Chapter 47 An attack from behind

"I still have a score to settle with these guys, so I can't let them die here." I said to the living armor as it turned its head to look at me. Without turning around its slashed at me with its left arm, but as I try to back away our legs gave out so the claw missed. I fall onto the ground and it kicked me away while it turned its body. It then tried stab me again but I roll out of the way.

'This monster's relentless. It just keeps attacking and doesn't let up at all. I regret jumping in without a plan. If only Blood Stalk was conscious this would be so much easier.' I think while getting back up. The armored monster's attention was fully on me now so

"Hey Blood Stalk, now would be a great time to wake up." I said while nocking on the helmet with our right arm. A few drips of blood fall out of the helmet as we moved backwards away from the armored monster. As I moved back I stepped on the body of a big ant. Its blood splatted onto our left foot. When I lifted our leg out of it a bunch of those ant monsters then turned to me and started to approach

I took out the gun on my side and I could see two screans on the left. One that had an image of a gun firing a normal bullet, while the other had a smoke cloud around it. I click the first screan and aimed at the ants approaching me. However, since I was unable to see out of the right side, it was so much harder to aim with only one bad eye. I fired at a pile of them but missed repeatedly. They jump and clamp into our right arm with their pincers causing me to drop the gun.

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"Azure! The knight's getting attacked. Get that idiot away from the Killer Ants and that War Shadow before he gets killed." Alcazar yelled while kicking another ant away. The ants continue to fail along the ground.

"Hold on. There are two many ants. I can't get close." Azure said while stabbing two ants in the head at the same time, only to see ten more drop from the ceiling.

"Strixs, get a hold of yourself and back up the knight until I get there." Alcazar said while trying to get closer to the War Shadow but kept getting attacked by the ants, blocking their path.

"Right." Strix said while getting up. He ran at the armored monster and tackled it in the back of the leg. The monster trips and falls onto its face causing its face to crack from the impact. Before Strixs cold capitalize on the downed monster an ant fell onto his back.

I smash the the ants on my right arm into the wall repeatedly until it let go. The armored monster rose up and slashed its blade like hands across our chest plate causing an eruption of sparks. I roll onto the ground next to the gun and scramble to pick it back up.

"If you gona stay then at least try to fight back. Put your legs into it." Strixs said while punching an ant on his shoulders. He then jumped onto the War Shadow's back. The monster didn't seem to care and continued to attack me. The small man took out his dagger around his waist and was ready to stab the monster in the neck. However, the monster suddenly started shaking trying to get his off its back.

"Give me a break, I haven't used any other body parts besides my right arm in days." I yelled at the kid while trying to doge another slash. All three of them looked at me like I was completely mental. I mean, it does sound weird when they have seen us move around earlier and you don't have context of the past few days. 

"What ever. Can't you do that cool staff thing like before, or those magic fire sticks." Strixs said while trying to stab the War Shadow again, but soon lost his grip and fell onto the floor. afainting a punch before going for a kick. It lands on the monsters ankle causing it to lose its footing again.

I try and reach behind our back but nothing happens. I try again and again but nothing changed. "I don't know how to get those out." I said while realizing I don't know how to take out those bottles or weapons.

"What do you mean you don't know how?" Strixs said completely thrown off by my statement while punching the War Shadows face as it tried to regain its balance. 

"It complicated okay." I said since I never had to really try and didn't realize I couldn't do it until right this second. "Gods, your useless." Strixs said as the monster regained focus and swiped at the small mans head.

I try and aim the gun which was extremely difficult and shoot a normal bullet at the armored monster, going for the head but missing. I continued to fire until I hit it in the elbow, the steam shot going through the other side which caused its left arm to bend in an unnatural way. Nearly tearing the hole appendage off.

"How that for useless." I said after landing a direct hit on the armored monster. The armored monster didn't seem to care as its arm started to bend back into place and regenerated as if it never took damage in the first place."Very."Strixs said with a smug attitude before being replaced with fear when the monster slashed at him again. It continued to chase after the small man as if it completely forgot about my existence.

'The monster didn't seem to run out of stamina no mater what we did which made it incredibly hard to predict its next attack, but it seems to only focus on what's in front of it at any given time. Which means that if I could somehow use this to my advantage, I could stop it and get the upper hand.' As I finished my thought the monster kicked Strixs into a horde of ants that swarmed over the small man. The War Shadow then looked around until it laid eyes on me again, running like it wasn't stabbed at all.

