Devil's Chosen

The Cave

"Badump"

Feeling the ground rumble, I braced myself for what was coming. In panic, I reached out towards the cave wall, grabbing onto anything that could hold me steady. What I found was a tiny crevice that could fit my small hand inside. Without thinking, I grasped at the hole.

In the next moment, I felt the cave start to rumble, and after a few seconds, the cave went from vibrating to quaking. Watching as the cave walls jolted and pieces of rock broke off, I brought my free arm up to defend my face from a tiny pebble landslide coming towards me.

Rocks fell upon me, sending shockwaves through my body as they impacted. My bones creaked, and hot red blood dripped from the gashes that the rocks inflicted. Keeping my head low to avoid the pebbles, I watched as my feet shook from the earthquake that I was experiencing.

A burning sensation exploded on my scalp. After a few moments, I could taste my own blood as it dripped down my face.

The taste of blood was surprisingly delightful; I wish it weren't my own.

Suddenly, my feet lifted off the ground, as a massive boom resonated from all around the cave. I felt weightless as I drifted upwards. The only thing keeping me near the wall was my hand. My fingers bled as they dug deep into the stone crevice, keeping me from going higher.

As I floated in the cave, the shaking suddenly stopped, the momentum that had carried me up lessened, sending me crashing down. With the sudden change of direction, my fingers gave out, snapping from the tension and releasing their grip from the cave wall.

With a loud "Bang," my head smashed into the ground, sending a jolt through my body and making everything go black. I awoke a few moments later with a throbbing pain in my temple, making it hard to think properly.

I lay on the ground, bruised and bloodied, but alive. I tried to push myself up, but to my dismay, my fingers on my right hand were all purple and bent in awkward ways. I sat myself up against the wall, resting my head against the hard, cold bedrock. Biting my cheek, I watched as Demonic Regeneration lvl 3, took effect.

My purple fingers began to regain their pale colour and vibrate violently, snapping back into place. Grunting as they did, I held back the tears that formed at the corner of my eyes.

Pain Nullification lvl 1 was sure useful, but that still hurts. Breathing in, the pain in my head dissipated, leaving me feeling calm.

Bringing myself to my feet, I observed the cave once again. Now there were many more stalagmites on the floor, and the walls had deep cracks running through them.

I don't know if this cave can take too many more of these...

After deliberating, I decided to head back to where I had first fallen into the cave. My first few steps were wobbly, and I ended up falling to my knees.

I haven't walked properly since I got out of that blood. And even then, with my leg so destroyed, I could barely walk back then, too. With my high from the quake wearing off, my legs trembled even when I stood. Deciding to take it easy, I walked alongside the cave wall, using it as a brace to hold myself.

Slowly, I made my way along the wall, towards the entrance.

How far had I made it into this cave? I don't remember it taking this long...

After walking for what felt like an hour, my legs had stopped shaking, and I could walk with relative ease. As I walked for a few more minutes, I had to halt. To my dismay, a wall stood before me, a wall of varying rocks.

My eyes widened as I realized what had happened. The cave roof had collapsed, causing a cave-in.

I felt tears form in my eyes as my hope to escape was torn out of me. Screaming, I fell to my knees, punching the ground until my knuckles bled. My white hair fell in front of my face, tears getting absorbed in its beauty.

My nails dug into the rocks, trying to tear a hole in the stone wall, but it was no use; all I could do was watch as blood dripped from my hands, only to be halted as they healed fully.

After releasing my anger, I stood up, facing the wall. With one final punch, I hit the wall, feeling my bone shatter, but then I start to reform almost immediately. Turning away from the wall, I walked away, descending deeper into the cave.

I have to live for all my siblings who died.

I walked deeper into the cave, stepping over fallen sharp rocks and avoiding drops. My feet bled constantly from the rough ground, but healed quickly enough not to allow me to feel anything; all that was left were bloody footprints, displaying where I had travelled.

I walked until I saw blood littered all over the cave, black and red blood. My blood. I knew I had made it back to where I had met that creature, based on the c*****e that could be found. I jolted as visions of my broken body flooded my mind, black gooey flesh melting and falling off the bone. The image of my leg being broken to the point where it was holding on by mere threads. My own eyeball resting in my lap...

