Knock! Knock! Are you there Ashy~?

Ashy threw his shame and pride and ran away from the monster in human skin. His only decent weapon was snatched and he only had a rusty knife on his waist and a chair in his hand. What could he do with a damn chair to a monster?

Elissa was following him behind, leaving a trail of black, transparent blood on the way. Fortunately, her pace was slow. The wound seemed like it was affecting her somehow.

This was good news. This meant that he had a chance to kill her.

'But I can't kill a monster with just a fucking chair!' Ashy internally cursed as he looked at the chair in his hands before throwing it at Elissa.

The chair crashed to the ground as Elissa stepped to the side. On her face was a wide smile.

'She is playing with me.'

Ashy forced a smile back at the creature.

This was better than Elissa running at him. The sword he cut her was coated with the juice of Blood Berries. It was a devious attempt to claim Elissa's life if something went wrong. Although he wasn't sure if the creature could get weaker with the poisonous substance and the blood loss, it was worth a shot.

Ashy wasn't a fool. Even if there was magic in this world, it wouldn't be limitless. Or else anyone would shower the world with countless meteors.

So, even if the poison was useless, the blood loss was definitely a loss for Elissa. It was just unknown if the blood loss was insignificant or significant to the monster. However, it was still damage.

Ashy descended the stairs at full speed, skipping and missing steps. He stumbled and was about to kiss the floor for a few times but he didn't fall, adrenaline kept his mind and reflexes awake. He sped up to the right corridor, hoping to find a weapon while the monster was taking her time.

The breath stuck to his throat and his lungs were burning. He was so hungry, so thirsty. It was painful to breathe, let alone run.

Yet, only survival in his mind.

'I can kill her. I just need a weapon!'

With his weak body and a dull sword, he managed to cut the monster. He had a chance to win. A chance to survive.

All he needed was just a weapon. The rusty knife wasn't enough.

'Fuck!'

The walls of the hall had weapon holders for accessory weapons, but all of them were empty. Even an accessory weapon would be acceptable, after all even though they are dull weapons, accessory weapons are made of metal. They would be at least durable to smash someone's head.

*Thud*

'Huh?' Ashy looked back as the sound of the sword dragging on the floor reached his ears. There, he saw Elissa. She was bleeding considerably less than before.

'She is recovering! That is fucking unfair'

Ashy ran aimlessly. He was desperate to find a weapon before this monster in human skin's legs healed enough to regain the ability to run.

If Elissa were to recover, he would lose his only advantage. He wouldn't be able to run away let alone kill her.

He needed to find a weapon quickly before too late.

…

Ashy found stairs that lead to the below. Thinking that it must be the basement of the mansion, he descended with quick steps.

There was no light, the basement was pitch dark. Even if he were to wait, his eyes wouldn't get used to the darkness, so he didn't wait and brought his hands in front of his face as a shield before running straight.

"Argh…"

Ashy bumped into something wooden. A thing fell on the floor near his foot, causing a metallic sound. The wound on his head ached with pain and fresh blood began to taint the wrappings around his head.

Ashy couldn't care less about his wound or the pain. After all, at last, he found it. He found something made of metal, even if it was accidentally.

Crouching down, he felt the floor with his hands, trying to find the metallic thing in the absolute darkness.

"Hey~ How are you doing below there?" Elissa's calm voice echoed from the beginning of the stairs, causing Ashy to flinch and speed up the search process.

He didn't, no, couldn't care about if he could hurt himself while searching for the metallic item, his life depended on it.

'This!?'

Ashy's hands touched the freezing cold metal and he felt something was being drained from his body.

A flame rose in an instant. It was a white, ethereal flame no bigger than the palm of an adult man. It didn't create warmth but just immense light

It was a lantern. Obviously, not a normal one but magical.

However, a magical lantern was still just a lantern. How could he was going to kill a monster with a lantern?

'Shit, I feel like I am losing something important. I think I can't hold this lantern for more than two minutes.' Ashy calculated before quickly looking around.

With the help of the white fire, he could see shelves filled with food that was long rotten to the last bits and many more things, but they were utterly useless.

Ashy immediately stopped looking at the shelves and passed through the other door.

Step, step.

Footsteps were closing in, Ashy slammed shut the door behind him and locked it with its metal bar. Then he additionally tried to block it with items such as heavy wooden crates. It would at least win him some time.

'Fuck fuck fuck fuck! Is there not any weapon in this goddamn mansion!?' Ashy complained as he found an ancient-looking wooden chest before he opened.

'This…?'

A blade, no, a dagger made of entirely ebony metal. The hilt was engraved with ominous motifs, its sharp side was wavy, slightly curved at the end while its blunt side was straight like an arrow. Its tip was thin but so sharp that Ashy lost a few dozen drops of blood while testing it.

"Maybe with this…"

Vigor came back as he finally found a weapon to protect himself and kill the monster named Elissa.

"Knock! Knock! Are you there, Ashland~"