The Slow Climb Back. (91)

I stood on the still-warm remains, a stifling heat seeping through my armor.

"5 hours until the end of the trials," a distant voice echoed.

As the walls of the chamber began to sprout small openings, a chilling draft cut through the room. Forty-three creatures clashed with ferocity, employing claws, fangs, and occasional weapons. Echoes of their screams and the sickening sounds of bone crushing filled the air. Satisfied with my collected loot, I decided to retreat to a quieter corner.

Amidst the backdrop of agonizing groans, bone-crushing impacts, and the sickening squelch of wet blows, I cautiously moved towards a relatively untouched area.

I was only a meter away from a promising spot when my boot unintentionally struck a piece of wood, triggering a blinding magical circle.

Bang

A second later, it exploded into shards of razor-thin glass, hurling me against the unforgiving metal wall with a resounding thud.

Coughing, I checked my condition.

[Participant 137 is attacked by an enemy trap, taking 70 points of damage out of 43,900.]

"Oh, who do we have here? Caught a rat, fellas," sneered a diminutive dwarf as he spat out the remains of his shattered front teeth, casually tearing out the tongue of one of his victims.

The injured creature lay on its side, emitting pitiful pleas for a swift end to its suffering. The dwarf's staff's tip glowed a bright scarlet, and several runic circles materialized near me.

I removed my hood, revealing a wry smile. "What a delight to join the fray!"

A hulking figure with a shoulder wound, half his face obscured by foul, low-quality filth, roared, "BASTARD. SO YOU'VE BEEN HIDING ALL THIS TIME?! YOU PATHETIC BASTARD. MAR YOUR ENTER WITH BLOOD, I'LL BE F…"

Before he could finish his bellow, I swiftly ended his life with a deft swing of my Spiritual Weapon. The giant's headless body swayed briefly before toppling into the growing mound of corpses.

"I don't have a fondness for chatterboxes," I mused.

The other creatures hesitated to engage.

Sitting down, I placed half of the ligaments on a nearby pile of lifeless bodies. I activated Breath Hypnosis to avoid triggering any hidden explosive circles.

[Participant 137 has activated Aura Enhancement.]

"Like you..." the dwarf growled, gnashing his remaining teeth. He then plunged his staff into a corpse's flesh, invoking dark forces. The wind rustled the hem of his long robe, revealing the skeletal legs of the undead beneath.

"Kill that bastard!" a creature with a severed paw urged, moving toward me on three limbs.

The other creatures quickly regrouped, as if anticipating this from the beginning.

They closed in, forming a threatening circle around me.

I grabbed the sluggish lizard-like creature by the throat, summoning Steel Claws and plunging them almost to the base, before abruptly pulling them back with a wet, squelching sound.

The creature's limbs trembled, and it crumpled to the ground in a lifeless heap. Warm droplets splashed across my face as I summoned the protection of the General's Armor.

[Endurance Window: 37,100.]

To my left, a creature thudded to the ground. This grotesque figure, with its putrid, decaying flesh, approached me, brandishing a mace. With a swift maneuver, I seized her weapon, bent down, and hurled her toward the spellcasting dwarf.

"AAAAAH..."

The two collided with a cacophonous howl of agony. A shard of gray bone protruded from the creature's hand, which had expertly pierced the magician's stomach. Spitting purple blood, the dwarf gazed at me with disbelief.

Meanwhile, several assailants closed in on my rear.

[Participant 137, subjected to a paralyzing skill. The effect will wear off in 50, 49, 48...]

[Participant 137 is attacked with a paralyzing skill. + 2 minutes.]

Frozen in a menacing stance, I suffered a blow to my lower back from an axe, felt the rake of someone's claws across my throat, and I was unceremoniously hurled across the chamber.

[Participant 137 is attacked by an enemy, taking 200 points of damage.]

[Participant 137 is attacked by an enemy, taking 600 points of damage.]

[Participant 137 is attacked by an enemy, taking 90 points of damage.]

