Faraam moved toward the Scythewretch in front of him.
He raised his sword, blocking a scythe that aimed at his shoulder. Faraam quickly regained his balance and lunged toward the Scythewretch.
Standing in front of it, he raised his sword, but just as he was about to cut the abomination, he dodged left, letting another scythe pass where he was that cut deep inside the Scythewretch.
Regaining his footing, he shifted his waist to the left and slashed to the right, beheading the Scythewretch.
[You have slain an Awakened monster, Scythewretch.]
But he didn't stop. With one of the other Scythewretch limbs still inside the dead one and his sword still up, he cut downward, severing its limbs.
He then quickly jumped at it, not giving it time to retreat, and stabbed his sword into its chest, cutting upward into two vertical halves.
[You have slain an Awakened monster, Scythewretch.]
Faraam glanced at its dead body and sighed, "Still not a single memory..."
He has killed more than twenty of them in the past two weeks, yet he still didn't get a single memory.
"If I could just get the memories and echoes of those I devour." He muttered.
Just the amount of memories that Caelia had made his eyes burn with greed.
How could he not? She had transcendent armor, weapons, and echoes too!
Sighing, Faraam took the two bodies and went back to his hill.
Their bones and soul shards were thrown around.
He threw the two bodies, intending to eat them later. He sat down near where he lit the fire and looked to the east.
He had been stuck here for around three days. The end of the crimson forest was near, and the path to the exit was blocked by... a demon.
An Awakened Demon, just like the other Scythewretches, but as large as a house.
Faraam tried to search for another route; unfortunately, there wasn't any.
The confrontation against the Scythe Demon seems to be unavoidable.
"My luck..." he muttered.
Well, it was indeed his luck or his curse that was trying to kill him every time.
Killing one or two Awakened monsters was doable, but a demon? As only a sleeper? Faraam didn't have that confidence in himself to pull off such a feat.
Well, it didn't matter if he had the confidence or not. Since it is just a matter of time for him to fight that demon.
Faraam summoned his sword and summoned its runes.
Memory: [Sword of Despair].
Memory Rank: Awakened.
Memory Type: Weapon.
Memory Description: [The lord gripped his sword in a moment of despair and prayed to the goddess for help, but nothing came of it, and his anguish was engraved on the sword before he passed away.]
After some experiments on himself in the academy, Faraam discovered its enchantment.
When someone or something was attacked by the Sword of Despair, they feel the despair the lord felt, damaging their mind and maybe even breaking it.
Simply, it's a mind attack. This enchantment might be useful against humans, but nightmare creatures? It is utterly useless.
Lying down, Faraam looked at the demon location.
Tomorrow will be the day he fights him. He killed every other monster around, making sure no one could interrupt them or help the demon.
Faraam lit the fire before the fake sun—that's what he called it—and cooked the two abominations.
***
In an open area surrounded by crimson coral blades, making it look like an arena. A creature as large as a house, with eight legs and a lower body like that of a horse, Faraam read in ancient books. Its upper body resembled that of a human, and unlike the monsters, its flesh wasn't moving. No, it was as sturdy as steel. From its shoulders four long limbs hung, ending with a scythe, and its face was like a withering flower.
"Damn, it's ugly as hell." Faraam chuckled.
With a smile on his face, he walked confidently toward it, or at least he tried to. He still didn't have the confidence to kill it... but why hesitate now?
Hesitation is defeat!
No, in this moment. Hesitation is death!
And so he walked with no pressure on his shoulders.
Death was closer than ever! But it was always close. From his birth till this moment, it was the only friend Faraam knew, a bad friend, that is.
The Awakened demon noticed him and stood on its eight legs.
He raised his sword and took a breath.
The Scythe demon ran toward him, each step shaking the earth beneath it.
Then it jumped. It jumped so high that Faraam needed to look up.
Cursing beneath his breath, he jumped back before the demon crushed him.
Boom!
The black earth exploded, and stones flew toward him.
He dodged what he could and blocked what he couldn't.
The demon shadow loomed above him, but he didn't flutter.
