The storm of destruction, and the Three Days lost

I was cutting through the second-floor zombies like butter. Moving like the wind, dashing between their ranks with my sword as I slashed and sliced, separating limb after limb. I was so fast, none of them could land a single hit on me.

I wasn’t fighting all willy-nilly. I was being strategic. I wasn’t focusing on the zombeasts, the ten-foot-tall, much larger versions of the regular zombies, at least not yet. Whenever they tried smacking me with their clubs, axes, or maces, I would quickly move out of the way before continuing my assault on the smaller creatures. I wanted to clear the little guys out first before turning my undivided attention to the bigger ones.

I was standing in the corner when three regular-sized zombies tried rushing me. With a single swing of my sword, all three of them had their torsos separated in half, the rest of their bodies dropping to the floor in a heap of worms and maggots. Okay, I was really starting to get sick of fighting these guys.

Another group of five also attempted to take me on. I didn’t even give them the chance to lift their weapons. I lunged forward, causing them to hesitate in shock, then delivered quick cuts that made it appear as if I was slicing them up in slow motion.

Apparently, it was the result of my ever-increasing speed and agility. Some enemies, especially those weaker than me in terms of strength and combat power, were starting to appear much slower when I fought them. When I asked Rachel about it in the middle of the skirmish, she offered this explanation.

“Think of it like a time dilation effect,” she said, at the same time I was busy decapitating a zombie. “Because you are becoming faster as you level up, weaker enemies will seem slower in comparison, giving you ample time to anticipate their attacks before they can even execute them.”

“That’s cool,” I said.

“Yeah,” Rachel responded. “Right now, you’re using forty percent of that skill, but if you focus, you can briefly push it up to a hundred at any given time. Keep in mind though, this is not a power you can spawn endlessly. You can only utilize one hundred percent of your speed and agility for a total of ten seconds before a cooldown is triggered to avoid overheating.”

“Alright, I got it.”

As soon as Rachel was done with her explanation, two zombeasts tried closing in on me, and I quickly dodged to avoid the one that swung its axe at my head, but not before taking a souvenir for myself in the process.

I focused, and I was able to trigger my skill at the last minute. Just as the monster’s weapon swung for my head in slow motion, I ducked, lifted my hand to touch its axe, and a subtle vibration traveled up my arm and into the back of my skull.

“New item successfully registered,” Rachel suddenly said while the time dilation was still in effect. “Nice use of your abilities to steal a copy of the creature’s weapon like that.” A smirk crept onto the corners of my lips.

Time went back to normal, and by then, I had already made it safely across the room, a good distance away from the crowd. I was buying myself a moment of rest, hiding within the shadows of this floor’s corridor.

However, they soon sensed my hiding spot and began marching toward me. More regular zombies rose up from the castle floor, quickly replacing those I’d already cut down.

“I think you might have to kill the bigger ones if you want to complete this level,” my AI companion said in my head, referencing the four zombeasts in the group. “Otherwise, these guys are just going to keep coming.”

“Give me the axe,” I said to Rachel, stretching my right hand to the side. With my left, I lifted my sword over my head and flung it straight at one of the slowly advancing zombeasts in front of me, briefly stopping it in its tracks as the point of my weapon lodged itself deep in the creature’s chest.

I already knew it wasn’t going to die from that attack alone. The health bar hovering just above its head showed it had only lost six percent of its health out of a hundred. I was mainly trying to slow it down while I waited for the few nanoseconds it took my weapons to materialize. Soon, a sudden glow quickly dissipated, leaving behind a huge double-sided axe in my left hand.

I was left speechless at the sight of the weapon I was holding. Although I had basically stolen it from the zombeasts, the version of the axe I had in my hands was much different from theirs, and a lot bigger too.

“You like it?” Rachel asked, her tone peppered with excitement. “I made a few improvements as well as a few adjustments. There was no way I was going to let you utilize the same thing they were using—gross. Say hello to your new item.”

_____

Item: Cursed Axe

Capabilities:

One-shot enemies below level 20

30% hit damage

Special attack: Double-sided Storm of Destruction, slaughtering multiple enemy combatants with a single move

Plus 10 seconds of 20% temporary boost to all special skills whenever in use

_____

“Holy crap…” I muttered, trailing off in disbelief. This thing was probably now the strongest weapon in my arsenal.

“You can absolutely thank me later,” Rachel said. “You need to focus on the fight now.”

“Right.”

Gripping my newly acquired weapon tighter with both hands, because it was honestly a little heavy, I turned my attention to the horde of approaching zombies in front of me. They were everywhere, slowly closing in, their numbers reaching into the forties at this point, the zombeasts included. No matter though, with my enhancements and various upgrades, this should be a walk in the park.

I burst out of the shadows in a short sprint, swinging my newly acquired axe in a sweeping arc in front of me. I had said this before, and I was going to say it again. Damn, this thing was powerful.

Where there had previously been eight zombies closest to me, there was now nothing but body parts suspended in midair. A single slash from the weapon had simply exploded the group, and since my speed and agility skill was being temporarily enhanced just by holding the axe, time dilation had activated, and things appeared much slower than before.

I smiled. I wasn’t going to waste the next five seconds.