I held back the urge to vomit, only slightly gagging at the gruesome thoughts.

I need to be strong, I can't fear pain...

Looking at the blood-soaked cave, I ran my hand against it. My hand had stayed pale, the blood dried against the cave, staying stuck to the rocks.

With a deep breath, I continued to walk deeper into the cave, heading into the darkness ahead. After a few steps, the silence that I had grown accustomed to disappeared, replaced by a sound I knew all too well.

The sound of scurrying made my body shiver; the monster from before was moving, and it was close enough to hear. My eyes darted all around the cave, trying to pinpoint the beast's position, but unfortunately, I could not spot the terrifying creature.

My ears perked as they tried to locate the monster's sound, but the cave's echoes made its movements seem to be all around me, making it almost impossible to tell where the sound originated.

Instead of trying to search for the monster, I ran to the nearest wall, backing myself up against it, reducing the area from which the monster could come. Bracing my back against the wall, my eyes kept moving side to side, waiting for the beast to show itself.

I knew the beast could come from above, but if it did, that would mean it would have to be close enough for me to hear it. This wall is the safest place for me to be.

Sweat dripped down my brow, my breathing was fast, and my heart was beating at a terrifying pace. I could feel the blood pumping through my body, and fear rushed through me, causing me to be on edge. I could feel my arms quivering, the taste of blood flooded my mouth as my cheek ripped from my teeth.

The skittering echoed all around me, sending false signals to my brain. My mind couldn't process all the noise I was hearing, to the point where my thoughts started to fog. It sounded as if there were hundreds of the creatures, just waiting to pounce. The noise was deafening...

"Swish"

"Swish"

"..."

Then silence... The noise had completely stopped. My eyes widened in surprise at the sudden stop. The cave was now empty, the only noise was my ragged breath and the beat of my own heart. In front of me was only darkness. I waited, expecting the beast to appear. But it did not.

Minutes went by, and nothing happened. The cave remained silent, my breathing began to calm, and my mind started to settle down.

"Huff"

"Wheeze"

I brought my hands to my knees to take a deep breath.

"c***k"

My blood ran cold...

I looked up, and what I saw terrified me. The beast had itself planted on the wall right above me. Its face had already fallen open, revealing its menacing black fangs. Its foremost eye was directed right at me, causing goosebumps to form.

The beast screeched when we made eye contact, distancing itself from the wall and descending on me. My body felt frozen, while my mind felt like it was operating at one hundred times its normal speed.

Fear gripped my heart, but in that moment, my frozen body began to move on its own. I dove forward out of the way of the beast, nearly avoiding two of its talons that landed where I had just been.

I tumbled to the ground after the close call, but the monster recovered faster than I did. It screeched at me and charged. I crawled along the ground, pushing hard to try to get away, but my speed while sliding against the hard floor was much slower than the creature's. I looked for anything that could help me, but nothing was within reach.

I looked behind me and searched the floor. I saw it!

Around a few meters away was a small stalagmite that had fallen from the roof, just big enough that it could fit in my hand. I tried to reach back and grab it, but it was of no use; it was too far.

Looking back at the monster who was almost upon me, I cried out in dismay. It jumped at me, aiming to plunge its talons into my chest. Reactively, my foot shot out, contacting the monster's face. It screeched as I felt a snap; one of its fangs had broken off, leaving it with only one. The beast flipped through the air and landed a few meters away. I used this as an opportunity to get to the stalagmite.

I grabbed it and held it forward towards the creature, who had now recovered. It was rushing at me again, anger shown behind each of its disgusting eyes. It jumped forward at me. I kicked out again, but it used one of its eight talons to quickly change its direction by planting into the ground.

It landed upon me, sticking its remaining fang into my shoulder, pumping black poison into my body. I screamed out. The pain was intense, even with Pain Nullification lvl 1. The monster dug into me, its talons piercing both of my legs, and its eyes looked into mine. What I saw in their reflection was my face, covered in fear.

It shuddered as if it was enjoying this; it was feasting on my pain. I screamed out again as I felt more poison enter my body. The pain was then enhanced by Demonic Regeneration lvl 3, as I felt my body trying to repair itself, only to be corrupted again.

