Chapter 5 - Chapter 5: Hardship

Soon the first wave of infection approached our territory. Tens of infected big and small crawled and limped towards our makeshift gate, but it was clear who the Juggernauts were. The closest Juggernaut was about 7 feet tall give or take, but it was hard to tell from the distance. I was only able to spot the second Juggernaut, him being around the same size but about 30 feet from the first, but I wasn't worried about where the third was. Focusing on the enclosing infected, I grabbed a rebar spear, winded up my arm, and flung it gracefully at the Juggernaut. It whizzed through the air like a bullet train, and hit the infected in the right shoulder. The shockwave knocked it backwards, falling onto the infected unlucky enough to be behind it.

Standing back up, it grabbed the bloody piece of metal that was lodged in its shoulder and tore it out. The rebar left a gaping hole in its shoulder, deep enough to see right through it. It kept walking forward after ripping the metal out, but my attack was still successful, because its right arm was now completely disabled. Taking notice of my work, Landon shot an arrow at the injured Juggernaut, piercing straight through its skull. It took two more steps forward before it collapsed dead. Now it was time to up the anty. Me and Landon began a storm of ranged attacks, dozens of wooden arrows and metal spears streaking through the air toward the horde that lay in front of us. Landon kept to his word and was shooting to kill, while I took my time to line up shots, aiming for maximum collateral damage. After 20 some minutes, we finally ran dry of our makeshift weapons.

"I'M OUT OF REBAR!" I yell up to Landon,"DO YOU STILL HAVE THOSE ARROWS!?"

"NOPE, RAN OUT JUST NOW." Landon responded, "GO CATCH UP WITH JAKE DOWNSTAIRS, IT LOOKS LIKE THERE'S 20 INFECTED CLOSE, AND 20 FAR! I'LL DEAL WITH THE ONES FURTHER!"

"GOTCHA!" I reply, running down the stairs to go help Jake.

Once I reach him I ask him, "Where's the second Juggernaut?"

"Behind the first line." He replies, unsheathing his sword and preparing for battle.

"Focus on the ones on the left, I'll cover the right." I tell him, grabbing my spear from my back, "And Jake…?"

"What?" He asks.

"Fuck em' up." I tell him with a grin.

"I was planning on it." He says, grinning back to me.

Heading past the doorway we reached the wave of infected. The first to attack was them, a zombie tried to swing at Jake, but he deflected the rotted claw with his blade. His quick decision activated , which froze them in place for only fractions of a second, but that was all the time Jake needed. Taking one solid, booming step, he slashed through both the infected in front and one behind it. What followed the slash was a moment of silence, before their upper bodies fell to the floor in an oozing pool of green blood. Before their legs could even hit the floor, Jake blitzed through another two, cutting one in half vertically, and swiftly removing the head of another. Now it was my turn. Dashing towards a trio of infected, I slash through one's throat and kick off its falling body, launching into the air in a somersault. Looking down on the closest two, I line up my shot and throw my spear through the first one's head and into the second one's throat, killing them both.

Landing back on the ground, Two infected lunge at me, but using my skill, I summon the spear, swinging the blade behind me and stabbing one of the infected in the abdomen. I tighten my grip, tear out the spear and whirl it in a crescent arc, bisecting the infected and slashing the other infected across the face. Rotating the blade once more, I cut violently into its chest, splattering vile blood across the cracked pavement, killing the infected. Rushing back over to Jake, we face the second Juggernaut. Finally getting up close, I realized that my estimations were wrong, this guy was even larger then I ever could've thought. At around 8 feet tall and 600 pounds, we instinctively knew it wasn't going down easy. Getting Jake's attention, I raise my hand quickly signaling a pincer attack, which he nods to firmly. We both dash in opposite directions around him, and the enormous juggernaut attempted a swipe at Jake with a massive punch, but we've already fought someone like this before. Successfully parrying him and letting the titan's fist slide across his blade's flat, Jake's activated. The beast stood frozen in place for half a second, the air around him shifting weirdly, but that moment was all I needed. Utilizing the clear opportunity, I lopped it's lower leg clean off.

