Chapter 11: Pit of the Forsaken

Alex quietly walked through the Saitama Medical University Hospital, opening door by door, looking for what he thought would help him with Celeste's injuries. He was in search of one of those display skeletons that had the plastic insides showing where all the organs were, models often found at medical universities for learning. Desperately, he went door through door, searching.

He made his way up to the second, third, fourth, and fifth floors. Eventually, he reached a hallway that seemed to stretch on endlessly, connecting to another wing of the hospital. The building was shaped like a square, and he had no idea where he was going because the place felt like a maze. The only thing that helped him were the occasional little maps on the walls that told him where he was, though they were so damaged and covered in corruption that they were barely visible. He couldn’t see out any of the windows either; they were covered in a pulsing flesh. So he quietly traveled down the dark corridors as he searched.

Alex kicked a rusted wheelchair in frustration and muttered under his breath,

"Man, I feel like I've been looking around this place for hours and I haven't found anything. Not even a single monster. But I guess I need to push on through. Celeste's counting on me. I just need to keep going until I can find what I'm looking for, even if I have to search every room in this stupid hospital."

After Alex rant he continued to search. Then he opened a door to step through but immediately started to fall. He quickly stretched his hand out and grabbed the side of the building, his heart pounding. Looking around, he noticed that the center of the square-shaped hospital had a massive crater in the courtyard below. He tried his hardest to pull himself back up to the doorway, but when he glanced down, his breath caught in his throat.

The pit below was filled with hundreds, no, thousands, of mangled, disfigured corpses. Some were trying to climb out, clawing desperately at the walls, but the sides of the pit were made of the same corrupted flesh that covered parts of the building. Every time those twisted corpses crawled upward, they slid back down, smearing trails of blood and decay. It was an inescapable pit of death.

"Damn," Alex muttered through gritted teeth. "I can’t fall. I do not want to end up down there with those creepy freakin’ thing's, or whatever they are."

He used all his strength, pulling himself upward, inch by inch, his muscles trembling. When he got halfway up, he heard a noise echoing through the corridor above. His eyes darted upward, but he decided not to look. He just gritted his teeth and hauled himself the rest of the way until he finally climbed back inside the doorway.

Gasping for air, he turned onto his knees and looked back down at the fleshy, writhing pit below.

"That was a close one," he breathed. "I better be more careful entering these rooms from now on."

Then he heard the noise again.

He looked around, peering through the broken doorway, but saw nothing. Then, without warning, from above, the three-headed abomination that had been lurking outside lunged down toward him.

But the frame was far too small for its enormous head to squeeze through. He stumbled backward, slamming against the opposite wall of the hallway. The abomination growled and struggled for a moment before giving up and pulling away.

Alex let out a heavy sigh.

"Oh man, that thing almost got me again."

Then his eyes widened as he saw one of its massive hands reaching in through the hallway. He scrambled to his feet, nearly tripping over himself as the grotesque hand slammed down where he had just been sitting. He ran as fast as he could down the hall, the twisted, bent, and disfigured arm dragging and clawing after him. Eventually, the limb reached its limit and could go no farther.

Alex stopped, panting.

"Damn, this thing is relentless."

His expression hardened.

"While I have it here, I might as well get rid of one limb, make it less dangerous."

He gripped Muramasa tightly, channeling his energy through it. The katana pulsed with a black aura as he swung horizontally. The dark slash tore through the air, slicing through the arm and severing it cleanly from the abomination.

A horrifying chorus of screams filled the air, three women’s voices shrieking in unison, as the abomination screamed in agony. The sound was deafening. Alex clamped his hands over his ears as the hallway trembled. The severed arm twitched violently on the floor, convulsing and writhing until, at last, it fell still amid the spreading pool of black blood and flesh.

Then the abomination’s arm began to lose its shape, melting into a puddle of mud-like flesh. But that wasn’t the end of it. From the bubbling mass, hands began to emerge, pale, slick, and trembling. One after another, they pushed upward, clawing at the air as disfigured bodies started to pull themselves free from the pulsing sludge.

The sight made Alex’s stomach twist. The creatures looked like the mangled corpses from the pit below, limbs bent at wrong angles, flesh torn and stretched, bones visible through open wounds. He took a step back as a dozen of them dragged themselves upright. The puddle of flesh shrank with every new body that formed, until it finally vanished, leaving only the twisted spawn standing before him.

