5. Blight Bearer

So, basically, this place is weird, but not the way one would expect.

The tunnel leads down in a very specific direction. There are no side rooms or branching paths. Any minerals along the way have been left untouched unless they were in the way.

This place felt less like a cave once worked by miners, and more like the insides of a gigantic snake.

I met a few zombies in my path. They were weak and judging by their reaction, did not seem to be aware of my presence. I crouched down and disappeared in the blue mist.

One by one, I sneaked behind these monsters, and gagging them with my pickaxe, brought each into the mist for silent execution. It sounds complicated in theory, but the monsters were both blind and deaf to my presence. They were also rather squishy, falling dead to a single blow to their head.

While fighting them, I gained knowledge of their name, level, and maximum health points.

[ Weak Zombie (Lv. 1) ]

[ HP: 8/8 ]

It was clear that the miners died while doing their work. It would explain their still-intact clothes and the pickaxe hanging from the side of a few. However, something still bothered me.

Observing their corpses, I could not find a single one with a bite mark, a scratch mark, or anything. Their clothes were torn only by the glowing crystals poking out the wall. This proved that their death was not a violent one, but then... How did they die?

Further down the path, I began to cough. The strange blue mist was getting thicker and thicker. I tore a piece out of my shirt and tied it around my nose. That seemed to have fixed it and I could breathe again, but only for a moment.

The fog was coming from somewhere. I could hear its source as it gushed out clouds of mist. And from what I could deduce, it was getting closer.

My coughing worsened. Tears swelled up in my eyes.

"What the fuck?" I croaked while covering my nose, "It smells like exhaust fume! But then would have recognized it way sooner, so what is this?!"

The outline of a human appeared in the mist, which I already knew it was not. That thing growled, like some sort of territorial animal. Like a hound, only its body was not covered by fur, but by fungi. Its body was grey like dogshit. It had no neck, rather its head was coming straight out of its torse. It had no jaw. Just long, black tongue.

I squirmed at the sight and took a step back, nearly falling in the process. I looked down and saw the fog was way thicker at my feet. Should I have fallen, my tale would have ended there.

I turned around and began to run, the thing chasing after me. I pushed myself to the limit, but having breathed this toxic air for minutes now, my muscles weakened and my legs began to fail.

I managed to climb back into an area where the fog was bearable. That was all I could handle, and immediately after, my legs gave up and I stumbled forward, hitting my nose against the ground. Pain bolted through my face, and I felt blood leak from my nose. However, that was the least of my worries.

When I turned around, I could see that thing roar out of the mist, drawing a fume in its way, like a speeding race car. It jumped towards me and I readied my pickaxe to block.

Clang! The monstrosity hit the flat end of my weapon. At that moment, its name showed up above its head.

[ Blight Bearer (Lv. 3) ]

[ HP: 15/16 ]

The blight bearer remained on top of my weapon and clawed at me. I managed to dodge most of its attacks aimed at my face, but it managed to deliver a cut on the side of my cheeks.

I yelped. And pushing my legs against the weapon, I managed to push it off, throwing it onto its back.

I adjusted my hands and jumped after the thing, stabbing the creature in its stomach.

[ -5 HP ]

My eyes widened. I expected it to be a critical hit, but only then did I realize the state of this thing. It was dead. Undead, to be specific. It did not need its organs. The only way I could critically strike it was by hitting its head.

The thing kicked me, and I pulled away. It jumped onto its feet and tried to pounce on me, but I bashed the pickaxe into its face and sent the undead flying against the wall.

[ -4 HP ]

This time, it immediately sprung back onto its feet, leaving no window for an attack.

Dead silence fell into the cave.

We looked at each other, waiting for the other's move. A deadly dance began its course. The undead tried to attack me multiple times, but as soon as I raised my weapon, it halted and went back to its place.

"Shit," I growled, "At this rate, this thing will tire me out!"

My eyes widened.

"That's exactly what it's trying to do!"

Not wasting any time, I charged at the monster with my pickaxe. However, before I got too close, I threw my pickaxe at the thing. My assault surprised the undead, and the pickaxe successfully pierced its torso, the sharp iron cutting hole through its back.

[ -5 HP ]

If my math was correct, the damned thing had only a single health point left. I reached into my pocket and searched for the iron dagger I found earlier in the village. I still had it. Good. All I needed now was an opening to deliver the killing blow.

The creature tore the pickaxe out of its chest as if it was no more than a tiny wooden splinter. It threw the weapon, then stared at me with the same killing intent as before.

I frowned and focused. Any second now, that thing would break into a charge and claw at my throat.

I had to be ready. So, I was.

Then I felt something, a bad omen. "What the...?"

The blighted undead twitched around unnaturally. Its entire body trembled at an incredible speed as if an invisible force was shaking it. And its speed grew. The grey muscles under its skin inflated like a balloon. Violent tumors popped up on its back, then blasted open, emanating a thick, liquid-like mist.

"Holy shit! It's gonna blow up!"

I turned and broke into a dash, however, I reacted too late and the thing exploded. My body was thrown forth by the force, chunks of flesh flying in my direction. Soon, a blue rain of blood coated me. And the fight ended much messier than I had anticipated.