Once the stun subsided, it let out a loud shriek that shook me to the core, but Jake didn't let this stop him. Dashing forwards, the Juggernaut tried to punch him, but Jake was quicker. He swung his sword into the attack, cutting straight through its fist, splitting the arm in two. Stepping back and swinging his sword upwards, he cut through the Juggernaut's fleshy chest and cleaved directly into its thick skull. That leaves only one left, but it still hasn't shown itself. I didn't pay attention to that fact. There were still plenty of infected I haven't sent to hell yet. Charging forward together, Jake boosts me into the air, and I drop down straight onto two infected, crushing them both with the flat and pole of my spear. Jake dashes past me towards a group of three. He reduces one to a pile of meat with pure brute strength and winds his sword in the stance of a trained batter to dissect another. One of the two near him attempts a lunge at his neck, but Jake turns around and smashes their skull in with the hilt of his weapon, killing them. Turning back around, he dodges a bite attack from it and decapitates it with one swing. Spinning back around to the one he shoulder checked earlier, he drops his sword and goes at it bare handed. It leaps forwards and tries to bite him, but Jake catches its forehead with one hand and slowly begins squeezing. Crunching into its shoulder with his other hand, he tenses up, pulls, and rips its head from its body.

Now that the infected near us are all dead, we look up to the ones that Landon should have dealt with. But they were all dead… except for one. Standing atop's the corpses of tens of infected was the last Juggernaut, but he was different, he was the biggest living thing I've ever fucking seen. He was multiple feet taller than the Juggernaut we just killed, but he was muscular despite his size. But that wasn't the most worrying part, the thing that scared us the most was the fact that he was wielding equipment. In his left hand was a towering worn shield that completely covered his left side, and in his right hand was a mace, dripping a mix of red and green blood.

"What...what the hell is that!?" I ask, my mouth dropping in pure shock.

"It's the last one left…" Landon tells me as he runs through the door with his bow and quiver, "I've shot at least a dozen of my own arrows at him, but he either tanks them or deflects them with his giant shield."

"So how the hell are we supposed to kill a brick wall?" Jake asks, still shocked by the sight he was beholding.

"He might be big and be able to use equipment, but he's still just a living being, which means he can die. Let's just do what we usually do." I say, gripping my spear as I walk, determined towards the Juggernaut.

Landon stays behind us setting his sights and knocking an arrow, but Jake, the Juggernaut, and I begin to approach each other. The distance between us and the titan continued shrinking steadily, only halting momentarily when we reached each other's swatting range. But like always, Jake is the first to close that gap. Winding up his sword, he carves a clear crescent through the air, aiming at the right side of the beast's body, but the monster calmly catches the greatsword with his mace, swinging it to the side and counters like a battle hardened warrior. The mace arcs down at Jake with brutal force, but he manages to block it with his sword and gauntlets with his left hand clasped tight to the blade. Using its attack against it, I thrust my spear into its meaty hand and manage to sever its ring finger. Unbothered by its missing digit, it pulls its mace back and attempts to swat me away with a shield bash, but I swiftly backstep giving Jake an opportunity to attack. The titan falters slightly as Jake activates his and poises himself, stance wide with his blade resting on his left gauntlet not unlike a pool player would set their cue, and thrusts his sword forcefully into its solid core. Blood flowed heavily from the gash yet the giant still stood unfazed, regaining its movement before suddenly exploding into a maelstrom of violent motion.

A boom resounds as the enormous shield crashes into the dirt, planting itself firmly and flinging a wave of dust and debris into the air. My blood runs cold as I hear the sinister whistling of air to my right. Instinctively I raise my spear as a heavy mace splits through the flying grit and crunches into the wooden shaft, but by a miracle, it stays intact. Though I couldn't say the same about myself. I slowly looked down and stared, horrified, at the mangled remains of my left arm. Torn at the wrist with the elbow bent at an unnatural angle, with bones sticking out of every major joint except my shoulder, my gruesome limb dangled bloodied and useless at my side. But I felt nothing, not yet, my adrenaline began pumping in overdrive as I breathed, In-out-in-out-in-- I peered through the dangerous haze of falling ground and clenched my damaged spear, shaking with unbridled fury.

