The Spirit beast loomed in the air directly above Sezel, but there was no shadow because there was no source of light in the godless sky.
No. Not like this. Sezel's mind raced as panic flared in his mind, but he smothered it.
Living in the slums had taught him enough about how to be calm and not let panic take over during important situations, and this situation was the worst he had ever faced in his life.
He tried to roll, to scramble away, but his left leg was pinned. He tried to pull it, but the weight was too heavy for his frail body.
A glance down confirmed his worst fears. Beardy's massive frame had crashed down on him in the fall.
Get your fat ass up, you useless bastard! he screamed in the confines of his own mind, his eyes darting back up to the creature as it descended.
Time seemed to slow down. Just as the beast's claws were inches from his face, the weight on his leg vanished. Sezel threw himself to the side, a strangled gasp tearing from his lungs.
The Night Crawler landed with a thud, its claws gouging deep furrows in the dirt. Sezel lay frozen on the side. His heart beating a frantic drum against his ribs. He didn't move. He didn't dare even breathe...
'I... I am alive.' he rejoiced internally.
The others had already scrambled to their feet, putting a safe distance between themselves and the creature. Sezel didn't dare take his eyes off the beast. One wrong move and his luck would run out.
A black, slimy substance dripped from its mangled jaw—a weird mixture of saliva and blood. Its teeth, long and sharp as daggers, were enough to paralyze a grown man with fear.
Sezel slowly regained his senses and, with delicate motions, pushed himself away from the creature while it was busy sniffing the bag full of tools that Sezel had removed beforehand.
Hope flared, maybe it would stay distracted.
But the creature's interrogation didn't last long, and neither did Sezel's luck.
The Night Crawler's head snapped up, its blood-red eyes locking onto his crawling form.
No. No, no, no. Look at the bag, you stupid son of a bitch. Just look at the damn bag.
Sezel froze, his body rigid with terror. The creature scrambled towards him, its movements slow and torturous. He squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the inevitable.
The beast's hot, foul breath washed over him, its black saliva dripping onto his tattered clothes.
PIERCE!
With a desperate cry, Sezel jammed a small, sharp branch into the creature's eye. The beast shrieked, a high, thin sound of pain and rage, and stumbled back.
Sezel was on his feet in an instant, running for his life. He glanced at the others, their faces a mixture of shock. That bastard Arty, a bitter thought seared his mind, he just stood there and watched me die and he was supposed to save us.
"Run! Into the forest!" Arty finally shouted, his own feet already turning.
Perfect timing, hero.
They bolted after him, a pathetic, terrified herd. Sezel quickly caught up. But their path was short-lived.
Arty skidded to a halt, his face a mask of disgust. The rest of them piled up behind him. "Why the fuck did you stop?" the leader yelled, his voice shrill with terror.
Rilli gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.
The leader pushed himself up, but Arty dropped to his knees, his eyes wild. "Shut up," he choked out. "Just shut the hell up."
Tears streamed down his face as he pointed a trembling finger towards the trees, making a slow, circular motion. "We're surrounded."
The words hung tight in the surroundings. Everyone stood shocked.
Sezel's stomach twisted. He scanned the tree line, and his heart sank. Ragged, hungry breaths echoed from all directions. Arty was an awakened and an experienced Slayer, so it made sense he had noticed it before them.
'We are screwed, aren't we?' That was the only thing that echoed in Sezel's mind, and of course, it was true.
They were fucked over multiple times.
The creatures crawled out of the shadowy darkness one by one, each one more gore-looking than the other.
Sezel counted them, his blood running cold. One... two... three... by the time he reached the end, their chances of survival had dwindled to nothing.
"Nine," he whispered, the word a death sentence. He glanced back at the creature he'd stabbed. "No, ten."
There were ten of those shitty creatures.
Survival was now a fantasy without divine intervention. Ten Rank 2 Spirit Beasts versus four useless humans and two useless Rank 1 Awakened. It was a slaughter waiting to happen.
Sezel gulped hard because deep down, he knew he was the reason they were in this mess, because he stabbed that thing and it called upon more of its kind to have a hefty dinner night.
To hell with that, he thought. I wanted to live. It's not like these cowards were going to help me.
Sezel closed his eyes and exhaled deeply, calming himself down. Then he stepped forward, picking up a stone, and threw it at one of the spirit beasts, which looked smaller than all the others.
"Come on, you bastard," he declared, trembling.