Chapter 36: The Beginning Of The Hunt
My conversation with the infection is finally done, giving me the opportunity to get ready to leave.
"Please be careful out there Liam," Airi says with worry in her voice.
"I’ll be fine. There’s nothing to worry about," I reassure her before looking towards the door.
I pull the hood from my cloak over my head and make sure I can summon the sword with ease.
Grip.
The sword is in my hands like normal so I’d say that I’m definitely good to go at this point in time.
"I’ll see you again before you know it," I say while opening the door.
Opening the door for the first time in awhile, I can see that the streets are just as empty as before. Nobody is roaming around and I don’t even feel anything looking my direction.
I step forward and close the door behind me.
Wind blows past me while everything else seems to remain silent.
I honestly thought I’d be used to the silence by now but it is strange thing to experience every time. It doesn’t really matter... Soon enough I’ll be hearing the zierel moving around like usual.
The beginning of my hunt is starting and I don’t know how many zierel I’ll run into while I’m out here.
Airi didn’t have an exact number for each location I’m heading to; she just has a rough amount in mind. I need to be cautious of any hybrids out here as well since I’m not prepared for them yet.
Shatter!!!
The sound of glass breaking takes me away from my thoughts and causes me to draw my sword. I take a moment to listen.
Scratch!!
"Screeeech!" It shouts out in the distance.
After hearing the sound of something scratching and then a screech... I begin to make my way towards them. Keeping my steps as quiet as I can while watching all around me.
With each step I take, I can hear the screeches getting louder and louder.
Almost like it is yelling to another Zierel... Like a warning of sorts.
"They are quite observant," the woman speaks up with interest in her voice.
This is definitely not the time for you to distract me from them. I need to focus on finding them before they have an opportunity to group up.
"I won’t give any warnings for now," she says before disappearing.
I finally find myself standing a couple of feet away from the terrifying sight of these monsters. It doesn’t look anything like the ones I’ve seen before.
Its head slightly resembles a wolf with a broken neck while its arms are quite long with sharp razor like claws, and it stands about 6’2 (187.96 centimeters) tall.
The eyes are staring at me, almost like they are glued to me.
I didn’t think something like this would give me any fear since I killed one... But this one is kind of putting that fear back in my body.
Blood drips down from its mouth as I take notice of the human body it’s hunching over.
Ba-dum. Ba-dum.
"Do you want to die?" A voice asks.
Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum.
I can feel my heart beating out my chest like it’s going to explode.
That voice wasn’t one I heard before... No one else is around and I know the voice of the woman. Of course I don’t want to die.
My eyes shift towards the sword in my right hand, my grip tightens around the handle.
Crunch. Crunch.
The sound of munching on human flesh and bone is enough for me to put my fear to the side for the time being. I force myself to run towards it while keeping a tight enough grip on my sword so I don’t drop it.
As I reach the Zierel I begin to swing my sword towards it, letting the force carry behind my swing.
Slash!!!
I watch as my blade slices through its arm; the arm it tries to use to block my attack, blood begins to splurt from where its arm used to be.
Painting the ground in blood as it stumbles back for a moment.
That thing is massive but I sliced through its arm with this sword like it was butter. I need to hurry up and kill it before other Zierel show up.
Fighting out here needs to be quick and concise for me to be able to get this done.
I push forward while it stumbles and begin to swing my sword once again. The moment my blade reaches it, it catches the blade with its remaining hand.
Without even thinking I use my left hand to punch it in the stomach.
"Ryeeee!!!" It screams out as it releases my blade.
The moment my blade is loose I charge in once again and swing my sword towards its stomach.
Slice!!!!
It tears through its stomach with ease and before it can do anything else, I stab my sword straight into its chest. Everything feels like it is moving slower around me... But I think it is just pure adrenaline kicking in.
Splat!! Splat!!!!
More blood pours onto the floor as it looks into my eyes.
The zierel tries to move its remaining hand but nothing seems to happen before it finally falls onto the floor. Giving me my second kill.
Tromp!! Tromp!!!
It sounds as if multiple zierel are heading towards me with haste. I look down at my blade and then over at the dead Zierel.
I killed one already so what does it matter if I have to kill a few at once. Airi did help me improve with speed quite a bit.
That fear I felt before is completely gone.
"Feeling more confident in yourself? That is definitely great to see, maybe I won’t die," She says with amusement in her voice.
I’m not doing this to keep you alive by any means but I also don’t have any intentions of dying here either. I’ll kill as many as I need to.