'What the hell is even that?' Elias screamed in his mind as he looked at the monster rushing in his direction. Sadly, that wasn't the only worry that he had, as the walls were now closing in at a visible pace.
He looked in the other direction, the only way that he could escape from, so he bolted, running as fast as his feet could carry him, eyes locked on the end of the hallway.
The monster chased behind with vigor, wanting to capture Elias no matter what. Its growls echoed through the hallway as they ran, and so did the footsteps of Elias.
'It's getting closer, I can hear it,' Elias thought. He looked at the end, it was getting closer, but the walls were also closing in, and so was the monster.
Badum badum
His heart slammed hard against his chest, his mind raced. He didn't want it to end like this, not here, not now, not at all.
"Please please please," he muttered as he ran. Luckily for Elias, he was trained, his endurance was high, he was able to keep a steady pace for far longer than a normal person would be able to.
Soon, the end came into view, but the shadow of the monster was already looming over him. He could sense the bloodlust, hear its heavy breath, if he missed even a single step, his flesh would be littered all over the floor.
The walls were also a few inches away from his body, he could already feel its cold blocks about to touch his skin. He was forced to run extremely straight, or else he would rub against it.
Elias clenched his jaw, he gritted his teeth, eyes locked on the exit, he pushed his body to go even further.
The monster lunged at him, claws extended in an attempt to slash into his back.
WOOSH
Elias passed through the small space at the last moment, moving so fast he slammed into the opposite wall hard.
BAM
At the same time, the walls closed, slamming the monster inside it, its blood splattered, seeping through the small gap between both walls. The only thing that had made it out was the paw that had been extended to attack Elias.
Elias looked at the paw, his breathing heavy, he understood that he had barely managed to survive that attack. His heart still raced, his entire body was covered in sweat. He clenched hard on the sword in his hands, stopping the shaking of his muscles.
He leaned his back against the wall, still staring at the paw. "That could have been me," he muttered. He knew this place was a death sentence, but after being in such a close shave, he actually felt it now.
Now he knew that sitting around wasn't a good option, he decided to walk. He propped himself off the wall and began walking through the hallway, making sure to look around and ensure that he didn't step on any traps or activate something by accident.
"What are those monsters? I don't think I've heard of a cat with horns for ears. What do you even call something like that?
Hmmm, maybe it's Horned Cat? Nah, too easy, but nothing else really fits the criteria, tch, seems like I'm bad with names," Elias spoke to himself as he walked.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but he kept walking, until suddenly, he stepped through an arch into what seemed like a large hall. The moment that he walked in, he froze because of what he saw.
Inside this place, over twenty of the horned cats lay there sleeping, every single one of them.
There was one at the center that seemed bigger than the rest. Unlike the others, its horn had a purple glowing line on it.
'Shit shit shit, back away,'
Elias slowly backed away, carefully not to awaken any one. His heart raced, but he tried to control it.
As he backed away, his foot kicked a small rock. It immediately bounced off, hitting the ground and echoing. Elias immediately froze.
"Shit," he cursed under his breath, then slowly looked up, luckily none of them had awakened.
He heaved a sigh of relief and then slowly turned around, only to turn and see one horned cat standing in the opposite direction.
Elias froze in place, his feet refused to move off the ground.
The monster was looking at him right in the eyes, its mouth already salivating.
Elias's heart raced hard, he gripped the sword in a shaky manner but tried to force confidence.
Then the monster rushed forward, coming at Elias fast.
Elias drew a deep breath, he knew that if he stood and did nothing, he would die. He had been trained to think under stress and pressure.
He closed his eyes for a second, then as they shot open, they were filled with determination, the determination to live. He rushed ahead immediately, feet pressing against the ground hard.
"Arghhhhhhh," Elias roared as he charged.
The horned cat leaped into the air, slashing down at Elias, going for the head.
Elias skidded under, everything moved in slow motion, he wasn't trying to attack, he wasn't trying to kill it, he simply wanted to escape.
Unlucky for him, he didn't go down low enough, the claws dug right into his shoulder, blood gushed out like a fountain. Elias groaned in pain as his body collapsed to the ground hard.
He rolled, leaving a trail of red on the ground until he finally stopped.
"Arghhhhhhh," he cried in pain as the blood poured from his body. He grabbed his right shoulder with his left hand, while the sword was gripped in the right hand.
He slowly stood up, blood pouring from his body. He looked at the monster, it stood there looking right at him, salivating at him.
"Fuck me." Elias couldn't help but curse, the pain was getting to him, and he was losing large amounts of blood.
"This can't be where I end," he gritted his teeth. He couldn't run away, he wasn't fast enough, especially with the wound, so he lifted his blade and pointed it at the monster.
"Come at me, monster, I'll cut you down and leave this place," he yelled at it.
The monster responded, it rushed at Elias.
'I'm sorry Elena, I didn't even last long before dying here, I wish I was able to come back to you, to free you from that prison. I'm sorry.
I wish I had the opportunity to see my mum someday, even if it was just for a moment, even if it was only for a second, I would do anything, give anything for an opportunity to see her again.'
Elias gritted his teeth, his heart was heavy with regret, he didn't want to go, he wanted to leave. He looked at the monster, his anger rose rapidly.
"SCREW YOU!!!!"
[Life-threatening danger Registered]
Suddenly everything slowed down before Elias's eyes, including the horned cat.
A blue screen appeared before his eyes.
"What's happening?" Elias asked in shock, was he hallucinating before death or something?
[Danger Registered, Would you like to summon a hero?]
The screen shifted into something else. Elias had no idea what was happening, but then he recalled that this exact voice had been the one that he heard during his awakening.
'This voice, I heard it before, what the hell is it?' Elias wondered.
He looked at the screen again. "Summon a hero? Is this some sort of summoning spell? But I have no magic, and there are nothing like these screens when casting?"
He wanted to know the answers, but time was running out fast.
[Do you wish to summon a hero to fight for you?]
[You have seconds until time perception returns to normal]
Elias looked at the screen, he didn't know what was going on, but he was about to die, and whatever this thing was, it promised someone to fight for him.
"Fine, yes, I want to summon a hero," Elias replied.
Instantly a massive gate appeared behind Elias, on it was engraved a massive sword with a gem at the guard. The gates opened and a bright light shined from it.
Time perception immediately returned to normal, the monster was about to kill Elias.
Suddenly, from the gate, a shadow shot out so fast no eye could keep track of, it went past Elias.
Slash.
All Elias heard was one slash, but multiple glowing slashes appeared on the body of the monster, its flesh and dark blood fell from above like rain.