Chapter 9: The Horde

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Isaac wanted to investigate the figure, so he decided to sneakily approach it with caution.

He crouched low, merging with the thick fog gripping the ground like a ghostly shroud.

After a few minutes of stealthy crawling through the fog, which blanketed everything in a white haze, he peered at the figure again.

"Is that a knight?" he wondered, watching the figure stumble over the uneven ground with weary eyes.

It definitely resembled a man—an adult clad in what looked like old, battered armor, missing several pieces.

The figure clutched a medieval bastard sword, broken in two, heavily damaged, and rusted.

"I should get a little closer," he whispered to himself, his voice barely audible over the eerie silence.

He crept forward, keeping to the shadows cast by the huge black stones, careful not to make a sound. 

After a while, he found cover behind one of the large black stones and cautiously rose to get a better look.

Under the gaze of the colossal star, he examined the figure.

It was now only ten to fifteen meters away, clear enough for him to make out more details.

The armor was worse up close, with an iron helmet riddled with dents and holes.

The chest piece was so damaged it barely resembled armor anymore. The sword, as he had seen earlier, was no better.

"Why is he walking so awkwardly? Is he not human?" Isaac thought.

Given his proximity to the town, he assumed it was a townsman who had lost his way or a drunkard who had ended up here.

The figure halted suddenly, raising its head to the sky, mouth agape.

"Huh? What is he doing?" Isaac muttered, puzzled as he glanced skyward, only to see the same eerie star and the inky black sky.

"What is he looking at?" he asked, confusion mounting, until a horrifying sound pierced the silence.

"HEEELLLPP!!!"

"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

The desperate pleas emanated from the figure, though its mouth remained wide open and unmoving.

The sound came from deep within its throat, which squirmed as if thousands of worms were writhing inside.

"Huh?" Isaac's confusion turned to dread as he realized the truth, a chill running down his spine.

"It's trying to lure me. This isn't human." He looked in horror at the figure, now clearly a trap set to lure its next victim.

'I should avoid it,' he thought, preparing to retreat into the fog and crawl away.

But before he could move, the figure turned its gaze directly at him.

It wasn't just looking in his direction; it was looking straight at him, as if it knew he was there.

Then it began to move, its slow walk

morphing into a sprint as it rushed towards him, swinging its broken sword wildly like a marionette with severed strings.

"Shit!" Isaac exclaimed, channeling his energy flow once more into his arm and sword, preparing for the confrontation.

The figure closed the distance with frantic, bone-jarring movements, its arms flailing as if unbound by any human anatomy.

(Hummm)

His sword hummed with energy, its engravings glowing again as the monster neared.

It drew closer and closer, revealing its true nature. It looked like a corpse, flesh rotten and torn, with bloodstains on its armor and clothing.

Hollow eyes stared out from a face that seemed like a bottomless abyss. Its dried-up body hung precariously together.

It lunged at him.

Five meters.

Three meters.

It finally reached him, raising its broken bastard sword to strike.

'It's quite slow, probably due to the condition of its body,' Isaac noted, sidestepping its attack and driving his sword into its heart.

(Crunch)

The sickening sound of bones and flesh tearing filled the air as his sword plunged deep.

"Rahhh!" It growled, mouth opening wider to reveal crooked, decayed teeth, as it tried to bite him.

Ignoring the heart wound, it lunged at him again, but Isaac punched it fiercely with his free hand.

(Pahh)

The punch seemed ineffective. The creature barely reacted.

He stepped back, analyzing the situation.

'It doesn't seem to care about the heart. Is it like a zombie where I have to aim for the head?'

He decided to aim for its head, glancing at his sword.

The engravings glowed a bright red, and the edge gleamed with lethal sharpness.

'It should be sharp enough to cut in one strike,' he thought, readying himself.

The monster froze mid-attack, the wound from Isaac's strike starting to rot and decay rapidly.

The creature ignored the spreading decay, but it quickly consumed its legs, causing it to collapse with a dull thump.

Isaac watched in shock as the monster's body continued to rot, turning into black and white ashes.

"Rahhh!" Despite its decaying state, the creature tried to crawl towards him.

Mostly hidden by the fog, it continued its futile pursuit, disintegrating into ash.

As the last remnants vanished, Isaac stared at his sword and then at himself.

"I could do that?" he murmured, recalling the rotting leaves he had seen when he woke up in the cave.

"So, I was the culprit," he muttered.

He looked back at the monster.

"RAHHH/WOOO" It made one final sound, a chilling mix of a human scream and the wail of a shadow devil.

As it breathed its last, Isaac stood in stunned realization. "Why did it sound like a shadow devil?"

