Chapter 12: Fate’s Cruel Embrace

The twisted and broken creatures roared at Alex as they charged forward, their mangled bodies moving in unnatural, jerking motions. The first one swung down, but Alex severed its arm with Excalibur. Holy flame rushed up the limb, consuming it as the creature screamed in agony.

A second lunged from his side, swinging down at him. Alex couldn’t block in time, so he rolled away, gritting his teeth through the pain and spitting blood. His clothes were soaked in his blood, a growing pool forming beneath him.

Before he could catch his breath, a third twisted creature leapt at him. Alex thrust Excalibur forward, driving the blade straight through its chest. The holy flame erupted from within, burning the creature to nothing but meat, blood, and ash. He shoved the dissolving carcass off and crawled backward just as a claw came crashing down toward his thigh. The strike missed by inches, tearing into the stone floor instead.

Alex backed up until his shoulders hit the wall, using it to steady himself as he rose to his feet. He looked up at the twisted monsters still circling and muttered, "Damn… eleven left."

He reached into his bag and pulled out Bunyan’s Axe, breathing hard.

"As long as I don’t use any power with it, I should be fine, right?" he said under his breath. "If I just use its flat side… I should be fine."

The closest twisted creature charged at him. He readied Bunyan’s Axe and braced his stance. As the monster swung down, Alex met its attack head on, swinging without channeling any power.

When the flat side of the axe collided with the creature’s twisted arm, the limb burst instantly into a bloody black mist, and a powerful shockwave blasted outward. The force hurled the other twisted monsters across the room, slamming them into the opposite wall with bone crushing impact.

Alex stepped forward, breathing heavily, and retrieved Masamune and Muramasa from where they had fallen. Sliding Bunyan’s Axe and Masamune back into his bag, he remained standing with Excalibur in one hand and Muramasa in the other, ready for the next attack.

The twisted creatures began to move again, their disjointed limbs twitching as they tried to rise.

Alex took his time, channeling dark energy into Muramasa until the blade pulsed with a sinister aura. Then he unleashed a flurry of swings, sending out waves of dark, bladed slashes that tore through the struggling monsters. One by one, they fell, shredded before they could even lift themselves upright.

Three remaining twisted creatures charged at him.

Alex ignited the holy flame of Excalibur, its golden light clashing with the dark energy building within Muramasa. With a sharp exhale, he swung Muramasa in a wide arc, releasing a crescent of darkness that sliced clean through one of the oncoming twisted creatures. The creature split in half mid charge, collapsing into a heap of gore and flesh.

The other two lunged from different angles, one from the front, the other from the side. Alex turned, thrusting Excalibur forward just as the one in front leapt. The holy blade pierced through its stomach, fire burning outward from the wound. Yet even impaled, the creature’s claws raked down his back, tearing through his shirt and skin.

Gritting his teeth, Alex stepped to the right and twisted his body, letting the dying monster collapse past him and fall to the ground, its flesh melting under Excalibur’s light.

Alex arched backward as the final twisted creature’s claw swiped past him, slicing through the side of his face and leaving a bloody gash. He staggered but managed to retreat just in time to avoid a fatal strike. Regaining his balance, he swung Muramasa in a sharp, desperate motion. A dark blade of energy tore through the air, cleaving the creature from shoulder to hip. Its body split apart, both halves sliding across the floor before collapsing into a heap of twitching flesh.

Breathing hard, Alex stumbled back and fell onto the cold floor. His arms trembled as he pushed himself upright, scooting backward until his back hit the wall. Finally allowing himself a moment to rest, he let go of Excalibur and Muramasa, leaned to the side, and spat out a mouthful of blood.

The room was silent again. Only the faint sizzle of burning flesh remained.

"It’s finally over," Alex muttered weakly. "Now… let’s see if I can actually heal myself."

Fighting through the pain and heavy blood loss, his pale skin began to shimmer faintly as he tried to form the vibration spell he’d been imagining. He focused, envisioning the motion, something trembling so fast it seemed still, like a blur in constant motion.

With shaky hands, he pressed his palm to the ground, channeling mana into it.

Nothing happened.

He tried again. And again.

Finally, after several failed attempts, the spell sparked to life. The floor beneath him began to hum softly. The metal of Muramasa and Excalibur, lying beside him, rattled faintly as they vibrated against the stone.

"That’s it," Alex breathed. "I think I’ve got an image for this now."

His vision swam as he wiped the blood from his mouth.

"Now… let’s see if I can weave in the healing magic before I lose any more blood."

Alex closed his eyes and focused on the vibration spell, trying to weave his self made regeneration spell into it. His breathing slowed, his concentration narrowing to a single point of thought.

But then he heard something. A faint, wet dragging sound echoed through the hall.

His eyes snapped open.

Something was moving.

He turned his head, scanning the room, and froze.

The scattered body parts of the twisted creatures were gone. All that remained were slick trails leading back down the dark corridor he came from.

"Crap… where’d they go?" he muttered under his breath.

He shook his head. He couldn’t afford distractions now. Healing came first.

Closing his eyes again, he rebuilt the spell’s image in his mind: vibration intertwined with regeneration. Slowly, the concept took shape. Every pulse of vibration carried a faint wave of healing magic, spreading through the body like ripples through water.

Alex pressed a hand to his chest and activated it.

His body began to hum faintly, each tremor sending small waves of warmth through every organ, bone, and strip of torn muscle. Skin knit together. Torn muscle tightened. Broken tissue sealed. Scars remained, and some of them pulled his skin wrong, but the bleeding began to slow.

After a few moments, his breathing steadied.

