The pendant trembled so violently Roy thought it would fly away. At the same time, the two dozen corpses looked at Roy and Todd unblinkingly.
The air itself froze for a moment as the dead who seemingly came back to life turned their necks like puppets. Eerily enough, their heads made a one-eighty turn just to stare at Roy and Todd. This looks like a certain scene from a movie back in my world.
The light from the sconces shone on the bruises, mangled wounds, dark patches, and rotting parts of their bodies. If this hadn’t been a horrifying scene, these bodies would’ve looked almost clownish.
Roy and Todd froze and huddled closer by instinct to cover each other's backs.
"I'll cover you, Roy. We'll make a break for it!" Todd held the scalpel with his left hand and the rib spreader with his right. There was obvious excitement and fear in his voice. Anyone else would have lost their minds if they were facing a horde of living dead.
"Remember, don't get scared when you're facing a bunch of hungry, rabid dogs. The more afraid you are, the worse they'll be. The moment you run away, bastards will swarm you, and tear you apart. Running means death. But if you stand your ground, you might be able to kill some of them."
Roy downed a dose of Thunderboltand Petri's Philter and tossed the empty container away. Black veins crawled up his face, and a sword engraved with runes appeared in his hand. He swung it around, and the blade shone under the light as the witcher glared at the living dead.
'Revived
HP: 80
Strength: 8
Dexterity: 7
Constitution: 8
Perception: 4
Will: N/A
Charisma: 0
Spirit: 2
Skills:
Flesh of the Dead (Passive): Revived by unknown energy. A body without a soul or sense of pain. Immune to mental attacks and poison.'
***
Roy quickly looked around him. He could face off the monsters if only five of them came at him at one time, but there were too many of them, so that plan couldn't fly.
The bodies didn't attack right after they were revived. Perhaps they were slow to action, or perhaps they were observing their enemy. Either way, this gave the duo an opening to escape. "Don't make any sudden movements. Slowly move toward the entrance. Emphasis on slowly."
"Understood." Todd looked at Elsa’s cut up body. "Can we take her with us?" He was reluctant to leave his daughter with these demons.
"We won't even have a chance to do that. The moment we touch her, these bastards will tear us apart." He pointed his sword at Elsa, and the living dead were whipped into a frenzy. They let out guttural roars, not unlike a bunch of rabid dogs that were ready to tear them apart.
"Laugh while you can, sons of b*tches."
The duo slowly moved toward the entrance. The outermost door was shut, but the door of the room they were in was still open, and that was their way out. I wonder what the mastermind is thinking. I have a feeling he has another goal here. Like torturing us, perhaps?
***
Roy and Todd kept moving, but the living dead wouldn't stay away from them. They slowly and clumsily shuffled toward the duo, their bones cracking along the way. Roy thought these bodies looked oddly funny. The revived were covered in ugly stitches from the autopsies they underwent, making them look like oversized dolls that were torn and stitched back together.
The coroner wasn't a good stitcher, and it deformed these corpses. Their necks were skewed, their eyes weren't level, and they had a limp. If someone were standing far away, they would have thought these bodies were a bunch of weirdly-dressed models sporting bizarre styles walking on some sort of runway that only existed in cemeteries.
The leader of the pack was the castrated half-elf. There was nothing on his crotch, not even a single strand of hair. His mismatched legs forced him to sway his hips with every step he took. If he wasn't dead, the half-elf would have looked alluring.
The dwarf who died in a shithole stood beside him. The coroner's lackluster stitching skills failed to keep his guts inside. The dwarf was towing his intestines behind him like a cat with a big, fat, fleshy tail.
As Roy and Todd made their retreat, the revived kept pressing closer. It was like an unspoken dance where each side would take a step only after the other side did. There was no tune playing, but an eerie rhythm started playing out.
One, two. One, two. Roy was humming quietly as he made his retreat.
***
A dance with the demons was slowly unfolding in the morgue.
"Why are you humming?"
"To relax."
The moment the duo exited the room, the revived's patience finally ran out. They bared their black, rotten teeth at them, spewing rancid air from their maws.
