Chapter 42- Chaos (Part 4)

Chapter 42: Chapter 42- Chaos (Part 4)

Chapter 42- Chaos (Part 4)

*BOOOOM*

Venera heard the explosion echo through the walls of the tunnel as she ran left and right. She stopped, looked back, and her entire face paled.

"Rize..." She muttered under her breath. Every fiber of her being screamed for her to run back and help him. He was fighting an awakened with an injured arm and a broken rib, or even worse. How could he even survive that? He will die...

He had put his life at risk to give her an opportunity to escape. Her heart ached greatly at leaving him behind like that. But she still clenched her teeth and continued running as fast as she could.

’I will get you help, Rize. Please... Please don’t die.’ She thought to herself. ’Just hold on for a bit.’

***

*BOOOOM*

Another black mist projectile slammed into the wall as Rize leaped out of the path. Each attack was strong enough to render rock and metal into rubble. The mist seemed like it was capable of eating through anything it touched, and Rize assumed it could also eat through his own flesh with ease too.

"Stop! Do you not fear that I will break the trigger, bastard?!" Rize yelled as he clenched the trigger in his hand. However, the man ignored him and continued attacking him.

’Goddamit! Why is he suddenly not caring about the trigger?! Is this guy even sane?!’ He thought as he rushed through the tunnel, trying to escape him. ’Did he catch that I’m bluffing?! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!!!’

Rize knew that even if he broke the trigger, he was still going to be killed. If anything, destroying it would only quicken that fate. He prayed that this would make the man scared and hesitate since this would ruin their plan. But the bastard didn’t care at all.

As he ran through the tunnel, the man chased after him, launching several projectiles in his way. Rize turned around and aimed his gun at the mist. However, he knew that it was impossible for these bullets to do anything useful.

Instead, his eyes landed on several electric cables strapped to the tunnel. So, he aimed the gun at them and shot.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

The moment the bullets hit the cables, the electricity coursing through them exploded out, sending sparks everywhere in the tunnel. Upon contact, the mist ignited into flames before dispersing.

’That works?!’ Rize’s eyes widened when he saw that. ’So that mist has carbon in it? Interesting...’

The man stopped when he saw the flames before his eyes, squinted, and he passed through, ignoring the fire. He saw Rize take a turn at the end. His heavy breaths increased in intensity, and his red eyes turned even redder.

"Hah... Hah... Hah... Come on... I just need to run a bit farther." Rize muttered as he looked over his shoulder. There was no trace of the man rushing after him. He then looked ahead as he saw himself come to an intersection where the tunnels diverged into several paths. He didn’t know which one to choose, so he simply chose at random and continued running.

One hand held the trigger while also pressing against his broken rib cage, and the other held the gun, swaying left and right as blood dripped from it. He could barely grip the gun from the sheer pain in his shoulder.

However, he didn’t stop or hesitate. He was trained for moments like this. This was far from his first life-or-death situation. These were basically a daily occurrence for him in that forest. That had not only gotten him smarter and calmer when faced with death but also honed his ability to face death and not even wince, let alone be afraid.

Geralt wanted him to not just be a killing machine, but a killing machine that didn’t hesitate or think twice.

’The strongest isn’t the one who is born the strongest, or the smartest, or the fastest... The strongest is the one who will do anything to achieve it.’ Rize thought to himself, remembering what Geralt told him. Talent was crucial, but there were things that mattered more than talent, and one of them was the will to face anything.

Those who don’t fear death and would risk it to succeed. That mentality was engraved into Rize’s mind and heart, and he adopted it completely. He wanted to take risks and face death to achieve what he wanted.

’I’m going to escape this place... I just need to find the way ou-’

Just as that thought settled in his mind, a silhouette suddenly appeared in front of him out of nowhere.

*BANG*

"AGH!" Rize slammed into him as he fell back to the ground. ’What the hell... How did he...’

"UGH!!!" Before Rize could even react or move, he suddenly felt something strangle his neck and lift him up in the air. Looking down, he saw the black mist coil around his neck like a snake, burning through his flesh with ease. Rize felt as if every fiber of his being was getting suffocated and charred at the same time. "Let... go..!!" He said with clenched teeth. "I’m going to brea...k it..."

Rize clenched the trigger even harder as cracks started appearing on it. The man saw that and stretched his hand to grab it. His speed was ridiculous, way faster than Rize could even break it. At the same time, the lack of air made moving even harder.

’Shit!’

As a last desperate measure, he aimed his gun at the man and fired a bullet. He knew that it wouldn’t work... The man was immune to bu-

*BANG*

The bullet penetrated the man’s neck as blood splurted out like a fountain. His eyes widened as he looked at Rize as if he didn’t expect him to do that. But before he could do anything, his body weakened as he fell to the ground and let go of Rize, who also fell on his side, wincing in pain and coughing.

Meanwhile, the dark man grabbed his throat as he coughed blood and made weak, dying noises. It didn’t take long for him to succumb to the injury and fall on his face in a puddle of water, completely motionless.

After coughing several times and drooling saliva, Rize stared at the man with winced eyes. "What... the hell? How did... that work?"

He was so confused. That entire time, Rize had shot the man several times, and none penetrated his body.

’I’m so confused... What the hell happened there?! Ugh, my throat! He almost suffocated me to death!’ Rize slowly stood up as he approached the man and kicked his corpse to make sure he was truly dead.

"... I actually killed an awakened... with a normal gun," Rize muttered. "Had this happened before? I don’t think so..."

He didn’t know whether to celebrate or not. Eventually, he shook his head and turned around. "I need to get the hell out of here. I hope Venera found a way out."

With that in mind, Rize started running back through the path he took. After a few minutes of jogging, he finally came back to the place where the bomb was planted. The thing was still in the same spot, which gave him a sigh of relief.

"Ok, good... Ummm, I think I came from that path and then went right..." He muttered as he walked around the bomb, trying to recall the exact path they took.

Taking a step into the tunnel, Rize was about to start running again. That was when he heard something that made him stop as his eyes widened. It wasn’t a loud noise, nor was it a threatening noise... Just a small ticking noise.

However, the chill that ran down Rize’s spine at hearing it was indescribable.