 As the smokescreen clears, I wind back my remaining arm and launch my weapon ruthlessly at the monster's emerging face, which was swiftly and cleanly deflected, embedding itself in the floor. Charging in, I activate my skill and regain my weapon. As I charge forward, Jake does the same, striking at the weakened right hand of the Juggernaut, but to no avail as the giant blocks again with his mace.

As he was distracted, I tried to strike at its hand, but an unexpected kick sent me flying across the dirt. I slow my tumble, dragging my spear through the dirt with my one good arm, and rush back in to help Jake. The Juggernaut swings at an unprepared Jake who stares petrified at the gut-wrenching mess of what remained of my left arm, but an arrow appears from nowhere and causes it to shriek back in pain as the arrow pierces flawlessly through its eye. 

A distant celebratory whoop was heard, "THERE WAS ONE LEFT! HAHAHA-"

"Holdthefuckup- WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOUR ARM?" Jake yells in distress, momentarily ignoring the shrieking monster with the wooden stake in its head.

Gritting my teeth, I flash my friend a gaunt smile, "It's… nothing, really. I-I'll tell you later, right now we've gotta… gotta f-focus."

Similar to the leader of the Stalkers, the Juggernaut decides to use his final card. A thick, red aura exudes from the creature, as a status window appears in front of it. appears in large type over a small section of text, but before any of us could read it, the Juggernaut strikes at Jake with its mace, but this attack was different. A resounding CLANG like the bell of an old clocktower echoed from the clash between the mace and Jake's sword, but Jake was struggling… heavily. The ground below Jake began to crack and split under the pressure, but Jake held on. Despite his ribs and back screaming in agony and the vital, red blood flowing heavily down his chin, he held on under the immense weight. Using all of his strength, he managed to bear the colossal mace, and utilizing his skill, he stuns the beastly creature and moves to subdue it further. Climbing over its massive body, he wrenches its jaw open, giving me a perfect place to attack. Launching my spear at the target, it looks like it was going to connect, but Jake's skill ends and the Juggernaut blocks my spear and flings it to the side. But I couldn't let go of this moment. Barely dodging its mace's backswing, I climb on top of its heavy shield and call forth my final weapon summon, raising my good hand high above my head as if preparing to stab down. Its eyes darted immediately to the discarded spear and trying to anticipate my next move, it quickly slips its hand in front of mine. But nothing happens, because I wasn't summoning my spear, I was summoning a piece of rebar that lay far behind the titan. It swiftly accelerates out of the skewered pile of Walkers… and pierces through the Juggernaut's skull instantaneously, pushing slowly past its giant wavering hand and drifting gently into mine. Finally, the fight was over.

"Fuuuuck…" I say as I fall to the ground, drenched in blood and sweat.

"That's all of them right? I don't think I'll be able to kill anymore." Jake says as he plops down next to me, scooting away from the blood slowly pooling from my mutilated arm.

"Thats all of them." Landon says, heading outside towards us, eyes soon locking onto my butchered limb, "what the fuck… I'm- I'm just not gonna ask" Once he reaches us, the quest window pops up.

Congratulations! You are the first party in North America to complete a quest rated C+ rank! You have reached level 3 and will be awarded status points to increase your physical capabilities. And for your party's accomplishment, you have each been awarded 1 , and your party gains 1 .

As the system window appears, my arm violently snaps back into place, blood and flesh building around the bone, and my arm repairs itself.

We opened our chests as soon as they appeared in front of us. Opening mine I get . Forged by the system, this piece of equipment is used to guard your lower arm and can be used to deflect attacks. While Equipped, gain +1 Agility, +1 Strength, and +1 Endurance.> Jake opened his own, finding . Forged by a humanoid race from another planet, these Rerebrace's are designed for combat. When worn, gain +2 Vitality and +1 Strength. Finally Landon opened his, and he gained Forged by the blacksmith of a forgotten nation, this equipment was specifically designed for archers> When worn, gain +2 Vitality and +1 Instinct. Next, we looked at our new skills

