"Are these…real people?"
Zeth felt the ground beneath him slide. He could see it, their blood slowly leaking from their bodies, drop after drop. The painful groans they made as their chests expanded and contracted, breath after breath.
"Did you see something? What's there?"
Milo's voice resonated through the air, but Zeth was still cold and stunned. Without saying a word, he raised his hand and pointed before him. The pretty boy followed his direction, and soon it was visible to him as well.
The smile on his face was replaced by a grim expression as his voice stuttered, "So…there are the villagers?"
Gulping the heavy lump down his throat, he slowly walked towards it like he was hypnotized, then jumped over the fence. He could see it clearly now. This was definitely a human…and not one, but many of them lined up perfectly, as if they were strategically planted this way.
'Dominion…so this is how it is…'
Milo followed him, and with his longsword raised in the air, he was ready to cut the pole down.
"No wai-"
But before Zeth could complete his sentence, the ground beneath their feet trembled. It was slight, but both of them could sense it.
"Did you hear it too?"
Milo asked in a grave, serious voice. As if waiting for his question, the ground shook again, and this time it was more evident. Zeth grit his teeth. It was beneath him; he could sense it, and he jumped back as high as he could.
The ground beneath his feet split open, and a large rat-like mouth with sharp, razor-like teeth appeared, threatening to bite his leg. Zeth landed a meter away from the attack, and without wasting a moment, he rushed at the attacker with a horizontal slash.
"There are more of them!"
he yelled, thrusting his sword down. The enemy saw this coming and rolled out of the ground, barely avoiding the attack. Now its body was more visible. A three-foot-tall rat-like creature with a long mouth and sharp teeth. Its back was decorated with grey shells and occasional long thorn-like spines.
The creature looked like a gigantic cross between an armadillo, a porcupine, and a rat.
'What is that thing?'
As if replying to his question, a blue screen appeared before his eyes.
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Species: Ground Dweller
Rank: Mutated
Description: The creature was born of an unholy rat who had cheated on her husband and sinned with an armadillo…
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Surprised or stunned, Zeth had time for neither, as a huge screen was already blocking his vision. Quickly, he swiped the screen away just to see the monster roll up into a ball covered with spikes and launch towards him.
'Fuck you, system!'
Zeth jumped to the side. A spike narrowly avoided his stomach. The monster landed afar, then rolled back at Zeth with incredible speed. This time, Zeth had enough time to prepare.
He swung his sword to meet the incoming strike. The blade collided against the rolling monster, but it couldn't penetrate the shell on the creature's back. Even though the strike didn't deal any damage, it managed to stop the creature's momentum.
Zeth stepped back, regaining his balance. The creature, however, rolled forward, uncoiled to look at its enemy, then coiled again and charged. For one more time, Zeth simply stepped to the side, and the creature missed him completely.
'He can't see me while rolling.'
The deduction was once again confirmed when the creature unrolled to look at Zeth again. A soft smile appeared on Zeth's lips. He already had a strategy to kill the thing.
The monster rolled again, ready to crush Zeth, and he dodged once more. But this time, he followed behind the creature, ready to swing his sword.
Unaware of Zeth behind it, the creature unrolled to look for its enemy. By then, Zeth was already swinging his sword. This time, the attack didn't collide with the hard shell but with the soft belly instead.
The heavy saber cut through the creature's belly, splitting it apart. With a loud screech, the creature fell to the ground, lifeless.
[Poor dweller…you killed it.]
Zeth's lips twitched at the system's remark. He looked behind him, and to his surprise, Milo had slain one of the creatures as well. Unlike Zeth, he didn't need to look for a weakness, as his light sword pierced directly through the creature's thick shell.
Perhaps he could have done the same if he hadn't been holding a lantern in one hand? He wasn't sure.
"Don't relax; there are more of them!"
Zeth yelled, and soon the ground vibrated again. But this time, only a single dweller appeared out of the ground. Looking at its dead comrades, it screeched in agony and lunged towards him. The attack was sudden, and he had to let go of the lamp.
With both hands gripping the hilt, Zeth swung his sword with enough force to halt the creature. In that instant, Milo was already behind it, piercing through the creature's armor before dragging the sword to the side and splitting the body in two.
Black blood sprayed into the air. Huffing, Zeth tried to avoid the bloodstains on his white suit, but it was too late. The creature's limbs wiggled for a moment before they completely stopped moving.
"Is that all of them?"
He asked, picking up the lantern again. Thankfully, the soft ground had prevented it from breaking.
Milo, on the other hand, was not as exhausted. Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he took a moment before responding.
"I cannot sense any more anywhere…I guess that was it?"
It was true. Zeth couldn't sense anything either. Even though the effects of the Heavenly Body were not applying since he wore clothes, he was still slightly stronger and more alert than a normal human.
"I am going to free the humans!"
Milo said without waiting for Zeth's response.
Zeth took a moment to realize what Milo was doing, but before he could stop the pretty boy, he slashed the bottom of a wooden cross with his sword, and the scarecrow fell down.
"Wait, Milo, we do not know for sure what's in it!"
Zeth said again, but the pretty boy didn't respond, almost like he wasn't listening at all.
With another consecutive slash, he freed the man's hands, which were tied with vines. With the last attack, he broke the clay pitcher off at its head…