The distance between Lucas and Roan was quite near but the monster's claws and tail were already near Roan's neck.
That eerie broken smile that hung over that gorilla's face chilled Lucas's heart.
For a moment, Lucas's golden eyes and those creepy dark eyes of the monster stared at one another without making a concession.
Lucas's mind processes various scenarios. His eyes locked on Roan whose body turned limp with a pale expression hanging on his face.
Eventually, a sigh escaped from Lucas's lips. Deciding his next course of action, as if given up on the situation and feeling no way out, Lucas threw up his sword into the sky.
The blade of the sword soaring in the sky spun in the air around the axis. With no armament in hand, Lucas raised his hand to surrender.
The gorilla monster squealed in happiness. While wondering how to use this opportunity and sabotage the hostage, its eyes glistened as it saw the sword falling.
CLANG!
The sword bounced off and shot into the sky after hitting the ground. Startled, the gorilla diverted its attention upward and as he looked down, his eyes popped out of the socket.
As he was contemplating things looking over the sword, he failed to notice Lucas's disappearance before his eyes. By the time, it realised the situation, something hit the back of its head.
BAAM!
The gorilla jolted forward and crashed onto the ground due to being hit by a sudden force.
Behind it, Lucas stood pointing his gun at the gorilla and fired a few more shots.
"Roan!"
Lucas's voice regained its calmness but Roan still seemed to be immersed in his trauma.
"I...please...I am...sorry."
Lucas saw Roan sobbing on the floor with a gloomy gaze and then said to Roan in a low voice.
"Roan...it's okay."
"I was wrong. Don't kill me."
"Roannnnnn!"
Frustrated, Lucas shouted to end Roan's scuffle, making him finally come back to his senses. Even so, his fearful eyes were still intact as he looked around blankly.
Roan expression mortified looking around.
Dropping his head, he murmured in a low voice while clenching his fist.
"Sorry Lucas, I am useless."
"I am just a burden."
"A useless pathetic piece of shit."
Lucas sighed seeing Roan looking down on himself.
"Roan, everyone has a different level of expertise. You are a supporter, not a melee. It's my fault for not keeping an eye on you. Moreover, you are still inexperienced."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"If you feel you are lacking, you can practise melee combat so that you will not be helpless like today."
"It's worthless," Roan murmured with a saddened expression.
"Even if our effort is not rewarded, no effort is worthless. It might be hard to believe when it comes from the one who stood at the peak but it's the truth. When I entered the academy, I was so lean and thin that people even nicknamed me a zombie and even made fun of me but am I not doing well here?"
Lucas knew how difficult it is to advance without support. Without the future knowledge and system to boost his confidence, he might have gone insane in fear or might have committed suicide unable to take in the pressure.
But despite this, there is one thing he was proud of.
He had never stopped.
He always attempted to walk forward no matter how difficult his path was. Obviously, he was frustrated and annoyed by the bad luck but he can't waste his time crying and blaming.
Instead of blaming the things you can't do, you should work to sort out things you can achieve.
Roan raised his head and saw unwavering confidence in Lucas's eyes. His heart stirred.
Roan knew he could do well. He just needs a bit of courage to get over the bad memories.
"I will try."
"Once I return I will practise close combat," Roan answered.
"Just remember this feeling. Never again let yourself go through this, so harden your heart."
Swish!Swish!Swish!
The rustling sound echoed once again.
"It seems they are here."Roan's expression hardened.
"Roan, I am not used to team play but it seems I need to learn team play. Let's act well."Lucas winked and walked forward to collect his sword.
Lucas felt much easier and more relaxed than in the first fight.
Catching his breath, he glared at the monkey who was glaring at him.
"What are you looking at shithead?"
The gorilla monsters immediately growled, showing their hostility.
Enraged, Lucas, kicked the ground. A couple of monsters rushed forward at him.
Swish!
BOOM!
Projectiles of light green colour hit them diverting their attention. Lucas thanked Roan for his quick support and diving in slashed the monster.
Seeing this, the other tried to kill him quickly and an ensuing dance of blood embroidered the empty forest.
With each step, one life met another and corpses increased by one.
Pieces of meat, bones and blood splattered in the air, dyeing the ground in red.
Of course, Lucas's body was not well. Cuts were all over his body. His arms were still moving but the numbing pain coursing through his arm blinded his vision momentarily.
His head was dizzy, exhausted from moving around and his back muscles unable to hold his spine properly, wobbled down slightly.
At that moment, a monster sneaked in. Lucas felt his reflex slowing down. Fighting too many once without any protection taxed him greatly as his senses received and processed various information at once making him mentally exhausted.