[Participant 137, the Dark Elf's body is bleeding profusely, each subsequent injury can consume twice as many health points.]

[Convert Endurance points into Regeneration.] I said.

[The command is being loaded, a department check is expected. It takes half of the current points to fully recover. Do you agree?]

"Bitch!" The gnarled end of the staff dug into my neck, and the awkward movement only worsened my situation.

[Yes.]

My response came through clenched teeth, accompanied by a torrent of agony.

[Participant 137 is attacked by an enemy, the damage is 720 points.]

Almost simultaneously, our voices echoed.

Cough.

Bitterness flooded my mouth as the pain surged through me. My spine screamed in protest.

"Still alive? It's good." The dwarf's malicious grin twisted his face as he whispered, "I plan to savor this." 

"Here you go, Rick." A voice rang out as Spiritual Stones were tossed in his direction.

The wiry beast crouched beside me, sneering, "Damn, is that all? You sure he doesn't have any extra goodies?"

Wet fingers probed the gaping wound, tracing the protruding colon.

My senses strained to their limit.

[Participant 137 is attacked by an enemy, the damage is 70 points.]

My breath came in rapid gasps.

"Grlh..." Disgust churned in me as I contemplated my wretched state.

"Just hand me the ring, and I'll take the clothes, alright?" The dwarf's boot struck my ribs with cruel force as he giggled.

[Participant 137 initiates a partial conversion of Endurance points into Regeneration points. Required time: 1 hour and 37 minutes.]

Someone introduced predatory insects - Rain Vultures, small creatures the size of fingernails, insatiably craving blood and bodily fluids from a dying host. Easy to kill, but prolific breeders; in the wild, they'd take several days to devour a giant. How long would I last?

"You know, we were ordered to kill you. Ever wonder who it was?" The dwarf raised his staff to the ceiling, laughing heartily. "Your Leader, Shorty Joe. Ha-ha. He hinted that we should finish you off quickly and not prolong your suffering, but it seems that plan has gone awry."

[Participant 137 is attacked by an enemy, the damage is 1200 points.]

Initially, the insects struggled to locate their prey, scattering in confusion. The dwarf, however, deployed a spell that struck my abdomen, releasing the vultures within. Thousands of tiny, spiked paws burrowed into my muscle tissue, inflicting a level of agony I had never known.

I could almost visualize their tiny mouths digging into my organs.

[Participant 137 is attacked by an enemy, the damage is 3000 points.]

Hundreds of insects gnawed at my flesh. The remnants of my armor provided no obstacle to them as they laid hundreds of tunnels, continuing to swarm inside my body.

[Participant 137 is attacked by an enemy, sustaining 1700 points of damage.]

[The opponent's paralyzing skill is deactivated.]

Kicking me in the face several times, the dwarf gestured to the creature with the missing hand.

"Don't you want to get even?" He pointed at me, grinning maliciously. "Kick him, tear him apart like hungry voidspawn. Come on, he won't fight back. Look."

Crushing my palm with his staff, he invoked a spell of immense weight. Tons of pressure bore down on my fingers, twisting the bones of my hand into a spiral up to the elbow.

Tears welled in my eyes.

[Participant 137 is attacked by an enemy, the damage is 900 points.]

"Gh-H." Grimacing in excruciating pain, I endured the living nightmare of being devoured alive, coupled with the external tortures.

"O-okay." The creature grasped my intestines and began to pull them from my torn abdomen, then greedily bit into them.

"HA, HA, HA. As a token of gratitude for your stupidity, I'll give you a special gift."

Several curses were placed upon me, including one meant to ensure I stayed alive, no matter how dire my condition became.

The pain was unbearable, at times it felt like I was already hollowed from the inside out. But my heart persisted in its frantic pounding against my shattered ribcage.

[Participant 137 is attacked by an enemy, the damage is 1400 points.]

I stared vacantly at the dark ceiling, swaying gently in tandem with the creatures' movements as they systematically tore me apart, sinking their fangs into my flesh and noisily swallowing my blood.

