Cliff - 5

Steps once again rang through the area. One of bare feet against cold ground, and three others of cheap wooden clogs. Barely even fit to be worn.

But the majority of focus was spent on not the sounds that they made, but of the beings that scuttled through their legs.

The tiny rats that seemed so out of place with every part of their minds.

The trio had seen nothing but death, giant creatures seemingly unerring in their hostility. Frogs and bugs that could kill them with but a single touch.

To see such… normal beings. Not even deadly in the slightest. They tensed against their wills. But only to such a point that their guide, an angel with spread wings could not hear them.

Even so he chuckled.

"Rats, the little critters… I presume you have not seen anything close to them." He laughed.

"No," the leader reluctantly spat out.

"Then you are in for a surprise, you newborns have only seen death, maybe it is time you see some life. Rats, as dirty as they may be, tell of other things."

They curled their heads, their ears perked to listen to the packet of information that was their guide.

"Of course you wouldn't know though, it's all in the past. As it was said that the rats scurried through cities like some sort of scourge, larger than a child and with power befitting some templar knight."

"But that can't be true, can it?" His voice was disbelieving, but it was not unwarranted, as if it were not Gabriel, someone who had played this game religiously, then they would have never known.

But the lore of this floor, there was nothing new about it. At least the broad strokes, and miscellaneous pieces of information.

"It is, but that is not of importance now." 

They all looked to where the angel had pointed his wing towards and found a large chamber. Filled with the corpses of thousands of rats. Their bodies bereft of any blood.

That didn't mean that the blood was gone, no, on the contrary it was the opposite. The blood stood tall and proud. Coalescing into some sort of being.

"Blood Golem" Gabriel muttered, a nervousness to his voice that spooked those that had followed.

"Blood Golem? Is that bad?"

Gabriel muttered something incomprehensible under his breath before he turned and glared at the man that had muttered that question.

"Of course it is, with the preparation we have there is no way for us to defeat this. Especially with your obvious inexperience."

"But there has to be some way though, right? Right…?"

One of them turned to the others, searching for some sort of solution. Grasping at straws in a hope that this excursion had not been for nothing.

"There is a way." Gabriel finally spoke up. Even if it already contradicted what he had said, there really was a way. They just weren't going to like it. Not one bit.

"Really, but I thought you said we couldn't do anything?"

"I did" Gabriel smirked, and to them he seemed almost evil, but he was an angel, wasn't he?

…

…

…

It is said that wherever he roams that blood will fall from the sky, and that death will freely fall into the hands of those that had spent their lives as saints.

A gulp found its way through the echo of the cave, sending with it a quiet signal heard by none.

But for those that had truly seen the disaster they found it soothing, a presence that wasn't a disaster but a beast that had wandered. A mere livestock to be used another day, that was what the victims were called. As with naught but a whistle of the Golem they willingly threw themselves back into its stomach.

A whistle and the plan began, the person beside him flew from his hiding spot with a ferocity found only in the most desperate. He pushed his muscles to their limit and with a mighty yell threw his shield at the Golem.

[-12]

It said in his vision, and with a grimace he grew weary and fell back once again.

But the game had been set, a keep away that the three kept to as they tried desperately to follow the instructions given to them.

At first they were skeptical of the instructions, even downright cautious as they had the right to be. But with the first command, then the second. All being as accurate as could be, they had no choice but to obey.

As if they didn't then there was nothing but death left for them.

And so Gabriel watched on as the first part of his plan unfolded. Attention was drawn, and glancing hits were given.

Not enough to even scratch the being. But was that truly needed.

It was a folly that many had fallen to in the beginning of the game, that damage was all that mattered. But that was not entirely true.

For some it was, but for the special few, like the Blood Golem that this was, it was not. As there was a special feature that many found themselves ignorant of.

And those were weak points. They were obvious to some, the heart and head for humans. Actually the heart and head for most would kill them instantly.

But in this case it was an ethereal being, one that had a body held together by mana. And what would that heart look like, yes it would be their core, what held their mana.

And so, that was why they ran and aggroed. Gabriel had intended to do it himself, albeit with a lot more risk, but with these willing sacrifices there was no doubt that this would succeed.

It was said that those that killed the being, the Blood Golem, would receive a curse, to some, and a blessing to others. The ire of all those that drank blood. For it was a being of blood, revered by blood. For those that read this, I hope either good huntings, or a swift death to the fool.