11

Sion, Scima, Eva, and Anima walk through the tunnel. The tunnel is much bigger than any of the others, allowing Sion and Scima a comfort they hadn’t yet felt underground. The four of them can feel themselves walking on a downward incline, taking them further from their destination of the surface. In the dirt of the path, there are still footprints from goblins to be seen, all in the direction they currently walk.

Eventually they reach a steeper slope leading into a wide open space. The space is far larger than either of the two housing the strange goblins, so large the four of them are in disbelief it could exist underground like this. They are quickly assaulted by the strong smell of rot filling the chamber. However, despite the omnipresence of the scent there, none of them can find a likely source. Sion looks back at the others.

“This must be the main chamber. It looks like they aren’t getting rid of the waste for some reason.” Scima takes a step forward.

“Well, it’s not like we have somewhere else to go. There must be another path leading out of here that we can take back to the surface.”

The rest follow after the light in Scima’s hand. They walk near the edge of the room, searching for another path to lead them away. Sion keeps alert, scanning their surroundings and maintaining a stance that would allow him to lunge quickly if the need arises. As he looks around, he suddenly pauses. He stops moving and straightens his back, transfixed on something. Anima nearly crashes into his back when he stops.

“Sion, why did you stop?” Anima looks around to find what his gaze has stopped on. “Did you see—”

Anima falters and takes a step back when she sees it. Meanwhile, Scima and Eva have continued on, not having noticed. When they notice they’ve pulled ahead, they turn back and return to where Sion and Anima stay standing. As Scima returns, so does the light.

Near the edge of the light is carrion unlike any they had expected. Rather than an animal, laying there is a goblin. The goblin’s torso has been roughly ripped open, as if by a beast, all the organs removed. The body had been left there to rot unattended elsewise, the goblin’s body becoming a festering pool of blood and muscle.

They continue on quickly when they recollect themselves, their steps hastened, and not a word spoken among them. Now that they’ve found one carcass, the floodgates have opened. They cannot stop finding the mangled and destroyed bodies. Large chunks of flesh bitten off, skulls cracked open and the brain removed, necks twisted back and pulled near the point of tearing off, flayed skins with no sign of the body once within. All manner of wretched corpses litter the large chamber.

The longer they spend walking among the field of death, the more glaring everything becomes. The stench of rot has only grown more powerful. Blood stains cover the floor and have lapped against the walls like an ocean’s waves. Large claws have marked up and down the walls, all across their length. Giant gashes have been carved into the ground. The longer they spend here, the more the chamber feels like the cage trapping a rabid beast that only knows death and destruction away, the goblin’s entering like sacrificial offerings.

Eventually, the light in Scima’s hand begins to reveal some structure. As they draw nearer, its tremendous size reveals itself. When they’ve reached it, so too does its form become clear. Within this chamber, among all the death and rot, is a giant throne. It is at least double Sion’s height, far too big for a person, much less a goblin. Whatever sits upon this throne must be several times larger than a person. That sort of creature would never be able to walk through the tunnels that led them here, lending more credence to the idea that this chamber is a cage, though prompting the question of how it even entered.

As they walk around the throne, they find another path. By now they’ve figured that whatever creature sits on the throne must still be inside with them, and are only relieved they can leave behind the chamber of death without ever meeting its prisoner. However, before they get away, they begin to hear quick stomps and rapid clattering. Before they can begin to flee, they see the throne shudder as a loud thump erupts from it.

One long arm reaches around the throne, another reaching over it. The massive goblin pulls its body halfway over the throne’s back and flops over it. The goblin is huge and grotesque. It bares its fangs, saliva pouring out of its mouth. Its eyes are pure white, a dull green pulsating through them intermittently. Growths of bone covered in skin rise from its skull, appearing like a natural crown. Its arms are far too long for the rest of its body, and far skinnier. Around its fat body are bands of string carrying all sorts of bones. The four pause for a moment as they lay eyes on the monster. The monster pulls at a necklace and puts it in its mouth, creating a loud crunch as it crushes the bone between its teeth.