It was like a constant circle of pain; my mind started to fog as the pain started to overwhelm it. I looked at my hand to see that I was still holding the sharp rock. With all my might, I brought it up and stabbed it down into the creature's side.

On top of me, the monster screamed out, releasing its fang from my shoulder. I felt its hot, acidic blood spew out of where I stabbed, melting both the rock and my hand. I cried out as black and red blood mixed, falling to the ground. My hand could barely move, as the skin was almost completely gone.

My hand tried to heal, but melted almost as soon as the skin started to grow back, causing me even more excruciating pain. Tears ran down my face as the monster plunged back into me, corroding more of my flesh.

Pain Nullification lvl 1-> 2

The pain lessened slightly at the pop-up of the words, causing me to regain some clarity, only for that clarity to disperse as the monster plunged two of its talons into my stomach. With the talons entering my abdomen, I felt a pool of blood form in my mouth. Coughing all over the beast, my red blood gave the black beast some shine.

The beast gave a happy wiggle at the sight of my blood. Twisting its talons to increase the torment.

The sight of the beast angered me. Is this thing really going to be the end of me?

More blood spewed out of my mouth. I felt my heart pumping fast to replace the lost blood. My good hand went down to one of the talons, trying to pull it out, but it was no use. Once my hand reached the beast, one of its free talons sped towards my arm, piercing and immobilizing it. I gargled out a cry as it did.

Heat began to leave my body with the blood, leaving me shivering. I could feel myself fading. I couldn't do anything; my only weapon melted the instant I pierced the beast, and my only free limb was covered in acidic blood. I looked at where I had stabbed the creature and saw it start to heal.

It seems to have Demonic Regeneration, too. I guess that makes sense, since I got the skill from one of its species. I coughed again and brought my ruined hand up and drove it into the monster's wound.

The monster screamed and shook in pain. I felt my hand going deeper into the creature. I felt as if my hand was engulfed in acid, causing me excruciating pain. I could feel it melt and reform over and over again; my Demonic Regeneration lvl 3, was working its hardest to keep my hand from completely melting.

I was healing, but I knew it wasn't fast enough; my hand was losing structure too fast. The feeling of my hand moving through flesh and blood made me feel weird, but I had to keep pushing. I needed to do something to gain an advantage.

My eyes looked upon the creature who was now writhing in pain due to my hand. It had removed its fang and was trying to attack my hand instead. It was no longer paying attention to my face, which gave me the perfect opportunity.

With determination, I drove my head forward, biting into the monster's flesh. It was disgusting, and I could feel my mouth melting again. The monster cried out and removed its talons from my limbs, trying to escape from me. But it was too late; the instant its talons left my body, my other hand wrapped around the creature, pulling it closer to me while keeping it from escaping.

I bit down hard, ripping pieces of muscle and flesh out. I took it into my mouth, swallowing the chunk of the monster whole. The monster cried as I did, and in desperation, it started digging its talons into my chest, trying to break through my sternum. As it slammed into my chest, I started to wheeze and choke. But the piece of flesh had already made it into my stomach.

Demonic Regeneration lvl 3-> 4

With that notification, I felt my body change and start to heal even faster! I drove my hand deeper into the creature, causing it to twitch and wriggle even more. It slammed into me harder, cracking my ribs. My breathing decreased, as if one of my lungs had given out.

As my hand moved, I felt something within the creature, something that was squishy, but different from the flesh I had been tearing through. With a thrust, I grabbed onto the object, and as I did, I saw the monsters' many eyes widen in fear. It began convulsing and fighting even harder to break free.

I yanked the object from within the monster, and a loud cacophony of snaps could be heard from within the monster. I pulled the thing from the beast, causing blood to flow out of the wound at an incredible speed. Once my hand had fully left the beast, the monster finally stopped moving, falling to the ground, blood seeping from each of its eyes.

Acquired 10exp

In my hand, the object I had grabbed moved; it beat like a drum until finally coming to a halt. My melted hand brought the thing to my face; it was the beast's heart. I looked at the purple screen in front of me.

Class: Devourer(Mythical)

With my eyes closed, I brought it to my mouth and took a deep bite out of it.