STANDALONE SPECIAL SIDE STORY DEFINITELY NOT A FILLER- THE FOUR DIVINE STARS OF DAWN -
Nova: “I am Nova!”
She swiftly aims her bow at the ceiling with a half-squat-like pose.
Thorkal: “I’m the great Thorkal!”
The big man rips his short sleeves with a flex of his biceps in a T-like pose.
Helltaker: “Call me Helltaker.”
The scrawny one spits his name like a snake, his pale skin and dark eyes staring seriously from above, standing tall between the other two in the condescending way of a young god.
Robert: “And I am… Raaaa… Roo. Ah, Robert.”
The fourth person stands nervously on the side, rubbing the back of his short blond hair.
Nova: “We are here to help!”
Thorkal: “Don’t fear, the heroes are here!”
Helltaker: “You may bow, Mortals. Or I will kill you where you stand.”
Robert: “And, uhm… There’s no trouble we cannot fix!”
Robert gnces at his teammates posing gloriously and quickly moves his right hand to his sheathed sword and straightens himself, posing like a royal knight on guard duty.
“Because we are… the Four Divine Stars of Dawn!”
The four of them continue like heroic statuses, as if waiting for a point to be proven upon their sheer imagery.
Fyh: “Okay… So, do you accept the quest?”
Fyh, an elf with light-pink hair, green stems and flowers between each strand, asks from the other side of the front desk.
Nova: “Of course! We are the Four Divine Stars of Dawn ”
Their leader, seeing how unsurprised the clerk was by the first announcement, raises her voice with even more intonation and inspiration.
Thorkal: “What is a mere beast hunt for us?”
Helltaker: “It should be quite a swift chore. Even if I gulped its soul entirely, my powers would not grow a bit.”
The guildhall remains silent for a while.
Some other adventurers stare at the scene with clear despise and scorn from the tables in the background. Sweat slides down the faces of the four still frozen in their heroic poses, not by nervousness, of course, but by their rather strange attempts to send a coded message of repeating gnces and quiet grunts to their fourth member intensifying by the second, who has yet to share his part of the group’s confidence.
Robert: “Ah, yeah. Uhm… let me see… I, ahem—I don’t mind it? I guess.”
Nova nods with a step forward and extends her hand.
Nova: “Give me the contract!”
Fyh: “Are you sure? I mean, it is a snow mountain dragon-tiger.”
Nova: “No problemo.”
Fyh: “It’s very… very dangerous…”
Nova: “I’m aware!”
Fyh: “Hm… it has disappeared for now, but the citizens that were attacked said it ran towards the Dead Mountain.”
The clerk waits for a reaction, but all Nova does is repeatedly retract and extend her arm forward with a cheeky expression on her face.
Fyh: “…Only a few Heroes could go against it, but because they all disappeared, there’s no one strong enough to take it down.”
The elf’s eyes turn bck and shine like lone stars in a night sky, nametags popping in her sight and hovering above each of the adventurer’s heads.
Fyh: “You guys are all level forty; the best with an Expeditionary rank only. Unfortunately, I cannot give you this mission.”
Helltaker: “Tsk.”
Thorkal: “And why is that? Do you think we are weak? Must I remember you we are not!” – He flexes his muscles even harder and steps closer for the elf to see.
Robert: “Yeah, that’s right, we aren’t weak!”
Fyh: “Look…” – She leans back to regain some personal space. – “Even if I wanted to, I can’t. This quest is closed to Legendary ranks only.”
Nova: “L-L-Legendary!?”
The four of them immediately lose composure.
Fyh: “Yeah, it says right here: Le-gen-da-ry, in purple, right below the contract’s title.”
Nova: “I-I-I didn’t know. B-But we’ll take it anyway! It’s not like we are afraid of it. There aren’t many Legendary missions around here, you surprised me that’s all. We always accomplished our missions so far; this one isn’t going to be different! Right guys?”
Thorkal: “YEAH!” – He rips the shoulders of his shirt with the apex flex of his muscles.
Helltaker: “Whatever…” – The scrawny one looks to the side sweating.
The fourth member also opens his mouth with enthusiasm but stops before the words come out, quickly rethinking their situation and turning to their leader with a frown.
Robert: “Nova, isn’t it a little too much? I mean, I didn’t-”
Nova: “-We are taking it!”
She steps forward to lean on the front desk and extends her hand even closer to the flowery clerk.
And all Fyh could do… is look back at them with a tired expression and sigh.
- - - - - One hour ter… - - - - -
Nova: “Damn that Elf! ‘You’re not qualified, bh bh bh. Only Legendary adventurers, bh bh bh. You’ll see, you’ll see.“
The four of them walk in a drizzling forest, wearing backpacks and following a narrow dirt path between many bushes and thin trees.
