Blood.
His foot.
The sword's blade had pierced through the bones and flesh like a knife sinking into a block of butter.
Arrghh! Ahh! Eeeh!
Jinju struck a glance at Larflehrouk that few of his opponents had ever lived long enough to see. He had a look of disappointment, of disgust and anger blended into a soup and then poured all over his face. A strand from the slicked-back hairstyle fell down on his face, giving him all the more an intimidating outlook.
For a moment it was difficult to know by looking at them, which of the two was in control and which one was being mocked at.
The Gargonian smiled.
Jinju yanked the blade away from the loosened grip of the monster thinking that it had damaged his ego and health severely. He did the unexpected. His other foot stepped onto the pommel end of the otherworldly sword, sinking the blade even deeper into his own flesh, letting the blade exit out of the bottom sole of his foot in a wet red shine atop the blackness of bare metal.
The Gargonian didn't smile.
Jinju did.
The kind of smile that certain psychopaths would have upon their faces as they brutally murdered their victims.
"
Hahaha… HA! Hahahahhaha
!" Jinju felt like he was losing his sanity, laughing hysterically like a maniac while his body bled.
The monster floating away an inch, still confused at seeing a living organism damage itself by its own sheer willpower.
"
Scum
," Jinju sent a death stare at his opponent towering above him. "
You have misjudged
thukthuks
by orders of magnitude. You wanted to demonstrate something to me? Well… it's my turn to demonstrate something back
."
The fresh supply of adrenaline from the glands above his kidneys resurrected more of his muscle memories.
Jinju's leg muscles tensed as he applied pressure onto the floor. Like a spring mechanism, he lunged forward when he let go. He darted forward faster than any grasshopper could, lifting the foot with the blade stuck in it and swung it midair, drawing an arc with his leg.
The Gargonian let out a screech that rattled the icy stones and abstract furnishings nearby.
Jinju didn't have to look at the monster to know that he had done what he wanted to. His lips managed another smile. This is what it meant to be an A-ranker. Even if his powerful hands were currently unavailable to him, and his body lacked the strength he used to possess, his legs and practical intuition was still a mighty force to be reckoned with. No spells, no magic. Only pragmatism and brute willpower.
"
How's that for an autograph? Hope you enjoy your Earth trip
" he looked up at the Gargonian to see fifty-six eyes instead of sixty. "
Ouch, that surely left a mark. But I'm sure you are strong, eh? You said it yourself. What a powerful race you are! Heheh…
." After the chuckling ended, Jinju's face went back to the cold stern seriousness. "
Let's do it again!
"
The monster held out a set of arms, remotely pulling the sword back out from Jinju's foot. It almost disconnected his foot from his body.
"
Ahh
!"
Jinju was lifted up partially by the telekinetic force displayed by the Gargonian, making him land back on the ground-level on his hip.
"
AAAH
!"
More pain flooded through his body. With a half-open eye wincing with the suffering, he saw blood pouring out of the hole in his foot. Hiding all of the pain immediately, he continued keeping a poker face. "
Well played
."
"
Foolish pest
," the Gargonian gave a swing of his sword and the human blood separated and flew away as if it had never been stuck to the surface at all. Its own blood remained, however. "
Does this one know the consequences of its actions?
"
Consequences? Actions? What can a race with genocidal tactics ever know about them? As if they would care
. Whether he spoke his thoughts aloud or in his mind, Jinju knew that the Gargonians would be able to hear them just as easily.
Oh well, I guess I can heal my wounds by a quick visit to some priest or druid's hut. I'm not too worried about the pain or injuries. But, oh… I don't know if I'll make it out alive. If only my hands were untied…
"
This one thinks it can defeat me if its hands were not bound by our device?
" the Gargonian spread out one of its hands, casting an invisible spell pointed at the magnetic discs. "
Let us prove how pathetic it can be… even if unbound
."
Time seemed to slow down as Jinju's brain neurons fired twice as faster than before, fueled by the relief and excitement bubbling up right now, seeing cracks appear across the surface of the magnetic discs until finally shattering into shrapnel and flying out and away.
"
Freedom? ...…At last!
"
His right foot was bleeding. And his hip bone might have been fractured. But none of that bothered Jinju Wan now.
On instinct, he rolled aside to quickly gain some distance between the demonic being's focal gaze and his weakened (but liberated) body. He pounced onto the monster, clinging onto its torso in an attempt to annoy the creature. Larflehrouk raised its sword.
Yes, that's right. Stab me. Stab me now.
"
As this one wants, so be it
."
The alien entity used another spare arm to grab Jinju by the waist and throw him back down on the icy floor.
The next thing he knew was that his lungs stopped functioning, and his lower body couldn't be felt nor moved any longer.
A blood-smeared Gargonian sword was lifted out of his own torso as he lay down, pulling out bits of bone and human organ tissue.
He was dying. This was it.
The end had finally arrived. If what the rumors told about his presumed dead team mates were true, Jinju would soon be joining them.
Who could help him now? There were only 88 people stronger than him in this world. And with billions of people alive today, the chance of any of them visiting this cave system at this exact moment in time was nearly zero.
No human could help him now.
If there was hope, it had to be from a far more higher place, from a higher being transcending beyond the imaginations of an infinite number of creations.
God…. Please forgive me. I have not been a good believer. I tried my best.
*Cough cough*
I wanted to reach S-rank status one day. I wanted to make my mother proud. I wanted to make my father proud.
*Pant*
My brother proud. But I never spent enough time in being grateful to You.
*Gasp*
Oh, Merciful one. If you can hear me, please send help. Please help me. Please forgiv—
Slheek!
With a clean cut along the entire length of Jinju's moderately tall body, the merciless Gargonian ripped the demon hunter into a sub sandwich. The red 'ketchup' and juicy entrails spilling out onto the frozen floor.
Jinju's soul began gurgling in his final moments. Was it too late? Was God's divine help actually going to arrive on time?
Unaware by the Gargonian, three portals had spontaneously appeared behind him.