David was lost, trapped in the storm of his mind. He stood in a field of dead grass. Winds battered his body as the voices of his family filled his ears.
"You failure"
"What gives you the right to keep living when I died"
"You are not my son, you will never be my son"
He tried to ignore the voices, but they seemed to be coming from inside his own skull.
In the distance a massive storm of gray clouds was illuminated by lightning. He stood clad in kasrkin carapace armor, clutching an imperial hellgun.
In the distance as the lightning continued to crackle and thunder boomed a rift of light appeared hovering a few feet off the ground at the edge of the field.
The crack started to expand turning into a swirling vortex of light and energy. From the vortex a malformed human foot emerged.
A warp corrupted human stepped forth from the rift. Bones jutted from it's disfigured and broken body, like blades. Hornes emerged from amongst the skin and coiled like smoke towards the sky. Rusted metal spikes pierced the blotchy dead skin as large metal nails went through its hands and arms.
More corrupted humans continued to emerge from the warp rift. Some in armor and weapons; others broken and corrupted.
The lead malformed human spotted David and rushed towards him. Animalistic screeches and guttural howls bellowed from its corrupted form. As the first abomination rushed forward the others quickly turned to join in the hunt. David's eyes widened in horror at the amalgamations of flesh and steel rushing towards him.
'What the f**k is going on? Are those possessed humans?'
David quickly assessed the situation before dropping to a knee and setting the hell-gun into his shoulder. He did not question how his body was functioning or how he was uninjured. A bolt of burning light shot from the barrel and struck the lead possessed. A large hole punched through rotting flesh. A mist of blood and bone ejected out the back as the wound cauterized instantaneously.
The malformed limb of the possessed ruptured from it body and rolled to a stop as it continued its charge towards David.
It took three more shots fired in quick succession from the hell gun before the maddened possessed finally stopped charging. Most of its chest was gone and its' head lay several feet behind its corpse. With a squish, the remains of the lead possesseds' head was crushed beneath the onslaught of the crazed hoard that continued on; unfazed by the death.
'Shit I need to move'
Rising from his kneeling position, David fired off two more shots into the oncoming hoard. He began to back pedal while continuously firing into the crowd. One...two, they dropped after multiple shots, but he couldn't seem to slow them down. Their howls only grew louder as they closed in for the kill.
David stumbled as he tripped on a small rock among the grass. His shot swung high and continued into the sky. The red of the laser was like a beacon in the dark. The clouds began to crackle as more portals began to open. More abominations poured forth like a damn breaking. Before David could get off the ground, they were on him. Hooked claws, teeth, blades, and nails pierced and ripped at his flesh. His bloody finger was able to pull the trigger one more time - blowing a hole into one of the beasts' chest before the hell-gun was ripped from his grasp. With no weapon he desperately fought. Gouging out an eye, biting into a neck, clawing at a toothy maw as he was ripped apart. His shredded body lay buried under the corrupted forms of the possessed.
******
With a scream David awoke in the same field of dead grass. He wore the same armor and carried the same weapon. Adrenaline immediately began to flood his body, and his hands started to shake uncontrollably.
'Why? Why am I still alive? I was ripped apart. Odessian said this would be painful, is this what he meant?'
Slowly rising to his feet, David surveyed his surroundings. It was the exact same as when he first arrived. A dead field of grass, gray clouds belching lighting, winds wiping at his face, a warp rift slowly opening in the distance.
"Don't tell me this is just going to repeat over and over. Please, what did I do? Can't I just live peacefully and happy and not have to nearly die every second?" David muttered to himself as he raised his hell-gun and steeled his mind for the fight to come.
******
David woke up once more with a startled shriek. His last memory was being impaled as his arms were ripped from his body. He had died 12 time now. He had lasted 4 minutes this time, but he had only managed to kill seven of the abominations.
'Ok, so I need to take out the one on the far left at the start in order to trip the second. Sprint right, to dodge the one coming from above, then roll to avoid the sweeping claw. But how to I avoid the portal that opens a few feet from me once I finish the roll? I tried avoiding the roll but that only made me get trampled by the brute coming from behind.'
Before David had time to think out his steps fully, the same scene he had now seen over a dozen times, played out again. He no long kneeled and tried to kill them before they could get to him. He had learned the painful truth that his weapon was not strong or fast enough to kill them all before they ripped him apart.
As the malformed possessed once more poured out from the first portal, David took a quick shallow breath and aimed his weapon. He no longer focused on the slow lead but on the two fast possessed that would come out from the far left of the hoard. Five shots exited in quick succession. David no longer took the time to make sure he hit his target; he already knew the spots he needed to put the shots. He instantly turned and sprinted right, avoiding the possessed that leaped at him.