My limbs went through an endless cycle of restoration and consumption. The torment continued unabated until the colossal figures were finally satiated.

The sound of bones being crushed reverberated in my blood-soaked ears, and I clung to the hope that this nightmarish cell wasn't my actual reality.

Taunting laughter intertwined with subsequent waves of excruciating pain, and my body, now more sensitive due to the curse, writhed under the onslaught.

A crude attempt to gouge out my eyes with clumsy movements left me gasping for breath, my scream choked in my throat. Warm tears cascaded down my face, mingling with the viscous pool surrounding me.

[Participant 137, remaining health points less than 5000, exchange completed.

The side skill Dragon Scales is activated.

Regeneration has returned to its original state.

Endurance points: 6,890.]

After my nearly half-hour silence, the creatures scattered. Toying with a broken critter apparently grew tiresome, as the curses were intended to keep me immobilized until my inevitable death.

Suppressing my breath, I ignited the insects already laying eggs within the skin's walls, the agonized cries of the small creatures never reaching the ears of the summoner.

I coughed up a vile mixture of my own flesh and someone else's, which the creatures had stuffed into my shattered jaws during my moments of unconsciousness.

My burst eyeballs began regenerating at an accelerated pace.

[The end of the trials is in 3 hours.]

A tempest raged deep within me, but I'd grown accustomed to the fact that I could no longer recklessly employ my skills.

My toes and fingers abruptly straightened, dried blood and flesh transforming into pristine nails. Flesh sprouted anew over the skeletal gaps in places, making me whole once more.

A beast with earrings lay nearby, its long fur matted in a puddle of purple fluid.

Lifting myself on my elbows, I retrieved Desert Scorpion venom from my Inventory, wrapped my hands in iron chains, and approached the creature.

The soft rustle of a tail cascading from a pile of carcasses stirred the drowsy beast, but it had no chance to cry out. The chains bit into its thick neck.

"Shh. Rest now, brother."

Its paws churned up a purple morass, and someone behind the wall of cadavers moaned in discomfort:

"Damn it, keep it down, my head is already pounding."

[Sleep Elixir activated, duration: 2 minutes.]

Releasing the lifeless body, I turned towards the source of the voice.

The creature, with its horrific appearance, continued to feast upon the lifeless corpses surrounding it, producing an appetite-whetting, nauseating slurp with each bite. Its round, distended belly bulged grotesquely, reminiscent of a massive vat, and it sent a shiver down my spine as I recalled the dismembered limbs I'd seen on a hurried conveyor belt long ago.

Summoning forth a Poisonous Arrow, I deftly secured it to the chain, then propelled it towards the grotesque creature. At the very last moment, it raised its vacant eye sockets towards the sky, as if catching a whiff of something in the air. In an instant, the arrow found its target, piercing through the creature's grotesque head. With a swift tug, I reeled it in and sent the abomination tumbling down the gruesome mound of flesh and bones.

"Martha?" Fragments of flesh rained down, revealing a tall figure in a raincoat. "THE GENERAL IS AWAKE..."

Stepping onto the creature's head, I jumped onto the one who had raised the alarm. Leaning on his shoulders, I plunged an arrow into his wide-open mouth.

There was a sickening crunch as the arrowhead burst through the back of its skull. My hands, now covered in warm, viscous sludge, released their grip, and the creature toppled backward. I retrieved my only weapon from the corpse's shattered arm, the katana, and nonchalantly flicked away the splattered droplets of blood.

Several creatures came out from behind the walls of flesh and bones.

"YOU..." one of them hissed, their voices laden with anger and desperation.

"Yes, it's me,"

I was immediately set upon by five adversaries.

[Participant 137, the enemy has activated a Paralyzing Skill.

The restraining shackles are deactivated.

Participant 137 activated berserk mode.]

"What a shame. I don't fall for the same tricks twice."

Power surged within me, but my exhausted body absorbed Endurance without pause.