The abomination raged forward, its massive ethereal limbs crashing against the bog's surface, splintering trees and sending waves of muck into the air. Aric dove to the side as one of its translucent fists pulverized the spot where he'd been standing. The impact sent shockwaves through the sludge, rippling outwards and forcing him to steady himself against the quaking earth.
He staggered backward, ribs screaming in protest, lungs heaving as he barely ducked beneath another colossal swipe. The limbs swung through trees like a giant's club, shattering trunks into storms of wooden shrapnel.
"Gah!" Aric hissed, vaulting over a broken stump as shards of wood and stone tore into his side, "Thirteen Hells!" He cursed, catching himself just in time to roll beneath the creature's ethereal grasp.
Mud splattered across his face, thick and cold, he spat it out, blinking through the haze. There was no time to think, only to react. Another swing came, and he spun away, back slamming into a moss-covered boulder that groaned under his weight.
"Wretched, BastardPaladin!" the possessed serpent roared.
Aric's eyes locked onto the creature's writhing limbs, studying the way they moved, the rhythm of their attacks. He grit his teeth, waiting... waiting... and then, he lunged! The broken sword hissed through the air, carving a wide arc, straight through one of the spectral limbs. His eyes widened, the grim confirmation of his theory chilling the blood in his veins.
The blade passed through the specter's arms as if they were made of smoke.
"Of course..." he breathed, stumbling backward as the limb reformed, flickering with blue light. The abomination curled toward him, a wretched smile spreading across it's mangled face with malicious intent. Aric sighed, "You cheating little–"
Another blow crashed into the bog beside him, sending him hurtling through the air. He landed hard, mud and grime splashing up around him. Scrambling to his feet, he sprinted away, legs burning with every step.
A green bar labeled: [STAMINA] pulsed into his vision, the vibrant color rapidly draining as it depleted, blinking red, teetering on the brink of empty. Behind him, the serpent's possessed voice shrieked with unbridled fury, its massive limbs smashing into the muck, scattering sludge and broken trees in its relentless pursuit.
"SSSSTOP RUNNING!!!"
A pit loomed ahead, a deep gash in the earth where debris and bog rot had gathered from the chaos. Without thinking, Aric leapt, diving headfirst into the filth. His body slipping through gaps between layers of broken wood, decaying carcasses, and heaps of bog residue, the stench suffocating. He stilled himself, half-submerged in the muck, breaths shallow and silent as the serpent screeched and thrashed above. "NO MORE HIDING!!!"
Its limbs clawed through the refuse, shredding piles of rot and scattering bone fragments in its fury. But it did not find him, as Aric, slow and controlled, carefully slipped out the far side of the pit, slinking low and quiet.
He crawled through the mud until he reached a jagged boulder, ducking behind it and catching his breath. His chest burned, each breath like dragging his lungs through fire and shattered glass.
The jagged stubs of broken ribs scraped against tender flesh, sending jolts of pain through his chest. His head throbbed with every heartbeat, but he remained silent and steady, eyes locked on the serpent as it rampaged through the wreckage, desperate to find him.
His stamina meter flickered desperately, warning that he was running on fumes. "Gods..." Aric sighed, relieved, as he watched the green bar flicker, then slowly start to creep back up now that he was stationary.
"This won't work..." he muttered, wiping sweat and blood mixed red mud from his brow. The specter's voice howled across the swamp, its many voices made one, screaming with a singular rage.
"Why should they deserve freedom! Why not us who have suffered longer!"
Aric clenched his jaw, peering out from behind the stone as the beast's translucent fists hammered into the muddy pit where it believed he still hid. Each blow sent geysers of muck skyward, the serpent's rage palpable as it tore through the sludge.
I can't kill it... he thought, eyes scanning the monster's writhing, spirit-possessed form. His sword, cracked and battered, was a mere mortal weapon.
Paradise Lost could cleave through gods and devils alike, but this broken blade? It could hardly kill a man, let alone this monstrosity. He ducked back, limbs shaking, memories of his time as a crusader flooding back to him .
Specters, banshees... the undead. He remembered the way they shrieked as maces of silver shattered their forms or when blessed water burned through their essence like acid.
The strongest of shades, those who had festered in negativity for centuries within ornate tombs and long forgotten battlefields, needed to be smote directly by holy light, banished via the will of the gods themselves.
Holy magic, That was the key. And yet, stripped of divine blessing, clutching a shattered weapon in a forsaken swamp, he had no divine favor to call upon.
Then, a glimmer of light flashed before his eyes. Aric blinked, then furrowed his brow. "Spells..." He said, heart beating faster. "What did the system say, I... unlocked one?". With a swipe of his hand, the semi-translucent screen flickered into view, panels spiraling into place.
[SPELLS]
[Devour Divine]
Class: SSS
Type: Domination
Effect: Consume the divine essence of defeated mortals and immortals, absorbing their power and binding their essence to your own.
- Requirement: The target must be defeated.
[ACTIVATE]
Aric's will nearly vanished as he read those words. Defeat? he thought. I don't have any way kill this damned–
Before the thought could fully take root, revelation struck him, sharp and undeniable. His eyes glinted with sudden understanding.
He glanced down at his fatigue bar, now half-restored from his brief reprieve. Peering out from behind the cover of the stone, he watched the serpent writhe and howl, its rage shaking the very air. "I can't kill you... not like this," he whispered, a smirk pulling at the edge of his lips.
"But I can defeat you."