I look over at the other two men still fighting threw the horde of ants Strixs was not making any meaningful progress. The hole in the ceiling did start to close but it was much slower than the one we fell down before.

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As I was distracted with my thoughts, the monsters claw scraped against our body again moving us further away from the others. Pining me against the wall, moved its other hand up to our face to stab us straight threw our head. Right when its blade was a when our left hand then suddenly grabbed one of its claws and broke off a blade and stabbed it into the War Shadows right eye. Our left leg then kicked the blade further into its skull.

"Perfect timing." I said figuring out what happened. Blood Stalk woke up and intently attacked the monster. "You feeling good after that nap?" I said as a joke and to see if they are feeling better.

"No... worse." Blood Stalk said back while taking our and gripping the steam blade tight. They always say the opposite of what I expect them to say. The armored monster regained it balance once again and charged at us without removing the blade in eye, like it didn't feel any pain at all.

The armored monster didn't go back and kept up the assault, never stopping in its assault as it grabbed and threw two giant ants at us like projectiles. Blood Stalk turned the valve, causing it to announce "Elek Steam!". They pulled the trigger and an electric bolt like construct caught one of the ants. I shoot at the other ant at the same time causing them to lose their momentum.

Once again, the War Shadow ran towards us with a reckless abandon for its own well being and we side under it causing the monster to trip over itself. Blood Stalk then rolled onto the back took the steam blade and tried to stab it in the spine, but they used their arm to block it and we instead stabbed it into the monsters right elbow. The armored monster tried to bend its arms back to grab us but I shoot it's back making us move away. As we pulled back, the blade and tore the hole arm off its body causing more blood to splash along the wall.

Azure threw a knife into the back of the War Shadows head and it turned to 

The armored monster fell onto its back and landed on the floor with a metallic clang sound, its body looking like a shadow connected to us. We stand over it and I look at all the damage done to its now dead body. its left side covered in bullet holes while its right arm was torn off completely. Its blade like hands twisted into uneven shapes. The most disturbing mark was the broken index finger blade imbedded in its right eye socket, oozing blood out onto its remaining eyeball absorbing some of the red liquid back into itself. 

We turned and look at the three other people finishing the last ant off. They breathed a sigh of relief before turning to us and each other wondering what to do now.

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"So, do we have to fight each other again." I said breaking the silence while looking at the long ear man. He looked to be the most ready to fight us again while the other two were out of breath. 

"Yes..." Blood Stalk said while getting the steam blade out. They seem really upset that they got their kill taken away. That or because they see these people as enemies.

"Alright. Bring it on jerk. We can do this all day." The long ear man said with a tired but faking energetic.

"I mean---No, I'd rather not. But since we have to get you out of the Dungeon we don't really have a choice in this matter." Azure said looking extremely tired from fighting the hoard of ants as he sat down dripping in sweat.

"We just fought a horde dude. At least give as a break." Strixs said while lying flat on the ground exhausted and panting like a dog.

"You guys are light weights. This is why we are always looked down on. He's already bleeding and you guys want to quit because your tired. Well I'm not quitting. Not until we get out of this dungeon with ." Alcazar said with frustration and determination.

I touch the right side of our helmet and hear a fleshy sound. I pull the hand back quickly in fear, I see fresh blood dripping from our right hand and my imagination runs wild with how hurt Blood Stalk really is and hesitate on I think about the possibility that my brother is down here, possibly hurt or worse. Thinking that if I don't go down and find him now it could be to late. Then, I think about how I am not just responsible for my live but also the person who I am with as well. I don't know which is right or wrong. I want to be selfish and chose both, but I can't, I can't.

"I think, we need to stop." I said not wanting to risk the lives of anyone besides me now. As much as I want to go down there as fast as possible to reunite with Alex, I also can't bring myself to put Blood Stalks life at risk along side mine. Also it would be pointless if we continued now that were hurt and end up dyeing while trying to find him in this maze of a cave. I don't even know how far down this place goes or what floor he's even on. Maybe I'm just making excuses but this is the call I want to make.

Blood Stalk seemed confused by what I said while staying in the same stance. I guess they want to fight these guys and keep going to kill monsters, or maybe they have another reason. I'm not sure what they are thinking about or what they will do either way. I just hope they don't get hurt anymore.