Robert: “Uhm, Nova. Are you sure? It *is* a Legendary quest… I don’t know if I can go with you guys.”
Helltaker: “Heh, bailing out? I guess Mortals are more cowardly than I thought.”
Robert: “It’s just that-, this is my first mission with you guys, and… a Legendary? Uhm, I don’t know. I just heard stories about those, like the great heroes of the sword, or the one-hundred-men-army mage. You know, those children’s stories.”
Thorkal: “That’s right! And we are now the same as those strong heroes! Striding forth with no fear and protecting the world from evil!”
Robert: “You know all the heroes in those stories die in the end, right?”
Thorkal: “Everyone dies! As heroes, we can choose to be in battle!”
Helltaker: “Say that to yourself, Mortal.”
Nova: “Yeah, I don’t think dying while doing the right thing is that bad, the old Robert died proudly with a smile on his face.”
Robert: “Wait, what? The old Robert!? That’s why you guys changed my name?”
But Nova ignores him.
Nova: “Ah, I remember like it was yesterday! He bravely held twelve slimes on his own to buy us time to retreat. He died like a true hero!”
Helltaker: “It was yesterday.”
Nova: “Ah, yeah, that’s right. I fought it was at least two or three days ago.”
Robert: “What the hell!? And you guys already repced the guy?”
Nova: “Yeah? I mean, we are the Four Divine Stars of Dawn, it wouldn’t make sense to only have three of us.”
Robert: “And why did you change my name to his??”
Nova: “To honor him of course!”
Robert: “I’m not a newborn for you to name!”
Nova: “But you did sign it, so what’s done is done. We can talk about it when your contract is renewed.”
Robert: “R-Renewed? Are you insane!? I’m not going to do that!!”
Helltaker: “Oh, so he did read it. You went through it in such haste that I presumed you were illiterate.”
Robert: “Uh? What do you mean?”
Helltaker: “The contract I made to you is permanent. No renewing, closing, or breaking it. Even after you die and get reborn your soul will belong to me, for eternity.”
They stop walking.
Robert: “W-W-What the fuck!!??!??!?!?!?!”
Thorkal: “Geez, that’s rough, man. Helltaker always does this prank, but everyone points it out and we change it before signing. Looks like we forgot all about it this time around.”
Robert: “D-Dammit… I’ll be a Robert for the rest of my life?”
Helltaker sighs tiredly.
Helltaker: “Do not be silly, of course not. Even your afterlives will be called Robert, that is the curse bound to you. From the void to the frozen waters of the past, you shall be Robert. Your old name was completely erased from the memories of Tacika.”
Robert: “W-What-? Wait—that’s right, what was my old name? What did you do to me!? You’re all mad! I’m out of this!! I’m going home!”
Helltaker: “Even your mother will call you Robert, Mortal. And any writings, drawings, and memories with your name are now ‘Robert’. There’s no going back from the contract now. You should face your new given destiny with pride.”
Robert falls to his knees on the muddy ground.
Robert: “No, it can’t be… My real name is gone…?”
Nova: “Damn, that’s scary, not even I knew you had this much power, Helltaker. Give me a high-five! Yeah!”
They high-five, and then Thorkal sps Helltaker’s hand as well.
Helltaker: “It’s merely child’s py when you are one of the Divine Immortal Races.”
He proudly waves his shoulder-length bck hair.
Nova: “But no more crying over the spilled bread, Robert! Get up and march, we are going to defeat a dragon-tiger today! There’s no reason for you to be sad!”
She leads the way and Thorkal follows at a slower pace, but Helltaker goes a single step forward and looks back at Robert in the mud.
Helltaker: “If it bothers you that much… I guess I can reconsider giving your old name back, depending on the outcome of your efforts, of course. Though it is harder, I can still manage with my stupendous abilities.”
Robert: “Seriously?!”
Helltaker: “Indeed.”
Robert: “You promise to me? If I work hard, you’ll give it back!”
Helltaker: “Hmph.” – He turns away with a sweat sliding down his temple. – “I do.”
Robert: “Okay.” – He cleans his tears. – “I’ll try my best, then!”
Helltaker goes forth, and Robert stands up to follow.
Robert: That’s right… As dire things may appear, there’s always hope if you keep on trying… Isn’t it, Mother?
- - - - - Four more hours ter… - - - - -
On a narrow cave path, Robert’s wide eyes focus forward to not trips as he runs for his dear life.
Robert: “WE ARE GOING TO DIE! HOLY FUCKING SHIT!”
He pants heavily while something explodes in fmes behind him.
Nova: “Just- don’t look back! Don’t look back. Don’t look back.”
Robert: “WHAT IS YOUR PLAN, LEADER?”
