Chapter 27: The Mysterious Woman part 3

[ ] = Doruuk's thoughts

{ } = System message

My breathing was irregular, my heart pounding in my chest like a frenzied drum. There was no time to think, only to act. The man was about to sound the alarm, condemning me to certain death.

With a quick, fluid movement, I grabbed the bow abandoned by the archer who lay dead at my feet. My fingers trembled slightly as I nocked an arrow. I felt the taut wood bend under my grip, and with a lethal hiss, I shot it straight into the enemy's throat. His face contorted in a grimace of astonishment. His eyes, wide with disbelief, stared at me for a moment before his body stiffened completely, then collapsed like an empty sack on the damp ground.

{ Character's strength has increased. }

{ Fear has increased. }

I felt an icy shiver run down my spine, slowly climbing up to my neck. A strange sensation took hold of me: my body suddenly felt lighter, my muscles more responsive, as if every fiber was answering to a new power flowing through my veins.

[ I need to take advantage of my passives as much as possible, since "Escape" is on cooldown. Maybe now I can get away. The death of these men... is making me stronger. ]

I turned, ready to slip away, feeling the adrenaline pulse in my temples. Freedom seemed within reach, but a sharp, piercing sound cut through the air like a blade, shattering any hope.

An alarm.

The realization hit me like a punch to the stomach. Someone had warned them. Perhaps besides him, there was someone else I hadn't managed to see, hidden in the shadows, ready to betray my position.

Terror dilated my pupils as I heard footsteps quickly returning. Too many footsteps. The sound reverberated in the ground like an omen of death. Then I saw them: a wave of armed men approaching inexorably. I counted quickly: about fifteen swordsmen and five archers, faces distorted by fury and thirst for vengeance. Their eyes burned with rage as they marched toward me.

Among them, further back, I spotted the leader of the band. He remained at a distance with some men and the bound woman. His cold eyes studied me with a calculating gaze, like a predator evaluating its prey, before turning away and leaving, entrusting his henchmen with the task of eliminating me.

[ Maan! There are too many. I have no chance in a direct confrontation. ]

I threw down the sword I had in my hand, aware that it would only slow me down in my escape. The metal clinked on the ground as I grabbed the bow and some arrows, making sure my dagger was securely tied to my belt. Every second was precious.

I started running, pushing every fiber of my body to its limit. My lungs burned from the effort, my muscles painfully protested, but fear was a more powerful fuel than fatigue. Behind me, I heard their fierce shouts, promises of death and torture that awaited me if they caught me.

[ Oh maan! What do I do now! There are too many, too well-armed, too furious. ]

The wind lashed my face as I ran, thoughts crowding in my mind. The situation was desperate, but something inside me refused to surrender.

[ I can't leave like this. These punks will find me sooner or later. I need to do something before they silence me forever. But now I need to get away, or at least try. I can't fight them all face to face, it would be suicide. I need to find another way. ]

I ran forward, feeling the uneven ground beneath my feet, when a sudden idea crossed my mind. I turned abruptly, stopping for a moment. The pursuers were closer than I thought, but now I had a clear objective. The most dangerous targets were the archers. Without them, I would have a chance against the swordsmen – I could outrun them, but I couldn't escape the arrows.

With unnatural calm, I raised the bow. Time seemed to slow as I took aim. The air in my lungs stopped, muscles tensed. I fired a precise, perfect shot. The arrow flew through the air like a roar of death, a straight and lethal line that lodged in one of the archers' throats. I saw him fall backward without making a sound, blood flowing copiously from the mortal wound.

{ Character's strength has increased. }

{ Fear has increased. }

Power flowed through me again, more intense this time. I felt my strength increase, my senses sharpen. Death fueled my power, a thought that both disturbed and fascinated me.

The other bows rose toward me, aiming at my heart. The time advantage was over; now it was a fight for survival.

Arrow after arrow, they tried to hit me. I heard them whistle dangerously close to my ears, but I noticed something strange: the more my passive fear grew, the more uncertain and imprecise their movements became. The archers seemed confused, their hands trembling slightly. And since my strength was slowly increasing, I didn't need to use too much energy in firing arrows to kill. Their eyes wavered, their breathing accelerated. And they missed their aim, shot after shot.

[ I need to do something as soon as possible. My passive is working, but it won't last forever. There are still three archers left... and I have only one arrow left. A single shot. ]

My legs pushed me further and further, burning from the effort. The vast meadow was ending; I could see the city walls in the distance. Salvation seemed within reach. If I could get there, I would be safe, protected by the guards and the crowd.

No.

The truth hit me like an arrow to the chest. I knew well that if I didn't finish them here, they would find me anyway. The city it will become small for me. They would search every alley, every house, every hole. And then I would die anyway, probably in a more painful and humiliating way.

Desperation mingled with determination as I darted forward, frantically searching for an escape route. Then, suddenly, I saw it: the opening of the sewers near the city. A dark and fetid entrance, used to expel all kinds of waste and excrement from the city.

Without thinking twice, without allowing myself to hesitate at that repugnant sight, I threw myself down. The nauseating stench hit me even before I landed, but I had no choice if I wanted to survive.

Darkness enveloped me immediately, thick and impenetrable. The air was dense, the stench so nauseating that I had to fight not to vomit. The filthy water reached up to my neck, cold and slimy. I felt indefinable things brushing against my legs, but I tried not to think about it.

From the edge of the sewer, I heard agitated voices. Some pursuers, too caught up in the frenzy of the hunt, threw themselves down after me without thinking.

I waited for them, motionless in the putrid water, dagger clutched in my fist. As soon as they landed, confused by the darkness and the stench, I eliminated them with a single fluid and lethal movement. My blade tore through flesh in silence, the metal weakly reflecting the little light filtering from the opening. The bodies fell into the water with dull thuds, creating small waves that propagated around me.

The others cautiously stopped at the entrance to the sewer, observing me from above with disgusted looks. I could see their silhouettes outlined against the sky. They didn't dare come down, too frightened by my display of strength or too disgusted by the idea of immersing themselves in that slurry.

But I knew it wasn't over. I could feel it in the air, tense as a bowstring.

One of them, perhaps the second-in-command, made a sharp gesture with his hand. Then he spoke to someone I couldn't clearly see.

A man advanced through the ranks. There was something different about him, an aura that distinguished him from the other mercenaries. He moved slowly to the edge of the sewer, with disturbing confidence. When he looked at me, his face lit up with an evil smile that froze the blood in my veins.

Then he extended his hand toward the water in which I was immersed.

[ What are they going to do? Why are they smiling like that? What new trick do they have in store? ]

A terrible intuition made its way into my mind. Something was wrong, something fundamentally wrong was about to happen.

[ Wait... ]

My eyes widened in horror when I saw that his hand began to glow unnaturally. A bluish light that didn't belong to this world. An electric discharge crackled at his fingertips, small lightning bolts dancing between his knuckles.

[ No! He's about to release electricity into the water! ]

Panic overwhelmed me like a wave. I was trapped. The water, an excellent conductor, would carry the electric charge directly to my body.

[ So I'll die in this filthy water from the shock. An inglorious end for a warrior. ]

Time seemed to have stopped as the man's luminous hand slowly lowered toward the water. His eyes gleamed with cruel joy, savoring the moment of my imminent death.

Then, my head started working.

[ The cooldown on escape has expired! I can use it! ]

With one last desperate effort of will, I activated the ability that had saved me so many times before.

{ Character has used "Escape". }

Chapter-End.