The Wind blew hard against the flames of the campfire, stoking them, but at the same time threatening to extinguish them.
Argus had stood, and Ophelia soon after, their armor and weapons materializing out of thin air.
Argus chose his white breastplate and his silvery axe, while Ophelia wore her golden breastplate and held a strange silver sword.
Her sword was just as reflective and mirror-like as Argus's axe. They seemed to be made out of the same material, or perhaps they possessed similar powers.
Where did these weapons even come from, and how could they materialize out of thin air?
Why didn't Argus use the Millennium-tier sword that could cut through anything? Why didn't Ophelia equip the golden vambraces that she had used when attacking the temple?
Perhaps there was something limiting the blessings they could hold, or perhaps it was simply some strategy they had up their sleeve
These were all questions Mathew would be sure to ask them later.
It was strange that he was able to think so clearly during such a tense situation. Was it another quirk of the Iron Mind? Had his brain become steel-cold metal as well? Or had he just started to detach himself from his emotions?
Perhaps he just felt safer because he knew his captors could deliver lethal force to those they deemed their enemies.
The wind began to pick up even more, creating a whistling sound as it traversed the crags of the land around them.
"They are moving closer," said Argus, "We are going to need more light." Mathew could see into the darkness and make out the distant shapes closing in on them from all directions. He was curious as to how Argus was able to sense them. Did he have some form of night vision as well? Or were they just the instincts of a seasoned warrior?
"Dread." Ophelia hissed at him, her voice low but somehow cutting through the strong wind like a knife, "Make yourself useful and toss some wood onto the fire." Mathew nodded and began to do so. He felt lightly compelled to do so, but if he wanted to, he could resist her words.
He had learned in the last few days that if Ophelia said the words "I command" or "I order" when telling him to do something, the force on his mind would be impossible to resist, and his body would comply against his will.
If it wasn't an explicit command, however, and she was just telling him to do something, the force was much weaker, and he could push against it if he really tried.
In this case, however, he decided not to resist.
He stacked even more wood on the fire, and it grew to a mighty blaze. Everything they had collected was added to it. The wind only added to it, throwing ash and embers everywhere. The heat might have been unbearable to an ordinary human, but Mathew was a bit more than human at this point.
The creatures around them were moving closer and closer. Argus and Ophelia stood their ground, neither moving a muscle. Mathew looked at Ophelia and noticed she was keeping her eyes on Argus. It seemed she had a lot of trust in him.
The Nightspawn were now close enough that Mathew could make out their features. There were a few dozen of them, and their behavior resembled that of a pack of hungry wolves.
But they were unlike any wolves Mathew had ever seen.
Their bodies were vaguely canine, but they each had 6 legs. Rather than paws, their legs ended in strange ball shapes. They had thin but long necks that were almost snakelike, and their small heads resembled those of jackals, with a long face, narrowed eyes, and pointed ears; however, strangely, each creature was missing a mouth and nose. Their 'snout' simply ended in a pointed cone shape.
"Steady." Said Argus softly as the creatures moved silently ever closer. Ophelia drew in a few deep breaths, as if to calm herself. Argus held his palm out toward her in a staying motion, then said: "Prepare the flash."
Ophelia clutched her sword tightly.
The light of the fire dimmed immensely, creating a strange situation in which the massive bonfire before them was giving off the light of a few candles. The light was siphoned into the strange blade Ophelia held, similar to what Argus had done in the temple.
The Nightspawn stopped only a few meters from them, all hesitating for a single moment as if sharing one mind.
Mathew held his breath, finding himself staring into the beady eyes of one of the monsters.
Then all of them surged forward.
"Now!" Argus shouted as the pack of creatures moved in for the kill. Ophelia thrust her blade high into the air, and all the light she had stored within it shot out in all directions. It was as though Ophelia were holding a dazzling white sun in her hands, and all the Nightspawn around them were blinded at once.
Immediately after she did so, Argus rushed forward with his own weapon and began to cleave through the Nightspawn effortlessly. They were like fodder to him, one after another disintegrating into black vapor as they were hewn into pieces.
Mathew had a small revelation as the slaughter commenced: Both Ophelia and Argus relied on bright light sources in order to power their weapons. Did that mean, if Mathew could figure out how to conjure the blue flames at will, he could endlessly power up the abilities of their Blessings?
The Nightspawn didn't stay blinded for long. The ones near Mathew and Ophelia recovered and began to approach once more, albeit more cautiously.
"Stay behind me, Dread," Ophelia said, her voice strained. She held her sword out in front of her, tip downward towards the dog. As each one approached, she pointed it at them, as if she was trying to ward them off.
It did not seem as though she was trembling, but Mathew thought he felt anxiety from her movements and breathing.
Was she… nervous?
He found the concept hard to believe, as he had witnessed her headstrong attitude and impressive strength firsthand. But he supposed it was possible.
Suddenly, one of the creatures leaped at her. She jumped backward to avoid it, but two more of the Nightspawn ran past her to get to Mathew.
He danced away from them, his body still surprisingly nimble, but they were relentless even as he backtracked. One collided with his knee, as the other leapt onto him.
He fell flat on his back.
His hands immediately went to the unnaturally long neck of the creature, his instincts telling his body to avoid a rabid animal's bite, but his instincts were no good in this situation.
The creatures did not have any mouths… at least not on their long snouts.
Instead, each of their strange ball-like paws opened up, revealing strange maws where feet should have been.
Twelve sets of needle-like teeth began to pierce Mathew's body, and he writhed in pain as he battered at the creatures with his fists, trying to wound them or to get them off of him.
He let out a metallic scream of pain, which sounded like a rattling tin can.
The one grabbing at his face put its two front 'paws' on Mathew's forearms and began clamping down, searching for the largest veins it could find. It was like having your blood drawn, except by a hundred needles at once.
A blade pierced one of the Nightspawn on top of him. The silent creature went limp, then dissolved into black vapor.
With one down, Mathew had just enough strength in him to kick the second one in the body, sending it skittering away. Ophelia stood above him, her teeth gritted together, her breathing ragged.
"What took you so long?" Mathew spat. "Was this your first time holding a sword, mistress?" he said 'mistress' with as much venom as he could muster.
Ophelia's face, first white with panic, flushed red.
"I… I don't…" She sputtered. "Don't speak to me." Mathew's next retort was trapped in his throat by the power of the contract. Ophelia made a 'Hmph' of annoyance and turned her back to him, walking over to finish off the Nightspawn he had kicked away.
Mathew grunted, getting up to a sitting position. He was bleeding all over from circular bite wounds all over his arms, legs, and abdomen.
His clothes were ripped to shreds, which became much more of an annoyance to him as the wounds on his skin began to slowly close up and heal.
He had forgotten up until that moment about the time his hand had regenerated. He figured that it was either another power Mathias possessed inherently or a quirk of the Iron Mind. Whatever the source, the knowledge of this healing factor was somewhat comforting
He stood and looked around with his night vision. Argus and Ophelia had killed every last one of the creatures.