The Divine Hunter

The pendant trembled so violently Roy thought it would fly away. At the same time, the two dozen corpses looked at Roy and Todd unblinkingly.

The air itself froze for a moment as the dead who seemingly came back to life turned their necks like puppets. Eerily enough, their heads made a one-eighty turn just to stare at Roy and Todd. This looks like a certain scene from a movie back in my world.

The light from the sconces shone on the bruises, mangled wounds, dark patches, and rotting parts of their bodies. If this hadn’t been a horrifying scene, these bodies would’ve looked almost clownish.

Roy and Todd froze and huddled closer by instinct to cover each other’s backs.

“I’ll cover you, Roy. We’ll make a break for it!” Todd held the scalpel with his left hand and the rib spreader with his right. There was obvious excitement and fear in his voice. Anyone else would have lost their minds if they were facing a horde of living dead.

“Remember, don’t get scared when you’re facing a bunch of hungry, rabid dogs. The more afraid you are, the worse they’ll be. The moment you run away, bastards will swarm you, and tear you apart. Running means death. But if you stand your ground, you might be able to kill some of them.”

Roy downed a dose of Thunderboltand Petri’s Philter and tossed the empty container away. Black veins crawled up his face, and a sword engraved with runes appeared in his hand. He swung it around, and the blade shone under the light as the witcher glared at the living dead.

‘Revived

HP: 80

Strength: 8

Dexterity: 7

Constitution: 8

Perception: 4

Will: N/A

Charisma: 0

Spirit: 2

Skills:

Flesh of the Dead (Passive): Revived by unknown energy. A body without a soul or sense of pain. Immune to mental attacks and poison.’

***

Roy quickly looked around him. He could face off the monsters if only five of them came at him at one time, but there were too many of them, so that plan couldn’t fly.

The bodies didn’t attack right after they were revived. Perhaps they were slow to action, or perhaps they were observing their enemy. Either way, this gave the duo an opening to escape. “Don’t make any sudden movements. Slowly move toward the entrance. Emphasis on slowly.”

“Understood.” Todd looked at Elsa’s cut up body. “Can we take her with us?” He was reluctant to leave his daughter with these demons.

“We won’t even have a chance to do that. The moment we touch her, these bastards will tear us apart.” He pointed his sword at Elsa, and the living dead were whipped into a frenzy. They let out guttural roars, not unlike a bunch of rabid dogs that were ready to tear them apart.

“Laugh while you can, sons of b*tches.”

“Witchers are split into a lot of schools. I subscribe to the Explosive Viper philosophy. Researching the art of explosion is my thing, get it? And setting off some bombs in an enclosed area like this morgue is the perfect chance to express my art.”

Roy waved Todd down nonchalantly, but he still looked as grim as ever. Only two EXP notifications?

‘Revived killed. EXP +5.’

‘Revivied killed. EXP +5.’

***

‘Level 7 Witcher (1800/4500)’

There were more than two dozen monsters in there. Roy didn’t expect one bomb to take them all out, but only killing two was dismal. It was far from what he expected, so he whipped out a few more bombs. Their EXP is abysmal. Guess soulless monsters aren’t worth much. If one bomb can’t take care of you guys, what about a few more? You wanna ambush me? Now have a taste of your own medicine!

But Roy didn’t manage to execute his plan. Before he could even toss his bombs, the air was suddenly blanketed by white fog. What the hell are they up to now? “Stay close to me, Todd, and watch your back!”

Roy tucked his bombs away and lifted Aerondight up.

Ten seconds later, the fog had engulfed the whole room and restricted the duo’s view to just a meter or so. They leaned on the door and stood back to back.

Silvery clangs rang in the air, and then something big hit the door. Roy felt like he got hit by an elephant, and the young witcher was sent flying into the air, but his high Dexterity saved him from a terrible fall. He adjusted his position midair like a cat and tensed his limbs up while arching his back.

And then he hit the floor rolling.

Roy felt something whooshing past his head. If he hadn’t rolled around, he would have been hit in the face.

He heard something grunt in the fog, and Roy’s face fell. The young witcher made a Quen sign, covering his body in a yellow shield before he crouched and made his way to the monster. He didn’t think Todd could defend himself with a scalpel and rib spreader.

But then he smelled the stench of burnt flesh and preservatives wafting across the air, and a pair of revived appeared out of nowhere. They blocked the witcher’s path and flanked him, leaving the middle part wide open.

Come at me! Roy stopped in his tracks and pushed the revived on his left back with Aard, and then he swung Aerondight across the fog, cutting through the monster on his right in half from the waist down.

Green and crimson liquid splattered the ground and filled the air with its stench. Roy quickly leapt to the left and stabbed his sword into the revived’s head, and then he pulled it out right away.

The young witcher flicked his wrist and splattered the blood on his sword onto the ground.

‘Revived killed. EXP +5.’

“The head is the weakness?”

The revived that was cut in half still tried to crawl over to Roy. Roy pierced it through the heart with Aerondight, but it didn’t stop.

“They only have one weakness, huh?”

Roy shoved the body away, but then more bells rang, and three half-burnt revived snarled at him.

***

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