All Chapters of THE GHOUL RISING: Chapter 51
- Chapter 60
68 chapters
CHAPTER 51 — THE HEART OF THE LABYRINTH
The world returns in a violent, crushing wave. A sudden, heavy pressure slams into my chest, forcing the air out of my lungs and replacing it with a searing agony. I heave, my body convulsing as I turn onto my side. The coughs are more than only a reflex; they are a purge. I retch, hacking up lungfuls of that black, musky water. It tastes like copper, bile, and stagnant rot. Each spasm feels like a serrated blade drawing across my throat, leaving me gasping for air that smells of wet stone and ancient musk. My stomach feels twisted inside, like it is tying a knot which makes me sick as I could still taste the nastiness of the environment. My ribs, already cracked from the earlier impact, scream with every shudder while my muscles feel tight and swollen, thanks to the crushing squeeze from the monster earlier. I lay there, waiting for my vision to settle down as I can still see white stars with the background being pure white, then slowly, it turns translucent until finally, It mer
CHAPTER 51 — THE HEART OF THE LABYRINTH
The world returns in a violent, crushing wave. A sudden, heavy pressure slams into my chest, forcing the air out of my lungs and replacing it with a searing agony. I heave, my body convulsing as I turn onto my side. The coughs are more than only a reflex; they are a purge. I retch, hacking up lungfuls of that black, musky water. It tastes like copper, bile, and stagnant rot. Each spasm feels like a serrated blade drawing across my throat, leaving me gasping for air that smells of wet stone and ancient musk. My stomach feels twisted inside, like it is tying a knot which makes me sick as I could still taste the nastiness of the environment. My ribs, already cracked from the earlier impact, scream with every shudder while my muscles feel tight and swollen, thanks to the crushing squeeze from the monster earlier. I lay there, waiting for my vision to settle down as I can still see white stars with the background being pure white, then slowly, it turns translucent until finally, It mer
CHAPTER 51 — THE HEART OF THE LABYRINTH
The world returns in a violent, crushing wave. A sudden, heavy pressure slams into my chest, forcing the air out of my lungs and replacing it with a searing agony. I heave, my body convulsing as I turn onto my side. The coughs are more than only a reflex; they are a purge. I retch, hacking up lungfuls of that black, musky water. It tastes like copper, bile, and stagnant rot. Each spasm feels like a serrated blade drawing across my throat, leaving me gasping for air that smells of wet stone and ancient musk. My stomach feels twisted inside, like it is tying a knot which makes me sick as I could still taste the nastiness of the environment. My ribs, already cracked from the earlier impact, scream with every shudder while my muscles feel tight and swollen, thanks to the crushing squeeze from the monster earlier. I lay there, waiting for my vision to settle down as I can still see white stars with the background being pure white, then slowly, it turns translucent until finally, It mer
CHAPTER 52 — A SILENT HEART
The Weaver roar vibrates in a low, wet thrumming that starts in the base of my skull and rattles my teeth until I can taste the fillings. It is a challenge, a proclamation of ownership over this cathedral of bone. I don’t give it the satisfaction of a response. My eyes are locked on the wall behind it, where Brixen is suspended like a broken marionette. Every second that passes is a grain of sand slipping through a broken hourglass. My system is blinking a frantic, dying amber. [WASP HP: 4%] [SUMMON DURATION: FIVE MINUTES] The Weaver appendages lunges at me, as it moves in a blur. I twist in mid-air, the wind of its passage whistling past my ear. I roll across the damp floor, the smell of ancient, fermented rot filling my nose. I scramble up, pushing myself to the limit as my body strains. I lunge again, trying to circle the beast to get to the wall. If only I can reach Brixen on now but that didn't seem to be the case as its massive, jointed leg slams into my path, wit i
CHAPTER 53 — MERCY CHOSE
The silence in the chamber was a suffocating shroud. I kneel over Brixen, my hands shaking as I try resuscitating him. I don't plan on letting him go so I have no option on giving up on him. The stillness in his chest is a void that threatens to swallow my own sanity. As I drown myself in guilt and mourning, a sharp memory flickers like a shard of glass.I remember what happened back Uurok's chambers, when I watched him pull out his own core and shoved it down my throat before crushing me. Despite going through that gory ordeal, it is one thing that saved me on the brink of death. "If only I can say the same thing in this situation—" I pause as a sudden light bulb flickers above my head. What if I can try that? My head snaps toward the massive, cooling corpse of the Weaver. I act on instinct as I sprint across the cavern, my boots splashing through pools of black ichor. I lunge at the monster’s thorax, my knife carving through the rubbery flesh with desperate, frantic stroke
