Chương 25: The Giant Knight

Ch 25 - The Giant Knight Zeph clenched his teeth, every emotion inside him twisting into a tangled mess. Anger, regret, and frustration crashed together, leaving him no room to think. Three people had died because of their own reckless actions. And now, even their new leader had to sacrifice himself. If even their leader had to fall like this, how was this team supposed to survive? He turned around, not even sure what he was thinking anymore.

His fists tightened as he watched the long-haired man charge forward to intercept every undead pursuing them. It was obvious what he was doing. He was drawing every single undead toward himself so the others would have a chance to escape.

"Don't do anything this stupid!" Zeph shouted at the top of his lungs. Dark energy burst from his body. But just as it began to spread, it stopped when someone grabbed his right hand.

"Zeph, we have to leave now! There's no time!" Lena's trembling voice called out, filled with panic. Zeph turned toward her. Lena's face was pale, her eyes wide with fear.

"We have to go, Zeph. We need to save ourselves first, then we'll figure something else out. The others are already badly injured, and if you charge in by yourself, you'll die too." Zeph ground his teeth again. Still burning with anger, he looked back at the man just as a deep slash tore across his abdomen.

"Get out of here! Don't waste my sacrifice, you bunch of pathetic little losers!" the man roared. Zeph clenched his jaw once more, his fists trembling with fury. In the end, he let Lena pull him away before breaking into a run after the others. They ran as fast as they could, trying to leave behind everything that had happened that night. Damn it... Zeph could still come back to life if he forced himself to fight those undead. But there was no point in turning back now. It was already too late.

The man had already chosen to give up his life. If he were brought back against his will, he would only suffer a fate far worse than death itself. For now, all they could do was run. They kept running through the darkness of the night. They had to find somewhere safe to rest, recover their strength, and rebuild their strategy for clearing this Rift. Four people had fallen tonight, a truly painful lesson paid for with their lives. Only Zeph, Madou, Lena, and two others remained.

If they could stay focused from this point on and stop making reckless decisions... There should still be a chance to clear this Rift. Before it was too late. Before the Rift Break occurred, trapping everyone inside forever. Before every one of them was destroyed, killed without ever having another chance to return to the outside world. They ran without any real destination. Their only goal was to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the undead chasing them.

Fortunately, one of them had an excellent sense of direction. After several hours of running, they finally found a place where they could take shelter. It was a small cave near the edge of the forest. The ground where it stood was slightly elevated, giving them a clear view of the surrounding area and making it easier to watch for anything approaching from below. The cave had a low entrance that forced anyone entering to duck. Inside, it was not very spacious, just large enough for the five of them to rest.

To their surprise, a narrow stream of clean water flowed through one side of the cave. The interior was almost completely dark, so they lit a crystal lamp to brighten the space. Only after they finally felt somewhat safe and had a chance to catch their breath did the condition of each of the five survivors become painfully clear. Madou sat against the cave wall, looking exhausted, his clothes torn to shreds. Lena sat beside him, carefully watching as the skin across his chest rapidly darkened.

Madou had been cursed as well. The other two survivors were seriously injured. Their bodies were wrapped in fresh bandages after Lena had treated as many of their wounds as she could. Ironically, Lena was probably in the best condition among them. She had suffered no new injuries, aside from the right arm she had already lost long before tonight's battle. Zeph sat upright, looking like the least injured of them all.

His regeneration was simply too extraordinary for wounds like the ones he had suffered to leave any lasting damage.

"How are you feeling, Madou?" Lena asked quietly, still sitting beside him. The other two remained nearby, silently listening.

"I'm okay. Everything's fine," Madou replied.

"I can still breathe just fine." From where Zeph was sitting, something about those words did not feel right. He had experienced that curse before, when his arm had gone completely numb and refused to respond no matter how hard he tried to move it. Maybe Madou was lying, trying to hide how much worse the curse had already become. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Well..." Madou continued with a faint smile.

"You're not thinking about cutting me in half to separate the curse from my body, are you, Lena?" he joked with a quiet chuckle. Lena slowly shook her head. Her face had already gone dry and colorless, frighteningly pale. There was no trace of hope left on anyone's face inside that small cave.

"I think this curse only affects the people who actually kill the undead," Madou said after a moment.

"During the previous battle, I never finished any of them off. I only injured them badly enough that they couldn't move, and someone else dealt the final blow."

"So that's why the two of us aren't suffering from the same curse," one of the others replied. Zeph nodded before speaking as well.

"Me too. The curse only started appearing after I beheaded several of those undead." And Zeph's assumption that the curse wouldn't worsen while they stayed near the undead also seemed to be correct. Seeing how quickly Madou's condition had worsened Or worse... he might eventually turn into one of them if this continued. Zeph was not surprised by the miserable situation they were in. He was not even sure what his own face looked like right now. How desperate he seemed. How helpless he looked.

