My trump card for winning against this creature would be my healing. With its exceptional speed and power, it was impossible for me to dodge all of its attacks. Its needle-like fingers tore through my flesh like butter, but I gritted my teeth and fought through the pain.
My head spun from the blood loss, but whenever I faltered, I had my shadow hounds to help me out. It turned into a battle of attrition. Both the beast and I were wounded, but my healing granted me a slight advantage.
We rampaged through the hospital, destroying everything in our path as we were locked in a one-on-one battle. I picked away at the beast until it was nothing but a wounded animal fighting for its life. Its roars were primal and almost deafening. Vile black liquid poured out of its open wounds.
Every time I tore off a large chunk of flesh, the shadow hounds would feast on it, and I could sense that they were getting stronger from it. Not only did they get more aggressive, but they seemed bigger. Before, they were so skinny that their rib cages were showing, but now they were a different form of beast.
In truth, my attacks were only surface level. I couldn't get to any internal structures, like the heart, for instance. But I didn't need to. I could lower its life force just by scratching it with my hellfire. After a while, it became obvious that the beast had weakened considerably, and the moment it showed weakness, we attacked with full force.
It weakly swung at me with its needle-like fingers. I ducked below its attack and struck at its shoulder. My claws slipped perfectly between the joint in its shoulder, and in one fluid motion, I ripped off its arm. Black blood spurted out like a fire hydrant as the creature released a blood-curdling screech.
I threw the arm to the ground and allowed my shadow hounds to devour it. Without giving it time to recover, I went after its legs next. A loud crack echoed as I stomped on the side of its foot, breaking it instantly. A pointed bone stuck out through the flesh.
With one leg broken, the creature collapsed to the ground, thrashing around as it desperately tried to grab at me. I sidestepped its feeble attempts with ease, then summoned every remaining strength I had and plunged my claws into its chest cavity.
"SKREEEEE-URGHKKKHHH!"
Its final death cry was so loud that it shattered glasses and windows. Being at such close proximity to it, I could feel my eardrums rupture, leaking blood from my ears. The dizzy spell that hit me after was enough for me to faint, but still, I held on to my consciousness with every strength I had and pulled its heart out from its chest.
[Congratulations, you have slain a level 1 Demogorgon.]
Looking at the system notification, I felt no satisfaction.
"What the hell does it mean, level 1? That thing?!"
If it wasn't for Derrick's help weakening it beforehand, I wouldn't have stood a chance and they mean to tell me it was a level 1 beast.
[Congratulations, you have ascended to Level 7:
+5% Increase in Healing Factor
+10% Increase in Sense of Smell
+15% Increase in Claw Sharpness
+20% Increase in Agility
+25% Increase in Stamina]
[Congratulations, your skill Phantom Pack has been leveled up to Level 2:
+Your pack now has 12 members
+You've also gained the ability to swap places with any shadow hound in your pack]
Seven more shadow hounds crawled their way out of my shadow to join the five that were already there. Together, they all began to devour what was left of the Demogorgon while I turned to the black heart that was slightly pulsing in my hand. The heart didn't smell very appetizing but I knew I had to consume it. I brought the heart up to my mouth and ate it until nothing remained.
[You have consumed the heart of a Demogorgon]
[You have ascended to Level 8:
+20% is Bite Force]
[You have unblocked the Level 1 skill: Devouring Bite
Description: A cursed bite that not only burns the opponent but it also cannot be healed]
Suddenly, I felt a wave of exhaustion wash over me, and my legs went weak. I lost my balance, but just before I hit the ground, I felt soft hands grab me from behind.
"I'm so sorry I couldn't keep up because you were too fast. Please forgive me," Ava said as her weak hands desperately tried to keep me from falling. "Sorry I wasn't any help killing the monster."
Just before I was about to slip from Ava's grasp, another set of hands grabbed me.
"You did good, lil bro."
I glanced up to see Derrick's smiling face. He was carrying Liora on his shoulder.
"Can you walk?" he asked.
"No, I haven't been this tired in forever. Can you carry me?"
"Not a chance. My shoulders are only for the women in our family. You, little bro, are on your own."
Sigh. I knew he would say that.
"Can you at least make me rest first?"
"Haven't you already embarrassed yourself enough by almost getting squashed by that thing? You always fight so sloppily until you're almost killed by your opponent. Why does it take the threat of death for you to stop being lazy?"
"Can we save the lecture for later?"
"Yeah, you're right. Let's get back to the truck."
With Ava's help, I walked through the building back to the truck waiting outside. As we walked, I listened intently to Liora's heartbeat.
"She is in bad condition," I said to Derrick.
"I know, and so are you. Your heart rate sounds irregular. Healing from so many injuries must've taken a toll on you. I'm sorry that I wasn't strong enough to kill that thing on my own. If I was strong enough, then you wouldn't have had to bail me out, and Liora wouldn't have been injured this badly. Some older brother I am."
"It's not your fault. We all need to get stronger if we're going to survive in this world. But for now, we need to take time to heal. We won't be any help to Allison in our current condition."
"..."
Derrick didn't respond, but I knew he understood. We wouldn't be of any help to anybody if we continued on in this state.
"I know a spot where we can rest," Derrick finally said after some time. "It's an old hideout I used to stay at. We can go there."
"Sounds good."
As we exited the hospital building, we passed several mutilated corpses. It was hard to believe that one monster could've done all of this. I couldn't help but wonder what exactly that monster was. The system called it a demogorgon.
The one we fought was at level 1, the lowest level. I shuddered to think what that creature would be like if it leveled up more. But the scariest part was that there was bound to be more of them somewhere.
I wasn't sure if I could take one of them in a proper fight. It was either that they were unbelievably powerful or that we were just that weak. When the sky split, I saw hundreds or maybe thousands of monsters raining down. Who knows what other abominations awaited us.
I couldn't help but wonder if there was a reason for this. If monsters raining from the sky somehow served a purpose. If there was a purpose for it, I wondered if I would live to figure it out.