Ethan Turner: Lvl 1 skill: (Calming Hands: Passive): Using any Spear or javelin type weapons automatically brings your focus to a heightened degree, leading to more concentration and refining your weapon skills. Lvl 1 skill: (Basic Spear Technique: Passive): You now know the basic ways to use a spear type weapon. Once you begin to adapt this skill into your own, you will begin to receive special skills designed on your technique. Lvl 3 skill: (Weapon Summoning: 4/4 uses): Once you have begun a fight, if you lose or throw away your weapon, you are able to recall it three times. The amount of uses increases with level until level 15, when you have infinite summons. Lvl 3 skill: (Spear Cleave: Passive): When your weapon slows down when hitting hard material such as concrete, bone, or metal, increase your power for two seconds. 1 minute cooldown.

Jake Ferguson: Lvl 2 skill: (Heavyweight Champion: Passive): Strength and endurance is multiplied exponentially with each level at the cost of your imperceptibility. Lvl 1 skill: (Basic Great Weapon Technique: Passive): You now know the basic ways to use a great weapon. Once you begin to adapt this skill into your own, you will begin to receive special skills designed on your technique. Lvl 3 skill: (Counter Hit: Passive): After parrying an attack, your opponent is stunned for 0.60 of a second. Stun increases by 0.10 seconds per level. Lvl 3 skill: (???) Conditions not met.

Landon Constantine: Lvl 1 skill: (Fleetfoot: Passive): Ramp up in speed the longer you run. Lvl 1 skill: (Basic Archery Technique: Passive): You now know the basic ways to use an Archery type weapon. Once you begin to adapt this skill into your own, you will begin to receive special skills designed on your technique. Lvl 2 skill: (Basic Planning): Create a 3D model of your surroundings to create a plan/map that you and your allies can see. Lasts for 2 minutes. Lvl 3 skill: (Powershot) By holding back the bowstring for three seconds at full capacity, fire off a much more powerful shot. Holding it for longer increases the power. 30 second cooldown.

 Now we checked our stats.

Ethan Turner: lvl 3

Stats: Strength: 10 (+1), Endurance: 8 (+1), Agility: 8 (+2), Vitality: 10 (+2), Instinct: 8, Wisdom: 10, Charisma: 2. Looking into myself, I realized that I still lacked the strength to protect myself, let alone my friends, so I put +2 points into Strength, and +1 into Agility.

Jake Ferguson: lvl 3

Stats: Strength: 10 (+3), Endurance: 8, Agility: 9 (+1), Vitality: 10 (+2), Instinct: 8, Wisdom: 6, Charisma: 1. Jake wanting to grow even stronger, he put +2 points into Strength, and +1 into Endurance.

Landon Constantine: lvl 3

Stats: Strength: 6 (+1), Endurance: 8, Agility: 10 (+2), Vitality: 7 (+2), Instinct: 8 (+1), Wisdom: 7, Charisma: 8. Thinking back into the battle, Landon decided to put +1 point into Endurance, and +2 points into Strength.

The familiar soft bell rang and we all became absorbed in the golden aura. As soon as it consumed us, it disappeared, and I could feel my new strength flowing through me. Grabbing my Atgeir, I walked away from where we were and found a lone concrete pillar. Using this as my target for my skill, I slashed horizontally at it. The original attack went about an inch into the concrete, but soon an unfamiliar power surged through my body, and I kept pushing into the pillar until I got halfway through it. Pulling my spear out as I backed away, Landon used his skill and fired at the pillar. It shot through the air almost faster than I could track, striking the pillar with enough force for it to explode outward in a shower of sharp rubble.

"Ethan, are you sure you're good?" Jake asks with worry, while Landon gives me a nervous side-eye.

"I-I don't know how but my arm feels fine." I say, demonstrating that I regained its function, "I'll be fine, I think that completing the quest heals our wounds…"

"Now that you mention it," Jake continues as he pats up and down his chest, "My ribs aren't fucked up anymore."

"Anyways what does this do...wait. I can't use my skill." Jake says confused, "It says that I haven't met the conditions yet.

"That's weird...it reminds me of that one time when it tried to say something but it came out muted." Landon recollected, brows furrowed in contemplation.

"I guess we'll figure it out later." Jake nodded. Just as he agreed, a system window appeared in front of us.

