Chapter 17: The Ruby Annihilation part 4

[ ] = main character thoughts

We knock down the knights and take their horses with a quick, coordinated movement. The beasts are powerful, with bloodshot eyes, but they obey when we grab the reins. We start riding without looking back.

"Where do you want to go? And what are we doing?" asks Lillia, clinging to the saddle as we gallop through the devastated landscape.

"Our goal is to gain as much time as possible," I answer dryly. "We need to get as far away as possible from the boss's portal."

Frenya gives me a skeptical look. "How do you know the boss will only come from that portal? The portals are everywhere."

"Because it's the largest portal compared to the others," I reply without hesitation. "It's logical that it will be that one."

Lillia, riding by my side, asks with a trembling voice: "How soon will the boss appear? And how strong will it be? Do you know anything?"

The cold wind whips our faces as we gallop. "It should appear tomorrow. It's a rank 7 monster. If you look only at the rank, it won't seem strong, but it's not stupid. It uses its intelligence, and that makes it an extremely difficult boss to handle."

"If it will appear tomorrow, why are we running in such a hurry?" asks Frenya, confused.

"Because I read that it has the ability to find its prey. It can sense them from a distance. It won't take long to find us," I explain, spurring the horse to an even faster pace.

"It will be the only one, right?" asks Lillia with a spark of hope in her eyes.

I clear my throat. "The boss itself isn't particularly strong if we consider only its physical characteristics. But it has a companion, a giant. The boss sits on its back. Its job is to command the giant and heal it, because the boss is a healer. The giant does the dirty work. The boss heals wounds or compensates for the giant's weaknesses, while the latter takes care of killing. The combination of the two is extremely strategic and lethal."

[I don't know where we're going. We're running away, dodging monsters without a well-defined destination. Tomorrow the boss will also appear. I don't know if this is the end for us, but I won't give up until my last breath.]

We continue to run without stopping. Time passes relentlessly while our bodies fill with bruises and wounds. Even the monster-horses eventually yield to fatigue. Every time it happens, we change mounts and resume the escape.

Our bodies are crossed by sharp pains, but the desperate will to survive pushes us beyond every limit. About fourteen hours pass in this frenzied way. We haven't stopped, haven't eaten or drunk, nor rested for a moment.

"Hey, let's stop somewhere," begs Lillia, her face pale from the effort. "I can't take it anymore."

I look at her with icy eyes. "If you want to increase the probability of your survival, then continue."

Frenya glares at me. "Hey, Doruuk, can't you see she's not well? Let's stop."

"I'm leaving," I reply dryly. "You stop."

"Fine, go ahead," Frenya retorts sharply. "If they give us the immediate recall, you'll stay here instead of coming with us."

[Ah, oops. I hadn't considered this.]

"Ha ha ha, I was just joking," I hasten to say, changing my attitude. "Let's stop somewhere, but first let me eliminate the monsters following us."

With lethal precision, I take down the knights who have pursued us so far. Lillia deals with the flying creatures that spot our position.

"For a while they won't be able to find us," I declare, lowering my weapon.

We sit in the shadow of some imposing rocks, sheltered from hostile eyes. We silently consume what little food we have with us. Every bite is precious, every sip of water a luxury.

Twenty minutes pass in a silence charged with tension.

"Come on, get up," I suddenly order. "Let's go."

"Nooo," Lillia moans. "We had just sat down and we already have to leave?"

I stare into her eyes, impassive. "I repeat: if you want to increase your chances of survival, then get up."

We resume the journey until we spot more knights. We eliminate them with brutal efficiency, requisitioning their horses to continue the escape.

For quite some time, a thought torments me: are we running without a real purpose? I know very well that the boss will reach us anyway, no matter how far we go. But to keep motivation high, I create the illusion that we'll make it, that I'm doing the right thing.

Time flows relentlessly, and finally the moment arrives when the boss should appear.

[The moment of truth has arrived.]

An immense cry tears through the sky, so powerful it makes the earth itself tremble. The knights who were chasing us stop abruptly, their nerves explode with terror and they die on the spot.

