Chương 126: Haste

I cast [Reload] again, then took out one of the regular bullets from the chamber, replaced it with the [Essence of Push] bullet, then cast [Reload] again, effectively duplicating it, as I ran toward Kasia. As soon as Kasia disappeared inside the inn, another strzygon jumped out. I fired a [Clean Entry] into his face, the blast taking out not just his head, but also the top of the doorframe and part of the wall.

[Generous Gift +45% Damage] I heard something behind me and spun around, only to see two more coming at me. I used [Blink] to reposition myself and fired another bullet, hitting the first one in the chest. The force slammed him into the second one and both of them were sent flying into a nearby building. I didn't have time to worry about the lack of system notification and used [Blink] twice to get inside the door of The Golden Wheel. The second one put me face to face with another strzygon.

Before it realized what happened I put my revolver under its chin and fired another [Clean Entry]. [Generous Gift +50% Damage]"Vasil, Bogumir," I yelled, frantically looking around to see where they might have taken Kasia.

"What the fuck is a strzygon? What's going on?"

"Strzygi are demons," Bogumir said.

"They—" I ducked just in time as another strzygon slashed its claws where my head had just been. A bullet to the leg made it stumble, a [Clean Entry] to the brain finished it off. [Generous Gift +55% Damage]"Why are there so many?" I asked, casting [Reload]. I opened the satchel and tossed Vasil out.

"They took Kasia! Look around!" Another strzygon came for me and managed to grab my arm right as I was about to fire. A [Flame Breath] in its face sent it stumbling back, screaming an unnaturally high pitched scream. I hit it in the chest with a [Push] bullet and the demon crashed through the wall, smoke trailing behind it. I ran toward the big window where we had been sitting just moments before. I looked down and out to see if that's where they had taken her, or if more were coming from that direction.

I didn't see any.

"Talk while I look around," I told Bogumir.

"Demons," he said.

"Two hearts, Two souls. Two sets of teeth. After one of their souls passes, the other one takes over, that's usually the bad one."

"Can they turn us into one of them?"

"No, they tend to be born that way, or turned into one through a curse."

"So yes."

"Yes, but you won't turn into one if they bite or scratch you." I ran behind the bar, hoping to find a latch.

"Good to know. So Kasia is safe for now?"

"Safe from being turned into one. Not safe from being eaten. They need to consume flesh and blood to maintain their physical form."

"Damn it! Vasil?" I called.

"You find anything yet?"

"Kitchen!" he yelled. Of course. Stupid! Should have checked there first. When I entered the kitchen I half-expected to find rows of human corpses hanging from the ceiling. Why I thought that, I don't know because no one hangs anything like that in kitchens. Instead I found a massive raised platform in the center with multiple fires going at once. Most of the fires had a cauldron hanging over them, a couple of them had spits. The smoke drifted up into a gigantic funnel. It was hot. Enjoying the story?

Show your support by reading it on the official site. The floor was made of thick stone slabs, covered in stained straw. I headed over to the platform and looked inside a cauldron. Might have been more beaver tails, I wasn't sure. Didn't look like people though, too small. That was a relief. I looked around more, but nothing indicated that they ate or served people here. There were plenty of cleavers lying around, same for animal parts.

"Hecate!" Vasil called from another room connected to the kitchen. I headed over to where I heard his voice come from. Looked like they hadn't even bothered to close the door. I guess me shooting them in the face had them spooked. The room was quite dark, the only light came from narrow slits high up. The room was cold as well, an extreme contrast to the sweltering heat of the kitchen. Multiple animal carcasses hung from meat hooks. I could identify cows, sheep, pigs, but again no humans.

It smelled strongly like grease and metal and vinegar. Not a surprise, considering what its purpose was, but overwhelming all the same.

"Here!" Vasil's voice sounded from somewhere in the back. I found him standing next to a large barrel. He nudged it with his head.

"There's a trap door under this thing." I tried to push it off, but I wasn't strong enough.

"Step back," I said, casting [Reload]. Vasil hopped out of the way. I covered my face with one arm, closed my eyes, and shot the barrel. It violently exploded, sending shards of wood and brine in every direction. My [Mana Shield] took a hit from the shrapnel, and I was soaked and vinegary, but otherwise alright. Because I had the foresight to cover my face, nothing got in my eyes, mouth or nose. I glanced back to see if there were any more strzygi coming for me, but couldn't see or hear any.

I must have scared off the ones I hadn't killed yet. Or maybe they were waiting for me to go deeper inside so they could come at me from both sides. Not that it mattered. If any one of those bastards tried to keep me away from Kasia they'd just end up like the barrel. I pulled on the trapdoor's wooden ring and to my great relief it opened without too much effort. The hatch revealed stairs leading into a dark corridor.

It appeared to be dimly lit, possibly by candles, but I wasn't able to see clearly from this angle. Another relief. At least I wouldn't be going in blind.

"Anything else I need to know about strzygi?" I asked.

"They are said to be fueled by resentment," Vasil answered.

"And human blood and flesh," Bogumir added. I felt the wall, it was damp. The corridor was narrow and went on and on, rows of candles lighting the path.

"Not helping. How long does Kasia have? What are their strengths and weaknesses?" Vasil hopped along beside me.

"They have supernatural strength. They can shapeshift into a large bird with great talons. They are technically undead, so normal wounds will not affect them like they would the living. They are exceptionally durable." That explained why some of them managed to survive my shots.

"A bullet to the brain seems to work," Bogumir said.

"Yeah. I noticed," I said, still running through the corridor. I started to feel a slight draft. Must be getting close to the end.

"They're also petty and resentful. They're intelligent and carry grudges. They will remember their enemies and will go out of their way to target anyone who wronged them in life."

"Don't care. None of them will be alive to target anything once I find these bastards. There always this many? They form packs or something? Am I going to run into a whole underground village of them?"

"No, they tend to be solitary hunters," Vasil said. Bogumir grunted.

"Yeah. But sometimes we'll find several of them bunched together while clearing dungeons. Nothing like this though. This is not normal." While running, I tossed out the four remaining normal bullets and used my duplication [Reload] trick. Now I had one revolver full of [Push] bullets and one with normal bullets.

"Great. Maybe someone cursed the whole village. Would explain why there are no people, and why there are so many of these things." Suddenly, I heard a scream in the distance.

"Kasia?" I yelled.

"I'm coming!" I started running again, but I felt too slow. These demons had superhuman speed and strength, and I was afraid they were gaining ground on me. Fuck this, I thought and opened the skill menu, instantly selecting [Haste] and accepting the skill. [Haste] acquired. I grabbed Vasil from the ground.

"What are you—" he started, right as I activated the skills and everything around me appeared to move in slow motion.

"—doooooiiiiiiiiiiingggggggg." As did Vasil's voice. The candles moved slowly, reminding me of hair underwater. A strzygon came into view, probably alerted when I called for Kasia. The expression on his half-owl, half-man face turned surprised when he saw my approach. He hadn't expected my speed. I fired a [Clean Entry] infused [Push] bullet at him, cast [Blink] to appear behind him and continued my sprint, not looking back.

After what felt like several seconds I skidded to a halt at the end of the corridor and I deactivated [Haste]. A deafening boom rang out, followed by bits and pieces of strzygon flying past. Some of the chunks hit me, and I took a slight hit to my [Mana Shield]. The back of my neck felt wet. [Generous Gift +60% Damage] The corridor opened into an enormous hollowed-out cavern. Hundreds of candles lined the walls and the floor. The space was massive.

Far below, I saw a flash of blonde hair disappearing into a tunnel on the far side.