He looks at Nova running at his side, waiting for an order, but she only keeps on mumbling the same three words with a stern face.
Nova: “Don’t look back. Don’t look back. Don’t look back.”
Robert: “GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!! THINK OF SOMETHING, WE ARE GOING TO DIE!”
A heavy and metallic body slides on a rail, bumping into some pebbles and building up speed as it descends towards the two of them.
Robert: “DAMMIT!!!!”
- - - - - Uhm… About one hour before… - - - - -
Deep in the forest path, the Four Divine Stars of Dawn take cover behind a bush with a leaf above each of their heads for camoufge.
Thorkal: “So, that’s it?”
Nova: “The highest cave of the Dead Mountain. It must be.”
Robert: “It looks more like an old mineshaft than a cave.”
Nova: “It’s the same thing.”
Thorkal: “Isn’t a dragon-tiger awake in daylight? Or is it at dawn, you think?”
Nova: “Huh? Isn’t it—like—always sleeping? Don’t you remember the kitty from that grandma’s coffee shop? They never stop sleeping, I think it’s the same thing for the big cats. It only wakes up to eat and use its sandbox, then it goes back to bed.”
Robert: “I don’t think a tiger is the same thing, much less a dragon halfling.”
Helltaker: “To my eyes, big or small, they are the same thing, brittle and mortal all the same.”
Robert: “You say that, but you look more scared than me.”
Helltaker: “M-Me? Scared? You mad.”
Nova: “Okay, no more waiting! We charge!”
Robert: “Eh? What?”
Thorkal: “Chaaaarge!!!”
Nova and Thorkal stand up and run uphill screaming.
Robert: “Weren’t we supposed to rest a little!?”
Hesitantly, the other two follow the war cries.
The mineshaft’s support poles are made of old wood full of cracks and mold.
No surprises there, it was abandoned a few decades ago.
And yet the entrance still stands, so our four adventurers can be engulfed in its darker insides.
Nova snaps her fingers into a spark, conjuring a small fire to dance at the tip of her index finger and carrying it into the heart of a gssed cage of iron. It ignites, the fmes take some time to condense into a ball of fire within, and the small lid is closed. She extends the magic ntern forward and their path is now enlightened for them to proceed moving. And they do so.
Helltaker: “The Dead Mountain. The pce where the ancient god Yaratar spread her curse to fall into the living below. ‘Death to all’, she screamed, and so it concretized. Her wraith for disturbing her ir transformed the mountain from something full of life to a venomous swamp. Though now the effects are minor, it is said that at the spell’s peak, all creatures had their flesh separated from their muscles and it from their bones. Each limb and organ dismantled as if they were never once together, and the worst of all… each piece became independent, taking its breath and preying on anything in sight. That is the Dead Mountain’s tale.”
Robert: “Could you stop it? My stomach cramps when I’m anxious. It’s frightening enough to have to fight a dragon-tiger.”
Helltaker: “Do not worry, Mortal.” – He turns sweating and shaking like a cold dog. – “It is just a story to frighten children.”
Robert: “Then why are you shivering!?”
His scream echoes in the narrow paths of the mineshaft. And right after, a distant rock falls and breaks beyond their vision.
Thorkal: “What was that?”
Nova: “Probably Yaratar doesn’t like your annoying voices.” – She continues to stride forward. – “Stop compining and march.”
Robert: “Wait, Yaratar is real? I thought Helltaker invented it just now.”
Helltaker: “I am fttered that you think my powers are enough to create a god and challenge the wrath of paradox by ripping the web of time. But I must correct you, unfortunately, I did not invent it.”
Thorkal: “Yeah, you are not from here, right, Robert? But this story is pretty common to us folk. It was a big deal about a hundred years ago, but it never happened again, so there’s nothing to worry about. Just… if you see red mist, you run.”
Robert: “Red mist?? That thing is what separates limbs?”
Thorkal: “That’s what my grandpa always told me.”
Robert: “What the fuck.”
Robert and Helltaker shiver even more.
Nova: “Shhh! Hey, look! This is burnt, the dragon-tiger must have passed here!”
She points to some blurred paw marks on a rail path that intersected us.
Nova: “It must use another path to enter that we are unaware of.”
Robert: “Oh my Goddess, they are huge. I don’t think I can make it. Its paw is bigger than my head.”
Helltaker: “Well, that is not difficult, is it?”
Robert: “Look who is talking. Yours is even smaller!”
Helltaker: “Excuse me, my head is exempry bigger, for your pitiful knowledge. How else would I hold the solutions of the unknown that you mortals cannot even realize—“
Nova: “Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! We are going to follow its trail now.”
Thorkal: “But where it goes? The marks go both ways.”
Nova: “We follow both of them. We’ll separate into two groups.”