Congratulations! You are the first ever humans to be offered a Hidden Quest! This quest is extremely rare and offers high grade loot, but the challenge is equally difficult. Quest Type: Boss Raid - Enter a Dungeon and Slay Once completed, you will level up again, gain five and gain another . This quest's difficulty will be , enter at your own risk.

Staring at the screen for a few more seconds I finally managed to say something," So we're still going to do it right? We can't pass up this opportunity after we almost died to some random fucking Juggernaut."

"You're right, but this time we legitimately have to be on guard." Landon agrees, "One person slips up and we all turn into them." Landon says as we both look at Jake.

"Oh come on it was one time, and anyway I'm soooo sorry for slamming the door." Jake says as he clacks his feet together and sarcastically bows to us .

"Just don't fuck us over next time...Anyways, are we ready?" I sigh, trying to keep my composure as I stand up and walk towards the truck.

"Yeah-yeah, let's get this over with." Jake says, stretching his back as he follows me. Landon following close after retrieving his arrows from the fallen infected

After traveling for a few minutes, we finally arrived at the building that we marked down. Getting out of the truck we slowly entered the decrepit building, cautiously looking for signs of infected or the Dungeon. We cleared each room one by one until we finished the first floor. No luck. Splitting up for the second floor, Jake and Landon went to search the north side of the building, while I went south. Carefully, I entered each room and inspected them for any sign of a glowing doorway or magical opening, but again I found nothing. A few minutes went by as I started searching towards the stairwell, and I eventually met back up with the two of them, but they didn't find it either. Walking up the stairs to the third and final floor, we stayed together and searched room by room, but there wasn't jack shit. Five minutes of searching later, we were onto the final room. Opening the door, we looked inside and the room was barren. We went inside and searched every nook and cranny that we could reach, but nothing was there.

"Huuugh...Let's go back downstairs and search through all of the rooms one by one." I say exiting the room with my hands massaging my face

Right before I fully stepped through the doorway, Jake yanked my cape and dragged me back into the room yelling, "WATCH OUT!"

Falling to the floor I look at Jake with a frustrated and puzzled expression, but he just points back at the doorway. Turning my head over to where I was just about to , I see what they both saw. The building we were in changed...it was destroyed. Half of the building just disappeared soundlessly in an instant. Standing back up, I walked towards the edge of the doorway and poked my head out. The skyline we once knew faded as destruction was spread far to the horizon. Skyscrapers collapsed into mountains of rubble. Homes, apartments, everything was completely razed to the ground or were midway through the process. Looking down, I noticed the two levels below us had been reduced to mere hills of broken concrete that shifted dangerously under our floor's weight, then the system window popped up.

Congratulations! You are the first ever humans to find a Dungeon! Dungeons are full of powerful infected and half of the injuries you sustain inside of the Dungeon will NOT disappear after leveling up. Now, crush your enemies for your valiant cause!

"...What the fuck." I barely managed to say, my jaw dropping at the sheer destruction that had been laid out before us.

"Jesus...It's as if a god decided to just- to just obliterate the whole city." Landon said, shockridden.

"Okay lets calm down…" Jake reasoned, for once being reasonable, "This is a Dungeon, so it isn't what the city looks like."

"Thats true but...it's still hard to think how some cities on earth probably look like this now." Landon responded.

"Lets just get the quest done and get out of here. I'm already getting the chills." I say as I grab onto the ledge of the building and hop down the floors.

Jake and Landon followed suit and we began our march towards the boss's chamber, following a faint glowing trail while fighting off some Walkers here and there. Eventually we turned into an alley and emerged into the main street, where horrors greater than any human should have to look upon. Up and down the streets were dozens of charred, dangling figures hung up onto buildings or impaled by spikes lined up on the street. Below them were even more bodies, stacked into piles and set ablaze. All of them desecrated cruelly, displaying their blackened bones and fetid organs which festered with black rot. The acrid stench was sickening. I stared for a moment, suddenly stumbling back and nearly tripping over an oblivious Jake. I shoved my way back into the narrow alleyway as my stomach lurched, desperately trying to force its contents out onto the asphalt. Clutching my mouth as dread began to set in, eyes wide in horror staring intensely down at the floor beneath me, I stood hunched with a hand on the crumbling wall in front of me and hurled up everything I had eaten that day.

