"So whats the plan?" Ryven asks, ducking into a crater.
"Well… you see," Silas starts. "Last time I encountered one of those, I wasn't exactly the man who killed it."
"What do you mean?" Ryven asked. "It was slain by Zain Zahid, a tier 6 senior member of our corps."
"Tier 6?!" Ryven asked. "What tier are you?"
Silas scratched his head awkwardly. "Tier 4."
"Tier 4? He looks really old though." Abel comments.
"I recently gained this goddamn curse a few years ago." He explains. "Accompanied with the fact I held off on promoting fo a while, I'm only a tier four at my age."
Ryven sighs.
"Alright, well do you have any information on it at least?"
"Mhm" Silas nodded. "Its glowing red eyes. The rest of it may be covered in moonstone, acting as armor, but those glowing red eyes are a actual part of its body."
"Alright there we go!" Ryven shouts excitedly. "So what's the plan?"
…
A small car pulls up into a dimly lit driveway. Inside, Sylven sits alone, feasting on a double patty from Chunky Burger..
"No one's here again," she mutters, releasing a long sigh as she opens the door.
Apart from the mess sitting on the table and the sink, the downstairs was pretty well kept. She was the only one living here after all. Ryven and her Mom were in the hospital, while her Dad was out working late nights, trying his best to keep up with the price of memberships and prescriptions at the hospital.
She sighed as she opened her phone, checking her bank balance. "$270 UCD."
That was all she had. 'Father hasnt been able to give me my allowance this month. He's working hard to pay for they're hospital bills.' She thought, placing her hand on their family photograph.
"Ugh… what are you doing right now?" She asked, rubbing her finger over her brother's face.
…
Ryven moved forward, jumping into the next crater.
He peeked over the jagged rim, dust brushing against his cheeks.
Across the ruined ground, Silas darted in flashes, barely visible, like streaks of silver slicing through the battlefield.
The Gargoyle roared.
Its massive body was plated in jagged slabs of moonstone, reflecting the pale light like armor forged from the night sky. But the eyes, those glowing red eyes, burning like coal in a furnace.
Silas blurred forward.
A crack of displaced air echoed as he reappeared beside the monster's leg, spear flashing. The tip struck the moonstone, sparks spraying as it skidded across the surface.
Ryven continued moving.
"Just one hit, and you'll be in trouble." Abel grumbled, following Ryven as he snuck on forward.
The ground shook as the Gargoyle slammed both claws down, trying to crush the blur that kept stabbing it.
Silas reappeared thirty meters away, panting slightly.
"Come on! I'm right here!" He screamed.
The Gargoyle spread its wings, flapping them as it dove forward with surprising speed.
Silas dived out the way, his narrowly dodging the attack as the impact blasted dust and stone everywhere.
Ryven's eyes widened.
"Go!" Abel screamed.
Ryven launched out of the crater.
He felt that familiar itch again, and did not hesitate to scratch at it, bringing out his dark Odachi.
He dashed straight toward the massive claw embedded in the ground. Before the creature could pull it free, he leapt high and brought his odachi down.
THUNK.
The blade embedded deep into the creature's moonstone hand.
Ryven grabbed the hilt and used it to pull himself upward.
The Gargoyle froze.
Slowly, its glowing eyes shifted downward.
"…Oh."
The massive head tilted as it finally noticed the human climbing its arm.
"Umm… hi?" Ryven muttered, meeting the creature's eyes.
The Gargoyle screeched.
It ripped its claw from the ground and began violently shaking its arm.
Ryven clung to the odachi, feet scraping across stone as he climbed higher.
The creature's second claw came swinging toward him.
"Fuck!" He screamed, yanking the blade free and diving forward, the enormous talons missing him by mere inches as they smashed into its own arm.
Stone fragments exploded outward, and from across the battlefield, Silas' eyes lit up.
"There it is." He muttered to himself, speeding forward.
A sonic crack split the air as Silas accelerated, spear held low like a bolt of lightning.
The Gargoyle lifted its arm again to swat at Ryven, and Silas appeared directly beside its face.
A small smile appeared on his face as he thrusted his spear forward with terrifying speed.
SHKRRRT.
The blade pierced straight into the Gargoyle's left eye.
The monster shrieked, its roar shaking the air as black liquid gushed out of it's socket.
Blinded on one side, it thrashed wildly, giving Ryven the perfect opportunity.
He sprinted up the creature's arm, using the jagged ridges of moonstone as footholds.
The Gargoyle clawed at him with its remaining arm, barely missing as he vaulted across its shoulder.
Then Ryven jumped.
Time seemed to slow.
The burning red eye filled his vision.
Ryven raised his odachi, using it like a spear, and plunging it forward.
CRRRRSHK.
The odachi drove straight into the Gargoyle's second eye, burying deep into its skull.
For a moment, everything went still.
Then the eye popped, black blood gushing out, lathering over Ryven's body.
The monster's massive body swayed once… twice…
…and collapsed.