A crumbling tower (4)

Theoretically everything could be perfect.

But just because they could theoretically be perfect didn't mean that perfection actually existed.

As a weird concept, perfection could just mean achieving a hundred percent on a test while also symbolising the body of Adam, the first human carved by God in the christian religion.

(Maybe, I wasn't to educated on that manner)

Three is viewed as the perfect number by many cultures, religions and schools of thought as it the symbol of completeness and unity

The Father, the son and the holy spirit, Knight, Mage, Priest and even Rage quitting Gamer, Foul Mouthed gamer and finally the Toxic Gamer.

Symbolising the number three and covering all directions a triangle was the epitome of a standard defense.

In addition it was a relatively simple formation that allowed all three of us to cover each other's backs while advancing.

But as we did I felt a disconnect with the world around me.

These Elites... The ones that Cherry had told me about were... disappointingly weak to say the least.

'It can't be this easy.'

That constantly flitted through my mind as everytime my arm moved a head flew into the air.

Easily decapitating yet another of those Sweepers with abnormal arms, the orange eyed undead shorter than my waist slammed against the ground causing a pillar of flame to rise.

Bursting out of the stone ramparts and surging towards me like a wave I easily leaped over it before decapitating another one.

*Crackle

Feeling a tingle at the back of my neck I instantly pulled out my shield and placed it in front of me, somehow breaking off the flow of the flames as they tried and failed to burst out of the ground beneath me.

Returning the favor I threw a piece of wood and let the fragment grow into a bloodthirsty plant that favored the brain stem for its familiar nature.

Now ignoring the seizing undead, I felt a crackle behind me.

But instead of dodging like I would've done any other time I took a simple step forwards, sword and shield in hand.

'It really is easy though.'

Feeling most of the tension ebb away, I couldn't help but feel a strange dissonance as lightning tried to strike my exposed back only to be blocked by one of the women standing behind me.

But again, the triangle was a shape that symbolised perfection.

It's just that after what Cherry had stated, I had thought that all of these so called Elites were much like the monsters that had assaulted me on the way to the ramparts.

But again, nothing was perfect, and in hindsight I should've remembered that the woman who went by the name Cherry was under the delusion that the captain was still alive.

And she even wanted to kill him in hopes of being enlisted into the Golden Royal knights in hopes of seeing her brother again.

I really just forgot because outside of anything involving her brother she seemed like an extremely happy go lucky woman that you would more likely see in the countryside than in the big city.

'This is really easy.'

Repeating this one thought several hundreds of times within my mind, before I knew it...

There was nothing to hurt or kill anymore with the edge of my bloody and bloodstained blood sword.

Slick black and red blood coating my hands as they dripped from the hilt, I stared around me in disbelief.

'...How was this even easier?'

Watching Ella swing all of the blood off of their blade, turning it into a crescent blade that splattered against the ruined tower, the fallen remnants of the tower were soaked through.

And honestly? I think I already could answer my own question.

Gesturing at the non fallen tower that they stood in front of, a broken wall/ doorway was the only thing separating the trio from their own goals.

Cherry wanted to kill the captain and meet her brother again.

Ella wanted to see her sister sane while also desiring to permanently kill the captain as she said astutely in her own words, It's better to get rid of an important parasite if given the chance

And me... My goal might've been the most complicated yet simple one amongst them.

Kill the captain and reach the fragmented shrines in hopes of discovering a way to end the time loop.

In other words, save the world without knowing how.

'Fun'

Cursing the name of a certain God, I gestured towards the half doorway.

"So shall we?"

Nodding their heads Cherry instantly smashed the doorway with her broadsword, a large crash kicking up dust as it did before walking confidently inside.

Ella following soon after

And now that I thought about it, the two of them were able to exert abilities stronger than what their lithe frames would suggest.

Not to disparage women or anything, but I don't think any normal human should be able to break stone this easily, especially a stone as thick as a human body.

Thinking about this face and wondering how could I learn their skills, a slow but harsh sounding voice caught my attention

"You... Are the... Vice Captain..." Holding a bronze colored broadsword horizontal to their body I raised an eyebrow at how their rotten body was able to hold such a thing aloft.

"...Captain."

'Ok now that's weird.'

Eyes wide as I stared at Cherry, the smile which seemed impossible to remove had fallen from her face as brown eyes subtly stared at the captain who was more rotten flesh than bones.

"And you..." The Elite Zombie's gaze turned to the side, his dulled and glazed over eyes staring at Ella.

"...Are the... Silver... Captain..."

"I greet Captain Stirnoff."

"Is that... my name...?"

Tilting their head, the Captain's face turned thoughtful as if tasting the name on their lips.

"Stirnoff..."

Turning their gaze to me, eyes widened in recognition "It's you... From two days... Ago..."

"Is that how long its been?"

Tightening my grips around the pair of weapons I had adorned on my body, I stared at the Captain's figure

Much like the color of their sword, the captain wore bronze colored armor on their body emblazoned with the insignia of the bronze order that Cherry had proudly shown to me.