“Separate?” – Robert and Helltaker say in union.
Nova: “Hmmm…. Robert and Helltaker take the left, and I and Thorkal go right. If anything wrong happens come back or scream.”
Robert: “Scream? Did you forget about that noise we heard after I said something slightly louder?”
Nova: “Then what is your pn?”
Helltaker: “… Well, I have a proposal.” – The paler one smiles nervously, trying to keep his cool voice. – “I do possess the skill to track souls I own. So it would come to my knowledge if Robert is in danger, but it will be of no use if we are in the same team.”
Robert: “What!? You have a tracker on me? What else you can do?”
Helltaker: “I also can hear your thoughts if I look at your face. And pinch you from a distance.”
Robert: “You can do what!?”
Helltaker surrounds his fingers with dark magic and pinches his own arm.
Robert: “Ouch! What the hell?! Never do that again! Never. And stop with the hearing my thoughts thing!”
Nova: “Okay, I’m changing the teams then. Me with Robert and Helltaker with Thorkal. If you can’t go forward or the trail ends, just go back and follow the other group’s path. If the trail splits, take the one on your right. If it turns out to be a dead end, mark the entrance with chalk and take another path. That way if anything dangerous happens, we can follow the same rules and regroup faster. Right? Let’s go.”
Robert: “Wait, wait, wait! We are separating just like that? Aren’t we against a dragon-tiger?! It would be hard enough with four of us, there’s no way half of us can fight against it.”
Nova: “When we find it, we’ll regroup. We’re just managing our time efficiently.”
Robert: “I don’t think this case needs to have priority in time efficiency. We should py it safe.”
Thorkal: “It’s alright, Robert!” – The big man sps Robert’s back. – “Just don’t scream when you find it and it won’t notice you!”
Helltaker: “T-That’s right, don’t be a coward, Mortal.”
Nova: “Let’s go, move it. March!”
She strides forth to the right path.
Robert: “Dammit, I have a bad feeling about this…”
Robert follows her steps, and the other group goes to the opposite side.
Thorkal: “Oh, and remember to run if you find red mist!”
Thorkal waves his iron ntern in a goodbye in the distance.
Robert: “For the Goddess… why do you remember me of that?”
Nova: “Stop mumbling, Robert. You’ll scare the beast away.”
Robert: “What do you think we are doing? Fishing!?”
Nova: “Of course not, we are Heroes! Heroes don’t do fishing! I think.”
Robert: Ugh… There’s no use talking to these people. What hellhole did I pce myself in?
Robert keeps his head down as he moves, his dirty and sweating hands at the center of his focus.
The only thing I wanted was to be stronger.
Grow with a group and create inseparable bonds.
To have tales to tell my kids and grandkids when I’m older.
I knew this party wasn’t strong, but I thought they would be fun to adventure with.
But look at me now… digging my own grave and the crazy person they call a “Leader” is screaming to dig even deeper.
I lost my name, I have no money, and now, I’m going to die like a nobody…
Nova: “Stop weeping, Robert. What are you, a hungry dog?”
Robert: “I don’t know… what-, am I doing here?”
Nova: “Have you lost your mind? You’re certainly not a dog, you’re a Hero about to hunt a dragon! Is the dusty air making you hallucinate?”
Nova sniffs the air a few times to check for herself.
A long sigh comes from deep within Robert.
Robert: “…I’m not a hero, Nova. This sword is my dad’s keepsake. He bought it to defend the farm against monsters. But he never actually had to use it. I left the crop fields so I could follow my childhood dream to be an adventurer. But I… I never fought before.”
He lowers his head, looking at the old rails as he walks.
Nova: “And what about it? Just because you never fought before, does it mean you can’t? How are you going to learn how to fight if you never try? As long you have a sword to draw and the will to fight, you’ll know what to do.
Robert: “Do you think so? But I never even faced a monster before.”
Nova: “Of course! My first time was with a slime. It was a mess too, far from perfect. Sticky, stinky, warm all over. Ergh!”
Robert: Weird way to describe it but alright…
Nova: “But it was what molded my future… I was twelve when it happened, and I still remember it as if it was yesterday. I was filling some buckets on the river near my house just as I used to do every day, and can you believe the damn thing was hiding under the water? When I bent down, it leaped right at me in a ‘vush’! It was a big one too, like the size of those really big bags of potatoes, you know? It scared the hell out of me.”
Robert: “And… what happened?”
Nova looks at the ceiling as she slows her pacing.
Nova: “I tumbled back… and lifted my arm, just like this,”
She stops to walk entirely, lifting her right leather-gloved hand to the stone ceiling, palm slightly forward.
Nova: “And it went right through, the only thing I felt was the burning… You know how slimes are, they can go through a sword, nd on your head, and melt your face in a second. They say it’s one of the worst ways to die.”
