The Final Stand : 14
Shocked by his dire situation, Oric, with a calm mind, managed to keep himself together. He crawled, maintaining his back against the entrance, and confronted the horrific scene of berserk monsters driven by bloodlust.
As the frenzied horde approached Oric, he resisted the poison's effects and reached for his pouch. With determination, he pulled out two soul cores and soul shards from a hellhound and a blue-blazing wolf, quickly consuming them. For a fleeting moment, purple flames enveloped Oric, and he felt the excruciating pain of being burned alive. But his unyielding will to survive fueled his anger, which, in turn, granted him the strength to break through the paralyzing effects of the poison. With his bow and explosive arrows at the ready, he laid them out in front of him.
Oric grabbed four arrows and ignited them with his purple flames, pulling the deadly arrows onto the bowstring with all his might. With a shout, he released them into the rusted formation of the approaching horde, causing a deafening explosion.
But Oric didn't stop there. He took five more arrows and shot them simultaneously, their impact creating a cacophony. "I don't care who you are or what you want, but I will live, no matter the cost!" he bellowed, his war cry instilling fear in the monsters.
"I don't have enough arrows for all of them, so I'll have to be ready for one-on-many confrontations. Luckily, the spear-reinforced fence I set up forces them into one-on-one confrontations due to the length of the massive spears," Oric strategized.
Unbeknownst to Oric, he began hearing the footsteps of a giant monster, and soon its silhouette appeared behind the smaller creatures. An unknown dark entity, sporting orange horns that gleamed in the darkness and massive wings that caused gusts of wind when they moved, approached menacingly.
Oric's face paled, and he glanced at his pouch. "I wanted to save this until the last minute, but..." Hastily, he pulled out a container filled with a bit of liquified mana pond and consumed it entirely. Then, he took out his two spears, prepared to face his adversaries, and rose to his feet, his eyes full of determination.
"I'm not sure what you want, but if you want to take me, then I'm not going down without a fight!" Oric declared loudly. After his statement, all the monsters came to a sudden stop, and silence hung heavy in the air.
"..."
Unexpectedly, the colossal monster roared, causing Oric to stagger slightly, and this was followed by the other creatures, including hellhounds, blue-flamed wolves, forest fiends, and three-headed monsters, surging forth to attack.
Oric's heart raced as he stood his ground, with his bow aimed at the mines he had planted within the ground. He waited until the horde was finally within range. "Now!" he yelled, and then the ground erupted in a cacophony of BOOOOOOOOOOMs. Explosions of blue and purple flames enveloped the monsters, and their agonized cries filled the air. The poison in the flames hastened their deaths. In a split second, many had perished, but more kept coming.
Oric soon realized he was out of arrows, so he switched to his spears and began thrusting them at the oncoming monsters. Blood sprayed as the creatures fell to his deadly attacks. "How many times have I stabbed, stab, stab, stab? When will all of this end? My arms are aching. I need water. Why aren't they stopping their pursuit?" Oric found himself lost in contemplation as he continued to fend off the monsters one after another. Their lifeless bodies piled up like a hill, yet the relentless horde kept advancing.
Oric fought on, determined and resolute. In a fleeting moment, a single monster broke through one of the spears, creating a one-on-one confrontation. This allowed two more monsters to join the fray, and one grazed Oric's side. He cried out in pain but continued to fight, stabbing with both spears. Despite his agony, there was no one coming to his rescue.
"I mustn't yield to the pain or exhaustion; I have to keep going until they stop... right?" Oric was adrift in a sea of fatigue and suffering, but he remained resolute, determined to fulfill his promise.
He continued fighting without knowing what the outcome would be, only seeing the ground soaked in their blood, intermingling with his own. He felt like the prey struggling to fend off its predators, attempting to reverse the natural order of the food chain. Another fence spike broke, widening the gap and forcing him to face four more monsters simultaneously. It felt like nature was playing a cruel game with him. His weapons began to betray him, one spear broke, and he was left with only one. Despite the growing damage to his body and the unbearable pain, he pressed on.
Oric was plagued by a recurring question: "Can I die now, Grandpa and Grandma? Have I suffered enough? When will this end? Argh! Can I please just die this once?" However, no answer came to him.
Oric persevered, standing atop a pile of dead monster bodies, a gruesome testament to his determination. He was a wreck, but he continued his relentless battle. Unbeknownst to him, a monster swiftly dug its claws into Oric's abdomen during a struggle. In the process, he lost his eyesight but managed to kill the monster, breaking his last weapon in the process.
The horde of monsters paused, waiting for their commander's orders, while Oric found himself lost in a transformation, his old personality devoured by a new one. His claws elongated, and he resembled more of a savage beast than a human.
The massive monster roared, and Oric replied with a roar of his own. He went on a savage killing spree, rushing toward the colossal creature, realizing that despite his loss of eyesight, he could sense and feel everything around him more acutely than before.
Oric continued to claw and slash at the monster. He lost his left arm and then his right leg but pressed on, reaching the huge monster that attempted to fight back. Oric, small and swift, outmaneuvered the giant. The huge creature suddenly clutched him, bringing him close to its menacing face, preparing to devour him. Oric, in that dire moment, summoned his purple flames, and as the monster roared, he released all his mana cores and soul cores from his pouch into the creature's gaping maw. The result was a monumental explosion, obliterating the enormous monster in a deafening BOOM!
The nexie watched this awe-inspiring feat in shock, realizing that Oric was the true monster in this scenario, not the creatures he had just vanquished.
End of chapter 14