Alex readied Muramasa, his grip tightening around the hilt. The humanoid figures staggered toward him, their movements jerky and unnatural. They had no eyes, no nose, just a single gaping mouth filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth that dripped with blood.

Alex looked at the dozen disfigured creatures and said,

"Forget this,"

before turning on his heel and sprinting away.

The twisted figures shrieked and gave chase, their footsteps wet and uneven against the floor. Alex raced down the pathway, heart pounding, until he reached the next wing of the building and darted through the door, slamming it shut behind him as he grabbed a nearby piece of scrap metal that looked like it came from a wheelchair and jammed it in the handle to block the door.

Then their was the sound of countless bodies colliding with the door on the other side. The pounding and scratching echoed through the hallway, a maddening rhythm of claws against metal.

Alex sighed as he shut the door behind him.

"That should hopefully hold them back for a while while I catch my breath," he muttered, as he wiped sweat from his brow.

But then, from behind him, Alex heard the sound of deep, ragged breathing.

He froze.

Slowly, he turned around and raised Muramasa high, his heart pounded. Then from the shadows, a disfigured, beaded-looking man lunged forward, jaws snapping as he tried to bite at Alex. The man’s body was grotesquely disproportionate, his arms and legs stretched too long, his clawed fingers dragging against the floor. Whole segments of his flesh were missing, like vultures had picked him apart while he still lived.

Alex ran to the right, narrowly avoiding its snapping jaws. The grotesque-looking man whipped his elongated arm around like a living whip, the impact slamming into Alex’s back and sending him flying across the floor. Muramasa slipped from his grasp, clattering and sliding across the ground.

"Damn, that hurt," Alex groaned, wincing as he pushed himself up. His eyes darted around, searching for his katana then froze when he saw the creature’s foot pinning Muramasa to the floor.

Alex reached into his bag, pulling out Masamune and readying it. The grotesque man swung his left arm toward him. Alex spun toward the attack and brought the weapon down in a horizontal slash, slicing the man’s arm clean off. The limb splattered against the ground in a spray of black fluid.

But before he could react further, the other arm came swinging for him. Alex tried to pivot, to bring his weapon up again, but the severed hand that had just fallen suddenly lashed out, gripping his ankle. It fused itself to the floor, anchoring him in place.

Alex couldn’t pull himself free, unable to gather enough strength for a proper swing against the oncoming hand. So he made a split-second decision, he let go of Masamune, letting it drop to the floor. Both his hands shot forward, grabbing the incoming hand mid-strike.

The impact sent a shockwave through his body, his bones and organs rattling violently. Pain erupted through his chest, but amidst that agony, a spark of realization flashed in his mind.

That’s it, he thought. I think I know how to heal her.

"But first," he grunted under his breath, straining against the massive hand, "I gotta get out of this situation."

The monstrous hand pressed closer, forcing him down inch by inch. The hand gripping his foot began to twist, tendrils of flesh coiling up his leg. Its fingers elongated, stabbing into his calf and thigh, trying to burrow their way inside.

Alex gritted his teeth, every muscle in his body screaming. The grotesque man stepped closer, its face contorting into a wide, unholy grin as it leaned forward, preparing to take a bite out of him once again.

Alex then decided,

"Looks like it’s time for the icy hand of death again. There’s no other way out of this."

He concentrated, forming the image in his mind, and with both hands he activated it. The freezing energy burst forth, the icy cold surging through the grotesque man’s hand, freezing it solid. The frost spread rapidly, traveling up the arm and encasing it entirely.

The grotesque man staggered, trying to pull back, but it was too late. With a sharp crack, the frozen arm shattered clean off at the shoulder and fell to the ground, breaking into dozens of jagged pieces of ice and flesh.

But the fingers that pierced Alex’s leg and thigh continued to burrow through his flesh, moving like worms inside his body. He could feel them digging upward, twisting through muscle and veins, creeping toward his stomach. A wave of nausea hit him as a sharp pain flared deep inside.

Alex’s eyes widened, and with a grimace, he quickly pulled out Excalibur.

He ignited the Holy Flame along Excalibur’s edge and drove the blade down into the writhing mass at his foot that held him in place. The blade pierced through the corrupted flesh, and the divine fire erupted outward. Holy Flame consumed the mass, racing up through the fingers that had burrowed into his flesh, burning them away from the inside.

The searing light spread across the floor and into his body, purging the invasive corruption. The entire hand turned to ash, crumbling into dust as the fire’s radiance filled the room. When it faded, gaping wounds remained in his leg, thigh, and side, blood and ash spilling from them.