Nova stares at the palm of her hand. Only now does Robert realize that her entire right arm is covered in clothes.
Nova: “Luckily, my arm was the sword and my face wasn’t in the way. But it sure was painful though. I didn’t even care about the slime anymore, the only thing I did was cry and scream for help, and then an adventurer came at some point. Don’t remember when.”
She turns to Robert, her eyes teary with a mix of pride and anger.
Nova: “The adventurer said that I killed it. He said I used a skill that allowed me to cut that slime in half. He called me a prodigy. It didn’t matter that the other kids made fun of my burns… when I dreamed of becoming an adventurer, being the same as the hero who said those things to me, I could feel special. Like it was my destiny to protect everyone around me.”
She sighs, calming herself as she continues to walk at a slower pace.
Nova: “But after I grew up and had my csses checked out in an adventurer’s guild… I found out that I wasn’t a Fighter, the css that uses body-enhancing skills the adventurer said I had back then. I simply didn’t have it.”
She fastens her pacing to normal.
Nova: “Maybe he wanted to make me feel better, or maybe he just wasn’t sure of what he said. But it was kind of heartbreaking… I felt like everything that hero told me and my dreams to be an adventurer were all lies. But I tried it anyway, and that was the best choice I made. Because… ter on, a new group of Heroes was born: [the Four Divine Stars of Dawn]! Thorkal the Great, Helltaker the Immortal, Nova the Hope, and Robert the Brave. The four unstoppable Heroes. One day our tales will inspire the children just like the old Heroes did! You can bet on it.”
Robert sees a lingering proud smile on the side of her face.
Robert: “I didn’t know… you guys are just like me.”
When I heard that the Heroes were gone, I panicked.
I argued with my mother and went to the city to see it with my own eyes.
They really were gone.
The city was emptier than normal, and everyone I asked said the same thing.
The great Heroes were gone…
Since I was a kid, I wanted to be one of them. To support them, at least. But I always pushed the idea onto the following day.
But when I heard they were gone… I felt like that opportunity disappeared altogether.
Being a Hero wasn’t an option anymore.
It was frightening.
The only thing I could think was: “How did I let this slip through?”.
I’m already twenty years old, when I promised myself to train and be a Hero at the age of fourteen.
And yet there I was.
Standing in the middle of the empty streets, feeling the sword of my te father weighing on my waist.
No experience, no training, and no more Heroes to look up to.
I never felt so lost in my entire life.
But now… Nova was there. Walking in front of me with a prideful lifted chin.
She wants to continue the legacy of the Heroes and keep the feeling of protection they gave us.
It doesn’t matter if they are gone. If we are here, we can put our own efforts to continue their hard work.
A calm smile comes to Robert’s face.
Robert: “Thank you, Nova…”
Nova: “Huh? For what?”
Robert: “For inspiring me.”
Nova’s smile widens.
Nova: “No problem! I’m the leader, after all. That’s what we are supposed to do.”
Robert fastened his pace, striding together with her, side-by-side.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
From deeper in the mineshaft…
Something sniffs heavily within the darkness, quick powerful snorts of a beast gathering scent off the air.
It growls in anger.
Tyfal: “What is this?”
His voice trembles the air with heat.
Fire ignites around his body, just enough to illuminate the spttered blood on the stone-caved walls surrounding him.
It sniffs two more times with its human-like nose.
Tyfal: “Flesh. It is flesh. Near flesh. Living flesh. I smell it inside. Near.”
He turns his face, showing his fming red eyes.
{Tyfal Niteci, Snow Dragon-Human (Level 116)}
His slim strong body is of a naked human without any genitalia and with pale skin white like snow, marks resembling scales covering his whole body. Stains of dried blood paining his hands and feet dark red, from the dozens of mutited corpses around him.
Tyfal: “Where are you? I smell flesh. Nearby flesh. Where are you!?”
His words are raspy, like the torn voice of a dying man. Of a monster still learning its newest form of communication.
The humanoid monster looks up, towards the entrance of the big round caved pce he’s in.
Nova: “What the hell is that??” – she whispers on the other side of where the beast is looking at.
Robert: “Weren’t we hunting a dragon-tiger? Why does it look human!?”
Nova: “I-I don’t know! Did you see the bodies? They were everywhere.”
Robert: “What? I didn’t, it was dead people?”
Nova: “I-, I-, I don’t know!”
Robert: “Okay, we need to regroup. That thing is too dangerous. Maybe the tiger isn’t here after all.”
Nova: “T-That’s right. Let’s go back—”
—But something explodes within the caved room. Fmes burst out and quickly spread towards the entrance. In a single moment, the strange dragon-human nds on the side of the tunnel, sinking its feet into the stone wall.
