The Hungry Ghoul (1)

BYUL AND KEVIN MADE A run for it, never looking back. The first impression—the thing—made on them was worth that. They knew in that very short encounter, if they couldn't run, their condition would not be any better than those torn limbs and flesh—they happened upon before.

The huge Infector didn't remain on the ground for long. The little Wind Blade was not enough for making any serious wounds on its body. With a roll sideways; it stood up and started its mad chase after the two figures ahead.

It was more enraged than before, with mucus all over its dreadful maw. The place where the spell hit was now covered with bony carapace, it was almost like the spell didn't have any effect.

"What is that thing?" Kevin shouted. He was running next to Byul as fast as he could. "How can a thing like this be here?"

"Whatever it is, I don't want to know," Byul yelled back. She didn't slow her pace, rushing as fast as she could. The screech behind her started to rise.

"I don't think we can outrun it," Kevin said. He stood back and took a fighting stance with his spear, pointing at the approaching monster. His heart was racing like a champion horse after its sprint.

But Byul heard nothing he said and continued on her desperate run. She couldn't think of anything apart from fleeing from it.

Kevin took some deep breaths as he limited his visions to the approaching terror. It jumped at him after getting close to him with its beast-like intelligence and instinct. Kevin could clearly glimpse its weeping skin, slippery with fluid, and not to talk about the awful stench coming from it.

He didn't join it in muscle power. He could tell even if he had doubled the muscle power he had now, he wouldn't be able to overpower it. His mind raced as he moved with a roll below the lunging infector. And he was successful in dodging the first assault for what it's worth.

The hungry huge infector dropped at the spot he was standing before, with its rear being in front of him. An opening. Kevin's mind jolted as he jerked his arms in this opportunity and ran his spear with no mercy to its back.

The impact the spearhead had on its body was like hitting a damn stone, but he was not soft either. He yelled in a war cry before giving every ounce of his strength.

But the unfortunate thing was that he didn't have the time or skill to charge the spear with Maha mana into it. Even with his inconsiderable amount of mastery in mahasaying, he could have penetrated its waist easily, but the damnable thing didn't give even a blink of an eye to prepare for it.

The hungry monster growled, but still stood there. It twisted its body sideways before giving another growl to the figure that whacked its back.

A few drops of its mucus hit Kevin's face and felt his exterior becoming stiff. He cursed inside, finding out the mucus had some paralysing effect on his body.

Kevin gritted his teeth and blocked the horrifying claw that was approaching his skull. His arms shook as blocked the claw with his spear. It was like he was shouldering a thousand pounds by himself. But the Infector didn't rest it there. It raised one of its long legs before smacking a dropkick on his chest.

Meanwhile, Byul finally sensed that she was running alone. She looked back to notice the horrific scene of the gigantic monster kicking on the chest of Kevin.

Kevin flew away a few metres, still gripping the spear hard. His body hit the hard stone floor as he coughed out a mouthful of blood. His head felt dizzy. He didn't know how many of his ribs got shattered. As far as the pain he felt, it's more than a couple.

The hungry Infector was still rushing with madness towards him, with its awful exterior turning cruller and uglier than before. It seemed it liked to play with its food — that was the thought Kevin had after seeing its horrifying face. An awful, horrible reckoning.

He struggled to pick his body as his gaze remained on the approaching fiend. His mind was busy coming up with a path of life. He came up with something, actually more than one thing, but the thing that was after him wouldn't give even a moment to prepare for it.

Kevin coughed out as he infused Maha mana into the spear. He got hold of every small amount of mana he could and tried to infuse the spear with it. But everything, he tried for nothing as the huge thing lunged at him again.

Kevin gripped the spear harder. The Maha Mana he infused was incomplete, yet he didn't stop. He couldn't stop, aimed the tip at the approaching Infector.

But before the infector could jump on his body, something hit it on the leg, knocking it down, face-first on the floor.

He glanced in the direction to notice; It was Byul. She was rushing straight while throwing her small knives at the thing.

Byul first struck the infector in the same spot—she hit first to make it immobile. She knew her spell would take more time to prepare, so she started shooting knives at it, infusing Maha mana into it. Her target spots were the same spot in the leg and behind its neck.

Though it didn't appear to have much effect on it, as it was healing fast. But she didn't stop. The best effect her knives had was on its leg as it was where she cast twice with the Windblade and most of her knives.

It didn't look even a couple of seconds before it stood up again, but Byul didn't stop firing knives at it. The growl coming from its mouth indicated it was effective.

At last, she stopped when no more knives were left. But the delay was enough for Kevin to pick himself up and catch a few breaths.

"Stay away from its mucus. It has some paralysing effect," Kevin yelled before pulling into the hopeless fight again.

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