"Yes," he said quietly, smiling in exhaustion. "I did it… though it’s still rough. It’s just as crude as my last regeneration spell when it comes to full recovery. But at least… it sealed the wounds."

Alex pushed himself to his feet, wincing at the stiffness that gripped his body. The healing spell had worked, but not well. His muscles felt tight, his joints ached, and every movement sent a dull throb through the half healed scars.

"Yeah… this spell’s awful," he muttered to himself. "Didn’t heal right at all."

He rolled his shoulders and sighed.

"Oh well. I’ll fix it sooner or later. For now… it’s good enough."

He reached down, picking up Excalibur and Muramasa. With both blades in hand, he turned toward the dark hallway where the trails led. The shadows swallowed the light as he stared down the corridor, wondering where the bodies had gone.

Alex’s eyes followed the smeared trail of flesh and blood down the corridor. The twisted remains had been dragged along the floor, leading straight toward the doorway he’d almost fallen through earlier.

Curiosity tugged at him. He took a few careful steps forward, his boots squelching softly in the gore.

Behind him, in the room he had just left, something stirred.

From the shadows emerged another grotesque man. It stepped over the corpse of one Alex had already killed, and as it did, the flesh and bone of the fallen body began to shift and merge into it. Muscles twisted. Bones cracked. The two bodies fused into something worse.

Now it stood taller.

Its body contorted with four arms, four legs, and two twitching heads fused at the shoulders. Both sets of eyes locked onto Alex, unblinking. The thing moved slow, deliberate, creeping toward him in silence while Alex remained unaware, focused on the trail ahead.

Alex peeked around the open doorway, spotting the pit once again, yawning below. But the massive abomination and the other twisted figures were nowhere in sight.

"Guess they must’ve fallen in with the rest of the corpses," he muttered uneasily. "Either way, I should get out of this creepy place before more of those things show up."

He stepped forward, crossing the doorway, and then froze.

Celeste stood right in front of him.

His eyes widened in disbelief.

"Celeste? You’re okay, how did you…"

Before he could finish, Celeste charged forward, her expression sharp and focused. She drew Onimaru, its blade flaring with magical light, and hurled it past Alex’s head.

The sword spun through the air and struck true, impaling the disfigured, multi headed abomination that had been creeping up behind him.

The moment Onimaru pierced the creature’s chest, its demon repelling seal activated. A magical pulse erupted outward, shredding the abomination from the inside. Its body burst apart, raining chunks of flesh onto the floor. From the fresh piles of gore, smaller malformed bodies began to crawl and twitch, writhing as they tried to reform into something whole again.

Celeste quickly approached Alex and stopped right in front of him.

Her eyes widened. A sad, tight look settled on her face as she finally saw him up close. His arms were covered in ragged scars. His clothes were torn open and soaked black red. His face was split and bruised. He was still standing, but just barely.

Every wound told her what he had endured while she was unconscious.

Relief washed over her as she finally exhaled.

"I’m glad I made it in time," she said softly. "I was terrified when I woke up and you weren’t there."

Alex gave a weary grin.

"Well, I had to find some way to heal you, so I figured this was the best place to look. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a lot more dangerous than I thought."

He let out a weak laugh.

"I was in way over my head, but I didn’t come back empty handed. I think I’ve finally figured out how to heal… sort of."

He noticed Celeste was weaponless.

With a nod, he stowed Muramasa and drew Masamune, turning the hilts toward her.

"Here. You’ll need these."

Celeste’s face flushed bright red as she took Masamune and Excalibur from him, sliding them smoothly into their sheaths. Then she quickly turned away from him so he wouldn’t see her expression.

Alex turned his gaze toward Onimaru, whose barrier still pulsed with magical energy, repelling the small chunks of flesh that were trying to reform into bodies. He walked over and pulled the blade free from the ground.

Then Celeste turned back toward him.

"We need to get out of here now," she said firmly, her tone shifting from relief to urgency. "The moment I entered this area, I sensed something strong. Familiar. This place is under the control of Legion. If we don’t leave, we’ll be swarmed."

Alex flicked the blood from Onimaru and stored it in his bag, then nodded.

"All right. Let’s go."

Celeste turned and started down the dark hallway toward the entrance, her pace quick and deliberate. Alex followed behind her.

But as he stepped past the doorway, something massive burst through.

A giant, clawed hand shot through the entrance and clamped around Alex.

Celeste spun around, eyes wide with shock, just in time to see the abomination’s monstrous arm yank him off his feet and drag him out of the building in an instant.

"No! Alex!"

She sprinted toward the doorway, but before she could reach it, a fleshy membrane grew across the opening, sealing it shut.

Celeste quickly unsheathed Masamune and Excalibur and swung down hard, but the living wall resisted, pulsing beneath the blades.

Down the hall behind her, the scattered grotesque bodies began to twitch and crawl, merging once again into the multi limbed abomination. But Celeste had no time to fight. She turned and ran, desperate to reach him.

Outside, the abomination held Alex in its massive,clawed grip.

It stared at him with an almost curious expression before unleashing a deafening screech that made his skull vibrate. The air shook with its voice, a chorus of distorted, feminine wails echoing from its many throats.

Then, without warning, it flung him with all its strength.

Alex’s body crashed into the pit below, slamming into the mountain of corpses.

He groaned, trying to rise, but cold, rotting hands reached out from beneath him. Dozens of dead arms clutched at his limbs, dragging him down.

He thrashed and fought, but their grip only tightened.

"No, let go!" he shouted, struggling in vain.

The corpses swallowed him piece by piece, pulling him beneath the surface. His hand reached up one last time before disappearing completely into the mass of decaying flesh.

Then he was gone.