The monster twists his head and his body to stare at the two adventurers. His killer eyes shine red as his body emanates hot fmes.
Tyfal: “Flesh.”
Robert: “RUN!”
They dash in despair, the dragon-human breaks the wall at his feet and propels himself forward, hitting the corner of a turn in an animalistic squat then leaping once more like a spring, extending his hand like a cw towards Robert’s eyes looking back.
We are going to die, there’s no way we can run from this thing.
Robert goes to his sword and turns his whole body.
Nova: “Robert!”
The sword is unsheathed and it cnks to block.
Metal flies everywhere, Robert’s bde broken in pieces. The dragon-human’s hand goes through it in the direction of Robert’s face, cutting his cheek with its sharp nails before its reach’s limit.
Blood drips on the floor.
Tyfal: “Yes, living flesh.”
The dragon-human stops and looks at the blood in his nails sizzling with the fmes, then at the two humans dashing away for their lives.
Nova: “Robert, are you alright!?”
Robert: “Yeah!” – His cheek oozes blood from a straight cut. – “My sword, though.”
He looks sad at his hand as they run, seeing some pieces of the bde spttered on his arm.
Nova: “We need to get out of here! Don’t look back! Just run!”
Tyfal: “LIVING FLESH!” – his angry voice trembles from behind. – “LIVING FLESH!!”
Robert: We are so much going to die.
- - - - - On the other path… - - - - -
Thorkal: “Do you think they are alright? If our path led to the exit, theirs are to the beast, right?”
Thorkal and Helltaker walk side by side, trailing behind the path Nova and Robert took.
Helltaker: “It is only logical. But perhaps their path is longer and more furcated than the one we took. If so, hopefully, we are to reach them before the beast is found.”
Thorkal: “…So, Helltaker. Do you really think we can take on this dragon?”
Helltaker is caught by surprise by Thorkal’s sudden stern change of voice.
Helltaker: “Well… it is a dragon, after all. So I can probably defeat it.”
Thorkal: “But aren’t you afraid?”
Helltaker: “What gibberish are you talking about?”
Thorkal: “… You don’t need to lie to me. You were shivering in fear since the moment we saw the mission’s flier on the guild board.”
A cold sweat slides through Helltaker’s chin and drops to the floor.
Helltaker: “I’m-…” – He sighs. – “I must confess that… when I saw that, I was… a bit frightened. But only a bit. Even with my great prowess, there are some things in this world we living beings need to be afraid of. Or otherwise, we would not know when danger is near, of course.”
Thorkal: “And this time is serious? Just like when you were having a bad feeling on the mission the old Robert died.”
Helltaker: “W-What-?” – He smirks to keep his cool. – “Your perception is quite sharp. I may need to agree with your resolution.”
Helltaker’s smile fades into a stern face.
Helltaker: “This time… it is serious.”
Thorkal: “Then… do we even have any chance at all? I should’ve known that a dragon-tiger is too much for us to handle.”
Helltaker: “Uh…? What are you babbling about?”
The both of them stop walking.
Thorkal: “Aren’t you afraid because of the monster we are hunting?”
Helltaker: “Outrageous! Of course not, it is Yaratar’s curse I am afraid of! I have been warning you people since we arrived here, and yet you do not listen!”
Thorkal: “Huh!?”
Helltaker: “How could you be this mistaken, it is the Red Mist that can separate your limbs and organs, of course! I wonder what terrible fate would fall upon me—an Immortal—if such a treacherous thing had me. Perchance I would die, or my consciousness would be disjointed into the pieces of my flesh! What a nightmare both of those possibilities are! Whether it affects me or not, I will not appraise what I can disregard!”
The both of them stare at each other in silence for a couple of seconds.
But then Thorkal bursts into ughter, making Helltaker even more furious.
Helltaker: “And what silliness is this now?”
Thorkal: “You were afraid of that childish story this entire time? Ah~ I can’t believe it!”
Thorkal continues to ugh.
Helltaker: “It may be a child’s story to you, Mortal. But I was alive when that happened! Outrageous indeed, what audacity!”
Thorkal gasps for air, trying to get a hold of himself.
Thorkal: “Ah, I’m sorry, Helltaker-, but your character makes me ugh sometimes.”
Helltaker: “I am not a buffoon to entertain you, Mortal.”
Thorkal: “Sorry, sorry, I’ll try to not ugh at these things anymore. I’m sure there’s a reason for you to be who you are.”
Helltaker: “Of course there is a reason, everybody has a reason. What are you even implying?-- Ugh--!”
Helltaker’s eyes widen as his cheek is suddenly sliced by a sword of some kind.
He steps back and tries to focus on the darkness beside him, but there’s nothing. His hand goes to the injury, to find no blood. But even so, his head aches.
