Eating Souls In Another World

Chapter 10

"Run!"

That was the first word that came out of Drake's mouth when he saw the cultist. He yanked the red-haired boy then pushed him between the crates, intending to use them as a barrier to hopefully keep the enemy away.

Of course, the cultist wasn’t about to just let them through. As Rollo ran to the other side of the room, Drake waited in the same spot for a couple of seconds. He tricked the lone enemy into coming after him then ran after the red-haired boy.

The path to the entrance was clear once more and for a moment it seemed like they would make it out of the storage room. A second cultist appeared before them just then and suddenly they found themselves trapped in a pincer.

The choices were limited and retreat wasn't an option. coming to that conclusion, Drake made his choice in the blink of an eye.

I have no choice but to tackle him!

No sooner did that thought crossed his mind than the world around him blurred.

[SKILL: Quick Step]

[SKILL: Razor Claws]

By the time he noticed what happened, it was already too late. Drake was running toward the cultist blocking the entrance, intending to tackle him after evading the spear he pointed forward. The next thing he knew, he was already out in the runnel.

A heavy thud reached his ears and he turned to look in its direction. Something rolled to his feet just then, and the instant his eyes fell on it, his entire body was stunned stiff.

A head. A human head. A person's head. The eyes were wide with shock as they stared at him and the mouth hung open as if it was shouting silent words.

Another thud drew his attention, its source being a man's body clad entirely in black. It was missing its head so, just like a puppet that had its strings severed, it fell to the ground and never got up.

... huh?

Drake's eyes were drawn to a strange and he found himself looking away from the corpse and at his right hand. His fingers were gone, replaced with thirty-centimeter-long blades made out of pure light.

“Drake!”

The boy's shout snapped him out of his thoughts and he instantly remembered what kind of situation they were in. The other cultist had slowed down when he saw his friend get decapitated. It bought the two a moment to run away but there was no telling how long it would last.

Pushing down all the feelings raging inside him, Drake dashed through the tunnel and did his best to ignore what happened.

This isn’t the time... He told himself. THIS ISN’T THE FUCKING TIME!

“OVER THERE!”

A shout came from behind and red dots appeared on the miniature map. More enemies were coming from the direction Drake and Rollo took to arrive at the storage room.

The two ran with no care for where they were heading, their focus being to keep the black cloaks from catching them. The light glow of the luminous moss seemed to grow brighter the farther they went.

The tunnel seemed to go on forever, but just when he thought there was no end in sight, Drake spotted the exit a few dozen meters ahead.

“... Shit!”

Drake’s mind was on high alert, but that didn’t explain why he almost failed to stop. He found himself standing a single stem away from a steep cliff looking at a dark abyss with no bottom in sight. If he had taken one more step he might have ended up falling straight to his death.

The abyss was at the center of a large cavern that dwarfed the one they passed earlier. In addition to the luminous moss scattered all around, massive crystal formations emitted a bright glow that illuminated every corner of the underground space.

Rollo arrived a moment later, and since he saw that his partner in crime had stopped, he managed to avoid almost falling into the abyss.

“THERE THEY ARE!”

The angry voice didn't come from the tunnel behind them but from somewhere above. The walls of the cavern seemed to have several exits lined along a spiraling path that led upward. Some of those exits had cultists coming out of them.

The sound of footsteps came from behind and Drake was alerted that their pursuer were catching up.

“Don’t stop!” He yelled at his red-haired companion "Go up!"

A quick look was all it took to determine that the tunnel they came from was the lowest on the spiral. That meant if they wanted to go down their only choice would be to turn back.

Since they had no logical reason to do so going up was the only option left. As they ran, Drake noticed some old rail tracks on the ground. He was confused by their presence for a moment before understanding that they were inside a mine.

Some of the cultists barred the path ahead so there was no avoiding a confrontation. Seeing the spears they held alarmed Drake, but the closer he got the clearer it became that their adversaries were shaking in their robes.

“YOU WON’T GET AWAY!!!” One of them roared and came running at him.

Noticing his clumsy movements, Drake suppressed the fear he felt and sped up. Evading the barrage up ahead wasn't going to be much of a problem for him, he was strangely confident of that. He wasn't sure the boy following after him could do the same, however.

The quest made it clear that Rollo’s survival was crucial for him to escape safely. Knowing that, Drake pushed all unnecessary thoughts into a deep corner of his mind, and for the first time in a long while.

He released his restraints.

[SKILL: Quick Step]

[SKILL: Razor Claws]

Two blue stripes flashed under the miniature map in the corner of his sight and the next moment the world around him blurred.

“What th-" 

Startled by his sudden acceleration, the cultist charging at him flinched before clumsily thrusting his spear. 

Drake ducked to the left and let it pass over his shoulder, and as the cultist wondered how he did it, he swung his right hand and swiped the glowing white claws through his opponent’s flank.

"Keep going!" Drake yelled as he placed his sights on the two black cloaks blocking their path. "Don't stop!"

“Y-yes!”

The kid’s voice was just a step behind him, which was quite surprising. They were running with everything they had and yet he was still able to keep up.

Leaving the thought for another time, Drake engaged another cultist. However, unlike the two that fell at his hands, this one was a bit different.

The air around him seemed hazy as if he was surrounded by a thin layer of mist. Though unsure of what was happening, Drake summoned the white claws once more and swiped.

CLANG!

Sparks scattered and a troubling tremor shot up Drake's arm as it bounced off something. The next second, all five of the white claws extending from his fingers shattered into tiny specs.

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This series is currently being edited so the following chapters might be of lower quality and have inconsistencies compared to the ones that came before.

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