Chapter 563: A Thresher in the Mist
Chapter 563: A Thresher in the Mist
The forest exploded into motion.
Something burst from the undergrowth to my left. Humanoid shape. Wrong proportions. Arms too long. Mouth too wide. It moved with the stuttering speed of a stop-motion nightmare.
My bat was already in my hand. The simulation had replicated my equipment with disturbing accuracy. Weight. Balance. The slight imperfection in the grip where I’d rewrapped the handle after the Necropolis.
The creature leaped.
I stepped into the swing.
The impact traveled through my arms and into my shoulders. The creature’s head separated from its body in a spray of black ichor that dissolved before it hit the ground. The body followed, unraveling into digital smoke.
KILL CONFIRMED: NIGHTMARE GHOUL (E-RANK)
KILL COUNT: 1
More sounds from the forest. Rustling. Chittering. The unmistakable noise of things that wanted to eat me organizing themselves for the attempt.
I ran.
Not away from the sounds. Toward the center. Toward the temple. The objective was speed and the objective was violence and I happened to excel at both when properly motivated.
Three more ghouls emerged from the mist. I took the first with a horizontal swing that caught it mid-lunge. The second received a boot to the chest that bought me enough time to bring the bat around for a follow-up. The third got clever and tried to flank. My Tori-Sense screamed a warning before it could land the hit.
I pivoted. The bat caught the creature under the jaw. Its skull cracked with a sound like breaking pottery.
KILL CONFIRMED: NIGHTMARE GHOUL (E-RANK) x3
KILL COUNT: 4
The forest grew denser. The trees pressed closer together. The mist thickened until I could barely see ten feet ahead.
Something moved in the canopy above me.
I dove sideways as the spider dropped. Eight legs. Body the size of a small car. Mandibles that could have bitten through steel. It hit the ground where I’d been standing and left a crater in the forest floor.
HOSTILE DETECTED: SHADOW WEAVER (D-RANK)
The spider turned toward me with terrible speed. Its eyes glowed red in the mist. Venom dripped from its fangs.
I charged.
The spider reared back, surprised by prey that didn’t run. Its front legs came down in a hammering strike. I slid beneath them, the forest floor tearing at my back, and swung upward as I passed under its body.
The bat connected with the spider’s abdomen. The impact jarred my arms. The creature shrieked. A sound like metal scraping metal.
I rolled clear and came up running. The spider gave chase. Its legs covered ground faster than I could. But I wasn’t trying to outrun it. I was trying to reach the narrow gap between two trees ahead.
The spider followed. Its body was too wide for the gap. It wedged itself between the trunks, legs flailing, mandibles snapping at air.
I turned back. Walked to the trapped creature with casual ease.
"This is embarrassing for both of us," I told it.
The spider hissed.
I swung the bat. Once. Twice. Three times. The spider stopped moving after the second hit but I wanted to make a point.
KILL CONFIRMED: SHADOW WEAVER (D-RANK)
KILL COUNT: 5
The temple revealed itself through the thinning trees. Stone structure. Ancient design. Covered in moss and something that might have been dried blood. The entrance gaped like a hungry mouth.
Between me and the entrance stood approximately thirty more ghouls. Some larger than the others. Some carrying weapons. A hierarchy of nightmares arranged in a semicircle around the temple steps.
The biggest one stepped forward. Twice my height. Muscles like knotted rope beneath gray skin. A club made from what looked like a human femur hung from its grip.
HOSTILE DETECTED: NIGHTMARE ALPHA (C-RANK)
"Finally," I said. "Something interesting."
The alpha roared. The sound shook leaves from the trees. The other ghouls surged forward in a wave.
I activated Steel Body.
My skin hardened. Color shifted to polished iron. The world took on the slightly distant quality it always did when I became temporarily invincible.
The first ghoul hit me with its claws. The impact didn’t even register. I walked through its strike and put my bat through its skull.
The second and third ghouls jumped simultaneously. I grabbed one by the throat and used it as a weapon against the other. Both dissolved into smoke.
KILL CONFIRMED: NIGHTMARE GHOUL (E-RANK) x3
KILL COUNT: 8
Eight seconds of invulnerability remained. I used them efficiently.
Swing. Connect. Kill. Step. Swing. Connect. Kill. The ghouls fell like wheat before a thresher. They couldn’t hurt me. They couldn’t slow me. They could only die.
KILL COUNT: 15
Four seconds.
KILL COUNT: 21
Two seconds.
The alpha reached me just as Steel Body expired. Its club descended in an arc that would have crushed my skull. I caught the blow on my bat and felt the shock travel through my entire skeleton. My arms screamed protest. My ribs reminded me they were still recovering from yesterday’s damage.
The alpha pressed down. I pushed back. Strength versus strength. Neither of us gaining ground.
The club slipped. Just a fraction of an inch. Just enough.
I twisted sideways and let the club slam into the ground. The alpha stumbled forward. Off balance. Vulnerable.
I planted my bat against its throat and pushed. The creature went down. I went with it. My knee landed on its chest. My bat pressed harder.
"Yield," I told it.
The alpha snarled.
"Wrong answer."
I brought the bat down on its skull. Once. The skull cracked. Twice. The skull shattered.
KILL CONFIRMED: NIGHTMARE ALPHA (C-RANK)
KILL COUNT: 22
The remaining ghouls scattered. Whatever pack instinct had driven them to attack evaporated when their leader died. I watched them disappear into the forest with something approaching disappointment.
The temple entrance beckoned. I walked up the steps and through the mouth-shaped doorway.
SIMULATION COMPLETE
TIME: 4 MINUTES 32 SECONDS
KILL COUNT: 22
DAMAGE TAKEN: MINIMAL
The world dissolved into white light.
I woke in the pod. The helmet retracted. The technician was staring at her tablet with an expression I couldn’t quite read.
"Is there a problem?"
"You completed the simulation in four and a half minutes."
"Is that bad?"
"The average completion time is twelve minutes."
"So that’s good."
"The previous record was six minutes and fifteen seconds."
I sat up. The movement made my head swim briefly before the simulation aftereffects cleared. "Who held the previous record?"
"Reyna Cabana."
I smiled. The expression felt sharp on my face. "What’s her time today?"
The technician checked her tablet. "Five minutes forty-seven seconds."
"So I beat her."
"By over a minute."
"Good."