With its two long left arms, the demon attacked. One came from above, the other from the right.
Faraam moved to the left, dodging the one from above; he then met the one from the right, blocking it with his sword.
'What!' The attack was so strong that it took all of his strength to stop it!
'What is this absurd strength!'
Gritting his teeth, Faraam knew he had misjudged its strength.
But he didn't have time to think, as the two other arms came at him.
This time they all came from the same direction.
'I need to dodge, or I will be cut in half!'
He jumped back, letting the two scythes pass him by an inch.
Seeing the opening, he lunged toward it.
Two scythes came from different directions, aiming to decapitate him, but he ducked down, letting the two cut some of his hair.
He then put his sword on the side of his left arm, parrying another scythe, and then moved his body to the left, dodging another one.
With the momentum, he shifted his waist a little and slashed upward to the right arm.
The sword unfortunately didn't fully cut the arm, but Faraam already predicted that.
Taking his sword out, he looked up as he reached the demon body.
The demon raised its lower body, trying to crush Faraam, but he quickly moved left, dodging, and then stabbed his sword deep into its left side.
He ran alongside its body, cutting open its left side and letting organs fall.
Black, oozing blood spilled down, with a stench even worse than the slums.
Faraam jumped back, retreating as the demon jumped around hysterically.
He was so focused that he didn't notice the small injuries on his body.
The demon ran toward him, attacking him with its scythe-arms.
Faraam dodged, blocked, parried, and even counterattacked when it was possible.
But other than the first strike, the others did little to no damage, and time was passing, and he was getting tired.
Even though Faraam has quite the confidence in his stamina, this was too much.
Unlike fighting against humans, nightmare creatures were far worse.
There was just too much to focus on.
'I need to find a solution, and fast.'
He then lunged toward the demon again.
The demon... didn't attack, and Faraam was too late to notice its trap.
The four arms attacked simultaneously. Two from above intending to cut his head, and two from below to cut his legs.
Faraam didn't have the chance to retreat as he was already close to the Scythe demon, and he couldn't stop his momentum.
In a desperate situation... Faraam moved on instinct. Like an expert dancer, he jumped, doing a side slip, making all scythes pass him.
Gripping his sword in a reverse grip, he struck down at the Scythe demon's arm, severing it, and reached the one below it, cutting it too.
'How on earth did I do that?!'
But before even he thought about this, an arm struck him in the chest, sending him flying at one of the coral blades in the distance.
Faraam coughed blood; he looked at his broken left arm.
'I think I broke some ribs too.'
Faraam chuckled and glanced at the demon, who was ready to crush him beneath its feet.
'This might be really bad.'
He stood up and raised his weapon with his right hand.
'Fighting it like this will only kill me...' He laughed and spoke to the demon, "So why don't we gamble a little?"
As the demon ran toward him, Faraam looked back at the coral blade and started climbing it.
Reaching the top, he jumped at the demon as it reached him.
The demon attacked with its two remaining arms, one at Faraam's head and the other at his stomach.
Faraam parried the one attacking his head and shifted his waist, letting the scythe cut part of his stomach but not fully.
He then raised his sword and aimed it at the center of its withering flower head and plunged deep inside.
The demon started moving hysterically, trying to get him off, but Faraam didn't waver and thrust his sword deep into its head.
Finally the demon stopped moving and fell down on its side, and the Spell announced its death.
[You have slain an Awakened demon, Scythe demon.]
[You have received a Memory: Nightfall Armor.]
Faraam clutched the wound in his stomach and fell down.
He walked toward the dead demon and rested his back on it.
He glanced at his wounds... Stomach open, bones broken, limb flying through the air.
Faraam nodded his head. It could have been a lot worse, even though he might die from the blood loss.
He laughed and elbowed the dead demon, "At least I won't be naked again, right?"
His laughter echoed for a while...
"Fuck this world."
***
Author Note:
Longest fight I've ever written in my life. 800 words... damn.
Leave a review on this fanfic and chapter and some power stones so more people can read it.
And see you again tomorrow.