"What- What the f-fuck was that!?" I cough out between heaves as the sight of their bodies remain engraved in my vision.

"What the hell is this place!?" Jake says, gagging as he holds a hand to his mouth, trying not to repeat what I'd done.

"Were these people...people like us?" Landon says, unable to take his eyes away from the horrors.

"Landon?" I manage to get out as I pull him away from the street, "You're the smart one, right? So...can you tell me what the HELL is going on in this place?"

"I-I...I don't know...I knew that something felt off the second we stepped into the dungeon but… okay look I just don't fucking know!" Landon sputters, trying to make sense of what was happening, "The only thing I know is that we can't leave, not until we find the boss and kill it. It's likely the cause of all this aswell…"

"I'm going to end that fuck." Jake mutters, staring at the lifeless corpses, fists clenched so tight that his nails were, "I'll tear out its sick heart and feed it to 'im. I'll rip its damn head off and leave it dripping on one of them spikes. ILL CUT IT ALL TO SHREDS." 

"Yeah…We'll do that. I like that idea." Landon says, "Look I know that we aren't religious people, but let's pray… for them. It's the least we could do."

Landon knelt down and began to pray for them. We followed suit. For what felt like minutes I prayed and prayed that whatever did this would suffer and that we would free the souls of the tormented. Before we went out into the street, Landon peeped his head around the corner to look for any landmarks, finding exactly what he was looking for.

"I think I found our destination." Landon said as he pointed towards a massive, looming cathedral.

"You might just be right…" I say, scanning the building up and down.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go." Jake replies as he walks into the street, staring at the floor.

Me and Jake followed suit, but no amount of hiding our senses could cover up what we saw. Walking past the first few piles I manage to swallow my fears and keep walking, but then I trip. Pushing myself to my knees, I look back curiously to what I'd tripped on, freezing instantly right where I kneeled. Staring directly back at me was one glassy, faded eye of a dead child, the other dangling loosely on a bloody cord from its half lidded socket. The soulless eyes that were once filled with dreams and aspirations now stared singularly into mine. My breathing quickened as I fell backwards onto the bloodsoaked dirt, what the hell was wrong with this place? All that we've seen so far is chaos and war crimes. I can't take much more of this. I really can't do this anymore…

No… Stop thinking like that. I need to keep going. If I get stopped by this...how am I going to survive if things get any worse? I need to keep going. To prove to myself and to everyone that I have what it takes to survive, that I can and will outlast this. I smacked myself in the face over and over until my legs began to move. Regaining my footing, I run over and catch up to Jake and Landon. Eventually we make it to the Cathedral. It stood even taller and grander, now that we were so close to it. Its pristine walls contrasted with the desolate and ruined city around it. Its massive spruce doors were perfectly kempt, dust not even daring to settle on its steps. Looking up at the roof, each and every stone seemed to be polished and new, and yet it looked as if it had always been sitting, and waiting.

 Just below its rooftop was an expanse of stained glass, depicting a dark deity descending from the heavens and striking down a glowing god. How fitting, it would make sense if god was killed before this world turned to hell. Setting my thoughts aside, me and Jake cracked open its heavy, ominous doors. Walking past the rows and rows of empty church seats we head over to the altar, where a towering figure lies underneath a tarp.

"Wanna see what's under it?" Jake says, trying to lighten up the mood.

"Sure, it's probably just a statue." I say, but my gut tells me that it isn't something that I want to see, but I go help pull the tarp down anyways.

