Eating Souls In Another World

Chapter 13

I watched in horror as one of the shield bearers had his entire head cleanly shaved off because he chose to peek out a little too early.

The commander who I thought was hiding behind a wall of shields took out a strangely designed broad sword. Though it appeared quite heavy he swung it with one arm sending out a crimson arc of flames that collided with the icicles evaporating them before they could reach his squad. 

“ACTIVATE THE CHAINS!!!”

Though they received quite a number of casualties in the last attack the knights still went for a counter. 

From the center of each group beams of purple light shot out toward the beast. They were too fast for something of its size to evade and before it could react they wrapped themselves around its wings and legs one after the other. 

The beams appeared to scatter for a moment before turning into rings which connected together forming chains made out of purple light.

The beast’s ear piercing cry shook the entire mountain as it struggled to free itself. As the chains pulled it toward the ground little by little the commander took his sword and shot another arc of flame this time hitting the beast’s head.

With its wings restrained and having suffered a direct hit to the face the giant blue bird lost its strength and collapsed to the ground.

“CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!!!”

With a throaty roar the knights began running toward the beast. Their weapons glowed red as they prepared to strike. Others held their hands out preparing fire balls  before launching them. 

Stones and boulders were weightlessly thrown around and I swear I just saw bolts of lightning zapping toward the beast’s flank.

The knights charged fearlessly eager to land a single hit as the blue bird thrashed trying to free itself. Seeing them wield such powers reminded me of the cultists we fought earlier and I immediately figured out what was going on.

The church’s best warriors were gathered here trying to take down the legendary beast. Those were the more accurate example of adults who trained their Beast Souls for fighting purposes. 

The ones we fought before were most likely nothing but low ranked servants who weren’t trained for combat. No wonder we were able to defeat them.

As I watched the knights continue their brave, or should I say reckless attack I realized that our situation didn’t change much and that we still needed to make our escape. 

Whatever side ends up winning here once the fighting ends our chances of survival would be drained. If we’re going to get out of here safely now would be the perfect time. Still, I couldn’t see how we’d pull it off.

The map says that the only way out of this snow field is the one we came from. Turns out we were on a cliff on the mountain side and one look above told me we weren’t that far from the peak. 

As I began to think that fighting the black cloaks was our only option I spotted something buried in the snow ten meters from where we were. A wild idea appeared in my mind and I looked over at Rollo.

“Wait here.” I said.

Before he could reply I ran out from behind the boulder. 

[SKILL: Quick Step]

I cut the short distance in two steps and immediately grabbed what I came out here for. 

It was one of the giant shields the knights used to defend against the beast’s attack. The one this thing belonged to was lying down with a blanket of snow over him so I thought it was fine for me to borrow it.

The shield was quite heavy, as expected from something of its size. Rushing back was horrifying with the violent quacks and explosions behind me but in the end I made it back safely.

“You sick bastard” Rollo said with a nervous grin. “What did you do that for?”

“We’re getting out of here.” I said.

I reached out and grabbed the rope he had tied to the side of his bag. I quickly tied it to the shield’s handle and in less than a minute my makeshift slider was done.

“Don’t tell me…”

“You want to fight the cloaks?”

Staring firmly into his eyes I made it clear that this was our best shot. It didn’t take him long to grin at me again.

“I’ve never tried it from this height, but…” He said. “Give me the reigns, I will make sure we won’t just die.”

Surprised by his reaction I couldn’t help but smile. I thought he’d be bawling his eyes begging for me to think of something else. I completely forgot that this guy was reckless enough to go out hiking when a crazy cult was lurking around.

“You take the shield.” I said passing him the giant chunk of metal. “I’ll cover for you until we reach the edge.”

I doubt it’ll be as easy as they make it look in movies but even if that was the case it still has better chances of success than the other option.

With such a loud battle taking place at this height an avalanche must’ve already happened meaning even if we jump off the cliff we might still make it out alive as long as we land somewhere where the snow is thick enough.

“Alright…” making a final check I jumped out and motioned for Rollo. “Move!”

With the shield on his back Rollo began to run toward the edge of the cliff. I kept my eyes on the battle as I followed behind him doing my best to deal with the debris and stray shots that came in our direction. Several knights spotted us however they were too busy with the giant bird to do anything.

We made it to the edge in a matter of seconds. Rollo found a good spot with more snow than rocks and placed the slide down. 

“Drake!” He shouted.

I glanced at the battle one last and it was indeed the last. On the map in the corner of my vision, the yellow dot that was there had at some point turned red.

“___________!!!”

The mountain once again shook from the beast’s cry however something about it felt different than before. The purple chains snapped one after the other and the knights backed away. Some were a second too late.

The bird’s gigantic form ignited with radiant azure flames that froze everything they touched. The knights closest to it turned into statues of ice as the fire engulfed them. 

“RETREAT!!!”

The commander roared another order as he dashed toward the beast. The crimson flames released from his broad sword spread to his arms then to his entire body. Kicking the ground he jumped several meters in the air preparing to swing his weapon, nevertheless it was far too late.

“Huh?” 

Rollo turned to me with a blank expression as he realized that I had shoved him off the cliff. I had to act quickly before it reached us.

The giant bird spread its wings and took off into the sky. The motion released a wave of blue flames that spread in all directions and would’ve reached us in less then a second. 

I instantly made the decision to push Rollo. The two quests listed him as a clearing condition so I had to keep him safe at all costs. 

[SYSTEM ALERT]

Me on the other hand… 

As I watched the red haired kid fall I cursed every decision I’ve made so far. If I had left him in his cell I might have had a better chance at escaping this mess. It’s because of this idiot that I’m having to go through all of this now.

[YOU’VE SUSTAINED DAMAGE BEYOND YOUR CURRENT CAPABILITIES]

As the blue flames engulfed me, I closed my eyes and hoped that all of this would turn out to be nothing but a weird dream.

[DUE TO THE LACK OF RESISTANCE YOUR BODY HAS BEEN DESTROYED BEYOND REPAIR]

[TIME LEFT UNTIL IRREVERSIBLE DEATH: 

00 : 10 : 00]