NOVEL WEB Chapter 8: The Dark Crevice
Two hours later, the Incarnate had crossed a decent stretch of the large rock, which was larger than he had thought initially.
It went on and on, growing wider and wider until he couldn't see where it ended on both sides. This was actually pleasing since he didn't have to look at the skeletons anymore. Though perhaps more pity on them could have earned him another boon.
Also, different from what Incarnate ^8001 initially anticipated, the rock wasn't and didn't have anything special. His wariness and suspense at the start of his journey were rewarded by the same disappointing nothingness that followed when he had been wandering the beautiful remnants of civilization behind the Omen and glorified grave.
Things only began to change now when the rock showed signs of sloping relaxedly into what looked like a crevice. It was somewhat wide. The Incarnate judged that three of him could walk through at once shoulder to shoulder.
The crevice continued on into the horizon, straight and true. Incarnate ^8001 hesitated. The sensible bit of him told him to just continue on around the crevice, but another bit reminded him that avoiding the most queer of circumstances in this place was out of the question. This had been true with the Fifth Omen of the Amalgam Sand Fiend, hadn’t it?
The Incarnate looked down into the crevice. It was dark, and the black beckoned him with all the ominous foreboding in the world. Indeed, this was definitely where he was supposed to go.
‘Hopefully, this isn’t my grave. Well, if it is, I imagine it’s classier than the one I just ran away from.’
And the Demonling dipped into the crevice with his shield propped up.
The descent into the crevice proved to be longer than he had thought. It was only after eighty meters of steady climbing and sliding that Incarnate ^8001’s feet touched the moist, cool, flat ground. The high walls on either side promised to keep him ensnared no matter how he would try to escape any danger ahead. The incarnate gulped.
'Well, here go.'
He hunched and walked forward. His steps had a wet, faint squelch that he didn't quite like. Wet moss grabbed the space between his toes. The ground grew wetter the farther the Incarnate went.
The sheer length of the stretch ahead tempted him to just hurry forward, but he got the feeling that that was a terrible choice, especially with the teasing light; the Incarnate hardly saw much ahead of him even as time passed.
'Just keep your composure, and make sure to look in every direction,' he told himself.
A few minutes passed.
The Incarnate almost grew weary of the constant fear of hundreds of archers suddenly appearing from either side of the crevice walls, and firing down hundreds of arrows down at him. This scary bit of imagination wasn't without cause.
Incarnate ^8001 had seen such an ambush tactic a few times and was lucky to have escaped each time. Well, some of that credit belonged to the little wisdom he had accumulated up to the age of fifty in his past life. Even a skilled soldier could be promoted to a hedgehog in seconds – the dead kind. The intuition of the old had its quirks.
Right when the Hollow Demonling had taken another step, following a quick, wary look above, he saw from the corner of his eye, an obscure figure mysteriously pop ahead of him.
His sight quickly shot forward and he raised the Valiant Subject's Ward.
What was that? A man?
Indeed, it was.
At least it looked like a man.
A solid ten meters ahead, a broad-shouldered figure a full head taller than the Hollow Demonling could be seen. He was dressed in the incarnation of rust itself – what had likely been a set of armor more extravagant than Maestus' – fitted with worn felt and rags around the waist and back.
He also wore a helmet, chipped unevenly at the visor, likely because the slightest contact would bite at its rusty integrity; it hid most of this figure's facial features.
Incarnate ^8001 shook lightly at the sight, but he turned a lot more frightful when he saw the gleam of a weapon in the figure’s hand.
Instinct suddenly made the Incarnate raise his shield and support it with his other hand before he even understood what he was doing. The reason became clear just a few moments later, when he heard three, chilling booms on the ground – racing feet – and felt a mighty force that smote hard at the Valiant Subject's Ward.
The Incarnate cried out and was sent flying, smashing against the left wall of the crevice violently. He then slid down, groaning.
“Argh!”
The Incarnate was stunned. His three hearts immediately began to beat wildly; his blood rushed.
What was that speed? That power?
He shook, discarding the bits of delirium. With great effort, he rolled and stood up…only to find his enemy flying towards him with a great, poison-green rusted mace raised to crush.
The Incarnate stifled his fright. Twenty years of fighting in wars at the front lines and surviving each time sparked his new body’s cells into action, and he made the hasty effort to leap back, narrowly avoiding the attack that came falling.
BOOOM!
The ground groaned in pain. A large crater was left in the wake of the rusted warrior’s mean attack, and he didn’t stop. He heaved his mace and rushed after Incarnate ^8001, catching up easily, and then swung it with the grace of a whip.
The Incarnate’s eyes were alert, and so was his sensitive skin. It itched in the presence of the enemy, especially their weapon and armor. Unfortunately, the Demonling couldn’t dodge the enemy’s attacks at this close range, thus he had long opted to block with the Valiant Subject’s Ward.
The shield barely made it in time, but the Incarnate still paid a price. He was flung to the right wall of the crevice, where his body crashed with so much force it got lodged in.
The enemy sped towards him.
‘Damn it all! He’s too fast and too strong!’
The Incarnate gritted his teeth as he desperately attempted to extricate himself from the wall. He didn’t make it in time.
The armored figure arrived before he could, and sent his fist into the Incarnate’s chest!
Never before had the Incarnate felt so much ferocity from a punch. He tasted blood instantly and heard a few of his bones breaking.
That wasn’t good.
That wasn’t good at all!
However, the Incarnate felt more alive with the pain, strangely enough.
Even when the enemy raised his mace, intent on exploring the contents of his head, the Incarnate didn’t feel his fear turn into terror. Instead, rage and fervour exploded from him.
He hadn’t felt like this since his first two years in the King’s army!
‘I’ve died once already. If I’m going to die again, I might as well die like a warrior, not like a common worm!’ he cried inwardly, and with a good, vicious pull, he dragged himself from the wall, and raised his shield just before a falling mace bashed his head in!
The heavy impact was present again.
The Incarnate’s body even dug a few centimeters into the ground as a result of it.
However…
VWOOOP!
The Valiant Subject’s Ward suddenly emitted a faint, silver glow, and the next thing the Incarnate knew, his enemy was blasted away into the air and then into the wall three meters high up!
The crash sounded sweet to the Incarnate, however shocked he was.
What had happened?
What was that just now?
But he then recalled…
His shield’s second Enchantment had activated!
All the armored figure’s lethal power and impact on the Valiant Subject’s Ward had been sent straight back at him!
“Ha…haha…” the Incarnate laughed awkwardly. He was still alive!
His hand was trembling, but he was still alive and had even managed to buy himself a breather, though it wouldn’t last long.
He still had to face the fearsome enemy again in a matter of moments.
What would he do?
Just then, the glowing tablet appeared in his sight.
[You have encountered your first mortal enemy ‘Tenyen, the Crusher’, and managed to survive a few of his blows – a noteworthy feat]
[If you are a warrior indeed, you will walk away from horror having learned much. To acquire a portion of the might of Tenyen – to acquire a skill from him – you will need to match him in the same respect the skill empowers]
[For beyond this point, hard work, determination and sincerity alone… may not be enough]