Due to Lucas's late reaction, a deep gash was torn open over his back.
"Ahhhh!"
Lucas jumped and rolled on the ground groaning heavily. The monster tried to draw near Lucas but it was shot in the head by Roan who quickly ran towards Lucas.
"Lucas, the last one is dead. Let's leave quickly. More may attack us if we stay here. I will inspect the corpses later."
Lucas nodded and as soon as he got up with Roan's support, his phone rang.
Walking out, he opened Parth's message to visit a dining inn.
....
CREAK!
Entering the inn, the first thing Lucas saw was Parth flirting with the waitress while Frederick seemed to be massaging his head feeling a headache.
"Ohh! Lucas, are you here?"
"What's up with that rotten look? Did you get your ass beaten?"Parth mocked.
Lucas strolling ahead first greeted the waitress who took leave with the order and then stared at Parth furiously.
"It's because when I and Roan were fighting for our life, a gentleman was chasing after skirts."Lucas squeezed out a venomous smile.
"What?"Both Parth and Frederick exclaimed in shock at the same time as Lucas gave a brief.
"Monsters...how?"
"We encountered the same monsters you saw in the kidnapper's place," Roan muttered.
Sitting down, Lucas chugged down a glass of water and felt life returning to his body once again.
"What did you two encounter?"Roan asked.
"We went inside the Church with the excuse of praying. The Church's condition is not good. The prayer hall is dilapidated and the Goddess Rebecca statue has not been cleaned. It looked as if it would break with a touch."Frederick explained solemnly.
"After that, Parth sneaked in while I decided to take a look in the PSB office."
"Did you find anything amiss?"Lucas muttered gazing at Frederick's odd expression.
"It's a mess. I wish you could be there. Only three bald fatties were lazing around. The reason I went there is because they had not come to the crime scene even after we reported."
"Those fuckers.."Parth tightened his grip.
Lucas swept a glance at everyone changing expressions and muttered, "After I return, I should whisper some praises about PSB into Princess years."
"Will she listen? This is too small of an issue to disturb her"Roan asked.
"No!"
In fact, she would personally gift him if he raised this issue. She had three brothers. While the two are busy playing politics, The Third Prince is busy playing around so most of the tasks fall into Julian's hands.
She would not miss this opportunity to suppress PSB.
"By the way..."
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmParth tapped on the table.
Hearing his profound voice, an eeriness crept around them suddenly.
"The Church is hiding something."
"What is it?"Frederick raised his brows.
"Blood and dead bodies."
Parth pointing at his nose spoke, "This nose of mine picked up the smell of dried blood that of corpses."
The moment Parth words fell, a deathly silence lingered for a moment.
"Parth, are you sure about it? This is not a joke?"Lucas stuttered in his voice.
Church and religion, nothing good comes out when you are engaged with them. If Parth words were spread around, this may be taken as a case of blasphemy.
Touching Church even with evidence may lead to death. As the Church is an independent organization, if you have any grievance against them or proof of their evilness, you need to address this at a higher stage and get permission.
If they raid and this news is leaked out. Even if one can get out, one is going to be condemned.
Lucas knew the ins and outs that were happening in the Church. He can turn around the situation with sufficient backing but this depends on the fact they can find evidence.
"Let's think about this. We need to be sure about this. If we enter there carelessly and find nothing, this is going to be bad."Frederick muttered.
Parth wanted to refute but for the very first time, he did not fight back.
"I see. I will first give a brief overview after which we will search around for any clues. However, let me warn you. The people who wear white clothes are the vilest breed of human."Parth snorted.
"Your Food."
The waitress came with four bowls of thick frothy spice-flavoured soup with garlic bread.
Lucas whose tummy was already aching for food pounced on it hungrily.
"Thank you, Senorita!"Parth winked and the waitress left, giving a bashful smile.
Parth scooped meat with some soup and took a nibble.
However...
As soon as he chewed, his eyes widened with horror and disbelief making him scream"Don't eat it. This is a hum..."
Parth swallowed his words, feeling an ominousness bursting out from the front making his whole body shiver for a moment.
Frederick and Roan's bodies also froze, feeling a chilling sensation.
At that time, Frederick's heart chilled, feeling an immense killing intent.
As Frederick raised his head, he saw Lucas's hand that held the spoon was trembling.
Over the spoon, swimming over the pool of liquid was an eyeball.
What was more disgusting than that was...
"It's a human eyeball."
The moment Parth squeezed out his words with a horrified face, the spoon in Lucas's head snapped and the eyeball fell on the floor and bounced off.
An uncomfortable silence lingered as the wind blew, carrying a deathly chill.