164 The Puppet 1
With this attack, Daneel expected to deal damage or at least delay Orpheus until he could escape but what happened surpassed all his expectations when he reappeared in front of him.
Daneel flew all over as the sword and machete clashed intensely. The difference in strength broke Daneel’s wrist, and he dislocated his ankle while trying to withstand the force of the being Orpheus’s blow. He was flung out of the cave and landed face down on the ground. His sword was broken, and he felt a burning pain from the bloodied hand gripping the hilt.
“M.. Monster..” He muttered while coughing blood. Daneel was scared beyond word.
”I heard that often. Now, what should I do with you.” Orpheus declared with his hand on his chin as if he was in deep contemplation. However, not even 2 minutes have passed and he declared.
”Just die.” He declared, just like that.
”What?” Daneel thought that Orpheus was surely joking, how could decide so casually to end a classmate’s life? Normal student would never do that, however the problem is that Orpheus wasn’t a normal student and above everything else he did not give that about his student’s life.
When Daneel understood this truth it was already too late, Orpheus had already acted.
Bang!
Daneel’s body flew across dozen of meters and he landed violently on the ground with his head first.
A dull pulsing pain crept up his entire body, increasing in intensity every second. Ten seconds passed, and then another ten. The pain would soon become unbearable. Desperate for some form of relief Daneel sought out every solution. Ignoring it, working through it, using it to fuel strength. But nothing seemed to work. The pain shouldn’t be more than a minor nuisance to him, but right now it was far more than that.
He massaged their temples and for a moment tried to block out all the pain in order to press onward. But sick of having to deal with all this he decided to simply refuse to acknowledge the pain and get on with to the best of his ability. Unfortunately w this feat seemed impossible to accomplish as the pain overwhelmed every cell of Daneel’s body, he could only shiver on the ground as if he was naked in the middle of snow land. Never before he had ever cursed his bad luck and his fate.
”P.. please spare me..” He begged, he couldn’t do otherwise, however, Orpheus didn’t give a damn about his pleas.
And why would I do such a thing?”
Orpheus asked as he slowly approached Daneel like the grim reaper. He might not be wielding a scythe, but that only made him appear far more menacing. His leg cut through the air producing a sudden shriek.
With a shrill shriek, Orpheus’s casual kick tore through the air and heavily slammed into Daneel’s chest, giving him no time to dodge.
BANG
The impact sent him crashing more than hundred meters until he crashed into a giant tree. Thus tree caved in, and broke apart it exploded into tinkling tree shards.
SCREECH~
“Cough!”
Daneel coughed up a mouthful of blood. His chest and hands ripped open, and hot blood splashed out.
”P…P..lease…I…I..beg you.” Daneel let go of any dignity he still has and pleaded as his life was threatening to slip away at any moment. What pride have to do in this moment? Only his survival mattered and to ensure this he didn’t mind begged with his head against the ground, if this would help him survive, it was a cheap price to pay, unfortunately, the opponent was Orpheus. He didn’t care about that, the only thing that mattered was what he had decided to do, everything else was secondary.
Therefore, Orpheus continued to walk forward to Daneel’s despair.
”P.. Please…” Daneel still begged but all he got in response was a smile. Orpheus’s face engaged in a smile that created little wrinkles around his eyes and grooves in his cheeks. For most it would be a beautiful smile, however, for Daneel, Orpheus’s smile at the moment didn’t look different from that of devil’s mocking him from atop his throne. It was a cruel and sadistic smile.
Finally, Orpheus stopped before the shivering Daneel and moved, it was unclear what he truly did but from Daneel’s point of view all he saw was his end. This was he last thought.
‘My body is shattered, I can see it clearly. A body shouldn’t be able to lay in this position, but I am. So, this’ll be my end then. Warped and twisted, with nobody to help me.
The floor is getting colder and stickier. My blood is drying. How long have I been here? It doesn’t matter, it won’t be much longer.
No, I cannot give up. Giving up means I lose, I will never give up. There must be a way out of this, there must be a way I can live. Surely there must be somebody around here, somebody who can help me. Save me.
I can’t think straight anymore, everything’s becoming a blur. I should lay down, let the blood flow back to my brain. Yes, I will lay down. This’ll help me figure out how to make it out or at the very least it’ll save my energy until somebody finds me. Surely somebody will find me soon.
I’m going to die. Shame it’s not like in the movies, I have yet to see flashes of my life as I slowly pass away. Maybe they’re yet to come. It should be soon though, I know I have little time left. Best get ready for the show.
Tired, I’m so tired. I’ll take a nap, a quick power nap. Or my last nap. Either way, I can’t keep my eyes open any longer, I need to rest. A quick nap will be fine.
Goodbye world. Goodbye father, mother and my siblings. I’m sorry.’
He thought he died but he would wake up the next day completely different and feeling refreshed, capable of doing the impossible. He had completely forgotten about the things that happened last night, at least most of them.