Chapter 17: Dead man’s Insanity
The tunnel’s rumbling didn’t cease. Dust from the collapsing rocks spread like a pale veil around the entrance, temporarily blinding the Eidolons.
But the siege weapon didn’t relent.
It continued firing straight into the thick cloud of dust.
"Don’t worry Seris, you won’t be dying today. But if you do die, I promise I will bring you back. That way, we can spend eternity buried underneath a pile rock."
"_-_"
Damien suddenly turned and howled toward the tunnel.
"Yuri! Guess what I got"
A faint crack of stone echoed through the tunnel.
The next moment, Yuri appeared beside them in a blur. Snow and dust scattered beneath her boots as she dropped into a squat, one palm pressed against the uneven ground to steady herself. Her breathing was rough, blood still stained the corner of her lips, but her eyes remained sharp.
"You’ve got a plan, and I’m gonna really hate it."
Damien’s expression froze.
"Yeah, you guessed right."
Seris was practically glued to the ground, but she still managed to slither her way between them. With her hands over her head, her soft voice cut through the heavy noise.
"Can’t we make this plan from a safe distance? If the tunnel collapses on us, we’re all gonna die."
Yuri nodded faintly.
"She has a point."
"No, that’s too risky," Damien suddenly spoke. "If the entrance collapses with us in there, we’re gonna die a slow and painful death. Well... you guys are gonna die a slow and painful death. But that aside... we need to try something."
Damien looked back at his undead. They weren’t in range of the siege weapon, but they still needed them for his plan to work, so he commanded.
"Go fetch as many ballistas as you can find. Oh, and return with Chad no matter what."
The undead legion immediately heeded his words and marched back into the tunnel.
Boom.
A large section of the tunnel sank sideways, a heavy flow of sand and rock flooding half of it. They were running out of time, and soon they would have to face the army of Eidolons with no place to hide.
Damien was thinking hard, pushing himself to the limit, but until that plan fully formed, it was best to focus on surviving the present crisis.
Damien hasn’t seen the army of Eidolons yet, so all he can do is picture them in his head based on the direction the ballistas are being fired from. There’s only one siege weapon, which means he can safely assume the army is standing a few meters behind it.
With a situation like this, only one thought comes to Damien’s deviant mind. He even remembers a creed from back when he was still in the orphanage; giving your enemy a single moment of peace is equivalent to giving yourself a hundred days of unrest. So he decides to take away the peace of the Eidolons.
He faced Yuri with a sinister smile.
"We’re gonna steal that giant crossbow."
For a moment, the sound of the crumbling tunnel didn’t seem that loud, Seris could actually swear she heard Yuri struggle to swallow her saliva.
Damien said it in a casual dismissive tone, but the way he spoke was really misleading, they were only a few of them, even with the some ten undead Eidolons, they were out matched at least a hundred to one.
The enemy was no longer out of control and actually functioned like a proper unit, not to mention the bloody siege weapon continuously firing their way.
Just the mention of the plan was incomprehensible by Seri’s standards, and yet. This psychotic corpse made it sound like it was simply the most natural course of action left for them to take.
She couldn’t help but smile dryly, her face was making the motion, but her heart and soul wasn’t really in it.
"Quick question?".
"Yes, please go ahead Seris". Damien responded innocently.
She took an extra minute to compose her thoughts, but after a moment, she realised she really couldn’t, what was there to think about it, it was exactly as he said. The only logical conclusion to his plan was simply to do it.
"When do we begin?".
Damien smirked proudly, it was as if he was seeing a little chick break out of her egg, but he didn’t have time to admire her pristine feathers.
"Yuri, I’m gonna need you to blitz me to the giant crossbow and back... can you handle the strain?".
Yuri was taken aback, true she was beyond exhausted, injured and probably on her last legs, but she still had a couple blitzes in her, the problem wasn’t really her, it was her ability.
Her dormant ability impulse releases electric charges through her body, it didn’t hurt her, but she can’t stop it from harming someone else.
"Damien... If I blitz you to the enemy’s siege weapon, you won’t be able to move for a time, and I won’t be able to defend myself from so many Eidolons, all whilst protecting you".
"I’m gonna stop you right there."
Damien’s palm was in front of her face. She had to twist her neck just to catch the faint disappointment in his eyes.
"If I was going to be paralysed by your ability, I wouldn’t have proposed a plan like this in the first place. Based on what you’ve all told me, our statuses aren’t just for decoration. They influence our state of being in a subtle but noticeable way. I believe mine gives me the characteristics of a corpse, because that’s literally what I am."
Damien paused, making sure their eyes stayed locked.
"Yuri... what do you think happens if a dead body gets electrocuted?"
Yuri went silent.
When he first started speaking, she was confused. But as he continued, understanding slowly settled in. This wasn’t some half-hearted plan meant to annoy their killers before they died.
It was a real one. Built to flip the situation entirely.
Yuri grinned.
"The electricity should make your muscles twitch. Make you faster... maybe even stronger."
"Exactly."