***

I went about cleaving through the zombies on the floor, hacking and slashing. With every swing of my weighty axe, the bodies of the creatures exploded on impact, leaving a shower of worms and maggots behind. Even the ten-foot-tall zombeasts were no match for my weapon.

I slammed my axe into the chest of one of the colossal creatures, and the attack sent the monster flying back across the room. Its health quickly dropped by thirty percent when it crashed into a fire lamp on the opposite wall before falling to the floor in a heap of flames.

...

“Would you like to become a real hero, Hunter? Would you like to save the world someday?”

...

“Hey, Rachel,” I called out to my AI companion after I heard the strange voice of a woman inside of my head. It had also caused a momentary distortion in my vision, briefly showing me a face of a White haired woman with blue eyes.

“Yes, Hunter?” she replied.

“Was that you just now?” I asked. “The voice I heard a second ago.” I was still busy fighting my way through the smaller zombies while talking, clearing a path toward the downed zombeast whose body was still on fire. As soon as I arrived at its location, I relentlessly began cutting it down to pieces, watching as the health bar above its head quickly dropped from seventy, to forty, to twenty, to ten, and finally, zero.

The creature’s body erupted in a shower of maggots, and I cursed when some of it got on my jacket. I needed to remember to keep my distance whenever I killed one.

I was certain I had received a bunch of upgrades after taking out one of the monsters, but I was going to check later. For now, I needed to focus on the fighting.

“What? What voice?” Rachel asked, sounding confused.

“The one I heard a second ago,” I repeated. “The one asking me a question. Did you not hear it?”

Rachel was quiet for a moment as I turned and resumed cutting down more of the smaller bloodless, maggot-filled creatures, clearing my way toward another zombeast. This one was standing in the center of the room, holding a mace.

“I’m sorry, Hunter, but I didn’t hear anything.”

I stopped and spun in place, executing the double-sided storm attack and taking off the heads of multiple zombies all at once. Although the time dilation skill was no longer in effect, the zombies still appeared a little slow to me. When I had cleared most of the enemies, I quickly rushed over to the zombeast holding a mace. Before it could react, I triggered my speed plus brute strength skills, and with a single upward swing of my axe, I delivered an uppercut to the zombeast’s jaw, sending the ugly bastard flying back just like the last one.

It crashed into the opposite side of the temple interior, its health instantly dropping to almost half. I briefly focused my energy on killing the remaining zombeasts, and it only took me two minutes to get the job done.

The axe really was proving to be my most powerful weapon, and I was glad I had stolen a copy from the creatures. Eventually, I walked up to the last zombeast struggling to get back on its feet, and a single swing of my weapon was all it took.

“And that’s the second floor successfully completed,” Rachel cheered from inside my head. “So, do you wanna keep going? Or do you want to stop here since you’re not really interested in killing the necromancer and completing the quest?”

I reabsorbed the axe back into my inventory as I stood for a second, pondering what Rachel had said. She was right. My whole reason for coming to the cursed castle in the first place was just to grind and level up my skills, so I could be strong enough to go back into the forest and help the little girl find answers to who her parents might be, or where she had come from.

I was also aiming to get stronger so I could help Lumia and the town with their Widow Maker nest problem.

Even though I hadn’t seen my stats yet, I was certain I had shot past level forty, more than strong enough to handle the Widow Maker threats. So maybe there was no reason to continue completing the cursed castle quest. I was starting to get sick and tired of the worms and maggots anyway. So yeah, it was time to leave.

I turned around, ready to walk back out the door I had entered through and head upstairs, but then... I changed my mind.

I was probably going to get a whole lot stronger by the end of the quest. So why not just complete it.

I began making my way to the opposite door which led down to the third floor below. At exactly that moment, however...

...

“Would you like to become a real hero, Hunter? Would you like to save the world someday?”

...

There it was again. That strange voice. That same question. That face.

“Rachel,” I called. “Are you sure you didn’t hear that just now?” I waited for a response from my AI companion, but none came. She was silent.

“Rachel,” I called out again. “Rachel.” But still no reply.

“What the hell is going on?” I muttered, staring around the now mostly empty castle. There was nothing and no one in sight, even the worms and maggots from the zombie corpses had disappeared.

“Hunter, there’s a problem. The Widow Makers, the town — they’re in trouble.”

Rachel began panicking, her voice cracking like radio interference.

“What?” I replied. “Could you repeat that?”

“The Widow Makers are attacking the town,” she said. “We’ve been in here for three whole days, Hunter. Things happened while we were gone. We need to get moving, now.”

I suddenly found myself struggling to process what she was saying. First of all, we’d been in the castle for three days? Didn’t we just arrive like two hours ago?

“I guess the curse has something to do with that,” Rachel said, reading my thoughts and providing an answer. “Time in here moves much slower than outside, so while it’s been two and a half hours in here, nearly three days have passed out in the rest of the world.”

I still didn’t fully understand everything that had happened, but if what she was saying about the Widow Makers was true, then I needed to get going, ASAP.

I turned around and began making my way to the exit, hoping the horse I had left tied to a tree was still there. However, just as I made my way out of the second floor and up to the first, an all-too-familiar pain shot through the inside of my skull, causing me to drop to my knees before collapsing on the ground.

No, no, no, no. I was still in the cursed castle. Anything could happen. This was not a good time for me to be getting another memory flashback. This was not a good time at all.