Digging his heels into the soft grass and dirt, David slowed himself enough to fire off a shot at the possessed as it swung at him. The laser shot blew apart it's head into a shower of pink mist and bone fragments. Even with its head missing, its' body continued on its course. Pushing off with his back foot David quickly rolled under the sweeping lunge and pulled the trigger twice more into the now exposed side of the headless possessed.
Springing up from his braced position on the ground, David hastily moved to try and avoid the quickly opening portal behind him. A hooked claw spung from the portal in a flash, tearing through fabric. A deep gash burned on David's back, but he had managed to avoid being impaled this time. However, he was not able to escape the second claw as it severed his hand. Blood poured from the stump. He pressed on, continuing his sprint and using his stump to raise the weapon.
A jittering mass of flesh and iron skittered along the ground on disjointed limbs. A chunk of its flesh burst from its body as a laser of the hell-gun tore into its form. It never slowed or relented, leaping into the air only to be sent flying back as another laser blew through its grotesque chest. Its' neck now hung limply but it rose from the ground and charged back towards David once more. Its' prey had been slowed by another one of its kin. It could taste the human's blood on its lips. A small piece of flesh still clung to one of its serrated teeth.
David' lay on his back, desperately using his hell-gun to keep a snapping maw away from him. His forearm was in tatters, blood soaking the shredded fabric of his clothes. His armor was covered in gouges and dents. With a crack, the glass visor of David's helmet shattered. Razor sharp shards peppered his face and eyes, blinding him as he screamed in pain. He could feel a cold sting moving up his leg. Had he been able to see; he would have realized his leg was being cut in half. Death once more claimed David moments later.
******
Weeks passed but David barely noticed, each death he lasted longer, made it further, killed more, but no matter how much he fought or how hard he ran he never was able to survive. He had now died over 300 times. With each death he gained experience and knowledge. No longer was he dying within the first ten minutes or only killing a trivial 5 possessed humans.
******
With a grunt David rose once more from the dirt he had become disturbingly familiar with. With a flick of his thumb, he set the hell-gun to its highest power setting. He slowly dug his heel into the dirt as his fingers gently danced on the foregrip in anticipation.
Like an explosion, David burst into a flurry of violence as soon as the portal opened. He preemptively fired his shots, having memorized exactly where each shot would hit and the order he should fire in.
The first possessed dropped with a massive hole in its chest before it could even start rushing David. The second let out a screech as its leg was blasted from its body. The third crumpled into a heap as it was crushed by the second.
David started moving, sliding to the right and firing a shot into the air, squarely hitting another mutated possessed as it jumped towards him. Blood and bone exploded out of its back, showering the dead grass in gore.
David ducked and rolled as a claw the size of his chest swept by with the force of a train. Coming out of the roll, David immediately raised his weapon and fired three times into the torso of the abomination. Fist sized holes punched through the twisted amalgamation of flesh and bone. The wounds cauterized instantly as the creature collapsed.
Rising back onto his feet, David fired seven more shots into the hoard, striking three more possessed. Limbs were blown off as they collapsed in a heap. Their bodies barley even slowed the charging hoard as they trampled their fallen comrades.
David began to back pedal as he continuously fired. Suddenly he dove to the side as a claw made of hooked blades tore from a quickly forming portal behind him. Wasting no time, he rolled onto his back and fired four shots in quick succession into the emerging abomination. The mutant dropped into a puddle of its own blood and shredded flesh.
The skittering form of another abhorrent creature made its way low to the ground towards David. It used the grass to conceal itself. 'You really think I wouldn't have learned you were there by now?' David thought to himself as he spun and kicked the writhing mass of flesh and iron away from himself. Using the distance he had created, he immediately used the chance to kill the creature that had been the cause of 95 of his deaths. Another of the same creature burst from the undergrowth directly where David had stood moments before. Using his armor to block the sharpened metal of the creatures, David shoulder bashed the creature while it was still airborne. Using the momentum of the shoulder bash, David continued forward towards the hoard while making sure to fire two shots into the stunned aberration on the ground.
To David's right and left multiple portals formed. From each portal three more possessed emerged. Had David not moved towards the hoard; he would have been overwhelmed within seconds. Firing his weapon a dozen more times he was able to create an opening in the hoard. Entering into a full sprint, David dove into the opening he made. The rest of the creature crashed into each other, tumbling into a pile of limbs and snaping maws.
Even after his dive, David continued to move. Turning multiple times to fire into the scrambling mass of possessed behind him.