"Come, ye bastards. Let's dance!" Roy pushed Todd to the door and held his sword against the steel door with one hand while holding a glass container with the other. "Let's start this off with a bang!"
Roy tossed the bomb like a bowling ball, and it rolled amongst the revived.
The witcher's taunt worked. The half-elf charged at Roy and arced through the air at an astounding speed.
"Fear!"
Crimson tentacles protruded from the void, but just like Roy expected, monsters withous a will or soul wouldn't fall for that.
The elf's charge went on, and the witcher changed his defense. He slammed his foot into the half-elf's chest, sending him skidding backward to the ground. His pair of companions took his place, and Roy could almost smell the stench of their breaths.
But before they could even hit the witcher, the corpses howled and retreated to their pack, bodies sizzling.
A stream of flames shot out from the witcher's hands and ignited the corpses, but it didn't stop there. The flames licked the bomb on the ground, and the witcher quickly closed the door. Then he and Todd blocked it with all their might.
A great quake shook the inside of the room, and the shockwave almost put the flames out. Debris fell like rain, and dull thuds rang behind the door. They even heard howls and screams tearing the air apart.
The rumbling went on for about five minutes before everything went silent. The duo exchanged a look and heaved a sigh.
"You knew something like that would happen, didn't you? Is that why you brought that bomb along?"
Todd had a look of surprise and solemnity on his face. He didn't even see how the witcher whipped his bomb and weapon out when there were no pockets or bags visible.
"Witchers are split into a lot of schools. I subscribe to the Explosive Viper philosophy. Researching the art of explosion is my thing, get it? And setting off some bombs in an enclosed area like this morgue is the perfect chance to express my art."
Roy waved Todd down nonchalantly, but he still looked as grim as ever. Only two EXP notifications?
'Revived killed. EXP +5.'
'Revivied killed. EXP +5.'
***
'Level 7 Witcher (1800/4500)'
There were more than two dozen monsters in there. Roy didn't expect one bomb to take them all out, but only killing two was dismal. It was far from what he expected, so he whipped out a few more bombs. Their EXP is abysmal. Guess soulless monsters aren't worth much. If one bomb can't take care of you guys, what about a few more? You wanna ambush me? Now have a taste of your own medicine!
But Roy didn't manage to execute his plan. Before he could even toss his bombs, the air was suddenly blanketed by white fog. What the hell are they up to now? "Stay close to me, Todd, and watch your back!"
Roy tucked his bombs away and lifted Aerondight up.
Ten seconds later, the fog had engulfed the whole room and restricted the duo's view to just a meter or so. They leaned on the door and stood back to back.
Silvery clangs rang in the air, and then something big hit the door. Roy felt like he got hit by an elephant, and the young witcher was sent flying into the air, but his high Dexterity saved him from a terrible fall. He adjusted his position midair like a cat and tensed his limbs up while arching his back.
And then he hit the floor rolling.
Roy felt something whooshing past his head. If he hadn't rolled around, he would have been hit in the face.
He heard something grunt in the fog, and Roy's face fell. The young witcher made a Quen sign, covering his body in a yellow shield before he crouched and made his way to the monster. He didn't think Todd could defend himself with a scalpel and rib spreader.
But then he smelled the stench of burnt flesh and preservatives wafting across the air, and a pair of revived appeared out of nowhere. They blocked the witcher's path and flanked him, leaving the middle part wide open.
Come at me! Roy stopped in his tracks and pushed the revived on his left back with Aard, and then he swung Aerondight across the fog, cutting through the monster on his right in half from the waist down.
Green and crimson liquid splattered the ground and filled the air with its stench. Roy quickly leapt to the left and stabbed his sword into the revived's head, and then he pulled it out right away.
The young witcher flicked his wrist and splattered the blood on his sword onto the ground.
'Revived killed. EXP +5.'
"The head is the weakness?"
The revived that was cut in half still tried to crawl over to Roy. Roy pierced it through the heart with Aerondight, but it didn't stop.
"They only have one weakness, huh?"
Roy shoved the body away, but then more bells rang, and three half-burnt revived snarled at him.
***
***
