Chapter 46: Busy week.
Achew...
Achew..
Aaachew.
Damien rubbed his nose. The raging blizzard had gradually weakened before coming to an abrupt halt.
Damien’s bloodshot eyes never once closed.
Whether he was fighting, running, raising the dead or catching the closest thing an undead could call rest, they remained open every second of every day.
His back rested against the trunk of a dead tree on this particularly blessed morning until movement in the distance caught his attention.
Damien narrowed his eyes, silently counting as they marched in his direction.
"Twenty... Maybe a few more."
A wary grin slowly spread across his face.
"After I slaughter these guys, I should cut my losses and return to camp. Avoiding Andrea forever won’t work... Besides, I should be sufficiently strong enough to hold my own after growing my legion for the last week."
He calmly reached behind his shoulder and pulled out his bow, the string creaked as he slowly drew the first arrow.
The approaching Eidolons hadn’t noticed him yet. They marched carelessly through the frozen forest, completely unaware that death had already set its sights on them.
Whoosh.
The arrow tore through the air before burying itself straight through the eye of the leading Eidolon.
The creature collapsed without a sound, while the rest instinctively stopped marching.
Before confusion could settle in, Damien quickly released a barrage of arrows. With the blizzard gone, Damien’s aim improved considerably and three more quickly dropped to the ground, lifeless.
Only then did the survivors finally roar in rage.
They spread out and rushed aggressively at Damien, without the blizzard, even the dumb Eidolons could easily spot the direction his arrows were shot from.
He calmly took one final shot.
The arrow curved between two charging Eidolons before punching into the forehead of another.
The moment the last arrow left the bowstring, Damien activated the weapons mechanism and the bow folded itself.
The moment the first Eidolon arrived, Damien used the folded bow as a boxing glove and punched its face, the blow was cruelly timed, and it appeared like the Eidolon walked into Damien’s raised fist.
The other Eidolons arrived, and Damien’s left hand closed around the familiar handle resting against his waist.
The black axe slowly slid free from its sheath.
When the first Eidolon lunged with both claws extended, the folded bow shot out like a metal club, smashing straight into the creature’s jaw with a sickening crack. Before it could even stumble away, the axe swept across its chest, opening a deep wound that sent it crashing into the snow.
The rest reached him almost at once.
Damien’s black axe carved through the front line in one brutal arc, cutting open two charging Eidolons before the returning swing slammed another across the ribs hard enough to send it tumbling into its companions.
An enormous white furred Eidolon came from the side.
Damien caught its claw with the folded bow, twisted his wrist and redirected the attack into another Eidolon rushing beside it.
The two collided headfirst before Damien buried his axe into the larger one’s temple, dropping it dead into the snow.
He didn’t stop moving.
The folded bow became an extension of his right arm, every punch striking with enough force to stagger creatures several times his body weight.
Without even looking, Damien flung the axe to his left.
Instead of disappearing into the distance, the black weapon spun through the air like a hungry predator, slamming into the knees of one Eidolon before ricocheting into another’s shoulder, then a third’s chest. All three lost their footing and collapsed as the axe curved neatly back into Damien’s waiting hand.
The surviving Eidolons hesitated.
That brief hesitation cost them dearly.
Damien exploded forward.
The folded bow crashed into one creature’s throat while the axe’s handle smashed another across the face. Before either could recover, his boot sent both sprawling into the snow beneath the weight of their own companions.
Angry roars echoed throughout the forest.
Damien was no longer in the mood to fight them himself. At this point, he had simply been using the Eidolons to train with his weapons. Based on what he’d seen over the past week, he was now more than capable of taking on two dozen ordinary Eidolons head on without needing to summon his undead legion.
The Eidolons, of course, knew none of that.
They only saw Damien standing perfectly still with a distant look in his eyes. Both arms rested loosely by his sides, his posture completely open. To them, it looked like the human had finally accepted his death.
They rushed him without hesitation.
But before the leading Eidolon’s claws could reach Damien, thick streams of black miasma suddenly began pouring out from every part of his body. The dark mist spread across the frozen ground like a living tide, swallowing the snow beneath it.
A black furred hand suddenly emerged from the swirling darkness and caught the charging Eidolon’s wrist mid swing.
The creature froze in stunned disbelief.
The black mist didn’t stop.
It continued spilling outward until it blanketed an area dozens of meters wide. Then black silhouettes slowly rose from within the darkness. Some still bore gaping wounds across their bodies.
They were injuries that should’ve long since claimed their lives, and yet every single one of them stood upright without the slightest sign of pain.
Only after the last figure had emerged did the black miasma gradually disperse.
More than a hundred undead now surrounded the scouting party from every direction.
The living Eidolons instinctively staggered backward, every strand of fur on their bodies standing upright as terror finally overtook their primitive instincts.
A sickening crack echoed through the forest.
The trapped Eidolon’s wrist twisted before exploding apart beneath Priesty’s overwhelming grip. The creature’s face contorted in agony as it desperately tried to pull away, but Priesty was simply bigger and stronger.
Damien casually walked out from behind the undead priest, stopping directly before the horrified Eidolons with a faint grin tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Bit slow on the uptake, aren’t we?"