Two more possessed died screeching as their bodies were blown apart. David stopped running, instead he dropped onto his stomach and began firing into the hoard.
The mass of possessed scratched and clawed at each other as they tried to force their way through each other to reach the now concealed David. A massive possessed, easily twice the size of the others, bulldozed through the pile. Abominations were broken and strew about as they were blasted out the bull-like possessed's path.
David fired two shots into the bull thing's leg before quickly rolling to the side as the bull charged pass him. Now on his back, David fired three more shots into the beast's spine.
Hobbling on it now ruined leg, the possessed turned only for its back to tear into to separate sections. It bellowed a scream that made David's ears start to bleed inside of his helmet.
Ignoring the deafening scream, David rose onto a knee and put another laser bolt through the beast's head. Its skull pulped like an exploding watermelon, but it continued to crawl towards him.
David had no time to worry about the slow-moving remnants. The surviving possessed were rushing towards him on shattered and disjointed limbs. In the distance a larger portal was opening.
'Looks like I was able to make it to stage 2 again. These bastards have been killing me the last 35 times. Remember just duck right, fire two shots into the lead leg, then use its body weight to buckle the remains of the limb.'
A humanlike creatures emerged through the larger portal. Its skull had deformed and horns curled out from where its temples and eyes should be. Plates of bone covered its upper body like the armor of a medieval knight.
'Those plates are annoying as shit. Shrugging off multiple shots before they can be breached is crazy. If I had that kind of bone armor, this trial would be easy as f**k'
A low rumble escaped the skinless mouth of the hulking possessed. Its jaw jutted out from its twisted skull. Sharp bone like protrusions stuck out from the jaw like mountain peaks. Massive bundles of muscle and bone covered it neck, easily the size of Davids thigh. Its' left stump of an arm ended in splintered bone, easily capable of skewering David. The right arm ended in a massive bone covered hand made of four fingers and a jagged spear of bone.
The easily 9 foot tall behemoth charged at David, tearing up dead grass and dirt. David started firing shots into its tree truck sized legs. Fist sized holes tore through its thighs, knees and calves.
As the beast started to swing its right arm, David side stepped out of the way. A torrent of air pressure rushed past him as the behemoth's body shifted with the momentum of its attack. David fired two more shots into the back and side of the weakened knee. With a sickening crunch and a splatter of blood the knee collapsed in on itself. The behemoth's body crumpled to the side like a marionette doll with its strings cut.
The monstrosity was very much still alive, but its movement and threat had greatly been reduced, giving David time to focus on the smaller and quicker possessed. Using the behemoth's body as cover, David quickly began to fire off shots at the few still uninjured possessed that were moving his way. His hell-gun's barrel was starting to create a heat haze as steam rose from its scorching surface. The armored plate that David was bracing his weapon against started to blacken as the heat cooked it like flesh.
Two more possessed dropped, limp and unmoving into the torn-up dirt of the grassy field. A third had managed to reach David but was bludgeoned into a bloody pulp. With no time to react three more massive portals opened up about 70 feet from David's position. From each one; another behemoth emerged. Each one was unique; one had a barbed tail coming out of its neck, the second had the head of a spider and 4 extra limbs, the third looked like some sort of snake human with twin heads and a scorpion tail coming out of its back.
'I really hate these guys, I haven't been able to kill all three yet, but they always make my death extremely painful. This would be so much easier if I wasn't alone. They just team up on me, it's really starting to piss me off. Their smug ass faces... their chuckles... their stupid taunts... I am so done with these f**ks.'
As David was complaining in his mind and getting angry at the three unique possessed behemoths, they began to move towards him in a coordinated effort to surround and overwhelm him. The barbed whip bit gouges into the armor on David's shoulder and forearm. The fabric of the combat fatigues was torn as blood stained the clothes. The spider like possessed move with extreme speed flanking David and initiating quick hit and run tactics. The scorpion tail pierced the ground with a rumble as David was forced to leap out of the way to avoid being skewered.
Before David could rise from the ground, the full force of the whip sent his body hurling back. He landed on his back, with the air knocked out of his lungs. He struggled to rise again, he couldn't seem to catch his breath and his ribs hurt, with bruises already forming on his body.
'Great looks like some of my ribs are broken. I should probably just let them kill me so I can try again from the start. I really need to get the timing of these three's attacks; this is just getting annoying at this point.'
David raised his hell gun and fired two shots before his arms were severed at the elbows. The three possessed stopped attacking and started to just circle David; toying with him knowing that he could no longer defend himself. With a look of pure frustration and rage David slowly bleed to death before once more waking up in the untouched field of dead grass ready to start the whole process all over again.