Chương 23: Music

The concert hall's walls directed the sound of cracking bones and metal to the top. Limbs, blood, and a familiar golden key were no longer on the floor. Eric saw everything from above and looked to the sky in desperation. What now? His thoughts were all over the place. It seemed like battle was inevitable. Below him, the beast slowly turned its head toward the balcony, its tail swaying behind it. That's when Eric noticed another important detail about his foe.

On the end of its tail was a structure of bone and hair, similar to a war hammer. The broken floorboards scattered across the hall suddenly made sense. The predator, while hunting its prey, smashed and incapacitated with its tail before devouring it. A death Eric wanted to escape. Ash spread its wings and flew over to the other side of the room, landing on the railing of a balcony. Bloodshot eyes followed the raven and walked slowly, dragging the destructive tail on the floor.

It was so heavy that it left a trail of broken floorboards. Despite its massive weight, it required little effort to move around. On its way to Ash, the hungry mouth of the monster devoured everything. Seats and instruments cracked and crumbled in its massive jaws. The creature's jaws destroyed the interior after just a few crunches. Eric marveled at his partner in crime's courage and unusual calmness. The raven stood on the balcony, unbothered by the approaching hunter.

He used this time to come up with more ideas. Alright, I have to keep my distance, for now. I'm gonna get a hammer smashed face if that tail hits me. Blocking isn't a good idea. What should I do? Feeble lines of essence descended from the light above. They were visible enough to interrupt Eric's thoughts, but they also guided him. The threads spiraled from the top and swirled around the monster, connecting with it. Fluorescent light emerged from its insides.

The key inside was pulsating with energy from the threads. Vex's ring showed the way forward. It looks like we either fight and get out the key, or we stay here forever and become rabid dog lunch. I'm not letting this happen. Both hands on the wooden railing, Eric watched as an elaborate game of tag began to form between the raven and the monster. On the opposite side of the hall, Ash jumped on the floor and tried to lure its pursuer further away from the young reaper.

It picked up a small shard of glass and shot it towards its hunter with a bolt of magic. The giant tail deflected the projectile. Another round, and another parry. Ominously, the beast kept advancing towards Ash. It let out a low growl with each parry. Anger built inside it, and its steps sped up until their loud thumps sounded like an artillery barrage. All eight legs were galloping towards the raven. One shard hit the soft part of the tail near the heavy end, piercing it in the process.

Trails of blood poured onto the ground. The curved walls caught eager caws and croaks, sending them all over the concert hall. In that exact moment, Eric experienced another flash of inspiration. The shard! It went through! The tissue beneath the end is the weak spot! Now, I only have to find a way to cut it… and not get myself turned into minced meat. That wouldn't solve everything, but it would be a promising start. Ash acted as a distraction quite well. The beast's hunger overwhelmed everything else.

With more distance between them, Eric no longer warranted attention. He ran along the balcony spanning the arena to better position himself. A camouflage and teleport later, Eric was on the ground and maneuvered through the broken instruments. Making a sound could cost his life. Despite being hidden and armed with a weapon, Eric didn't feel like a true hunter. Each step he took forward only increased his fear.

Blood pooled into his head, and his heart was beating so hard that he thought the broken drums near him were playing in time with it. His winged companion darted around the air, doing everything it could to keep the apex predator predictable. One chance, one surgical hit, and Eric could incapacitate his enemy. The dagger stretched into a curved blade, primed to cut through fresh meat. It sensed the incoming bloodbath. Steady… just a few more steps. Palpable dread filled the young reaper's heart.

Up close, his enemy was more terrifying. Jaws bigger than those he had seen in a museum as a kid and teeth sharper than any blade Grim showed him. The dog's grin spanned from one ear to the other and was in perfect condition, even if it had chewed up chairs and curtains seconds ago. Ash screeched and cawed while dodging all the bites from the monster, all of them ending with a loud snap that traveled across the room. Just meters behind the wagging tail, Eric tried to steady his body.

It was screaming at him to run away, but he wouldn't listen. He had to get the key and move forward. The crushing tail whipped its bony hammer through the air with ease, deflecting more of the projectiles Ash sent in its direction. One of them shot a few inches near Eric, and he had to dodge to the side. A tiny mistake almost got him killed. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. The monster twisted its head and sniffed the air.

It turned around and was face to face with the young reaper. His concentration slipped for a heartbeat, exposing his presence just enough to cause a stir in the air. A large sweep followed from the creature. It crashed its tail into the ground. Another swipe from its hind legs launched debris and broken instruments in Eric's direction. He teleported back and began running away from the predator. His legs were shaking and his thoughts were scrambling over to find a way to not become the next meal.

Conserving his energy, he only teleported when the monster was catching up to him. The entire auditorium descended into chaos. Ash continued to pick up and shoot shards of wood and glass, yet the eight-legged beast wasn't bothered at all. It focused all its energy on catching Eric. He tried to retaliate with a spectral throw, but the jaws crunched the green projectile right behind him. Broken trumpets, torn drums, and stomped violins added to the chaotic chase.

