'One... and two.'
Carnage's gaze slid past one of the girl's shoulders, catching the glint of the two swords strapped across her back.
'And the other girl...an empty glass bottle.'
Carnage assessed them, the sword-wielding girl returning the look with equally sharp eyes. Even so, she makes no move for her weapon, a gesture that solidifies Carnage's beliefs
'She doesn't see us as a threat.'
"I'm the historian!" Ernest says it first, loud enough for them to hear. "Ernest!"
"I…I'm the physician, and my name is Flor!" The more timid girl shouts back hesitantly, followed by a silence as both their gazes shift between Carnage and the girl.
'I can feel the intensity from here.' Ernest thinks fearfully. 'Why does it feel like they're dueling with their eyes.'
"Keybearer. Carnage." He states, stone-faced.
The mysterious green-eyed girl sighs. "Agnar, the protector."
Names are exchanged and temporary personas are revealed, shoulders loosen, and the air loses some of its edge. Still, no one turns their back. Eyes linger too long, hands hover just near their selected weapons, and every pause feels measured.
Each of them is waiting for the predestined betrayal that is sure to follow among sinners.
"Is that where you were summoned?" Ernest speaks up, gesturing to the church.
"Yep!" Flor nods shyly. "Not quite the arrival spot I expected, but what about you?"
"A tavern," Ernest sheepishly replies.
'We shouldn't waste time here.'
Carnage scans the area, the unnerving feel of dread gradually reappearing causing the hairs and pours of his skin rise at attention.
"It's here. Get behind me." The protector, Agnar mutters softly, hand extending to her back, wrapping along the hilt of her sword as she yanks it free from its sheath.
Everyone's eyes drift to the street where Carnage and Ernest had just emerge from. A woman with long midnight hair walks towards them, her feet dragging along the stone, creating a trail of blood behind.
"Christ, she scared me."
'This dread...is it due to her?' A tremor passes through Carnage's body; though he had long lost the ability to fear during his centuries of torture, it didn't stop his body from reacting. 'But why?'
He eyes her closely while the rest back away, their bodies following their minds' response.
"Miss—" Before Carnage can begin, her mouth snaps open with a sickening crunch.
Inside he sees no teeth only darkness, and from her unnaturally agape mouth, a scream pierces the air, while her expression remains the same, deadpanned and emotionless.
"For fuck's sake...?" Ernest utters concernedly.
Carnage stands still as a rock, waiting for whatever's to come, the others covering their ears from the noise, a mixture of a human scream and a high-pitched siren.
Her screams echo until they abruptly cease the moment she pauses a few feet away from them. The sinners watches in frozen horror as the skin of her face peels, dropping in clumps to the cobblestones.
"Oh my." Flor gags, shifting closer to Agnar.
Her hair sheds in tangled strands, and her limbs begin to swell, contort, and elongate grotesquely. Flesh sloughs off in sickening layers as her bones crack and twist, each snap rippling through the silence.
No one dares move a single inch.
'It's a…' Carnage's eyes narrow. 'Skinwalker!'
「Demonic beast grade: D (Tormented)」
「Power level: 100」
"Get behind me now!" Agnar shouts as she slides into a stance.
Ernest and Flor waste no time in complying with her orders, petrified as the skinwalker continues its transformation.
Carnage, on the other hand, stays in his original position, his wrapped palms balling tightly around the shard of glass.
"What in the world are you doing?!" Agnar screams behind him. "Does it wound your pride so much, a woman standing as your shield?"
'Women or not, we all have to survive, and in this place as the Covenant said, only the strongest survive, how am I going to survive if I take shield behind someone, how can I regain experience of what I've lost by being defended. Death is not what awaits me, it's revenge, and I'll stop at nothing to get it.'
Everyone grimaces as it finishes.
'If I can defeat this now, then I'm not worthy.'
The creature is unsightly, nothing merely close to a human any more, its limbs has slimmed, taking form of its inhumane shaped muscles. Its back rose in jagged mounds, ribs jutting through the skin and its head bares horns that curls high into the air.
"Tsk. Bury your pride and stand behind me, or die proving it."Agnar jaw clenches.
"I am not questioning your capabilities. You're the protector for a reason." Carnage says, voice raspy and cracking. "But I'm here to survive, not be guarded. And frankly, I am certain you have no clue what a skinwalker is."
Agnar blinks in shock. A few seconds pass before a frustrated sigh echoes behind him. "Your kind disgusts me."
Footsteps sound and stop at his side. Agnar unsheathes her next sword and shoves it into his palms.
"Brave men don't fight with glass."
"If I have to, I will." Carnage says, and she rolls her eyes.
"My grandeur lies with axes, not miserly swords, so take it." She urges rudely.
"Right." He lets the glass fall and takes the sword, his grip tightening around the hilt, knuckles whitening.
He may have forgotten most of his experiences in combat and sword mastery, but he vaguely remembers the basics: keep your eyes on the target, never let your stance falter, and let the blade feel like an extension of your body rather than a tool.
'If I follow what my memory and use the capabilities of this body correctly, I should hold up just okay.'
"What is it." Agnar question, her attention focused and ready.
"A shapeshifter. It's in a different caliber from the others, fast, unpredictable, and capable of adapting at an abnormal rate."
