Ishiki looked around and realized that the lesser beasts, known as Blighted Forse were almost obliterated and only a few of them were left.

In the next moment... they too were sprawling on the ground as an arrow from Sarah's crossbow pierced their heads with ease, leaving only the four chitinous bastards and the main boss.

The battle raged on. Korg was a bastion of noise and violence, but he was shifted to a defensive position for now... his shield rang like a bell as the armored beasts hammered against it.

Julien was shouting curses as his blade shredded the air but barely scratched the chitin of the enemies. Sarah too had shifted now and was targeting the new threat. Her bolts were pinpricks of light in the gloom, annoying the beasts but failing to kill them.

But the center of the storm was Mateo.

The Captain had abandoned his position. Seeing Ishiki down and vulnerable, he had activated his skill to its absolute limit. His greatsword glowed white-hot and the air around it shimmered with thermal distortion.

Not paying the burning pain any attention, he moved not like a man, but like a force of nature.

"EAT THIS!" Mateo screamed.

He launched himself into the air, and came down like a meteor of silver and fire. He aimed a devastating overhead smash at the boss monsters exposed neck.

The eyeless beast, sensing the immense thermal energy, instantly turned and roared. It raised its massive, sludge-covered arms in a cross-guard to block the strike.

BOOM.

The impact was cataclysmic. A shockwave of heat and force ripped through the hazy air, blowing hot wind outside in all directions. The ground beneath the beast cracked and cratered and Mateo's veins bulged as he put all the force behind the sword.

He knew he would fall back to the ground eventually and so he at least wanted to take one hand of the beast with himself.

The beast howled in agony as Mateo's blade sheared through its forearm armor, burning deep into the flesh. As the weird sludge came in contact with the white hot blade, it boiled and hissed, creating a cloud of toxic steam.

But the Bastard didn't fall.

In its pain, it lashed out with its uninjured arm. The massive, clawed hand swept across the space where Mateo hovered.

Mateo twisted in mid-air, but he wasn't fast enough... partially because he was in air and because of his big build that made him an easy target for attacks. The blow caught him in the side, sending him skidding across the pavement. He tumbled, his glowing sword clattering away.

"Captain!" Korg bellowed, trying to disengage from his own fight, but he couldn't. At the end Julien too took a hard hit and both of them were pressed even tightly.

The Eyeless wretch, maddened by pain, turned its eyeless gaze towards the source of its injury. It ignored Mateo. It ignored Korg.

It looked at the pile of rubble where Ishiki sat.

The smile on Ishiki's face vanished as he made eye contact... uh, whatever contact he made with the beast. 'Wait, wait... i didn't even scratch it.'

With a gurgling roar, the three meter tall beast charged. It moved with terrifying speed, and its massive legs ate up the distance within seconds. The ground shook with every step.

"Move! Move, damn you!" Ishiki screamed at his own legs, as he pushed himself up aside... but the beast changed its direction too.

The eyeless wretch was on him, in no time.

It raised a massive foot, intending to stomp the annoying insect into paste.

Ishiki stared up at the descending shadow that smelled of rot so bad that it made him loose his appetite for the day.

No.

His hand closed around the hilt of his cheap steel sword, which had fallen next to him.

Ishiki activated [Ghost Blade] even though it made his head hurt very badly and he was reaching his limit to use it, or maybe he already had.

But that didn't matter now.

As the foot came down, Ishiki threw himself to the side and rolled, his shoulder scraped against the unknown material the bridge was made up of and he stopped in the middle of it.

CRASH.

The stomp missed him and the beast looked around in confusion... no it was not confused, the bastard was trying to smell him.

The impact shook the bridge, throwing Ishiki into the air. He landed hard on his back, just a feet away from the beast's towering form.

The eyeless wretch tried to turn around, but Mateo was on him again and this time his sword made a deep gash on its stomach which leaked of ghastly black liquid.

Just at the same time, Korg came flying as three of the chitinous beasts attacked him. He slammed directly into the eyeless bastards face and fell to the ground.

Unbalanced by Mateo's earlier attack and Korg's impact, It began to collapse.

Directly on top of Ishiki.

"Oh, come on!" Ishiki yelled, his voice cracking as he looked at the beast falling over him with wide eyes.

With instincts... he raised his cheap steel sword straight up, bracing the pommel against the asphalt with both hands. He locked his elbows and squeezed his eyes shut.

'Don't crush me. Don't crush me. Please don't crush me.'

The beast fell gracelessly and tons of rotting muscle and sludge came down.

SQUELCH.

The tip of the sword met the soft skin of the underbelly and gravity did the rest.

The beast's own immense weight drove it down onto the blade. The steel punched through skin, fat, and muscle. It slid between the ribs effortlessly and with a wet, sickening pop, it pierced the massive, sludge-filled heart.

The eyeless beast shuddered violently. A torrent of golden blood mixed with black sludge erupted from the wound like a geyser and drowned Ishiki.

He gagged, the warm, vile liquid filling his mouth and nose. He squeezed his eyes tighter, holding his breath as the corpse settled over him, pinning him to the ground in a suffocating embrace of death.

The beast twitched a little and then, it went still.

Ishiki saw a new system notification.

[You have Slain a Rank 4, Infested Eyeless Roamer]

[You have received 2,000 Data Fragments]

'Huh... HUH!' Ishiki couldn't believe it. He killed a Rank 4 beast, just like that... just by being under it by sheer coincidence.

[You have Received a Vestige]

"Ishiki!" Mateo's voice sounded panicked. "Help me, get this thing off him! Korg!"

"I am busy captain... tell him to do it on his own." Korg grunted as he continued battling the chitinous beasts left behind.

The heavy corpse shifted as Mateo alone, heaved it aside with a grunt of exertion.

Light flooded back into Ishiki's vision. He lay there frozen in shock and gasping for air, looking like a swamp monster made of gold and tar.

Mateo stood over him, his face pale, clutching his bruised side. "Kid? You alive?"

Ishiki spat a mouthful of sludge onto the pavement and wiped his eyes, smearing the golden blood across his face.

He looked at his cheap steel sword, still buried deep in the beast's chest, the only thing holding the massive carcass up.

"I think..." Ishiki wheezed, flashing a grin. "I think I need to take a serious bath."

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