The Stalker

Huge grey clouds rolled over the sky, and brought with them a strong wind and a light drizzle of rain. The suspension bridge swayed from side to side, and the main shard the little temple was tethered to was clouded in a fine mist. The wooden planks of the bridge creaked, together with the rope that held the bridge together. All in all, it looked like a pretty flimsy creation, and if they had another way to travel back to the main shard, they would have surely chosen it over this.

The demon, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be bothered by the bridge’s movements. It was a Stalker Demon, as Berus recognized. The demon was extremely tall for a humanoid creature as tall as a tree and as it used its thin arms to walk towards them Berus realized it must be as tall as a tree. The head was vaguely human in its shape, though the features were still elongated, and was framed with long, curly white hair. Two horns sprouted from the outer corners of its ever-closed eyes. But the third, vertical eye on its forehead, bloodred and much bigger than it should be, tracked them with twitching movements. Instead of legs, the creature had bones grown in the shape of a birdcage.

In the game, if you got trapped in the cage, you would take damage until a teammate came to your rescue or the demon decided to spit you out. In this world, he didn’t want to imagine what happened if they got caught.

“This can’t be,” she whispered. “I thought I lost it.”

“You know that demon?”

“I only know that it was sent to catch me.” She shuddered.

He understood why. Even in the game, the demon had looked grotesque, but now that he saw it move in real time it was even worse. It activated the same parts of his brain that panicked when he saw a particularly fast centipede. Everything told him to either run away or get rid of it, fast.

“Well, then we should do something about it.”

“Do something about it? By Lucine, are you that stupid? We can’t do anything, we have to get away!”

“I’ve won against them before,” he said. “In-game, I mean.”

And he was confident he could do it again.

“You’re really confident,” she muttered. “Or you have lost your mind.”

“We’ll find out, right?”

Since he couldn’t smile without a face and all, he just had to portray his smile with his voice. He went on the bridge.

“Stay back here where it’s safe,” he said.

The bridge swayed under him. He could make out the vague shapes of other world shards beneath them, but he couldn’t tell how far away they were. Even in-game, the devs had always been quite wishy-washy when it came to the actual distances between the shards and their general sizes. The few times he had fallen down when he first learned the game, his character had fallen for a minute or two before he respawned. Here, though…

It was better not to think about it. At least the machine had an impeccable sense of balance.

“Open battle menu.”

This was the same as the game. He could choose whether his vision was obstructed with his status and skill icons or not. But unlike the game, now that he could see these things, Ki-Rai also appeared. Her eyes were sparkling with bloodlust.

“Eeehhh? Are you really trying to take on that demon?” She giggled. “Hehe. This is going to be fun.”

“Huh. I thought you’d berate me as well for trying to fight it.”
“Never! I live for a good fight! Punch it, kick it, tear its limbs apart! Just make sure not to get too lost in your fight, or you might fall.” She floated around and looked down.

He went forward. The wind swayed the bridge, and while he was perfectly safe, he felt as if he was choking. Dread threatened to overwhelm him, but he pushed through.

“Yes! Get closer! Fight it! Make it bleed! It’s made from flesh and blood -- weak against our metal!”

“Please don’t distract me,” he huffed.

“Urgh! You’re no fun. Just start the bloodbath already.I just hope you are as good as you think you are. If you die, I die as well!”

He stared at her.

“I’m sorry, what? You’re a program, right? Why would you die? You’re not bound to my soul.”

She rolled her eyes. They really made her model expressive, he thought.

“That’s not how it works! I worked so hard to be here, to be present, and then you… urgh. Just don’t let the machnie get too damaged. And if you run out of mana, tell me so I can go back to sleep.”

“Why, what happens when I run out?”

She grinned at him. “You die, of course. Mana is your life fuel. You should better watch your mana bar, so use your fists instead.”

“Well, that’s good to know.”

He didn’t know if Ki-Rai was genuinely concerned for him or only looking out for herself. It was probably the latter.

The demon was close enough now that he should be in range for Berus’ magic. It still tracked not him, but Mikkah at the end of the bridge.

“Well, you’re not getting through to her,” Berus muttered.

This was a bad environment for him, but the demon should also be inexperienced on this type of battlefield. Maybe he could throw it off the bridge? Then they would need to worry about it anymore. As Berus contemplated what would be the best strategy, he took on a fighting stance, with one hand holding onto the bridge and one hand outstretched, ready to cast.

“Booooring,” Ki-Rai commented. “Get up close! Draw blood!”

“Nope. I’ll just try and get it off the bridge.”

Since it only had two limbs to walk with, it shouldn’t be that difficult to throw it off balance, and then get it over the bridge. Yes. He decided that this would be the best course of action.

The demon flared its nostrils, revealing the pink flesh inside. It took in his smell, but didn’t focus on him. Its eye still tracked Mikkah.

“That’s really creepy,” Berus muttered.

And it was getting too close for comfort. Its motions had been slow and steady, but now it just stood there.

He had to land the first strike. Surprise it, somehow. Would a lightning bolt do the trick, or was Ki-Rai right, and a punch would be better?

Before he could decide, the demon barreled forward, its arms grabbing the ropes to propel it forward.

No time to think.

“Fireball!”

Again and again, he shot his spell and watched as his mana bar went down. They hit the demon, but didn’t stop it coming closer and closer.

“Don’t run now, coward! Hit it!” Ki-Rai screamed.

He couldn’t. His body couldn’t react in time, and suddenly, the demon had grabbed him by the ankle, dangling him into the air.

The wind howled.

The demon sniffed him, and tilted its head.

I have to stay calm, he thought. I have to stay calm!

“Do something, you wimp!” Ki-Rai giggled. “Punch it! Now!”

The demon unfurled its bony cage, and the bones reached out towards Berus as if wanting to grab him.

He punched the demon’s eye, and with a scream it let go of him. He fell down onto the bridge, and the wooden plank creaked underneath him. It was a good thing he didn’t have to breathe, or else all air would have been pressed from his lungs.

It was in that moment that he realized he was completely outmatched.

“Berus! I’ll help you!” Mikkah called out.

They had gotten dangerously close to her. But she hadn’t retreated deeper into the temple. Instead, she now wore a bulky glove on her right hand, which clashed with the rest of her outfit. Mikkah pointed the palm of her right hand towards the demon, stablizing her forearm with her other hand while doing so. A ball of energy formed in the crystal that was set in her palm, gathered by the strange glove she had put on.

“Take this! Lucine’s justice: Elven Blast!”

There’s no such thing as an elven blast, Berus thought immediately. They would just cast magic.

But he kept that feedback to himself for the moment, as he was too focused on what that attack was actually supposed to do. The energy she had gathered went off as a beam, zipping through the air. It hit the demon, and ricocheted off its skin, leaving only a light burn. Instead, it hit the bridge, burning deep into the rope.

“Well, that didn’t work,” Berus muttered.

This fight was worse than he initially thought.

“I told you it’s too strong!” she yelled at him.

“You need to work harder! Make it bleed more!” Ki-Rai giggled, even though her grin looked forced.

“That doesn’t help us now.”

Even if they went onto actual firm ground at the temple, Berus doubted they could win against this fiend. The demon snarled at him, its movement slower and more deliberate now.

Both knew it had practically won.