"A boosted human?" Agnar asks.
"Precisely."
"I kill humans easily."
'One can only hope.'
From the skinwalker's warped frame erupts a screech. Then, like a beast unleashed, it charges on all fours, the ground shaking beneath its approach.
"Stand firm, it's closing in!" Agnat yells as the skinwalker lunges.
Carnage's instincts surge, his newly wielded sword slicing through the air in a desperate arc, meeting the beast's snapping jaws with a clang of steel. The skinwalker snarls, its other arm whipping with unnatural speed to him.
'Another attack!'
Before he can react, Agnar dashes forward to his aid, blade flashing as she intercepts the creature's swipe, sparks flying as sword meets claw.
"This creature is no ordinary foe." She hisses, struggling with her parry.
'She's fast... her form and sword maneuvers are good too.'
Flor and Ernest, knowing they'll only be a nuisance, scramble behind a broken cart placed at the side of the old church, clutching what little they have to protect themselves.
'Enough about others. I can do better...'
Carnage pivots, his grip steady despite his rusty skills.
'I must do better.'
Slashing upwards, he aims for the ribs jutting like broken branches along the skinwalker's back. The creature howls, a nasty wound of agony etched across its monstrous visage, but it presses on relentlessly.
「First Blood Boost!! 」
「Reward: Double damage/1 use」
「Skinwalker Health: 90/100」
'Double damage?'
「Do you wish to proceed with applying double damage?: YES/NO」
'Its to early, no.'
Agnar becomes free as the beast trashes around, she instantly circles left, forcing the skinwalker to split its attention.
With a burst, her body shimmers a gentle green and her eyes reddens as she drives her sword deep into the creature's side, twisting sharply. The skinwalker reels, black blood spilling onto the cobblestones.
「Health: 85/100 (And declining) 」
"Claimed ye!" She smirks, sweat gliding down her face.
'Right there... an opening.'
Carnage seizes the moment, lunging forward, blade aimed for the throat, but the skinwalker lashes out, catching his arm mid-run, causing a pop to encapsulate the air.
"That's the sound of a dislocation!" Flor says from the side.
Carnage, stone-faced, doesn't yell but yanks free, readjusting his hold and snapping his shoulder back into place, presuming his attack by driving his sword deep with precision.
The beast staggers, a guttural growl vibrating from its grotesque figure. It scrambled backward on all fours, rage blazing in its eyes as blood pooled beneath it.
「Critical hit!!」
「Internal bleeding!」
「Health: 70-60/100 (And declining) 」
"Keep it at bay!"
Agnar barks, charging again with determination.
Carnage meets her, their movements synchronized despite the slippery blood. The two blades move as one, trading slashes as the skinwalker fights back with desperation.
The air fills with the clash of steel and the beast's screeches. Dust and blood coat the ground, mixing with the scent of sweat and decay.
「Health: 50-40/100 (And declining) 」
Suddenly, the skinwalker lunges high, claws slashing toward Carnage's chest. He exhales a breath, shifting to the side slightly, its claws redirecting to his right shoulder, slicing into his skin.
"Carnage!" Flor flies up.
"By the grace of… the devil. That must have hurt." Ernest hisses.
Agnar's eyes widened.
'I've felt my fair share of pain... I've been broken, hanged, drowned and eaten alive, so this is an ants bite compared to those!'
Carnage, burning like a scorching flame, ignites in pure, raw determination, bringing his sword down hard onto the creature's wrist, slicing it clean off.
"Now!!"
Agnar swiftly refocuses, her blade cutting into the beast's exposed flank, driving it to its knees.
「Health: 40-20/100 (And declining) 」
Carnage, battered and bleeding, steps in for the final strike as the skinwalker's growl turns into a fading whimper.
'I will not fall in another hell, never again. Instead I'll use it and trials to carry me back to heaven. Where heaven will feel my rage.'
"Apply boost!"
He shouts as the blade burst with a shimmering red light. With a roar, Carnage drives his sword through the creature's chest.
「Health: 20-0/100 (And declining) 」
The beast convulses, and shrivels, collapsing lifelessly.
Silence falls heavy, broken only by the ragged breaths of the victors and chimes of The Covenant.
「You have defeated a skinwalker: 1/6!」
「Monster's demonic core collected!」
'I...did it.'
Agnar lowers her sword, nodding.
Carnage wipes his chin, instead creating a small trail of blood, his eyes cold but alert as he nods back.
Flor and Ernest cautiously emerge, relief washing over their faces.
"You guys survived." Flor advances closer, looking intently at the wound past his ripped clothes.
"I need to look at that!"
"Be my guest." Carnage accepts.
Gently she tempers and moves the flesh around.
"Looks like a surface wound; a bottle of basic healing should be enough."
Taking off his shirt, Flor directly pours it on his raw flesh, and it illuminates with a light blue before closing up on its own.
"There, that's it." She smiles.
"Thanks."
"I trespass on your moment, yet we must set it in motion to the others." Agnar says.
"Yes, we should. Ernest." Carnage turns to him.
"Right, we need to find the rest." Ernest says, closing his eyes, activating his artifact.
"Come on, we've got a bit to go until we meet them."