Me and Jake both walk closer to the tarp and we pull it down. As we do a bloodcurdling screech comes from underneath it. Letting go of the tarp and running back, it reveals a flayed mass of flesh and hooks. It was the most disturbing and disgusting thing I could even think of. It towered over us, its featureless 'head' hovering just below the ceiling. A thin, spindly torso rose up from a massive base that resembled the roots of a tall oak as dozens of crooked limbs shot out at every angle from the tight, systematically stitched skin below its waist. But the colossal being sat planted, its limbs too thin and stringent to lift its titanic form. Above its waist, its body was almost completely void of skin, only patches of grafts were placed here and there. Like its waist, it had dozens of arms too long and spindly to be used properly. Looking down at its abdomen, it had no stomach. It was replaced with a bloodied mouth with hundreds of teeth running down to its base, pieces of flesh from its last meal still hanging from it. Above its mouth, its chest was covered by tens of smaller appendages hugging its chest closed. And lastly was the face. It was horrendous. The skinning on its face was even worse than it was below. It lacked lips, eyelids, and even ears. Its mouth was stuck in a perpetual, horrifying smile revealing a black void. The most disturbing thing was its one lone eyeball, staring down from the top of its head into my soul just like the dead child had.

"Oh...oh my god…" Landon whispered, his mouth hanging open, stricken with shock.

"What the fuck even is that thing?" Jake managed to get out, swallowing his once boundless ego.

"It's huge...How the hell is it even that big?" I say as equally shocked as everyone else.

"Let's think for a second." Landon continues, "Look at its legs, it clearly can't move. And its arms are too thin to do any heavy damage." He says pointing at it.

"Thats true…" I say, "But it's still too big for us to do any damage."

"It'll be fine. We haven't even tried fighting it." Jake says, beginning to regain his confidence, "Let's rock its shit." 

Right as we begin to approach the Skinweaver, it lets out another scream, and the doors burst open. We all turned our heads around and saw tens of the people we saw burning or impaled outside came limping and crawling in, they were infected. Turning my head back around, the boss… wasn't moving.

"Shit." I say, grabbing my Atgeir and walking towards the infected,"We've got to deal with these first. The boss can't move anyways so we'll be fine if we ignore it."

"You're right. Lets put them to rest and then fuck up the amalgamation." Jake responds.

Walking back past the benches, two infected approach each one of us. The first of the two after Jake try to lunge after him, but Jake parries the attacks with the blunt side of his blade, stunning them. Jake proceeds to calmly kick them back into the others, and with one quick slash, he decapitates them both. Next up was Landon. The two after him were slower, and he wanted to test out his on some real targets. He wound up his bowstring, held it for three seconds, and then let it rip. The arrow blasted through the air with a golden aura and hit the first one in the neck. It tore straight through the infected and burrowed through the chest of the second one, killing both of them with one shot. Now it was my turn. The two after me both ran towards me. Smacking them with the shaft of my spear I sent them back, and then sliced horizontally at the stomach. My blade cut straight through the first one but stopped at the second infected. Right as it did, my skill activated. With a sudden burst of strength, my blade cut cleanly through the second infected, ending the skirmish.

"Phew, this is a lot easier than last time." Jake said, flourishing his greatsword to clean off the blood.

"Don't get too cocky now." Landon responded,"We still have to fight the Skinweaver Priest." He says looking over at the towering hellspawn.

Just as he does, a low, menacing, grating, clicks fill the air, almost like a cackle. Me and Jake both turn our heads, as we see the Skinweaver laughing at us. As he laughed, he began to wildly flail his arms. As soon as he did this, hundreds of infected came flying, limply through the doorway, but they weren't after us. The Skinweaver was using some kind of magic to drag them inside, but why? That answer revealed itself almost immediately. The infected began to float in the air, coalescing into some kind of orb, and the one at the forefront was the very child I tripped over.

"What...what the hell is he doing?" I questioned, the fear rising in my voice..

"What if he controls the infected?" Landon reasoned, "If he does we probably need to get the fuck out of here and replan."

"Let's just wait and see. We're faster than all of them anyways." Jake says, gripping his sword tighter.

Landon's theory was partially correct. He controlled them, but not in the way he thought it would. Staring back at the kid, his body began to contort. His bones and flesh contorting and bending in ways that shouldn't be possible. Blood spurted from his eyes and mouth as his body shrunk and elongated into the shape of a gruesome spear.

"Help...mommy." He whispered, as his body warped into the shape of a spearhead. The Skinweaver's ability was to twist and turn infected into weapons for him to use.

