Chapter 70 Monsters

Lucas swung his sword and jumped in the air, he hit the monster's paw with all of his strength. It didn't even flinch or twitch. The creature was strong enough to crush a man like an empty soda can!

"Haaaaah!" Lucas groaned, panting as he landed on the ground next to the monster.

He looked up at the monster, who continued its rampage through.

This thing is just too strong...

He had no idea how he would go about defeating this beast. The loud scream took his attention again and he looked around, there were thousands more of them running around, terrorizing the castle now.

"I guess I'll try going for the head," Lucas muttered, looking over at where the monster's neck should be.

It was hard to see from where they were standing, but it seemed that there was another monster blocking their way forward.

He stepped back and tightened his blade again. As he charged toward the monster, it turned its head towards him and let out a loud roar.

Lucas yelled as he stabbed his sword into the monster's neck, piercing through the tough skin and muscles. The monster twisted away, but Lucas held tight, not letting go until the blade was deep inside. The monster fell over backwards and Lucas pulled the sword out before returning to the front lines.

"L-Lucas!" Kali screamed. She ran to his side and hugged him tightly. "Y-You're okay?!"

"Kali, when did you turn into a human again?" His eyes widened.

"I ran out of energy points," replied Kali.

"Then you should definitely hide, go inside the castle, find the others and run!" He shouted at her, hoping she would understand.

He also felt tired from fighting just one monster, and now seeing his crush in a human form again, made him worry.

"You id-idiot!" Kali's voice cracked as she tried to speak.

She folded a fist and struck his chest, "when are you going to learn that we work as a team here?" She punched him again.

Kali was trembling with fear and relief. Her face had tears in her eyes.

"Yeah..." Lucas said as he gently stroked her hair. He wasn't sure if she was crying because of what happened earlier or if she was afraid for his safety. Either way, he decided to just hold her close.

"I'm glad I made it out alive." Lucas sighed.

"Good work, Lucas," Haya praised running towards him, clapping his hands together.

"We're almost done here. You two need to keep an eye out for the other monsters," he told Kali and Lucas.

"Sure thing!" Kali replied.

They were still a ways off from the centre of the inner castle's city, which meant there were plenty more monsters to fight.

The three of them kept moving forward, heading into the heart of the monster-infested town.

***

"Nooo..."

Kalaini saw the monster charging towards her. She tried to jump away, but the monster was too fast. Kalaini was knocked down onto the ground by the monster's massive paw.

It's coming!

The monster closed in on her, ready to finish her off.

She couldn't escape.

Her time was running out.

She raised her hand, trying to defend herself against the monster.

The monster lunged forward, but then stopped mid-charge.

Kalaini gasped as she looked up to see Lucas and the others standing before the monster. They were fighting back-to-back.

Lucas was holding one of his swords while Kali held the other. A blue light surrounded both of their bodies, and they stood tall, ready to take on the monster.

​ "Oh my gosh, Lucas!" Kalaini screamed.

She had been so focused on defending herself that she hadn't noticed the monster stop in its tracks.

Kalaini's eyes widened as the monster suddenly charged forward, aiming for Lucas and Kali.

"Don't worry, we won't leave you behind," Lucas said.

Lucas immediately leapt to the side, avoiding the monster's attack. Kali managed to dodge it as well.

"Well done, Kali, now grab Kalaini and get out of here!" Lucas ordered them.

Weirdly, the monster stopped moving. It was unexpected and sudden.

Both Kali and Lucas dove to the ground and rolled away from each other. The monster slammed into the ground and fell with a loud thud.

"Yeah, seems like it's dead," Lucas added while letting out a long sigh.

"Thanks!" Kalaini said.

Kalaini climbed to her feet and walked over to Lucas. "Thank you so much for saving me!"

"No problem, Kalaini," Lucas smiled. "You shouldn't be alone in this fight."

"Eeeeek!" Zoey squealed.

"What is it?" Kali asked.

"Nothing!" Kalaini replied, waving her hand dismissively.

"Are you sure? It looks like something's wrong," Lucas noted.

"No, it's nothing! Really! Just go on without me!"

She turned and ran away from them.

"Hey!" Kali shouted.

But Kalaini didn't slow down.

Come back here!" Kali yelled after her.

Lucas tried to chase after her, but he quickly realized that the street was too crowded for him to run through. People that were living on that side were running away from the monsters attacks.

"Wait!" Kali called out.

Kali ran after her, catching up to Kalaini and grabbing her by the arm.

"Let go of me!" Kalaini screamed.

"Calm down. We don't want you getting hurt," Kali pleaded.

"I-I'm fine! Please let go of me!"

"Come back here!" Kali yelled after her.

"You know that I'm older than you, right?" Kalaini raised her eyebrows as she moved her arm away. "I've been in this plot before, I know what I have to do!" Her tone sounded arrogant, "look at Lucas, how do you think you could wield the sword so well?" She asked Kali.

"It's true, and why did I run out of energy points so fast as well?" Kali's eyes narrowed, "please, tell me what is going on here?" She grabbed Kalaini's arm one more time.

Kalaini sighed and leaned over to catch her breath. She wiped the sweat off of her forehead.

"Umm... I think... I might have... an illness..." she stuttered and lifted the corners of her lips, "illness...?" Asked Kali.

"The system wants Lucas to win by sacrificing something, and I need to find out what exactly?"

Kalaini shook her head. "No, it's nothing!