Dawn- An age of Darkness
Chapter 100 - Unyielding

The monster didn't stop and swung its sword over the old man's head and the old man blocked it. But this time he was right under the pressure. The old man was at his limit. He was leaking blood through his nose and mouth from the pressure.

I- must- move!

But my feet weren't moving. I couldn't will myself to do anything. Nothing was working. I slapped myself and forced my body to shut the fuck up.

I know I'm in trouble. You don't have to remind me!

I took a deep breath, focused my thoughts, prepared myself for the worst, and went straight for the monster's back. I thrust my sword through his torso. But alas! The sword broke in pieces. I didn't care, my knife was in my other hand; jumping up, I shot it straight through his neck.

"We-well done lad!"

"Don't talk old man!" I managed

The monster eased its grip on the sword and the old man fell on the floor. Then it turned its head: the muscles spiraled sideways. It was creepy rather than scary. I was still attached to the neck by my knife.

The thing looked at me and I froze. My eyes weren't moving. Oh shit!

It was pissed. I could tell that the pirates weren't moving either. But being staggered wasn't an option. It was move or die!

"TAKE THE OLD MAN AND LEAVE! LEAVE!" I screamed my lungs out. I had a debt to pay.

Although the monster looked at me, I looked back at the pirates. Only two remained standing and one of them was a scrawny guy holding a torch and the other was Jowy.

Huh? That's it?

All this time the area was getting darker and darker but I didn't care; I didn't have that luxury, but now I knew why. There wasn't anyone standing to even hold the torches. There just weren't enough men to consider retreating: not anymore.

At first, I thought that the knife would be enough to make the undead evaporate but it didn't turn out like that. Although the knife worked fine on the other undead, this one was special. The knife was clearly hurting it but it wasn't enough.

The monster didn't fling me around like the other pirates. It was curious about what I was doing to its neck. The enraged look on its face made clear that the knife was in fact hurting it. I was in for hell and I knew it.

I tried moving the knife and with all my might I slit one of its veins; the monster roared in agony and made sure I felt the same. It screamed so loud that I felt my ears drums would rupture. And then, to my horror, it grabbed my leg and grinned.

Time froze for a second.

The monster threw me on the ground with just one hand. I bounced on the soil. "AHHH!!!"

Blood gushed out from my mouth and nose. The impact was painful; very painful. I couldn't breathe anymore and my ears rang. But that wasn't enough. The monster's neck was exposed and half of it had turned to stone. However the monster grinned and looked at me. Oh shit! Shit was about to go down, no doubt.

It lifted its sword in the air and shoved it through my chest with both hands.

Did it go through my heart or did it miss? I couldn't tell.

For a moment I couldn't feel anything. I couldn't believe anything. All I could think of was, "What just happened?" When the pain finally hit, I screamed so loud that my throat might have split.

I lost all my ability to process information; all I could feel was the intense stabbing pain in my chest. My chest felt hot but gradually became cold. Everything was moving at a slow pace. Jowy was yelling in the background. My hands had already gone numb.

The sword had sunk very deep into the soil; so the monster tried to pull it out with brute force. My chest felt like it was being torn open: it was. My knife was still sticking out from the neck of the monster. It was an undead; yet the fact that it could feel pain might have been an irony of the gods; not that there were any left, to begin with.

"Boy." The old man grunted and tried to reach me with the sword.

The left hand was touching the edge of the mystic blade that the old man was carrying. The old man was on the verge of his consciousness. He looked at me and tried to pass the sword to me.

I knew what needed to be done. If was going out, I wanted to go out in style.

With just my fingers I tried to get it. I cut my fingers but succeeded. My consciousness was fading by the moment but I just had to do that. So this is the last moment of Daarc green. Wasn't my life supposed to flash before my eyes? It didn't. Maybe that was a good thing.

The monster's sword was very deep in the earth, so it was pretty close to me. I had to move a little and it was beyond my pain threshold; tears were welling up in my eyes. Or rather falling from it at this point. As I touched the mystic sword, my body was filled with some strength, but it was welcome, however little it was.

I focused. The sword glowed in response: it was almost as if the sword had a mind of its own. With the sword covered in my magic, I shoved it inside the monster as far as I could reach. It was taken aback by surprise and staggered. The sword went through its armor and then through its flesh, all the way to its heart. It was smoother than butter.

Something was different. Because when the old man used this sword, it didn't glow this brightly or cut this smooth. Or perhaps I was just going crazy.

The monster looked at me with disbelief. What? Now it felt stupid or something? The moment the sword touched the monster, its appearance became semi-transparent. Its time was over and that was clear.

Perhaps my holy magic did the trick?

Grawrrr! It roared and pulled out the sword from my body; blood rushed to the opening and made a crimson display: the monster's chest started to become petrified.

The pain wasn't here anymore, but there was a smile on my face. At least I got to repay the old man. I could feel nothing anymore, hear nothing.

Everything became blurry and my time was up, but before completely going out cold, I saw Jowy jump on the monster's neck. The moment he touched the knife, it glowed in fiery light; his hands were on fire and the other hand glowed in pale white, and soon the monster was also lit in epic white flames but there was also a gust of wind there to intensify it. That's all I saw.

I can't believe that I couldn't even beat an undead. How am I, even supposed to match that joker of an overlord?