The familiar voice echoed in his mind:

[You have gained a small soul shard of a shadow devil!]

[You have gained a small soul shard of a human!]

[Your abyss grows more profound and treacherous.]

A revelation struck him.

"The shadow devils possess the humans!" He now understood the treacherous shadows' true nature.

The realization sent a cold chill down his spine.

Thankfully, he had been killing them. This place was infested with shadow devils, hiding in the fog and finding victims to possess.

"But why haven't I been possessed? Have I been killing them faster than they can possess me? Or is it because I don't have a shadow?" he pondered.

Unsure of the answer, he was relieved he had been vigilant.

As he prepared to continue his journey, a noise came from behind.

"Rahhh!"

He spun around, facing another possessed human running toward him.

This one wore tattered clothes instead of armor.

"Another one? How did it know I was here?" he wondered, channeling his energy flow to his arm and sword again.

"Rahhh," the possessed human advanced with quick but awkward steps.

Isaac took his stance, sword raised.

As the monster closed in, its mouth opened wide, revealing a set of dirty, infected teeth. It was ready to bite.

As it came within range, Isaac swung his sword with extraordinary power, delivering a precise, lethal strike.

(Swish)

(Crunch)

His blade sliced cleanly through the neck, decapitating the creature.

(Thump)

He watched the head fall into the dense fog, followed by the body, which quickly rotted and decayed.

Isaac didn't give it time to react.

[You have gained a small soul shard of a shadow devil!]

[You have gained a small soul shard of a human!]

[Your abyss grows more profound and treacherous.]

The voice echoed again.

As he was about to cut the energy flow and move on, another sound emerged from his left and right.

"Rahhh."

"Rahhh."

Two more possessed humans approached from opposite sides.

"Do they have good hearing or something? How do they know I'm here?"

He had finished the last fight quickly to avoid attracting more monsters.

"Tch, I have to get rid of them fast," he muttered.

If they had heightened senses, it could spell disaster.

"If they come in even bigger groups, I'll be overwhelmed by sheer numbers," he thought, wary.

Dealing with one was manageable, but if more than four attacked at once, he'd be in serious trouble.

"Rahhh," the monsters drew closer, one slightly faster than the other.

"I'll deal with them one by one," he planned, running toward the faster one, readying his sword.

'Four meters, two meters, now.'

He calculated the perfect distance, striking the neck with precision.

(Swish)

(Crunch)

His sword cut through flesh and bone, severing the head.

[You have gained a small soul shard of a shadow devil!]

[You have gained a small soul shard of a human!]

[Your abyss grows more profound and treacherous.]

He didn't wait to watch the body fall, running toward the next target.

'Four meters, two meters, now!'

He struck again, his blade slicing through with deadly accuracy.

(Swish)

(Crunch)

[You have gained a small soul shard of a shadow devil!]

[You have gained a small soul shard of a human!]

[Your abyss grows more profound and treacherous.]

His sword claimed two more lives.

"Huff, huff," he breathed heavily.

"It can't go on like this! I have to get out of here quickly."

He had used more energy than expected. Continuing like this would exhaust him, leaving him vulnerable.

He glanced to his right, spotting the dim red light he had seen from the mountain.

He could barely make it out, but it marked the direction of the town, a few kilometers away.

Increasing his pace to a jog, he aimed to leave the forest.

But as he moved, he saw the outline of something huge approaching from the distance.

"What is that?"

The sparse fog further away made it hard to discern, but it was no ordinary wall.

Isaac jogged faster, aiming for the dim red light of the town.

As he moved, a shadowy wall emerged from the thinning fog, a dark mass that seemed to shift and sway.

"What is that? A wall?" Isaac squinted, confusion giving way to dread as he drew closer.

The dark shape was not a wall but a seething, undulating horde.

"Oh no..." Isaac whispered, his heart pounding in realization.

The fog cleared enough to reveal the truth: the "wall" was a horde of possessed, shuffling toward him in a ghastly wave.

Their bodies were in various stages of decay, some clad in ragged armor, others in tattered clothing, all with lifeless, hollow eyes fixated on him.

Rotten flesh hung from skeletal frames, limbs contorted unnaturally, and broken swords dragged along the ground.

The air was thick with their guttural moans and the unsettling noise of bones scraping against bones.

Isaac's breath quickened. The horde extended endlessly, a relentless tide of death converging from all directions.

The closest ones stumbled forward, their mouths agape in silent screams, their eyes void and soulless.

He took a step back, gripping his sword tighter. Fighting them all was impossible; their sheer numbers would overwhelm him. His only chance was to escape.