Roar!
The demon hound's roar tore the air.
It came face-to-face with the zombie group.
It pounced.
Unconcerned about the zombies. Unconcerned about the danger.
It could smell it. Vincent.
He is among them.
Screech!
The flying demon screamed in the sky.
Splaashh!
Green blood splashed.
Rot contaminated the air.
Intestines flew around. Rotting organs splattered on the ground.
A single hit of the paw tore the abdomen apart.
The zombie collapsed. But still moved. Still struggled.
The zombies swarmed the demon hound from all sides.
They attacked. Swinging, scraping, biting. But they couldn't grasp the swift and massive body.
They couldn't seriously wound the demon hound.
Grrrr-roar!
It growled. It bit.
Splash!
It bit a head clean off.
Blood splayed from the torso of the zombie.
But the demon houdn spat the head.
Swosh! Swosh!
It moved. Swinging. Tearing! Biting!
With each strike, a zombie flew in the air.
Flesh, intestines, and organs splattered around.
In a minute, the demon hound eliminated nearly a dozen zombies.
Slowly but surely, it approached Vincent at the back of the zombie group.
The zombies around Vincent thinned.
They moved to attack the demon hound.
No choice.
Vincent could only follow them closely.
If too few zombies remained around him, the demon in the sky would attack.
But although the zombies did no major damage, the damage slowly piled up.
A few swallow wounds had appeared on the demon hound's body.
They were exhausting it.
Swoosh!
The demon hound backed away.
Grrrrr!
It growled, staring intensely at Vincent.
Eyes bloodshot.
The desire to tear him apart burned strong.
With its intelligence, it could tell it fought a losing battle.
Killing the zombies accomplishes nothing.
The zombies, however, didn't have such intelligence.
They continued attacking relentlessly, stumbling and falling on the ground. Hitting each other.
Unable to differentiate friend from foe.
Grrr!
Cold light flashed in the demon hound's red eyes.
It changed its approach.
The demon hound moved.
It circled the group.
The mindless zombies, already slow, now had difficulty changing directions.
They couldn't lock on their target, causing them to stumble more than usual.
'This is bad!'
Vincent frowned.
He ran into the center of the zombies, searching for a safer place.
Roar!
But he couldn't reach the densely packed zombies.
The demon hound pounced.
It threw its head around.
Several zombies flew out of his way.
Swoosh!
Vincent swung his bloody arm back; despite the clothes tied around the wounds, blood still flew at the incoming demon hound.
'No!'
His eyes trembled.
The massive demon hound was upon him.
As if time slowed.
He could perceive every detail.
The saliva drooling down the demon's mouth. It's jaw opening. The sharp fangs.
Crack!
"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The air tore.
A roar of agony.
The demon hound bit on his left arm.
Crack!
The bones broke.
"Aghhhhh!"
Vincent's eyes trembled in pain.
They bulged. Almost popping out.
He could feel the sharp teeth piercing the bones of his forearm.
GRRRRR!
The demon hound shook its head violently.
Vincent was no match.
It raised him in the air.
Thud!
And slammed him to the ground.
Screeeech!
The demon in the sky roared.
It started descending.
"NO!"
Vincent's already racing heart stopped.
The demon descended with its beak aimed at his chest.
The demon hound pinned him. He couldn't escape.
It was over.
'I'll die!'
He reached the end of his road.
Adrenaline rushed through his veins.
Tears rolled.
'I want to live!'
He begged in his mind desperately.
But he saw no way out.
.
.
.
Swoosh!
Suddenly, his eyes flashed.
'NO!!!'
Determination flashed.
'I'll survive! AT ALL COST!!'
Thud!
He planted his feet on the ground.
He resisted the demon hound.
But as he didn't go with the flow, the pain skyrocketed.
The demon hound pulled.
"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
He bore the pain.
His will steeled.
He started pulling back.
"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
His vocal cords trembled.
Screams of horrifying pain tore the air.
Vincent's eyes flashed red. Maddness.
No determination.
Madness! He fell into madness!
Splurrch!
Flesh tore.
Blood sprouted.
Swoosh!
Vincent fell backward.
SPLASSSHHH!
Blood gushed out.
His arm was no more; it remained in the demon's mouth.
Violet blood splashed.
The arm torn from above the elbow.
Swoosh!
Vincent twisted his body.
BOOM!
The flying demon fell.
Splash!
Blood splashed in the air.
It tore a massive portion of Vincent's other shoulder.
A wound deep to the bone.
The shoulder blade exposed to the air.
Swoosh!
The zombies swarmed.
Vincent jumped among them.
