The Last Dainv-Chapter 144

The Last Dainv-Chapter 144

The shockwave disturbed the white wall of snow, allowing Gale to see everything for that split second. In front of his friends was the wendigo that they had fought on the non-existent 6th floor.
Paradoxically, he could now see the thing in full view. It stood at least two and a half metres tall. The only fur it had was centred around its head, but the rest of its body just had scarred-up leather. Its two front arms bore claws while its legs were hooves. The antlers on its head pulsed a faint yellow while its eyes took on a bloodshot colour.
Rachel kneeled on the ground with one leg, her right arm clutching at her other arm. Ollie had his grey marble spinning around himself, blocking the wendigo from approaching Rachel.
Kyle threw a dagger at its back that bit into its leather, teleporting to it and shooting multiple shots into its body. When it shook off Kyle, another boom of shockwave tore through the air from Clyde, hitting the wendigo right on the chest.
"Rachel!" Gale shouted, reaching into his pocket.
The storage box interface appeared. Eyes went to Weber, and immediately appeared in his right hand. Gale ran from the treeline, kicking up snow.
[Warning: Entity corruption in progress. Threat assessment: Maximum for current capabilities. Recommend immediate tactical retreat.]
"Shut up," Gale muttered to Guide. Retreat wasn't an option.
The beast reared back, raising one massive claw. Ollie and Rachel tried to roll away. Too late, its claws mid swing crashed against the grey marble, shattering it into bits. Its claws grazed Ollie and Rachel's backs, slightly slicing off more of their jackets.
Gale launched himself forward, meeting the wendigo head on. Downwards swing in an arc. Blade hit the creature's arm before it could swing another claw at the two. The wendigo blocked, swatting away Weber as Gale allowed himself to be shoved away into where Rachel laid.
"Get up!" Gale grabbed Rachel's arm with his free hand and pulled her up. "Move!"
Rachel stood up as blood ran down her left arm. "It's too strong."
The wendigo took on a charging stance. Antlers aimed at the two of them.
It charged. Gale pulled Rachel in, dashing to the side. The antlers missed just inches before they got out.
Ollie and Clyde fired their bullets. Each bullet met with a clanging sound that sounded like it was hitting steel. Bullets did nothing.
The wendigo pounced back at Ollie who floated rapidly onto a pine branch. It was too fast and lethal. Any good hit from the wendigo would knock out anyone or worse, kill them. Looking back at Rachel, melee wasn't an option unless she had an actual weapon, which she usually didn't.
"I can't get close!" Kyle shouted from Gale's right. "Motherfucker's too quick." He fired his last round, the gun clicking empty. "Shit! I'm out!"
The creature charged at Kyle. Roll under the swing. Too close to its legs. Claws already pointing downwards where he had rolled.
"Ollie!" Clyde yelled over the wind. "Stop being a damn pansy and use your telekinesis! Stop fucking holding back!"
"I'm trying!" Ollie clutched at the air, aiming at the wendigo. Nothing happened.
Kyle had blinked away as the claw smashed at where just was. Its eyes turned to Rachel again. Charge.
Rachel planted her feet and threw a palm forward. Fire erupted from her hands, a harsh bright orange that lit up the snow and melted everything in front of her. The beast disappeared in flames for a second.
The fire and smoke cleared, yet the wendigo remained unhurt. Both of its claws held up as a shield. It snarled and swung the back of its hands towards Rachel.
Gale blocked it with the Weber's flat. Launched backwards, hit Rachel from behind, sending both of them flying at least ten feet away. Dainv Combat Arts kicked in, shifting himself and Rachel mid air before they hit a tree in their trajectory. Rachel positioned to stand up, skidding on the snow while Gale repositioned himself to hit the tree feet first.
The world slowed down. Every snowflake moved at a snail's pace. The wendigo's muscles activated. Based on which muscles, it would be a lunge to himself.
Gale met the lunge head on, slicing at the incoming claws. Metal hit bone. Sparks flew. Hands went numb. Weber recoiled backwards. Spin back, let the rebound slice against the body.
The beast sidestepped right as the spin came full circle. Weber hit nothing but air. Before Gale could recover, the creature drove its claws at his chest.
This was it. No time to dodge or block mid spin. He closed his eyes.
The punch stopped an inch from his chest. Frozen in space.
