Whoosh. A spear pierced a hell bat's skull. Leo's blade followed, slicing another open—black blood gushing out like oil.
Finn swung his sword, cutting the scarlet wing off a bat.
It fell to the ground. Carson jetted his spear at its head, piercing through it, pinning it against the ground.
A hell bat came soaring toward a greenhorn, who scarcely dodged the fatal hammer attack. The bat dove down, slicing the greenhorn's thigh open and dropping him to the ground.
The bat rapidly jumped at the greenhorn's neck, ripping it open—killing him instantly.
"NOOOO, CARL!" a greenhorn cried out, rushing to the deceased greenhorn and cutting the bat in half.
"Please, Carl. Please, Carl, get up," he said, dropping to his knees beside Carl.
His hands trembled as he shook his friend's lifeless body.
It was no use.
Behind him, a screech. He didn't even look back.
"WHAT THE HELL YOU DOING, MARK? GET UP!" Carson yelled.
Mark, still bawling, was swarmed by three hell bats.
When the bats dived in, Carson and I threw our spears, killing two of them.
But we couldn't stop the last one from sinking its claws into Mark's back, making him shriek in pain.
Finn rushed toward Mark in an attempt to save him, but it was in vain.
The hell bat had already ripped his neck open.
I could sense the group beginning to lose hope.
It always does.
Finn reached Mark's corpse, plunging his sword into the bat and ripping it off.
As I grabbed my spear, Finn was sent flying by a soaring hell bat, knocking him to the ground.
The hell bat, now behind Finn, charged at his back while he was beginning to stand up in a daze.
"DUCK DOWN, FINN!" I yelled, hurling my spear toward the hell bat.
Finn regained his senses, barely ducking under my spear that pierced through the hell bat, which fell onto his chest.
"On your feet. You've got to be more on guard," I said, picking him up and retrieving my spear behind him.
"Oh, thank you, Sir Kelly," he said, blinking at the corpse behind him.
A few hell bats came, surrounding us.
Finn and I slammed our backs together.
"Sir? We're the same age, so don't call me that," I said, piercing a hell bat.
"Sorry. Force of habit, sir—oops, sorry again," Finn said, cutting another down.
I smiled, thinking how much he was like my brother.
"I think you and my brother would make good friends," I said while piercing the final bat.
Another one of our men was taken out, and then another.
With each man fallen, the group began to lose more and more hope.
"Damn, if shit keeps going like this, we won't last much longer," Carson muttered.
"We shouldn't have separated from Commander Axe," Tom said, beginning to fall back.
This is why I don't trust those who fight with hope in their hearts and minds.
Every time despair began to creep in, that hope of theirs quickly vanished.
The only thing that should be in your heart and mind when fighting is surviving.
Nothing else. Nothing more.
Despair was deep in the hearts of our group.
And on top of that, we began to tire.
In a matter of minutes, the morale of the group flipped on its head.
Every time someone screamed for hope, another died.
I didn't scream.
"MEN, DON'T LOSE HOPE.
ONE LAST PUSH IS ALL WE NEED!" Leo roared, cutting down a hell bat.
"What, he thinks he's Commander Axe now?" Tom muttered, his eyes scanning around him.
We pushed forward. Only a handful of hell bats were left.
"This is it, guys! Let's finish the suckers off!" Leo yelled, riling us up.
Leo leaped forward, cutting through the air and killing two instantly.
As he spun, dodging a third one, Tom threw his spear at its head, piercing it.
"I guess it's a good thing I came here. You obviously need me," Tom said, cracking a smirk toward Leo.
"Oh, please. I could've easily killed that one," Leo muttered back, cutting down another hell bat.
Carson leapt forward, thrusting his spear into the eye of one, killing it.
Finn blocked a diving hell bat's claws with his sword, spun behind it, and cut it down.
I thrust my spear into one while leaping forward, throwing my spear into another.
I leapt to retrieve my spear, dodging under a hell bat attacking me, sliding against the ground to reach my spear.
Grabbing it off the ground, still sliding, I spun my body, thrusting my spear at the bat diving down at me, piercing it through the head.
My momentum only stopped when I hit the mining entrance gate.
"We finally did it. All the hell bats are eliminated," Tom muttered, letting out a long sigh of relief, laying his back on the blood-filled wall.
"Yeah, I knew we could do it," Leo said, sheathing his sword.
While others celebrated, Carson crouched in blood, not uttering a word, his head facing the ground.
I laid my back against the ground, trying to catch my breath.
"I have to remove Mark and Carl from this area and place them in the lobby," Finn said, rushing further into the tunnel to Mark and Carl's corpses.
"We don't have time to mourn the dead. We have to get back to aid Commander Axe's group," I said, standing up.
"Yeah, and notify whoever's guarding Lieutenant Bob that he can take him to the medical center," Leo said.
"You think Commander Axe's group hasn't finished yet?" Carson asked me.
"Commander Axe is the strongest person in the world. So, if we finished our side, he should have finished his.
But I have little hope in things I can't see."
"Like always—super cynical," Tom muttered, placing his arm around my shoulder.
I just rolled my eyes.
After helping Finn finish removing the two corpses, we started heading toward Commander Axe's group.
Finally, reaching the place where the group split, we saw—just ahead of us—
Old Guard Doctor Brian, a fortyish, thin-faced man with short black hair, was guarding and treating Lieutenant Bob's wounds.
"Doctor, is Lieutenant Bob alright?" Leo said, walking beside the lieutenant's body.
"Oh, you're here—that's very good. He's stable for now.
I need one of you to help me carry him to the medical center before the venom kills him."
"Okay, doctor. Finn, aid him," Leo said, looking back to Finn.
END OF CHAPTER 4