Thorkal: “What happened?”
Helltaker looks at him in surprise.
Helltaker: “… I presume it is Robert. He is in danger.”
Thorkal’s face becomes stern.
Thorkal: “We need to go to them then, now!”
Both of them start to run to follow the trail of burnt paws.
Helltaker: “I will try to link with him. Maybe I can understand what is happening by hearing Robert’s thoughts.”
Helltaker joins his index, middle finger, and thumb together and presses them against his forehead and his eyes suddenly shine purple.
Thorkal: “You can do that? I thought you needed to look at his face.”
Helltaker: “I lied. Obviously. But the farthest he is, the harder it gets.”
Inside Helltaker’s head, thousands of voices rise to whisper in his ears as a rising wave. Rotting spirits waking up from their graves to take one st desperate breath, each sharing their own sorrows and regrets of being forever trapped within the rocks of the cursed mountain.
Thorkal: “Are you hearing him!?”
Helltaker: “Gh-, There-, there are too many of them…”
His eyes flicker purple and his face wrinkles to keep focus.
Thorkal: “What? How many enemies there are? What are they?”
Helltaker: “No, not enemies. Dead. All around this pce. Their soughs are muffling Robert’s voice.”
They keep on running as fast as they can, their steps echoing in the narrow tunnels of the mineshaft.
Helltaker’s mind blindly shifts to different parts of the tunnels, changing the frequency and pce as his spirit travels on a raging battlefield. Like incomprehensible static, countless of them. One voice impossible to discern from another, any form of logic or order drowned in a storming sea of a chaotic mutiny.
“Kill them!” “Kill them all!” “No mercy.” “Burn everything!” “Defeat is not an option.” “Continue or you’ll starve.” “Faster!” “Push them back!” “AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH” “Damn these sves!” “Every time…” “It’s going to be all right.” “Where is it? Where is it?” “Gkah-, help me, I can’t breathe…” “If they want it, they’ll have it!” “RUN!” “What are they doing? What are they doing?” “Don’t look back.” ”Die, die, die, die, DIE!“
“WE ARE GOING TO DIE! HOLY FUCKING SHIT!”
Helltaker: “I found him!”
Thorkal: “What do you hear?”
“WHAT IS YOUR PLAN, LEADER?”
Helltaker: “He’s screaming at Nova. They are close. Down here! Something is chasing them.”
Helltaker sprints forth to show the way.
“GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!! THINK OF SOMETHING, WE ARE GOING TO DIE!”
Robert’s screams can be heard far in the echoing tunnels.
Helltaker goes towards a minecart full of stones and sms it with his shoulder.
Helltaker: “GAh! Help me push this cart!”
Both of them make the cart slide on the old rail, bumping some pebbles away as it slides downwards.
They keep on pushing to build up speed down the slope, making its rusty wheels go so fast to a point that it’s impossible to push any longer. And so Thorkal lets it go and Helltaker jumps to keep holding on the old cart’s handrail.
Robert: “DAMMIT!!!!”
Robert sees the minecart coming at him at full speed. There’s no way to escape it, the tunnel is too narrow to evade. The only thing he can do is accept it coming with wide eyes. But then, when it supposedly is to hit them, it passes through as if it is a ghost.
Robert sees each stone inside the cart and then, he’s at the other side, where Helltaker is holding on to with white magic on his arms.
They look at each other, Nova also looking back at Helltaker sliding with it.
Helltaker jumps off it, the white magic fades away and the wheels of the cart phase solid inside the rail and break. It overturns forward and crashes, violently throwing its content to the other side. Blocking the tunnel from whatever was chasing the two of them.
Robert: “Helltaker… you saved us!”
The dark mysterious Immortal nds in front of him, a condescending smirk on his face as he straightens his body to proudly walk forward.
Helltaker: “Mortals cannot be left alone for one hour without having their lives endangered, so it is my duty to save you, of course.”
Helltaker brushes off some dust off his shoulders—
—Five purple fshes suddenly divide the toppled mine cart, its separated tiles now falling to the ground and opening a gap in its center.
Tyfal: “LIVING FLESH!”
The dragon-human bursts forward, fmes spreading in the narrow tunnel behind the unsuspecting Helltaker and his nervous smirk.
Robert: “HELLTAKER!”
He turns to see what’s behind him, but five more purple energy bdes are unched from one of the monster’s cwed hands and slice through his body from the side.
The bdes pierce the walls and ceiling with speed, exploding dust into the tunnel and carving the stone a few inches deep.
Helltaker: “Wh- Gh--“ – he spasms incoherently.
The dragon-human goes forth and pushes him to the side. Helltaker’s body falls as big chunks of meat, spttering blood all over the floor.