A blue glow outlined the wendigo. Its muscles bulged, obviously trying to move, but couldn't.
"I got it!" Ollie shouted with a strained, cracking voice. Sweat ran down his face. Clutched arms shook, pointing at the beast. "But I can't hold it long! Hit it now!"
Gale backed up, ready to strike again.
"Rachel!" Ollie yelled. "Stop holding back! Who cares about the surroundings!"
Rachel wound up her fist, engulfing her arm in fire that spread through her whole body that didn't burn her clothes. The snow at her feet turned to steam.
Punch
.
A fireball spewed out of from her punch, three times larger than the one she shot before. Ground shook, trees swayed against the punch. The blast lit up the clearing as though it was afternoon.
Moving through the blinding light, Gale closed his eyes, using the tendrils to see the wendigo. Somehow, it moved just enough from Ollie's grasp to make a shield with its two arms.
He burst through the wall of flame. The beast stood there, arms crossed. Something beneath its leather pulsed with a faint yellow light. The heart.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; any instances of this story on Amazon.
Phase Touch activated. Weber aimed to stab where the heart was. Tip pierced the wendigo's hide. At the last second, it twisted just enough for the blade to pass through non-vital organs.
The wendigo howled. Blue outline flickering. Ollie was losing control.
The deer is my friend too.She plays with me sometimes. Please stop them from killing her.
Dyani's voice rang clear in Gale's head. Its eyes looked at him, trembling. Even with its monstrous face, he knew that look anywhere.
It was scared.
"Wait," Gale shouted. "Don't!"
The wendigo roared again, but differently, more like a whine. It pulled away from Gale's blade, tearing a new wound in its side. The blue outline around it shattered.
Ollie fell to his knees in the snow, hands on his mouth, gagging.
The beast broke free, shaking off the last bits of Ollie's control. Its bloodshot eyes found Gale first, then shifted to Rachel, who had gotten up from the snow.
Rachel charged, closing the gap in a second. Her fist hit the beast's gut with a blow that sent an audible thump even through the howling winds, sending shockwaves through the air and scattering snow everywhere.
The creature stumbled back, hooves skidding along the deep snow.
"Now!" Kyle shouted.
Clyde fired another bullet that left a trail of shockwave. The shot hit the creature straight in the chest where the pulsing yellow heart was. The blast knocked the beast back more than three steps after the bullet clanged against the hide.
It didn't fall.
Gale watched. His sword dripped with the thick, tar-like ooze from the wendigo's chest. Something wasn't right. The beast should be dead by now.
Its speed alone could have ended this fight in seconds. It could have torn Rachel's throat out before she even saw it move. Could have gutted Kyle while he reloaded. Could have ripped Ollie apart while he knelt tired in the snow. It outmatched everyone physically.
Then why?!
Not once had it really attacked. Every move was defensive. It was blocking, dodging, pushing them away. Its clawed swings never had any real impact on their flesh. Even now, with five wounds leaking that strange black stuff, it stood its ground instead of running into the storm where they'd never find it.
It was holding back. It didn't want to hurt any of them.
Rachel jumped forward again, fire covering her fist as she threw another punch. A wave of flame rolled off her arm, heading straight for the wendigo.
One swipe down from its big claws broke the wave of fire. It jumped. Too fast for Rachel to react.
Gale's heart dropped. He wasn't there to block for her.
However, all the beast did was use the back of its claws to swat her away, slinging her deep into a snowbank near a tree. The snow cushioned her fall, and she came up right away.
Unhurt. Completely unhurt.
The wendigo turned toward Kyle next. It bounded across the clearing in two big steps. Kyle tried to dodge, but the beast was too fast. Its claw swung down, then paused, hovering over Kyle's head for a split second.
The pause lasted only a moment before the wendigo used its inner palm to swat Kyle away, knocking him into another pile of soft snow. Like Rachel, he popped up seconds later, snow on his jacket but fine.
Gale lowered the Weber. The pattern was clear. It could really have killed all of them. Instead, it kept pushing them away in a defence against… why are they even fighting this thing?
"It's not attacking!" Gale called out. "It's defending!"
No one seemed to hear him over the howling wind. Clyde's magazine popped off as he popped in another white glyphed magazine. Rachel's hands blazed with fresh fire, glowing closer to a white hot.