Alex staggered, wincing in pain, his breathing ragged. He lifted his gaze toward the grotesque man, who was still advancing slowly, hungrily. Using his free leg, Alex took a step back, but his injured limb gave out. Blood and soot dripped heavily to the floor.

He steadied himself and raised Excalibur again, its flames burning brightly. The monstrous man crept closer and closer. With only half an arm remaining, it seemed weaker, but Alex knew better than to underestimate anything in this cursed place.

Then it happened.

The man’s gaping maw stretched open wider than humanly possible. Its neck began to twist and lengthen, the mangled bends in it straightening with a series of sickening cracks as it prepared to strike.

In an instant, its head shot forward, neck elongating like a serpent springing from its coil, its snapping jaws lunging straight toward Alex.

Alex quickly sidestepped to the right, barely avoiding the head as it sped past him. He twisted his body, ready to drive Excalibur straight into its skull, but something unexpected happened. Halfway through the lunge, a sickening snap rang out as the man’s head jerked sharply to the side, twisting at an unnatural angle before latching onto Alex’s shoulder.

The teeth sank deep, catching him completely off guard. A cry of pain tore from Alex’s throat as the monster’s jaws clamped down, its breath hot and rancid against his neck.

Reacting on instinct, Alex thrust Excalibur upward, driving the burning blade through the man’s lower jaw and into its skull. Holy Flame surged through the man’s head, incinerating it from the inside out. Its eyes bulged and burst, its flesh bubbling and melting away until its skull crumbled into a heap of molten gore and bone.

The man’s jaw slackened, falling away in chunks that hit the floor with wet splatters. Alex staggered backward, gasping for air before collapsing onto the ground, landing hard on his back.

He clutched at his shoulder, blood pouring between his fingers. One of the man’s jagged teeth had pierced deep enough to puncture his lung. Each breath came out as a wet, rasping sound, his vision swimming as the pain set in.

"Damn," Alex gritted through his teeth, forcing out the words. "I guess the indestructible part of Achilles’ armor from the myth only works against mortal weapons, because this damn freakin’ demon bit straight through it."

He cursed under his breath, gritting his teeth as pain rippled through his chest.

Then, in the silence that followed, he heard it again, the scratching and pounding at the door. It was growing louder and louder. He knew that any moment now, those twisted creatures spawned from the abomination’s arm would break through.

Alex tightened his grip on Excalibur, his breath heavy and uneven.

"Alright," he muttered. "Let’s see if this healing thing works. If what came to my mind back there actually works, I can patch this up and get the hell out of here."

He drew in a shaky breath, the sound of claws scraping closer with every second.

"Time to find out."

Alex then closed his eyes and concentrated, remembering the shockwave he felt that sent vibrations through his entire body.

"Alright," he muttered. "Now I just need to create a spell that causes the body to vibrate. If I can weave my healing regeneration spell into that vibration, it should, in theory, heal every organ, wound, and bone in my entire body."

He breathed through the pain, continuing his thought aloud.

"The vibration should run through the whole body, as long as it’s strong enough."

Alex focused, trying to picture his hand vibrating rapidly. He frowned.

"No, that won’t work. I need to make the spell itself vibrate the body."

He focused again, shaping the image in his mind. A faint green glow spread across his hand as he held onto the vision through the throbbing pain. He pressed his glowing palm against his chest, feeling a tremor surge through his body. But nothing changed.

"Damn, that's not going to work. Let’s try this again."

He refocused, pushing past the pain, and began forming a new image for the spell.

After several attempts, each one failed.

"Damn," he muttered through clenched teeth. "What am I doing wrong? Maybe I need to start by creating a vibration spell first, then once I get the hang of that, I’ll weave in the healing."

But before he could try again, the sound of scratching and pounding from the door grew louder, much louder. The hinges groaned. The metal began to bend and crack.

Alex’s eyes darted toward it, his pulse quickening.

Then the door burst open.

Twisted and broken creatures poured in, those same horrors born from the abomination’s arm. Their bodies writhed and spasmed as they forced their way through the frame.

"Damn…" Alex breathed. "Guess I’m out of time."

He spat a stream of blood onto the ground, his left lung nearly full as he fought to breathe through the pain. Using Excalibur to brace himself, he rose slowly to his feet. His wounds burned, his breath came in shallow rasps, but his resolve held firm.

He lifted the holy blade, its flame burning brightly in the darkness.

"Alright," he whispered, blood dripping from his chin. "Let’s finish this."