When Sion looks at it, his eyes begin to burn and a sharp pain in his head begins again. The slate never responds to monsters, not to anything non-human, and yet Sion now sees it. It flickers rapidly, as though it struggles to hold itself together. The pain is much more intense than it was when he saw Lufe. Although he knows he needs to run, he cannot move. The golden light begins to engulf his eyes completely like flames. Sion grabs his forehead, desperately pressing into his skull. Sion feels like his brain is going to tear itself apart. He begins to slump forward slowly, only to collapse quickly.

Scima notices when Sion begins to fall forward. He reaches out and grabs the back of his collar. He, Eva, and Anima begin to run through the tunnel ahead, Sion dragging behind them. Scima begins to shout from the danger of the situation.

“Sion! What happened! Why did you start falling!”

Sion can’t respond. He can only murmur meaningless sounds, having been rendered incapable of stringing together anything coherent. His body shudders as he attempts to speak. Once they’ve made distance from the entrance, they take a break. Scima places Sion against the wall, and exhales from relief. Sion’s eyes are almost as bright as the light in Scima’s hand.

Sion slumps over quickly, prompting Scima to crouch down and keep him propped up. Sion keeps babbling. Suddenly, he stops and gasps, sucking in as much air as he can, as though he had forgotten to breathe. Sion keeps taking deep breaths as the light covering his eyes slowly dwindles and the pain begins to subside. In only a few such breaths, Sion lifts himself back to standing, leaning against the wall.

“I don’t know… what happened…” Scima is startled by the sudden answer to his question.

“Well, at least you seem to be recovering. Sit back down, we’ll take a break.”

“No… I can at least move around now… We can’t wait if there’s something like that down here…”

“It’s not going anywhere, so sit back down!”

The large green hand shoots through the air. It slams its claws into the wall just barely behind the group. They can feel the tunnel begin to shake, dirt knocked loose from the ceiling. They begin to run again, but Sion cannot look away. He instinctively covers one eye with his hand, and the slate appears before him, now stable. It hurts, but is more than bearable now with only one eye affected. The monster has no name, no class, no level, nothing that should belong on the slate save for two skills: ‘Berserk’ and ‘Cannibal King.’ Sion winces as he closes his eyes and begins to run.

The tunnel continues to shake as the sounds of rampage and collapse grow louder. They run through the tunnel without looking back to see what the monster is doing. Suddenly, the sounds stop. At that, Sion takes a wary glance back, just to dash and jump forward right away, tackling Anima and Eva to the ground. The hand reaches forward once more, swiping right over their heads. The tunnel again shakes as it slams into the wall. Sion moves forward and pulls Eva and Anima out of danger. Scima already stands beyond the attack, coughing from the dust from the strike. They return to running.

As they run, they feel the ground begin to slope upward. It quickly progresses to quite a steep incline, causing them to slow down to avoid falling back. They begin to feel the shaking of the tunnels in the ground beneath them. Sion and Scima can keep their balance steady as they move, but Eva and Anima, having trained their bodies less, struggle. Sion looks back once more. The giant goblin is sinking its claws into the floor and dragging itself up the tunnel. It moves more quickly like this than it had earlier, Sion feels. He looks ahead to Anima and Eva and begins to speak urgently.

“That monster is gaining on us! Scima, grab Eva and run! We’ll be faster that way!”

Scima obliges the order and carries Eva in his arms as he begins to run faster. Sion dashes forward and gets Anima on his shoulder. As Sion and Scima begin to run up the slope, Anima looks back to see the goblin still coming closer. She quickly raises a hand and casts a spell. A wall of bramble forms across the whole of the tunnel just as the goblin’s hand approaches. The goblin’s hand crashes through the bramble without much difficulty, but the new impediments prevent it from cleanly pulling itself through the tunnel. It rips the bramble away quickly and continues on. Anima earned them less than a second, yet still a massive amount of time. She casts another spell, making the bramble stronger this time. This wall is no more of a difficulty than the other had been, and the goblin gets through quickly. She continues to buy them time in increments of half-seconds over and over again as they continue to ascend. Eventually, she grows so weary that she cannot weave another spell together. The monster rips apart her final wall and continues to chase after them.

The ground begins to level out again, and they see a faint light in the distance. Sion and Scima keep running towards the exit and the surface. They get halfway down the final stretch of the tunnel before they’ve pushed themselves too far. They place Anima and Eva down in front of them and begin panting to try to catch their breath. Sion starts talking first.

“Go on ahead… We’ll catch up…” Anima protests.