The sounds reverberated around the auditorium, as if a symphony of destruction was being directed inside. Eric tumbled over the broken floor and teleported far away from his pursuer. More than half of his essence was gone, and he couldn't let more of it go to waste. We can't continue like this. Time to try a golem scroll. Eric yanked out the scroll he'd looted from the stone golem. Red wax sealed the ancient parchment between two polished wooden rods. He broke the seal and unfurled it.

The yellow paper smelled like old, dried leaves and damp earth. Scarabs skittered across the surface from the glowing sigils. As the insects moved, they became bigger and their carapace hardened. They opened their wings, ready to take flight. Moments before the rock bugs burst from the scroll, Eric turned it around and angled towards the incoming monster. A barrage of small, curled-up creepy crawlers shot out like cannon fire.

The blast wave almost moved Eric off balance, but he maintained his position and focused on targeting. Scarabs flowed out like an unleashed dam and filled the concert hall. It was swimming in rock-insects. They weren't like the scorpion ones from the golem earlier, but Eric had seen enough films with scarabs to know that they could be deadly. The onslaught of bugs proved to be a tough lunch for the beast. It tried to eat as much as it could, but the sheer volume of crawlers was overwhelming.

A battle formation emerged on the field from the chitinous swarm. They created a giant ball from the swarm and began rolling it around the hall. It circled the room several times until finally targeting the eight-legged predator. The sphere slammed into it and threw it against the wall. Layers of bugs covered the floor from the impact as the ball exploded. Wood, rock, and dust clouds formed around the blast site. Disoriented, the beast coughed up some of the insect lunch it had eaten earlier. Now!

He hurled a special sword at his enemy and teleported right at the weighted tail. The distance was big enough so that he could cut it down and escape before the projectile arrived. His dagger sliced out the structure of bone, just before the ghostly missile was about to hit. Another teleport to the balconies up high gave a view of the aftermath. The pain from losing a part of its weighted end brought the creature back to its senses. It roared in as more blood pooled beneath it.

Within moments, the spectral throw arrived and hit its target in the head. More gore ensued. The ghostly sword cut almost half of the lower jaws and sprayed a sizable amount of black blood over the walls. Eric watched from above. He felt a little more confident in the situation since he had disposed of the predator's main weapon and injured it. Peeking down, he saw the dog looking around, trying to find who had done this. The moment both of them locked eyes was when Eric realized he was no longer prey.

His victim wouldn't back down so easily. The monster ran forward and slammed into the column below Eric's balcony. He reeled from the impact and almost fell to the ground. A big part of the terraces came crashing down, and the young reaper sprinted across the parts that were still holding. Behind him, each of the supporting pillars broke down from the repeated hits of the creature. Although wounded, rage fueled its muscles, and it continued breaking down the concert hall.

Running over the upper part of the dome chamber made Eric realize the balconies wouldn't hold forever. He already knew how to end the chase. It was risky, and there was a real possibility of him failing, but he had no other choice. The key inside the monster still sent out a green tingle in the air. There had to be a way to get it out, and Eric knew exactly how. Let's finish this. Ash sensed the change in its partner and flew over to the curtains.

It pulled and draped the old curtains over the monster, hindering its movement. On top of that, the raven piled over whatever else it could carry. Eric jumped to the railing and landed opposite his enemy. He yelled and caught its attention.

"Hey, scarface. Over here!" A sharp, raspy growl shot at him. The beast was in pain, and even its attempts to intimidate Eric showed that. It jumped out of the curtains and broke instruments. The bloodshot eyes fixated on the young reaper. Blood gushed from the detached jaw as the eight-legged dog sprinted forward. Eric grabbed his sword with both hands and stood still. He pulled it over his head and channeled essence. Before sending it forth, his body flashed green for a second.

Without delay, he jumped forward and shot out an empowered spectral throw. Eric sent forth his real dagger instead of a copy. While the projectile flew through the air, he channeled a phantom hand and grabbed the hilt. The beast opened its mouth wide, anticipating the attack. It swallowed the dagger whole.

"Now I've got ya!" Eric pulled the summoned extension of his limbs and moved his weapon inside the enemy. Agonized screams filled the air. Through the phantom hand, Eric felt the dagger tearing through flesh, splitting organs, and grinding against bone. He channeled everything he had into his ghostly hand in order to mitigate the damage. The half-destroyed jaw snapped shut after swallowing the dagger and bit down. Grimacing, the young reaper twisted his arm violently, attempting to free his weapon.

The flailing corpse of the monster hit the walls and got stuck. He dragged his weapon out of the carcass, severing it in half. A stream of experience orbs flooded the concert hall. Each one of them contained even more power, thanks to the temporary buff. Eric's right hand was bitten and bloodied as he pulled hard. While the spell protected him, it couldn't completely ignore the damage. He watched his arm, but it started to rejuvenate. The influx of experience orbs triggered a long-awaited event.