"Ok..." They said after much hesitation, sounding very depressed. I feel a little bad about

"Heh, giving up now, smart choice. I was just about to.- " Alcazar was about to continue until he got interrupted. "Don't antagonize them when they are being cooperative." Azure said while throwing a pebble at the back of Alcazars head.

"Sure, fine, whatever gets us out of this place alive. Oh, we can also get paid a lot with this many monster crystals. " Strixs said while slowly getting up while looking at a crystal sticking our of a monster. I see tones of black smoke leaving all the bodies, seeping into the walls and floor. I reach out and the smoke starts to enter our body like last time but a bit faster than before.

"That's actually a good idea Strixs. We should get a small pay day with all of these stones." Alcazar said while rubbing his hands together. I could practically see dollar singes jumping out of his eyes.

"What do your doing?" Alcazar said looking at us grabbing a stone. "Getting those stones." I said pointing to the pile of ant corpse.

"Well take care of gathering the stones. You can sit tight over there until were done." He said annoyed but with a little concern on his face which confused me. I don't know if that's concern look was meant for us or for his brothers.

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As they were collecting the stones from the many monster corpses the smallest member came up to us. "Hey, thanks for helping us even though we kidnaped you." Strixs said with a bit of a ashamed look. 

I looked at him with surprise. "Oh, no problem." I said not really expecting a thank you from any of them. I did do it for any gratitude either.

"Oh right, I almost forgot. Here, I picked this up after you were beaten unconscious." Strixs said as they reached into their pocket and brought out the broken pieces of our helmet. Specifically the snake visor and the helmet part's that fell of when we fought against Allen. "Thank you." I said while grabbing the pieces.

Strixs nodded and went back to work with the others. He seemed rather happy, skipping back to his companions. Blood Stalk then grabbed a piece out of our right hand and placed it back where it originally was like a jig saw puzzle. I could hear a slight sizzling sound as our armor started to repair itself like it did in the first cave. "Hey, how come you don't want to talk to them." I asked Blood Stalk. They didn't speak for a few moments. "Are you shy with people?" I said as a half joke but they seemed to react so it could be the truth.

After they finished collected all of stones from the ants, the pointy ear man took lead while the other two stayed behind us so we couldn't run away. Felt like I was a wanted criminal or a celerity star. "You guys don't trust other that much hun." I said while looking over at the two behind me. The small one wanted to talk but the scar faced man stopped them eminently. "By the way, where's that spear guy. What was his name. Allen." I said noticing that he's missing as we walked upwards, trying to break the silence.

"Fell in a hole and died hopefully. That prick-" Alcazar said before getting another pebble thrown into his shoulder by Azure, getting him to shut up. The scar faced man doesn't seem key to talking unnecessarily.

"You really hate him don't you?" I said thinking about how this guy is really easy to anger with barley any words.

"Oh, you have no idea. That werewolf's been nothing but a pain ever since we joined the familia. Always mocking us, dumping chores on us, every chance he got to put us down he took and I know he loves messing with us." Alcazar continued to complain about Allen while Azure gave up on having a quiet walk back.

"I mean, brothers are like that. We always want to dump our chores on one another at any opportunity." I said not really understanding why they would hate each other enough.

"Were not blood related. He and the other members are the most insane, sadistic people I have ever met. All they ever do is beat us up, heal us, then beat us up again. Over and over, all day and all night. The only break is when we have an assignment or- " Alcazar continued to ramble on and on about his grievances without any wasted breath.

"hmm, wait members? I thought you guys were part of a family." I said confused about what he meant by that. Were they, in a cult? 

"Technically. We are more of a found family on paper, but every body hates everybody else. If our Goddess Freya wasn't there then all of us would have been seen together." Strixs said 

"That sounds toxic." I said while wondering how you would willingly join a family where you hate everybody in it.

"That's life for you. Complicated and dumb, all at once." Azure said relenting to the unending conversation.

"Why don't you just leave then?" I said thinking about how I would try to leave that kind of place.

"And go where, the slums and starve to death? No thank you." Strix said in a half jokey manner while Alcazar had a uncomfortable expression on his face.

"Besides, no one just leaves a familia without any trouble. Most of the time when you leave its because your useless which means you are easily taking advantage of, or so I'm tolled at least." Azure said getting back on topic.

"I see." I said getting the feeling they didn't want to talk about this stuff anymore as we continued the rest of the walk in uncomfortable silence again as we walked to the surface.

 A darken silhouette followed close behind us.