“No! I won’t leave you behind!” Scima chides her.

“We don’t have time for those sorts of feelings. The sooner we can get people here the better, so get out.” Anima is about to continue her protests, but is interrupted by a loud screech from behind them. When it stops, Eva turns towards the exit.

“Anima, we’ll leave. You two, flee as soon as you can and return to us.” Scima looks at her solemnly.

“Of course, my lady.”

Eva and Anima go on ahead, leaving Sion and Scima to their own devices. They both recover quickly, but neither turn towards the surface. Scima looks at Sion with a wry smile.

“What are you doing here?”

“I can’t let you do this alone. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I left.”

“You won’t be able to live if you stay either.”

The goblin’s arm emerges from the slope, pulling its hulking body up. It begins to drag itself through the tunnel, collapsing the tunnel behind itself. When Eva hears the goblin’s approach, she looks back. She sees Scima and Sion standing there, awaiting their foe.

“Anima, go on ahead.” Anima looks back as Eva begins to walk towards the approaching goblin. She already knows her protests will only fall on deaf ears, and so she keeps running.

Sion and Scima dodge into the walls as they feel a powerful burst of heat behind them. A beam of fire coming from Eva’s mouth flies past them towards the goblin. The flame hits it straight on, giving the monster momentary pause. It flinches back, giving Sion and Scima the opportunity to regroup with Eva.

“Lady Eva, please leave this to us. You can’t risk your life somewhere like this.” Eva glares at Scima, but cannot say anything because of the stream of fire.

The goblin refuses to move against the current of flame, being pinned in place by Eva’s attack. However, signs of damage are hard to spot among the light. Everything remains eerily still as they wait for an outcome to reveal itself. Eventually, the fire begins to waver, and Eva begins to sway. The goblin screeches once more as it begins to prepare to move again. There are dark burns on the goblin’s face now, but no fatal damage. Eva collapses unconscious. Scima catches her and lays her gently on the ground.

The goblin throws a powerful strike forward towards them, the walls of the tunnel expanding and crumbling in on itself. Scima stands and readies a defensive stance. He knows he needs to dodge the blow, but he cannot do so while carrying Eva. And he cannot protect himself at the cost of her life. The goblin’s fist collides with Scima. He braced himself against the blow, keeping himself from being sent flying. However, his legs give out as his breath leaves him. He struggles to muster any power on the ground, barely able to breathe without pain. He can no longer maintain the light, and the tunnel falls into darkness.

Sion steps between the goblin and his friends. He stares the goblin down, showing intense resolve. Blue light flows from his body heavily, a wispy cloud coming off his skin like steam. The goblin again strikes. Sion raises his arms and forces them into the goblin’s fist. He clashes with the powerful blow, seemingly evenly. With great difficulty, Sion manages to redirect the strike into the wall beside him. His form breaks when the fist leaves his arms. Sion’s arm dangles to his side. He can tell it’s broken already.

The goblin points one claw towards Sion and thrusts it forward. It’s aimed for his stomach, and is more than large enough to pierce through and destroy his innards. Sion can already tell he’s too weak to block another attack and too slow to dodge. He can tell that this will kill him when it connects. Without having done anything, without having found a goal, and without having come to understand anything, Sion will die.

A flower mark on the back of Sion’s hand begins to glow brightly, piercing the darkness. From the mark, a large multicolored flower appears. Following it, a multitude of vines shoot out. They wrap around the goblin’s finger and hold it in place, stopping Sion’s stomach from being pierced. They extend slightly further, attempting to constrict the goblin’s arms and torso.

Sion takes a step back, then hears rapid steps behind him. Light quickly fills the surrounding tunnels. It reveals the figure of a man wielding a large sword. A large portion of his chest, along with his entire right arm are missing. Although he’s clearly injured and should be weighed down by his blade, he moves too quickly for even Sion to make out any finer details in the dark. This man jumps and swings his sword down through the goblin’s head. Its skull is split vertically in half, causing its entire body to fall with a loud thump. The man turns quickly and sheaths his sword. He bends over and gingerly picks up Scima’s body.

“Can you carry her for me? I would’ve done it myself, but I don’t have the hands for it.” Sion picks up Eva and carries her on his shoulder. “Alright then, let’s get back to the surface so you all can rest.”