Chapter 184: Stand our Ground
The metallic taste of blood filled Arthur’s mouth as he bit down on his tongue, the sharp pain serving as a reminder that he was still alive in this nightmare of endless combat. Sweat stung his eyes despite the cool night air, and his breathing had become labored as the relentless battle continued to drain his stamina. The shadow cloak that normally felt like a second skin now seemed to weigh him down, each movement requiring more effort than the last.
"On your left!" Cara’s voice cut through the chaos, her warning coming just in time for Arthur to pivot and bring his odachi up in a defensive arc. The blade caught a creature mid-lunge, its blackened nails mere inches from his throat. The impact sent vibrations up through his arms, and he gritted his teeth as he forced the blade upward, slicing through the creature’s jaw and into its brain cavity.
The thing’s body went limp instantly, but there was no time to celebrate the small victory. Another creature was already shambling toward him, this one wearing the remnants of a nurse’s uniform that had once been pristine white but was now stained with substances that made Arthur’s stomach churn. The creature’s face was a mask of decay, one eye socket empty and weeping dark fluid while the other stared at him with that same hollow hunger.
Arthur’s muscles screamed in protest as he spun away from the nurse-creature’s grasping hands, his odachi whistling through the air in a horizontal slash that took off the top of its skull. Brain matter splattered across the grass in a gray-black arc, and the creature crumpled to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut.
"How many more of these things are there?" Aziel’s voice was strained with exhaustion as he drove his lightning-charged spear through the skull of what had once been a construction worker. The electrical energy discharged with a brilliant flash, illuminating the battlefield in stark detail for a split second before plunging them back into the chaotic darkness.
The answer to Aziel’s question came in the form of more shambling figures emerging from the distance, their numbers seemingly endless. For every creature they destroyed, two more took its place, as if the very plains itself was vomiting forth an army of the undead. The sound of their collective moaning created a horrifying symphony that seemed to vibrate through the ground itself.
Cara’s luminous blade carved through another group of attackers, her movements fluid and deadly despite the obvious fatigue beginning to show in her stance. "I don’t know," she called back to Aziel, her voice tight with concentration. "But we can’t keep this up forever. We need to—"
Her words were cut off as a particularly large creature barreled into her from the side, its massive frame knocking her off balance. This one had been a bodybuilder in life, its enhanced musculature now swollen and grotesque with decay. Despite its size, it moved with surprising speed, its massive hands reaching for Cara’s throat with deadly intent.
Light exploded around Cara as she channeled more power into her abilities, her entire form becoming almost too bright to look at directly. The creature recoiled from the intense radiance, its remaining eye searing and smoking from the exposure. Taking advantage of its momentary confusion, Cara drove her blade upward through its chin, the point of light piercing through its skull and emerging from the top of its head in a shower of sparks.