Chapter 5: Inhumane Beast

Before any of them could react, another volley of arrows rained down from the somewhere. The young guard, snapping out of his frozen shock, scrambled for cover, his brief moment of compassion forgotten in the face of self-preservation.

Some of the arrows struck the body of the already dead old guard, while others clattered uselessly against the stone floor.

’Curses… what is this now?’ Ishiki hid behind the wall. He didn’t need to though, no arrows were coming inside the cell, unless they had auto target hitting ability.

When the shower of arrows ceased, Ishiki strained to see outside, but the bars obscured his view.

’That guy… uh no, ’corpse’ has the keys, right?’ His gaze fell on the dead guard.

’Now, the problem is how to get them.’

He glanced down at his cuffed hands and bound legs. Escape seemed a distant, almost laughable fantasy.

“For crying out loud…” Ishiki spoke into the silence of his cell. “If anyone’s out there, a little help would be appreciated. I’ll even throw in a reward. Of sorts.”

[Admin 81 – This kid is fun]

[Admin 292 – Things are getting interesting]

Ishiki’s eyes narrowed at the messages. He couldn’t tell if they were mocking him or genuinely entertained.

’Right. A reward. A swift, merciful end from this godforsaken prison.’ He smirked inwardly.

But there was no reply… there was no one who was going to help him. Or wait… where did that soft hearted idiot run to?

There was only one other choice. Ishiki’s gaze fell on a jagged rock at the edge of his cell. He would have to break the cuffs. It was going to be an excruciatingly painful process.

First, he worked the chain loose from the metal door, the links scraping against the stone. He crawled to the rock, the distant sounds of clashing steel and screams growing louder.

The place he was in, was under attack.

Ishiki looked at the rock and then at his hands… it was going to be painful. Too much painful.

“Here goes nothing.”

He raised his hands and slammed the cuffs down onto the sharp edge of the stone.

“Agkh…” He let out a strangled grunt, his jaw clenched so tightly he thought his teeth might crack.

’Pain. Why is it always pain?’

Once again…

CLANK! CLANK!

Ishiki relentlessly slammed his hands on the rock, at some point blood had started to seep from beneath the cuffs… feeling oddly hot against his cold skin.

But he didn’t care. His hands, they were already numb. He couldn’t feel much, the pain was just a throb now.

’Huff…huff’

Tears streaked down his face, but he bit through his pain and continued on. Slamming his hands one more on the rock.

CLANK!

CREEK!

His eyes lit up. A crack. The cuffs were giving way. Just a few more times…

He summoned what little strength he had left and slammed his hands down.

Well… there was not much more tries left before his bones shattered so, he really… truly hoped that the cuffs would break before his bones did.

CLANGG!

CRACKK!

The crackling sound that followed was the most beautiful thing Ishiki had ever heard.

His eyes lit up. He fumbled closer, trying to see through the pain haze and focus on the damage.

There were cracks running down on one of them, not both… but he only needed one. It was enough.

[Admin 292 has wagered 10,000 NC on Survival]

’Wait… really?’ he looked at the notification is astonishment, he didn’t actually thought that he would see someone betting on his survival.

’What do i say now? Thanks for your support or something?’ He let out a ragged sigh and grimaced.

More important were his hands, he sat straight and and used his legs to beat against the cracked cuff. After what felt like an eternity, it finally broke apart, freeing one of his hands.

“Yes… I did it.”

He scrambled to the gate, his free hand reaching for the keys on the fallen guard’s belt. But they were just out of reach. “Fuck it…”

’Of course. Of COURSE they’re out of reach. Why would anything be easy?’

He didn’t notice it until now, but the noises from outside the prison… they were more like shrieks of something other than human, there were growls something that only wild beasts make.

’What is even going on outside…’

His gaze fell on the guard’s spear. He could use it to drag the keys closer. He grabbed the spear, but the corpse’s grip was surprisingly tight.

’Damn… even in death, you’re a pain in my ass. Can’t you just let go? You don’t need weapons where you’re going!’

He adjusted his grip, pulling the spear towards him.

Suddenly, as he pulled at the spear, something… yeah something, very inhumane flew from the direction of right. The direction of the hall, where the battle was going on.

Ishiki’s soul left his body as the thing landed just in front of his cell. Screams of people filled the silence, accompanied by a deep growl.

’Wait… wha…what the fuck is this?’ his heart stopped for a moment as he looked at the abomination.

It was a humanoid figure. If you stretched the definition of “humanoid” to its absolute breaking point.

Twice the size of a normal man, its skin a deep, unsettling green like a bloated corpse that had been marinating in toxic waste. The thing looked like someone had taken a human, inflated them to horrifying proportions, and filled them with some foul liquid.

The thing stood back up and jerked its head, making a low growl.

From the same direction, another identical one lunged like a wild beast. Both the monsters started fighting, just inches from his cell.

Ishiki’s body froze… his mind trying to comprehend what it was looking at. The spear in his hand was already broken and the corpse of the guard was mashed under the feet of those monsters.

’The key…’ Ishiki gulped hard, took a few heavy breaths and looked for the key, but it was no where to be found.

’Okay… okay… fuck the key.’ He crawled back to a corner of his cell… trying to hide in the shadows as much as he could, watching the two monsters fight. There was clearly something wrong here.

GROWLLLLL!

SQUIELLLL!

The battle reached its climax as one monstrous figure killed the other ruthlessly, tearing limbs apart like they were made of wet paper, green blood spraying in arcs.

’No… no… don’t look here. Please don’t look here. I’m not interesting.’

The victor stood there, breathing heavily, covered in the gore of its fallen opponent.

The monster turned, its dead eyes fixing on the shivering figure cowering in the shadows. It took a step towards the cell.

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