Varik and the rotten abomination stared at each other with so much murderous intent everyone could feel it in the air like a storm about to break. Riven had always known that Varik was strong, but now that he had put on his mask, there was something else—something primal. It made Riven's skin crawl, made the hairs on his arms rise, made his breath hitch without meaning to.
There was a moment of silence. It was intense and heavy.
Until all hell broke loose.
In an instant, the rotten monstrosity moved, its bloated, decomposing body jerking forward. It left piles of rotten flesh in its wake, trailing gore as it lunged. It jumped at Varik with two massive hands, each one twisted and bloated, filled with sharp and dangerous claws that looked as if they had been grown for the sole purpose of tearing flesh apart.
But the attack was stopped—slammed into something.
A bulbous shield stood between it and Varik, glowing faintly with crimson veins. Varik didn't flinch. He just stood there, like a boulder in a river while chaos rushed around him.
The abomination attacked with madness and hunger, slashing wildly, snarling and shrieking with a voice like shredded metal. It howled, again and again, but Varik didn't move.
Not once.
Nira and Eros nodded at the other Firstborns.
A silent command passed between them to go.
The Firstborns scattered, taking their assigned positions. The air itself felt like it to began tighten.
It all made sense to Riven now. It clicked together like the final piece in a broken puzzle. Varik was a Warden mask-type user.
Warden masks were said to be unbreakable walls—unbreakable in both body and will. Their purpose wasn't just to fight.It was to endure.To hold the line.
The emblem of a broken sun glowed at the center of Varik's shield, pulsing with red-crimson flames. The same flames flickered across the edges of his mask, trailing off like dying embers into the air. In that instant, he raised his massive greatsword from the side with a grunt of effort, aiming directly for the abomination's neck in one swift, brutal motion.But the blow was blocked.
The creature raised its claws just in time. Steel met bone and rotten flesh with a deafening clang, sparks flying, and only a shallow wound appeared across the abomination's neck. Rotten blood hissed where it landed, sizzling against the stone like acid.
Yes.
The abomination was insane.
Yes.
It was hungry.
But it had instincts.
And it could sense danger.
Chunks of its body had already scattered around the tunnel floor, bits of sloughing skin and ruptured muscle that twitched and reeked. The air was thick with a disgusting, repulsive stench. The creature leapt back, landing with a sickening squelch, leaving more putrid flesh behind.
Then it roared.
But it didn't just roar.
It screamed—a sound that felt has though it was calling for help, a wail that echoed throughout the entire sewer. The walls vibrated,the stagnant water trembled.
Riven's sensitive hearing caught every inch of it. His head throbbed in response, sound digging into his skull like knives.
"Rotten bastard. Shut up"
Eros gave a subtle signal to Nira.
"It was time, let go"
Nira moved forward, twin blades in hand, her movements fluid and sharp. Her eyes locked on the abomination, and her entire purpose currently was to kill the rotten monstrosity in front of her.
Eros vanished.Just like that he was gone.there was no sound and no trace of him. His presence erased entirely, as though he had never existed at all.
Varik tightened his grip around the hilt of his greatsword. The blade was heavy and slow, but when it landed it won't be favourable for any monster in his sights. He charged forward, shield raised, you could hear the sound of his armored boots.
He slammed into the side of the abomination, shield-first,there was a wet, crushing impact.
The creature let out an inhuman scream, it was sharp and guttural. It stumbled but didn't fall. Its rotten limbs flailed. It tried to bite off Varik's head, maw wide with broken teeth and blackened gums. Varik ducked just in time, the foul breath of the monstrosity washing over him like poison, and moved back a step, pivoting.
He swung his great sword, the greatsword cleaved into the abomination's torso, slicing through flesh his blade dug deep, and as it tore through, several pieces of what once looked like organs fell out. They splattered on the stone with wet smack blackened lungs, a decaying heart, long strings of tissue that looked too old to be alive and several maggots followed.
But that didn't mean Varik could get away with it unscathed, the greatsword was still lodged in the creature's gut.
And before he could wrench it free,It bit him.
The abomination lunged and bit down into Varik's shoulder, teeth crashing into his armor with a horrid crunch. Sparks flew. Metal screamed. Varik grunted in pain but didn't yield an inch.
The Firstborn stood in their assigned locations, eyes searching the shadows,nd then they saw something move,not just one, many figure moved in the shadows
Shadows crawling at the edge of the darkness, slow and then faster, like a flood held back by a dam.It was too dark to see clearly, but they could hear them
The utility-type mask user hissed, voice sharp and cold.
"Monsters. A lot of them."