Tyfal: “Flesh! Kill flesh! Kill flesh!”
The three adventurers look scared at it.
Thorkal: “No…”
Nova: “It-, it happened again!?” – her voice cracks.
Robert: “HELLTAKER!?”
Nova grips Robert by the wrist, her right hand pulling for them to run.
The dragon-human chases after them like a beast on its four limbs, fmes surrounding its body.
Robert: “I KNEW THIS WASN’T A GOOD IDEA! I KNEW IT! HELLTAKER IS DEAD BECAUSE OF IT! WHY DID YOU ACCEPT THIS MISSION?”
Nova: “WHAT DO YOU WANTED US TO DO!?” – Tears run down her face. – “LEAVE THE MONSTERS ALONE? THERE ARE NO HEROES TO PROTECT US ANYMORE! THEY ALL LEFT! IF WE ARE NOT GOING TO HANDLE IT, WHO WILL!!? We can’t-”
Her voice fails.
Nova: “We can’t let them win. That’s not an option. We need to be the Heroes!!”
The three of them dash upwards with tears in their eyes.
Robert looks back over his shoulder, at the half-dragon half-human bursting fmes from its feet and hands, breathing heavily and releasing a thick fume off its sharp-teethed mouth.
There’s no way we are going to get out of this.
With one of their steps, the beast closed in with two leaps.
In the corner of Robert’s eyes, a huge figure passes by him.
Thorkal: “You two escape, I’ll buy time!”
His fist glows and metal gloves are conjured on his hands.
Nova gnces back for a moment, but she quickly closes her eyes tight and doesn’t stop running.
Robert: “Thorkal…”
With one punch, Thorkal hits the head of the beast and tumbles it to the ground.
The dragon-human looks around disoriented, but as soon as it sees the two running away, it starts crawling at them like a lizard. But Thorkal grabs its feet with his gloves in a mechanical lock.
The creature looks back scared and twists its leg, breaking it to swiftly propel its body and sink its hand cw into Thorkal’s throat.
Thorkal: “Grhhh--!!”
His eyes bulge and blood drowns his voice.
The beast takes its hand out his neck, spshing blood on the wall.
Thorkal’s eyes lose focus but he manages to punch the creature’s face one more time before falling on his back.
The dragon-human hits its head on the rocky ground and confusedly tries to go forward. But Thorkal’s heavy glove still holds its feet in pce with a tight grip.
Its hardened cw-like fingers strike the gloves, but to no effect, so it strikes Thorkal’s arm, slicing his big forearm wide open, but then it stops for a moment and, without any lingering hesitation, starts hacking onto its own broken leg until it's ripped apart.
Tyfal: “GRAHH—! LIVING FLESH… KILL LIVING FLESH!”
Its broken thigh twists itself to normal, and from the imputed leg, a new one grows in its pce.
Within mere seconds, it was like nothing had happened to it.
Fmes burst out once more for the monster to pursue the smell of the two surviving adventurers.
It leaps from wall to ceiling to wall to ground at high speed, closing the gap in an instant.
It turns to the right, to the left, and to the right again. And there they are, Robert and Nova staggering in a run.
Tyfal: “LIVING FLESH!!”
Robert looks back, realizing there’s no escaping it.
Robert: “I- I’m sorry, Nova.”
Nova: “!?”
Robert: “I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”
He looks with crying eyes at her before spping her hand to release himself.
Everything seems in slow motion to Nova. Her hand being pushed back, her legs moving, and Robert’s body turning to face the dragon-human as he instinctively goes to his sword sheath, but he had no more weapons, he had dropped his sword after it broke not long ago.
There was no way he could win against that thing.
To realize that all of it happened because of her decision.
It was unbearable.
Dying for the sake of good… What was she thinking back then?
How stupid do you have to be to neglect life for a “bigger cause”?
And yet, she was the one running away.
After all her friends sacrificed themselves fighting, she is the one running.
What was all that about “dying with pride in battle”?
“Become the new generation of Heroes”?
“To do the right thing”?
“To inspire children”?
What does any of that mean?
Always talking big, but when it gets rough, she is the first to run away.
What a hypocrite.
A coward.
She’s afraid to fail,
To not be able to do the right thing.
But there is no way to know how things will end.
Nor there is a way to know if you’re doing the right thing.
To do good… is unpredictable.
It’s not something you have set in stone.
But one thing is certain at this moment…
If she keeps on running…
…she would never be able to call herself a Hero.
She slides to a stop, taking the bow and an arrow out from her backpack.
As she quickly aims with her left hand, she pulls the string with her right.
Nova: “We are going to fight this together! Like Heroes!”
Robert looks back hopelessly, at Nova releasing her arrow, green magic igniting from its tip, towards the fming beast’s eye.