CHAPTER 54 — HEADING BACK HOME
The harsh, unfiltered light of the wasteland stings my eyes as we stumble out of the mountain's throat. After encountering alot of dangers and uncertainty in that godforsaken cave, the silence of the outside world feels unnatural. I can still feel the anxiety that cloud my entire thinking and vibration of the Weaver’s death-shriek in my marrow. Beside me, Brixen is leaning heavily on the carriage as the rest help board the weaker ones onto it. He looks at me, his brow furrowing as he glances back at the dark maw we just escaped. "Hey Jid," he whispers, his voice still raspy. "I just realized that I haven't seen Fred yet.""Same here." I chip in. "The last time I saw him was before that monster took you." I try to select my words as carefully as possible as I can still see how shaken Brixen is by what happened. "Just though of him." He looks above my shoulder, his brows furrow. "What about the others? I thought they were right behind you?" I feel a prickle of heat on the b
CHAPTER 55 — ACTING STRANGE
What is Brixen hiding? I try to understand by studying him. He has cold chills popping on his body, his face is completely drain of color and he lost appetite to eat? Could it be the core controlling him? I did something that work on me to him with hope that it will give the same result, but seeing him acting like this clearly different from what I went through in my beginning phrase. Is he seeing his own system like I see mine? Or is there anything else he is going through. I need to know. Tonight, the air feels heavy, thick with a tension that has shouldn't even be there in the first place. "Brixen, what’s the matter?" I ask, my spoon hovering over my bowl. "Why aren't you eating? You haven't touched a drop since it's been served." Brixen suddenly jolts when he heard the question like he's been caught committing a crime. He has been staring at the wall, his eyes glazed and distant. He blinks rapidly, a shadow crossing his face as if he’s trying to hide a secret behind his t
CHAPTER 56 — HEAVY SECRET TO BEAR
I can't believe what I'm seeing. Brixen is hunched over a corpse with the light of the fallen flashlight catches the curve of his stained jaw.My stomach lurches as the stew I ate earlier turns into a leaden weight of bile. I can't scream. The survival instinct that has will immediately act upon seeing him whispers a different. Don't hurt him. Brixen pulls back from the guard’s neck and wipes his mouth with the back of a hand that shakes like a leaf in a gale. He looks like a starving beast who found a feast in a graveyard.He stands, his movements jerky and uncoordinated, as he begins to retreat back. I hide to make sure he doesn't see me until his footsteps fade into the distance, before I move.The air near the guard is thick with the smell of metallic, copper tang of fresh blood. The man’s face is a mask of pale surprise, as his dead eyes stare at the ceiling of the Globe.I grab his heavy body and drag him toward the gate. The sound of his boots scraping against the grit make
Chapter 57: THE GILDED THRESHOLD
"This brings back memories." I stand with my arms crossed, the cold moisture of the cavern seeping through my boots, as I watch Brixen stumble for a tier nine.Again.A Scavenger Rat lunges at him. Brixen shrieks, a high, thin sound that echoes off the low ceiling. He flails his short-sword, the steel whistling through the empty air as he trips over a protruding root. He hits the muddy floor with a wet thwack, his face splattered with silt.I stare at him, a knot of frustration tightening in my chest. How is he able to persuade Raiders? Or even have good relationship with soldier? Yet, he’s currently being outmaneuvered by a Tier nine bottom-feeder.Even on my first day, with nothing but a rusted knife and a system I didn't understand, I was more efficient than this."Brixen, get up," I bark, the sound of my voice cutting through the damp silence."It’s fast, Jid!" Brixen scrambles backward on his heels, his breathing a series of ragged, panicked hitches. The rat hisses, a sound like
CHAPTER 58 — THE GILDED REALM
The dragging stops with a bone-jarring jolt. My head swims, the taste of copper and burnt ozone thick on my tongue. The electrified net hums against my skin, a thousand of white-hot needles sewing into my nerves. I look through the shimmering mesh, my vision blurring. The solid gold gates ahead melts, arches liquefy into a swirling vortex of molten light before reforming into a wide, yawning mouth where we are pulled inside. The air here is heavy with ancient incense that hasn't cooled in a millennium. My ears ring with a low-frequency vibration that feels like something is pressing against my eardrums. In the center of the room, perched upon a throne carved from a single block of translucent sunstone, sits whom I see as their ruler. He is gargantuan, his body a masterpiece of burnished gold and moving gears. He doesn't look like he has skin as he is covered in plates of polished armor that slide over one another with the fluid grace of a serpent. His eyes are nothing but