Enzo watched as Eliza and Daniel wielded their weapons, for the first time, he witnessed true battle.
The two were completely in sync, Eliza with her sword that shone with bright chilling cold and Daniel with his ability to move in short bursts while phasing through surfaces.
They were able to easily cut down the first two monsters in front and hold back as more appeared from the depth of the shadows.
They were grimy furless beasts with long claws and an inky fluid on their skins. His HUD couldn't even identify what they were in the creature index but Eliza and Daniel were keeping them back constantly.
"Why are there so many? This is getting exhausting!" Daniel after pulling his short sword from the neck of one of the monsters complained.
First it was two, then three, and now? He couldn't even count how many of these things he had killed. This was too time consuming.
"Brace!!"
Not paying any mind to Daniel's complaint, Eliza thrusted forward and impaled a beast that had just emerged from the shadows.
These things were getting stronger by the minute, they had to remain focused.
"Shit" Daniel muttered under his breath as he watched Eliza pull her sword from the ink black creature, as a cold sweat rolled down his back.
That was a close shave, he really could have died right there.
"If you need to rest you can go sit with the kid" Eliza said to Daniel with a look of coldness in her eyes.
His complaining was annoying, nothing more than the ramblings of a child. If they didn't fight would the creatures stop coming? Did he want to stand and die because he was exhausted? Disgusting!!
"Sorry" Daniel felt her gaze burn into him as he stood straight with a flash of anger in his eyes.
Being looked down upon by Eliza, he never thought the day would come. It was embarrassing.
"Hmm, somethings coming towards us" Eliza didn't acknowledge his words once again rather her ear twitched as she heard something in the dark.
The creatures were coming, but in a panicked state.
There seemed to be something hunting them from behind, causing them to pour in like a herd of angry rats.
So as Eliza and Daniel fought tooth and nail to kill the creatures in front Enzo had to force himself to come up with an idea.
"That can work" The slightly older Weaver nodded at Enzo as he answered his question with a laborious breath.
"Okay, thank you mister," Enzo nodded.
He couldn't stand watching these two getting overwhelmed by these ink monstrosities while he sat there and watched.
He wanted to do something about it, and thankfully he had an idea.
So he grabbed the sides of the canister on his back and crouched down in a strange manner that placed all his weight behind his legs.
Then with a swerve he moved his body moving in a circle as it gathered force and momentum-
One spin, two spins, three spins, Enzo spinned until
- woosh
The canister flew through the, rushing into the horde of creatures pouring from the dark.
-fuuuu
Just as it was about to land, a blast cut through the air and hit the canister dead in its center.
In the next second an explosion rang out followed by a sea of blue flames engulfing the creatures in an instant.
"Hm?" Noticing this Eliza and Daniel covered their eyes from the sudden irritation and stepped back, after a few seconds they placed their hands down and looked on in shock.
The horde of inky creatures were currently being burned to a crisp and the fire was spreading backwards as it latched onto the rest.
"Its flammable, I totally forgot" Daniel's eyes shone with some glee. He didn't realize that they had this card up their sleeve all along.
He suddenly looked back at Enzo and gave him a thumbs up.
"Nice work kid"
It was indeed intuitive what Enzo had done. He might have just saved them from dying in this hole.
However as Enzo smiled at his plan working he noticed something moving in the dark, but before he could warn Daniel…..
-choooo
A long sharp bone passed through the dark and tore through the back of Daniel's head impaling him.
In the next second, he fell to the ground lifeless.
Silence,
there were no words, until suddenly.
"Shit faced human" a humanoid figure walked out from the sea of flames and appeared in view, the burning flames did nothing to it.
It radiated a strange glow that felt cosmic, its eyes devoid of light and a twisted smile on its face. Despite its humanoid shape, it looked nothing like a human. It was a beast through and through.
"A talking creature…..it makes sense" Eliza finally came to a realization confirming her previous conjecture.