He held what remained of his arm.
He took a few steps back before collapsing amid the zombies.
"Aghh..."
He groaned in pain and terror.
His heart pounded. Chest went up and down.
But the crisis was far from over.
He only had a few minutes before he bled to death.
He had to stop the bleeding.
Vincent removed the jeans.
Struggling, he wrapped the jeans around what remained of his arm.
A severed leg entered his sight.
The flesh rotten.
The bone sticking out.
Thud!
He didn't hesitate for a second.
Vincent grabbed the leg.
The bone easily separated from the rotting flesh.
He wrapped the jeans around it and twisted.
The jeans tightened.
The bleeding stopped.
Horrendous pain surged through his whole being.
With every move, the open shoulder bone reacted.
His vision blacked with every movement.
The pain was enough to make him faint.
But he bore it.
He grabbed his shirt and wrapped the other shoulder.
His consciousness held only by his sheer will.
Will to survive.
Thud!
The demon hound collapsed to the ground.
It spat out Vincent's arm indeed, but it had swallowed too much blood.
Violet, poisonous blood.
It couldn't resist the virus.
The flying demon observed from the sky.
It didn't dare attack again.
Vincent stood up.
He slowly approached the demon hound.
Screech!
The demon screamed in the sky.
'Probe!'
Vincent glared at it.
A status window appeared before his eyes.
His mana had fully recovered.
Thus, he used his skill.
[Species: Krokmus (Low-grade demon)]
[Strength: 17]
[Stamina:23]
[Agility: 29]
[Perception: 29.5]
'I knew it,'
Vincent gnashed his teeth.
'Ridiculous stats. No wonder it has such crazy speed and detection ability.'
While Vincent observed the flying demon, the demon hound was on its last breaths.
The virus rampaged in its body.
With each second, a considerable portion of its body fell to the virus.
And as the virus spread, the zombies stopped attacking it.
They recognized it as one of their own.
They ceased eating.
[Notice]
In a minute, Vincent received the notification.
[You killed a low-grade demon]
[You receive: 112 Exp]
[Ding]
[The demon greatly surpassed you in strength]
[You receive an additional 70 Exp]
[Notice]
[You leveled up]
[You received: 2 attribute points]
[Current level: 3] - [Exp: 145/300]
'Good,'
Vincent nodded.
He finally received it.
The reward for his suffering.
And a satisfaction with his greed.
The greed that made him wait for the demon hound ot die despite his state.
But he couldn't be happy, not when he lost so much.
He lost his entire arm.
'Every time I face a demon stronger than me, I suffer tremendous losses,'
Still, he willed in his mind.
[Perception: 10]
He felt the increase instantly.
His vision cleared. His hearing improved.
The pungent stench of rotting became more distinct. More
Anger burned within him, but he couldn't hold on to it.
He had to act and get to safety first.
The zombies around started disbanding.
'It's good I lost my arm and not my life,'
He glanced at the demon hound.
The transformation completed.
It slowly started moving.
The blood had turned green.
Even with a closed jaw, one could see its teeth and bones.
The zombies had eaten the skin around the jaw.
The white spine near the tail was exposed.
The zombies had left their mark there as well.
But overall, the body's condition was not bad.
Vincent placed his remaining hand on its head.
"Contract,"
He muttered lowly.
A small portion of the blood on his palm went into the zombie's skull.
Vincent felt something leave his body. An unexplainable emptiness followed.
He has exhausted all his mana.
[Notice]
The notification arrived.
[You contracted an undead]
[Name your undead: ...]
"Mar."
[Name set: Mar]
The status window of the demon hound appeared before his eyes.
[Name: Mar]
[Species: Undead]
[Strength: 19]
[Agility: 20]
But Vincent had no time.
Dark dots danced before his eyes.
He already wasted enough to satisfy his greed.
"Mar...you'll become my left arm."
He willed in his mind.
The demon hound lowered its head to the ground.
Struggling, Vincent climbed onto its back.
Swosh!
He raised his middle finger at the sky.
"I'll remember you,"
He glared at the flying demon.
Murderous intent flashed in his eyes.
But his eyes weighed down.
Adrenaline stopped pumping.
Exhaustion caught up to him.
His eyes weighted.
Pain assaulted him. It broke him.
He ordered the demon hound to move.
But he lost too much blood.
Mar didn't go far.
Vincent fainted.
Mar had no directions to follow.
A mindless zombie with no orders.
It strode around in search of human flesh, carrying the bleeding Vincent.
And little did Vincent know, the demon hound took far more than his arm.
It swallowed his scar. His reminder. His vow to never forget his sin.