Still, I can work with this!!
“You know, rgh—”
I leaned into the situation literally, walking forward until Rhora’s claw dug all the way to the hilt into my shoulder. A wild, beastly howl escaped me before I plunged my karambit into Rhora’s other arm, driving it deeper into her flesh. She could not easily break free from the talon-shaped blade’s grip. We had each other locked together, one arm each immobilized.
“There’s someone coming for you.” Rhora’s other claw came down on me; I blocked with my ax, but it sliced into the blade. “And he’s a goddamn beast. If he hadn’t been after you for so long, he would’ve been basking in glory by now.”
Rhora roared, spraying her foul breath in my face. I pulled my head back, then rammed it into hers. She writhed violently, swinging me along with her. We bumped into the stony bed and sent Lana falling to the floor. She looked unharmed. Relieved, I turned back to the ghoul. Both of us had lost our greatest asset—the ability to cloak ourselves in the shadows. Our weapons were far from deadly; the brawl didn’t even come close to a mudslinging match.
My ax shattered. I didn’t care. I pummeled Rhora with the hilt and slashed away at her with the chipped blade. The creature slashed me all over with her claw, ripping my skin. It was sharp as hell. But in such close quarters, she couldn’t work up the speed she’d need to cleave my limbs or body in two. All I had to do was fend off fatal attacks. She could take all the blood, flesh, and bones she wanted from me. My friends were on their way. If I could just buy some more time, I’d win. Even if worse came to worst, I’d have saved Lana—and that’d be a huge victory.
But then.
Squish. I felt something stab me in the stomach. A taillike tentacle protruding from the wraith’s body had pierced my abdomen. All-consuming drowsiness engulfed my body. I faltered, my vision flickering in and out. Sweet sleep called to me, promising entry to heaven if I just let go.
I bit my lips hard. Even that pain felt dim and distant.
Not yet.
I fished for the pen syringe out of the open mini kettle. It had no needle, instead delivering drugs through pressure alone. Raising it up against my neck, I pushed the button.
“Rgh!”
Lukewarm fluid rushed into my veins. My temperature shot up like crazy, and my body began to shake. The drugs were strong. It temporarily numbed all pain, cured exhaustion, and increased your focus. Use it too often, and it’d cripple you for life. I’d brought it along in case of emergency, if one of us sustained a life-threatening wound. My heart beat even faster; all sense of pain or fatigue disappeared instantly, scaring me.
I woke up. The claw pummeling toward me suddenly seemed to decelerate as if in slow motion. Though I’d regained my senses, I couldn’t move properly. What I could do, though, was make sure Rhora’s other claw pierced through my right shoulder. The pain came but felt distant. I rammed my broken ax into the ghastly thing’s arm and gouged at it. I screamed. The snatcher was lighter than I’d imagined. I slammed her against a nearby stone coffin, but whatever power kept her floating in the air whirled me around.
Our nasty brawl continued. Sometimes, my head would crash into something, and I’d lose consciousness for a second. An endless stream of blood gushed from my shoulders.
Rhora, you don’t want to die, do you? But not me. As long as I can kill you, I’m set. Worst- or best-case scenario, all I want is to save her. Nothing else matters.
That’s why you’ve lost this game.
Rhora and I toppled over. I found a shard of my shattered ax lying next to me. Gripping the broken blade between my teeth, I stabbed it into the wretched ghoul’s neck. Fervidly, vigorously, I drove it in, never letting the monster out of our bloody embrace. She let out an earsplitting scream.
Just a little more—
Just a litt—
—le—
—Click. I snapped. My body reached its limit. Only then did I realize I was drenched in my own blood. Draining the last dregs of energy, I tried to force myself to my feet, but the connection between my muscles and mind had severed. I couldn’t move. No matter what I tried, my body wouldn’t budge. The drug wore off, too, for one simple reason: I’d lost too much blood. The shard of ax had eaten into Rhora’s neck, but it wasn’t nearly enough to kill her.
So this is the end, huh? Can’t say I feel regret, exactly. If anything, I think I did pretty well for myself. But I’m sorry, I apologized silently, then lowered my gaze.
Faces of all the friends I’d met in the Other Dimension flashed before my eyes. Memories of the good days, tender meetings and warmth, of the short yet adventure-filled time I’d spent here raced through my mind. The night I picked up a sword to defend my friend’s honor. The morning after, when I saw the girls’ shining faces as I awoke. The evening I met a tiny little goddess. They all felt so far away, as if everything had been just a dream—a fantasy.
This is where my adventure ends.
The murderous freak violently extricated her claw from my right shoulder. At the very least, I could go out staring her in the eye like a real man. Fixing my glare on her, I said, “Mind if I get in one last thing?” She raised her arm to strike.
“How does it feel to get your ass kicked this bad by a nobody like me? Freakin’ loser.”
Her claw came down, lodging itself in my forehead. A dull thud reverberated through my bones. Then I saw a steel blade sprout through the wraith’s chest. It pierced straight into where her heart would have been without a shred of mercy.
“At long last, I found you.”
Pops withdrew his blade. Rhora wailed; it sounded like a last, pitiful plea. The sword came down, cleaving off everything above the pathetic monster’s shoulders.
“Wait……… That can’t be all you’ve got.” The livid adventurer stabbed at the mutant. Over and over and over. “You can’t be this easy to kill!” he roared, torturing the monster’s already-lifeless body. For a second, I saw his raw emotion, pent up from decades of fury, and felt the pure rage of a young man. He released all his anger onto the corpse, beating it until eventually his longsword broke under its master’s strength.
After a brief, dumbfounded pause, Pops was back. He was the father of adventurers once again. I saw my friends nearby.
“Souya, you did good. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.”
“Pops, take care of the others,” I managed to say, then finally releasing the last straws of my consciousness. Only the gods knew if I could return alive with these wounds.
Oh, but you know, I feel the smallest sense of accomplishment. I can die in peace.