A blue outline surrounded the wendigo again as Ollie caught it with his telekinesis. The wendigo fought against the restraint as its muscles bulged below its thick hide.
Clyde raised his weapon, eye to the scope. "Got a clean shot at its head now."
"NO!" Gale threw himself between Clyde and the beast, arms spread wide. "STOP! All of you, STOP!"
Everyone froze.
"Don't shoot," Gale kept his arms up. "It's not trying to hurt us."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Kyle spat. "That thing tried to kill us!"
"No." Gale shook his head. "We'd be all dead by now if it did try to kill us."
"So what?" Ollie grunted, hands shaking to maintain the control. "Aur laws. Kill anything that gave in to the taint. Why does it matter?!"
"I don't know!" Gale glanced back at the wendigo. "But there's something more, it's not fully tainted. It's thinking; otherwise, it wouldn't be like this!"
"Fuck this! I don't give a shit!" Clyde shouted before firing a shockwave round. Gale tried to block, but the bullet hit it right at the centre of its chest.
"NO!" Gale shouted.
The entity's bloodshot eyes pulsed a deep red. It broke free from Ollie's grip, twisting its body. In one smooth motion, it backhanded Gale and sent Clyde flying backwards with a fist.
"Gale!" Rachel shouted.
She turned to the wendigo, fire blazing white. Lunge to the entity, hand wound back. One punch, and a drill of fire surged toward its head.
The wendigo couldn't dodge. Two arms blocked the point of the fire. Patches of its leather sizzled away as it howled and whined.
Blue outline wrapped around the beast once again. Ollie shouted, "Clyde, take the shot!"
Gale shot himself upwards. Dashed across the clearing. Just as Clyde squeezed the trigger, Gale's hand had already pointed the gun's barrel upwards.
"The fuck you doing!" Clyde stumbled backwards, trying to regain footing from the knee deep snow.
Kyle raised his gun at Gale. "Have you lost your goddamn mind, rookie?!"
"Three shots left on the mag, can't waste another because of this dipshit!" Clyde yelled.
Kyle's hand went to the back of his jacket. Dagger whistled through the air towards Gale's neck.
Sidestep, dodged. Not fast enough. The blade's edge caught his cheek, making a thin red line.
Blue light blinked, and Kyle appeared where the blade had just passed through Gale. Gun already pointed at the back of his skull.
Gale dropped into a crouch, faster than anticipated. Body twisted, palm out, forward to Kyle's abdomen, sending him backwards, back hitting the trunk with a thud.
"Gale, stop!" Rachel shouted, charging toward him.
She dashed at him with fist engulfed in fire. Her eyes met his for a split second, causing her fist to stutter mid motion.
Blade's flat whistled through the air, softly scooping her up on the flank and throwing her into a snowbank just a couple of metres away.
Rachel pushed herself up easily. "Why are you protecting that thing?"
Before Gale could answer, blue outline enveloped his whole body. He swung the flat of Weber at Ollie, however, his sword froze mid-motion.
"That's enough," Ollie grunted. Sweat froze on his forehead. "Get your shit together, Gale. That thing is a tainted. It's our job as Aurians to kill anything tainted. It could've came out from a rift!"
Clyde walked up to the two and brought up the barrel of his long gun directly to Gale's head. "Tell me when, Ollie. It's going to be quick and clean."
"Do it," Kyle called from the tree, still retching. "Kill that fucker."
Gale pushed against the invisible bonds. His arms shook with effort but barely moved. He could break out of this if he let Breath of the Void in. That was the last resort. But in that state, if he saw them as enemies, there was no going back. "If you'd just listen, this wouldn't have happened like this."
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't put a hole in your skull right now," Clyde's finger hovered over the trigger. "Come on, Ollie. Give me one fucking reason."
Gale forced out a chuckle with a grin. "You know something. Now I get it. Last week's assassination attempts get discussed at the same dining table."
The clearing fell into a deafening standstill. The wendigo pinned by Ollie's telekinesis, eyes fixed on Gale. It had stopped struggling, only watching.
Rachel walked back to the scene, heat coming off of her so hot that the blowing snow around her turned into rain. A circle below her formed from the melting snow, revealing the dead grass. Her eyes trembled as she looked into Gale's own eyes, but her defensive stance told him everything that she was on his side.

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Chapter 144