silence.
Stomp, stomp.
No matter how many soldiers stood in our way, she never stopped advancing.