"That...that BASTARD!!!" I screamed, shaking, hot tears beginning to drip down my cheeks.

"ETHAN!" Jake yelled as he shoved me out of the way and leapt back, protecting me from the human spear the Skinweaver flung at me, "GET IT TOGETHER! IF WE WANT TO GET REVENGE THEN PAY ATTENTION!!"

I stare at the kid on the floor, his body trying to unfold back into its original state, but too far destroyed, "You're right. He needs to die." I say standing back up as I see tens of infected slowly shaping into spears, "BLOCK IT OR DODGE!!" I yell as the spears rain down upon us, each spear aimed with precision, directly for our hearts.

Landon stared at the Skinweaver as he formed the spears and called out to us, "HIS CHEST OPENS UP WHENEVER HE FORMS THE SPEARS!!" 

Turning my head around I see what he was talking about. Whenever he ran out of spears or started firing them, the arms around his chest would open up and expose his heart.

"GOOD JOB LANDON! I'LL FIRE MY SPEAR ONCE HE USES HIS MAGIC!" I yell to him, hiding behind one of the columns that hold up the church.

After a long flurry of attacks, he ran out of spears to attack us with, so I used this chance. Dashing out from behind the pillar, I take aim and fling my spear towards its open heart. Right before I could see anything, a smokescreen appeared in front of him. As it fades, I learn that he can use his manipulation to turn them into any shape he wants. Using multiple infected, he formed a wall to protect himself. Not even was able to break through it. Using , I call my spear back. The Skinweaver dissects each one of the infected in the shield and turns them into dozens of needles, then sends them hailing towards me. Using my Buckler and Spear, I managed to deflect all of them, while Landon countered with a that he held back for five seconds. It soared through the air faster than anything he had shot before and collided with another infected shield, but pierced through. The Skinweaver let out another massive shriek that shook the whole building. But the arrow didn't hit anything vital, it was deflected into its shoulder. This pissed him off.

"SHIT! THE ARROW GOT DEFLECTED INSIDE OF THE SHIELD BY A BONE OR SOMETHING ELSE!" Landon yelled over the Skinweaver's booming voice,"UNLESS I CAN HOLD ONTO A POWERSHOT FOR MORE THAN TEN SECONDS UNINTERRUPTED, I'M NOT GETTING THROUGH IT ALL!!"

"GOT IT!" Jake responds as he charges towards the boss.

The Skinweaver responds by re-summoning the needles he threw at me and flinging them at Jake. Jake deflects them with some ease, activating his skill. The Skinweaver freezes and Jake charges towards it. Jumping into the air, Jake slashes across the gash that Landon opened prior. His blade sunk deep into its shoulder, but it was stopped midway because of the sheer size of it. Two of the Skinweaver's spindly arms took jabs at him, but he managed to kick away and block the hits, stunning it again. During Jake's attempt to sever his main arm, Landon was holding back on his bow with all his might, and now it was time to fire. Letting go of the bowstring, the arrow flew faster than I could see. The room filled with a golden light, blinding me and everybody else. Not even a second after he fired, a massive explosion shook the room. Once I was able to see again, I looked at the Skinweaver and saw the destruction. Half of the torso around its stomach mouth was gone, the arrow went straight through and even shot through the building as the walls cracked heavily around the gaping hole.

The Skinweaver let out an even more horrendous cry than the last one as blood spewed and gushed from its vast wound. But it wasn't dead, not yet. Using its manipulation, he fixed the hole in himself with the flesh and bone of the infected, and used their muscle fibres to stitch it closed. But it was weakened. Blood had come out of its ever grinning mouth and was dripping onto the floor in heavy waves. This was our chance. I threw my spear deep into its side while the skinweaver was distracted, and Jake jumped up onto it to boost himself up towards its fucked chest. Just as Jake was about to stab its heart. A giant mace appeared, completely shattering Jake's body. 

"JAKE!!!" I yelled as the dense ball of spiked metal collided with his chest, sending him flying into the highest column. The cathedral hall grew silent, all besides the cracking of bones against the hard marble pillar. Jake's broken body, shattered and mauled, peeled out from the support and dove twenty feet into the rubble below. Jake was dead.