Rotting jaw with little flesh in it moving up and down, the Elite Zombie stared at us.

"You... want to... kill...?"

"Yes Captain."

Turning to Cherry who was uncharacteristically solemn, I watched as tears beaded up in in her eyes.

A dark aura covering the small room filled to the brim with bronze insignias, I noted that even Ella wasn't unaffected by this darkness.

"Then... come..."

'Wait how is he even talk-'

Belatedly recalling something extremely important I hadn't noticed before, before I could even think more in depth on that question a loud thunderclap resounded in the small enclosed chamber

And before I could even blink, the captain was right in front of my face.

'Holy!'

Barely reacting, a small bloody scar was left on my cheek.

'I couldn't even see him!'

Eyes flickering I instinctively knelt down to dodge the follow up swing that despite starting from a point of zero momentum was able to instantaneously accelerate.

'So he knows it to huh?'

Wanting to emulate but not wanting to experiment in a place where a single movement could mean life or death, I certainly didn't want to experiment in a place where dying once meant certain death.

It definitely helped that I just didn't want to die period.

Instantly dragging the tip of the blade downwards in a Z shaped motion, I rolled to the side where I would be briefly safe only to have to resort to my extreme form of air movement.

Explosion rocking my body it was at this point that Ella and Cherry took this opportunity formed at the cost of myself to attack the Man's exposed back.

Calmly turning around, Ella's blade instantly connected to the armor covering the captain's body while Cherry's own was blocked by the captains.

And although I would like to cheer that Ella had landed a direct hit, according to the look on her face it didn't seem as if any significant damage had been dealt.

And seeing as the armor was as pristine as ever in this apocalyptic era where it wouldn't be strange to have extremely damaged weapons, the captain instantly parried Cherry and thrust his hand forwards.

Perhaps not expecting this, Cherry tried to twist her body away from a fatal wound, only ending up with four lacerations on her shoulder.

'For the time being she's incapacitated.'

Thinking that, I stabbed the tonic into my arm while thinking about the extremely visible difference this elite undead had to the others.

Compared to the previous Elite undead I had faced in the Promenade of the undead, the two of them were significantly weaker than the one I was facing right now with the help of two others as strong or stronger than me.

But then again, after much thought it seemed that this trend in power wasn't just localized to the Elite as I realized that even after gaining more health through the use of scrolls of power, the undead dealt the same amount of damage to my body.

With extremely strong armor able to withstand a direct blow from a greatsword that was able to cleave undead with extreme ease, the Captain also had the skills suitable for a man of his position.

'But he's an undead.'

Narrowing my eyes I stared at the Captain that swiftly moved their body at the smallest margins to let any projectiles I periodically threw to collide with the wall of weapons

Coming in from behind I whipped out the Kunai and threw it forwards to no avail once again as I recalled all the facts about undead I could while thinking of a way to subdue him for the timebreakers to do their thing

Undead normally had their skills deteriorate extensively.

It made sense, without a functioning logic center called the brain to aid the use of skills the only motions an undead could do were the ones that were instinctual and the ones that were habitual.

'Now that I think about it, all of the elite undead I met had some form of cognitive ability.'

Unlike the normal undead I encountered that were only able to belatedly react to external stimuli, the Elites I also encountered were able to see my actions and respond appropriately.

To put it in comparison, the difference was like one student was studying the subjects the teacher said to study while the other began studying other subjects that may appear on the test.

'Of course the fact that their much stronger than their normal counterparts also makes a difference.'

Leaping in, my sword clanged against the flat of the sword which suddenly swung behind them.

Already something incredibly heavy and dangerous, the broadsword was used to clear space around him only to be stopped by Ella who planted their blade straight into the ground.

And reacting appropriately, me and Cherry coordinated attacks as I stabbed at the open gaps between his joints while Cherry tried to cleave his head.

I succeeded, Cherry didn't

"Grr..." Growling, a loud gurgle echoed in the elite captains mouth as he suddenly let go of his sword and swung at both me and Cherry who were nearby.

Not expecting this, I let in a single blow.

And regretted it immensely.

Slamming into a wall my mind flickered briefly before awakening from the external stimuli named pain.

Now back to square one, I watched as the captain snatched the blood sword out of their body and broke it, the scorched surface of the armor telling me that my attack had the effect I wanted

But then again, if it came at the cost of me being tossed around the room like a doll I don't think I want to have that effect.

Trying to count how many broken bones I had suddenly gained, I turned my gaze around the room and noted that every weapon stuck into the wall were decently well kept for weapons stabbed into the mortar between stones.

'I have an idea.'

Conjuring up a stupid idea that would probably get several people injured including me, I just hoped that it would harm the captain more than myself.

I could probably heal from this.

Probably.

+++

Quick question

Am I bad at this writing thing? I'm looking at my five stars and I can't help but compare it to others.

Tree