And Just Like That I Obtained a System

Chapter 5 Part III. When Monsters Bleed

Blade went berserk.

Im gonna kill you bastards. His voice tore through the cavern, raw and primal.

The three alpha hounds stood motionless at the rear, content to let their pack do the killing. But Blade intercepted, steel meeting claw as he threw himself between the ravening mob and his fallen teammates, his sword singing a song of desperate fury through the blood soaked air.

Now you face me, Blade growled, planting himself like an immovable wall.

Roy hit the ground hard, his vision swimming crimson. Through the haze of blood and pain, he saw a familiar silhouette cutting through the horde.

Wait, isnt that, Captain? His voice came out broken, barely a whisper.

Huh? Captain? Kages head snapped up in disbelief.

Blade stood there breathing heavily, coughing blood with each ragged breath. He swayed on his feet, struggling to maintain his stance while the others lay scattered and broken, especially Roy, who had finally succumbed to unconsciousness.

Captain. How are you even standing? Werent you completely drained? Kages voice cracked with confusion and something that might have been hope.

Blade didnt answer. He couldnt, his jaw hung at an unnatural angle, shattered beyond speech.

Through blurred vision, Kim stared up from where he lay. What the hell.

A guttural growl rumbled from Blades chest. Youre all dead meat. Hed lost control the moment he saw his party members fall, or perhaps when he thought they were already dead.

Rage became his fuel.

He moved like a whirlwind of steel and fury, busting out every technique hed ever learned, fighting the hounds with a savagery that matched their own. One hound fell. Then another. Then three more.

Youre not touching any of my party members. The words came out garbled but unmistakable.

But there were too many. For every hound Blade cut down, three more surged forward to take its place. He pivoted to dodge a lunging attack, but his boot caught on loose stone. Balance lost, he fell backward as a massive hound leaped onto him, jaws opening wide to crush his skull.

Blade caught himself on his sword at the last second, muscles screaming. His eyes blazed crimson as he unleashed a feral roar and headbutted the beast with inhuman force.

The hounds skull shattered.

But he could see no end to the tide of monsters. In a desperate gambit, Blade launched himself toward the three alpha mutants standing at the rear. To his shock, they didnt flinch. They simply stood there, unafraid.

Take this, you bastards. Youre going to pay.

His arms swelled with unnatural muscle mass as he brought his blade down in a devastating arc. The alphas dodged, but his blow cracked the earth itself, sending fissures spider webbing across the stone floor. The hounds quickly repositioned, they knew that if even one of them had taken that hit, they would have been split in half.

Blade wrenched his sword from the ground and swung again.

One of the mutants launched a kick into his back that sent him flying. With terrifying speed, all three alphas pursued him through the air, exchanging blows mid flight, hitting him from three directions at once.

Cap. At this rate, hes gonna die. Stop. We give up. Let Captain go. Kims desperate plea echoed through the cavern.

Kage dropped to his knees, his face a mask of despair.

Blood sprayed from Blades body and mouth in crimson arcs. But what was truly shocking wasnt the beating he was taking, it was that he showed no signs of feeling pain. His teeth remained gritted, his crimson eyes burning with undiminished fury.

He muttered through broken teeth. Pray I dont get out of this situation, or else youre dead.

A low growl built in his chest, boooom, and the dense fog around the mutants suddenly thickened. Blades eyes deepened to a darker shade of blood crimson as the mana in the air visibly coalesced around him.

His power had doubled.

Blade jumped back with incredible speed, not faster than them, but close. He drew a short sword, longer than a dagger but shorter than his main blade. This is all I have left now.

He intercepted their charge, and they fought like demons, three against one, moving at speeds that blurred the eye. Some slashes got through his defense, cutting deep. He was losing too much blood.

I cant die here. I have to avenge them. At least, I have to take one of you with me.

Lets go. Blood Price.

Blade rushed forward, combining his abilities and using them simultaneously.

Blood Rush.

His body became unnaturally thin, as if hed lost half his weight in an instant. Ive got five seconds.

He moved at blinding speed, his velocity boosted beyond human limits.

What the, how is he doing that? Both Kage and Kim watched in stunned amazement.

Die. Blade launched an attack, but the lead mutant blocked it while the other two tackled him from both sides. Their fists slammed into his ribs simultaneously. He coughed blood. No, I cant lose now.

Two seconds left. I have to make it count.

Blood Rush. Blood poured from his eyes and mouth, it looked like he was dying from the inside out, but he didnt care anymore.

Captain, stop. Kim and Kage screamed in unison.

Blade suddenly pushed against the lead mutants arm, throwing it off balance. He smiled with dark satisfaction. Sweet dreams. His blade flashed once, and the mutants head split open.

The other two alphas recoiled in shock, fear finally creeping into their movements.

Whoa. Look at him go. Do you think we have a chance to win? Kim asked.

Yeah. I think we do. Maybe thirty percent chance, Kage replied.

They didnt know Blade only had seconds left. Their hope rekindled.

Blade smiled cold and cruel, addressing the remaining mutants. What do you think youre doing? His voice was ice. Dont run. I still need to sli.

He didnt finish.

His heart seized, not stopping, but beating too loud, too slow. He collapsed to his knees as blood poured from his mouth, each breath a struggle. Uhh. Cant. Breathe.

The mutants saw their chance.

Kage had finally managed to stand. Hed watched the Captain slice through that alphas head while standing on willpower alone. When the two remaining mutants saw their opening and called the entire hound pack to attack, rushing forward with renewed caution, Kage felt something break inside him.

No. We had a chance, but now.

He watched his Captain struggle, barely dodging attacks, clearly at his limit. All Kage could do was hold onto that single thread of hope that somehow, impossibly, Blade would find the strength to continue.

Haa. Haa. Haa. Blades breathing came in ragged gasps as he struggled to avoid the coordinated assault. But his body had nothing left. He lost his balance at a critical moment.

One of the mutants claws flashed through the air.

Blades left arm went flying, severed cleanly at the shoulder.

His scream of agony tore through the dungeon.

The other mutant raised its hand, and the hounds stopped their advance. Both alphas smiled with vicious satisfaction.

Watching Blade scream, watching his arm tumble through the air, Kage felt the last ember of hope die.

Were dead. At this rate, hes going to, were all going to die.

He muttered to himself, his voice growing quieter and quieter until silence claimed him. His head tilted forward. His eyes turned grey, lifeless, paralyzed, as if his soul had already fled.

Then something flickered in his mind. Two faces appeared, his late parents, their faces wearing warm smiles.

His eyes returned to normal, but the upper portion of his face, from nose to forehead, darkened to an unsettling black. The expression that settled there was simultaneously furious and blissful.

He started smiling.

Sorry, guys, he whispered. Your son was about to become a wimp there for a second. But not anymore. If Im gonna die. His smile widened. Might as well die right.

As he began walking slowly forward, dense purple fog began to seep from his mouth, coiling around him like a living thing. The hounds didnt notice at first, too focused on their wounded prey.

One step. Another. Slowly, deliberately, Kage walked toward Blade and the encircling hounds. A flicker of dark purple lightning crackled around his legs, crik, crik, crik.

Kim stared in amazement and shock, his jaw hanging open.

The hell? Kage. What.

To be continued.