Our horses, paralyzed by fear, collapse and slip into eternal sleep. We are thrown forward, landing hard on the rocky ground.

"Ouch, that hurts!" exclaims Lillia, massaging her bruised arm. "Stupid monsters, why did they stop so suddenly?"

Around us, the flying creatures, struck by the intensity of the cry, plummet to the ground and die on impact. Throughout the region, an aura of pure terror spreads, almost palpable.

"Why are all the monsters dying one after another?" asks Lillia, observing the scene with wide eyes.

"Most likely from fear and terror of the boss," I explain, remembering what I had read. "No monster in this event is able to resist its presence. Every time it appears, monsters from previous levels die from shock."

Lillia turns pale. "Then we have no escape."

I see her start to tremble, overwhelmed by terror. Her eyes wander frantically, as if seeking an escape route that doesn't exist.

"Doruuk, what plans do you have now?" Frenya asks me, trying to maintain calm.

I hesitate before answering, honestly evaluating the situation. "I don't have any well-defined plan, but one thing is certain: sooner or later the boss will find us."

"What's the boss's name? And what does it look like?" asks Lillia, her voice reduced to a whisper.

"Its name is 'Doomclawe', and the giant's is 'Magnaror'. I don't know what they look like, it will be the first time I see them."

Frenya approaches, her eyes fixed on mine. "But does it make sense to continue running if we already know it will catch up to us? Wouldn't it be better to prepare ourselves?"

I nod slowly. "You're right, but we're not able to fight against them. However, if you really want to do something, we could try this plan."

"What would this plan be?" asks Frenya, a glimmer of hope in her voice.

I look her straight in the eyes, my face devoid of emotion. "I have this idea in mind: we should start saying our last prayers."

Frenya stares at me with an indescribable expression, between disbelief and anger. Lillia, already terrified, seems to sink even deeper into despair.

"Are you crazy?" Frenya bursts out. "Who told you we're going to die? I asked you for a plan and you tell me this?"

"Then what do you want to do?!" I retort, raising my voice. "Don't you see that even the monsters have died from shock? Can't you imagine how strong it will be if even the monsters couldn't resist? Who are we in comparison? I know it's not pleasant to hear, but it's reality. I would never have imagined finding myself in this situation."

Frenya grabs me by the shoulders, her eyes blazing. "You're not the only one in this situation! We're here too, like the many warriors who have already died! Don't you think about this? From the beginning we've been following you and respecting your directions, and now that danger has arrived you give up?"

"I can't do anything else!" I exclaim, frustrated. "I'm not up to it! I'm a mediocre warrior of rank 9. What do you expect from me? That I can fight against that monster? The answer is no! I helped you out of pure selfishness, because I thought I could survive somehow."

"And where has your selfishness gone now?" Frenya presses. "Don't you want to survive anymore?"

I lower my gaze. "I want to survive, but I'm not strong enough. That's the problem."

"We must do something," Frenya insists, determined. "We can't stay here without reacting. How long will it take before the boss arrives here?"

"Frenya, why don't you understand that we have death hanging over our heads?" I respond, exasperated. "We can die at any moment. The boss, in my opinion, will arrive in fifteen minutes."

"So quickly?" she exclaims incredulously. "And all this journey we've made just to gain a miserable fifteen minutes?"

I can no longer contain the fury that devours me from within.

"Frenya, do you know that these fifteen minutes could make the difference between life and death?" I burst out. "I'm not so stupid as to make you undertake a twenty-four-hour journey without reason! Every second counts, now. All this time I was just hoping that your family would somehow discover your situation and activate 'the immediate recall', so that I could get out too. And you reproach me with 'only fifteen minutes'?"

Lillia, who had remained silent until now, intervenes stammering with fear: "Hey, enough! Stop arguing! This won't solve anything. It would be better to do something to gain as much time as possible."

"See?" says Frenya, pointing to Lillia. "She also says we must act."

I sigh deeply, trying to calm myself. "All right. Let's do something."

Silence falls over us as the sky grows darker, heralding the imminent arrival of something terrible.

Chapter-End.