How completely lost he had become. Having the ability to return from death did not simply mean he could fight dozens of undead at once. He let out a slow breath before finding a place to lean against the cave wall. Around him, the others also began trying to rest their exhausted bodies. Zeph could return from death, but if he knowingly threw himself into a hopeless fight against dozens of undead, the System might very well judge it as nothing more than suicide.

He could not recklessly charge into a crowd of enemies, hoping to die hundreds of times until he eventually became ridiculously overpowered. It was nowhere near that simple. If he possessed the ability to return from death, then he had to use it as an advantage. He still needed to rely on his mind, his judgment, and careful planning before ever considering such a reckless trial-and-error approach. He was not foolish enough to fight that way. ** Time passed.

The night gave way to morning, and everyone gradually woke up, checking on one another to see whether their condition had improved. There was at least some good news. The curse spreading through Madou's body had not advanced any farther. Even so, he was still completely unable to move. They spent the entire day inside the cave. None of them dared to leave or search for supplies. For now, it was the safest place they had, even though they had no real hope and no idea how long they would remain trapped there.

Another day passed. Then another night. They stayed inside that same cave for two full days. By the time the third night arrived, Madou's condition had noticeably worsened. He had completely lost the ability to move. Even so, the calm expression on his face remained unchanged, as if he were still trying to hide just how serious his condition had become.

"We're going to die here..." one of them muttered.

"We're never getting out of this alive." The other immediately responded, "Those undead have been killing each other, haven't they? That means the enemies we have to face should be getting fewer and fewer. Maybe they're all gone by now. We might be able to clear this Rift without fighting at all." The first man looked even more desperate.

"How can you still believe we'll make it out? Look at us! We're hiding in a cave, waiting to die!" The other grabbed his friend's shoulder tightly.

"No, this is a good sign. We'll make it out of here. We've been hiding in this cave for two days, and nothing has attacked us. We're going to survive. A Tier 1 Rift isn't supposed to be this difficult. Zeph already found a way to deal with this. Just let those undead keep fighting each other, and we'll win without lifting a finger. Right? Hahaha... Right?"

"No! No!" his friend screamed, his eyes wide with terror, his face as pale as a corpse.

"We're doomed! We're all doomed!" Lena sat nearby, watching them with a worried expression, but she said nothing. The same conversation had been repeating itself almost every hour since they had taken shelter inside the cave. Suddenly, the entire cave began to shake violently, and small rocks rained down from the ceiling. Everyone immediately fell silent, their faces filling with panic. Lena quickly grabbed her sword.

"What was that? What was that sound?"

"It's the undead. They're fighting again." Another deafening impact echoed through the cave. This one was even stronger, making the entire cavern tremble as more small rocks continued to fall from above. Everyone went on high alert. They steadied themselves against the constant shaking, gripping whatever they could to keep their balance.

"It sounded like... footsteps?" No way! What kind of footsteps could possibly be that loud? Every single step felt powerful enough to shake the entire cave. But then the tremors became more frequent. They were no longer isolated, earth-shaking impacts. Instead, smaller vibrations came one after another, growing faster with every passing second. Lena hurried toward the cave entrance. At the same time, the others quickly extinguished the crystal lamp so that no light would give away their position.

Zeph followed right behind her. He wanted to see for himself what was happening outside. But before he could get close, he stopped in his tracks as Lena's body suddenly went completely rigid.

"What happened? What do you see, Lena?!" someone shouted anxiously. The other two rushed over and carefully peeked through the cave entrance as well. Zeph stayed behind, letting them check first. Then, only a moment later, both of them immediately jumped back inside and pressed themselves against the cave wall. Zeph finally stepped forward. Carefully, he moved closer before slowly leaning his head past the entrance to see what had left everyone so shaken. Then he saw it.

The creature whose every step sent massive shockwaves through the ground.

"No way... No way..." Zeph struggled to process what he was looking at. Part of him desperately hoped his eyes were playing tricks on him. Seriously... Was this actually real? Because standing in the distance was an undead. It still had the unmistakable appearance of an undead, but its entire body was covered from head to toe in full plate armor. What truly set this undead knight apart was only one thing. Its size. It stood at least four times taller than an ordinary human. And the giant undead was not alone.

Behind it, dozens of other undead were advancing together in formation. They were moving toward the forest. They were heading straight toward the place where Zeph and the others were hiding.

"They'll start fighting each other. All we have to do is stay hidden, and this will be over. We've finally found a safe place to hide for this last battle," one of the others said from behind him.

"No... no... the undead are running toward us. They found us. It's because you were making so much noise. It's because of you!" Then someone tapped him on the back. When Zeph turned around, he saw Lena.

"What do you think those undead are trying to do?" she asked quietly. The undead were not supposed to be aggressive. As far as Zeph knew, they would never attack humans first. He had seen that with his own eyes. So why… Why were his instincts telling him otherwise?

"That giant undead knight... have you ever seen it before?" she continued. Zeph remained silent, swallowing hard. Because somehow… He knew. The undead were hunting them.

"We have to stand and fight," he said at last.