"You're a demon" She said gritting her teeth, Daniel was right all along. They were truly biting off more than they could chew.
Demons were one of the most frightening existences the federation had encountered in their exploration of the cosmos. In the old texts found in dead worlds, it stated that just when the universe was made to "be" these things crawled out of the annals of its making.
Who would have thought that they would encounter something like this in this lowly mine world?
"Not quite, I am but a lowly beast….at least for now" The demonic creature revealed its razor sharp teeth as it bared down on Eliza. He could tell at first glance that this little girl was formidable, as she emitted an aura very similar to an old being.
However, this wasn't that being, he could easily take her out.
"Like I'd believe a demon" Eliza tightened her fist and took in a large breath of air.
Talking creatures were classified as Deamon class, and the protocol for handling them was always to run. They could control other beasts, regenerate and their intellect was beyond comprehension.
Eliza was beaten and bruised, weakened beyond belief after fighting all those creatures. If she had to fight this thing, she would definitely lose.
But her arrogance would not let her, after all. It had just killed her little brother Daniel.
""I am Eliza Winald, daughter of Gia the Ice Warden. You have made a big mistake here, demon. for it is my duty to stand and fall for humanity—To face the darkness of the universe, be it demonic or Divine."
Demons were the ultimate enemy of humanity, letting one loose on the world was the same as letting the world turn over on its head.
Her gaze burned at the creature before her
"Die!!."
All of a sudden a magical item materialized infront of her.
It was a staff bathed in ice, engraved with a multitude of inscriptions that looked so ancient, it looked uncreated.
As if it had always been.
"Curses!!" As if noticing what this staff was, the demon jerked forward trying to destroy it in a panic. If he allowed that thing to fire at him, he would surely die.
However even with his quick reaction he was already too late, the staff fired a pillar of ice outward as it approached mid jump and made a whole through its chest.
Demons had seven hearts situated in the center of their body making them incredibly hard to kill. If Eliza had gone for the kill with pure skill, she would be dead right now.
Instead, this heavy uncontrollable attack was perfect. It ripped open a hole through the demon simultaneously destroying all of its hearts.
She had won…..
But at what cost?
Her body a second later shribbled up as all its life force was sucked out. Equivalent exchange, to kill something as powerful as a demon her life was the only natural price.
at the point, she had no choice but to sacrifice her life. If nothing, to save her honor and make sure the other two had a chance to survive.
"Damn," at the back watching this whole thing unfold, Enzo sighed as he watched Eliza's mummified body on the ground devoid of life.
The three of them were dead!!
Enzo stared at her with hollow eyes. Just like that, she was gone.
No victors.
Just corpses.
"Shit!!."
Enzo turned to the other survivor beside him and cursed, Eliza had just sacrificed herself for them, they didn't even know themselves that well. Sadness? Relief? Pain? He didn't know how to feel about this. There was a mixture of feelings in his heart.
as his gaze lingered around they soon fell on the weaver who was currently also stunned, there a shadowy figure seemed to churn not too far away slowly forming a strange figure in the distance.
In a split second as Enzo's head was turned away, it rushed at him its formless body not making an ounce of noise. It was completely untraceable. It was at its weakest state, moving quietly was its most powerful asset, all it needed to do was get close enough to Enzo and possess him.
Unfortunately, it failed to realize one thing.
Even shadows have reflections.
In the last moments of its sprint, Enzo had caught a glimpse of it rushing towards him from the reflection in the weaver's eyes .
A glimmer of light entered his eye as he instinctively pulled the ice dagger given to him by Eliza and instinctively stabbed at the shadow.
[You have slain The Divine shadow of an Unknown Deamon]
[Eight nameless adventurers stumbled onto the resting place of evil in search of glory and treasure. They unknowingly resurrected an ancient fiend and for this transgression they were killed- except one]
[Glorious, you have been bestowed the bloodline of the Night]
[warning: Star dust infection detected, prepare for your first voyage]
Enzo had killed it.