Immortal Ice

Eirwen immediately woke up with a loud gasp, sucking in a large amount of air into his lungs. He really woke up at the beginning again!

His fists gripped the sheets tightly as he gritted his teeth. Silent curses could be heard escaping from his lips before he groaned and strained his arms again. He would break these chains before they started the dance to weaken him.

This would be the last time Eirwen allowed someone to kill him.

'Fuck death! I've had enough of this bullshit and this goddamn trial. Fuck these people too, they aren't even real! Why would I care for them when they're nothing but a projection' He kept cursing as the chain strained more and more.

The cultists eyes widened under their weird masks before they dashed forwards, intending to either kill their prisoner or hold him down for the ritual to proceed.

"Come on you wretches!" Eirwen growled, his voice rough with frustration. He threw his left arm forward, ripping the chain from the bedframe with a violent yank. The heavy metal lashed out with a sharp, whipping motion and a whistling sound, striking one of the cultists at the base of their throat. The impact was brutal, tearing the flesh apart with a wet, sickening sound and leaving a ragged, bleeding gash.

The other cultists froze, their eyes wide with fear. They hadn't expected this. Not at all. One of them just stood there, staring down at his fallen partner, who now lay crumpled on the floor, clutching at his neck in a desperate, futile attempt to hold himself together. Blood poured from the open wound, the bone underneath partly exposed. They were used to seeing others getting mutilated, but one of their own? That was a first for them.

With a low, guttural groan, Eirwen snapped the other chains as well. Both of his arms were now free, and breaking the remaining restraints was no issue whatsoever.

"What's up? Too scared to fight now!?" Eirwen asked with a grin. He was enjoying this a bit too much. This reminded him of his practice in the dreamscape. Nothing was really 'real', he could mutilate and kill his enemies with no regret.

Just when he stood up on the bed and shook his wrists the spell whispered into his ear

[You have slain a dormant human: the Follower of the Underworld]

'One dead,' he thought as his body slightly shivered. The look on their faces… It was weirdly satisfying to him. They tortured him and made him go through horrible pain, but now? They were trembling and contemplating whether to flee or fight.

The two opposing forces looked at each other for a solid second before dashing forward. The Followers of the Underworld chose to fight after all.

The chains that hung from Eirwen's wrists were used as whips with which he crushed the skulls and shattered the bones of the remaining four cultists. They had no chance against Eirwen now that he was free, his body was just too strong compared to them. He moved like a blur, leaping between them as they desperately tried to survive. But it was all in vain, in less than ten seconds all of them were dead

Huff Huff Huff

Blood dripped from Eirwen's body as he leaned down on his knees and panted, throughout the slaughter he received only a couple cuts so most of the blood and flesh on him wasn't his. His toned abs and arms were filled with fresh blood which splattered from the cultists when he massacred them. The only sounds he heard was his concentrated breathing and the Nightmare Spell whispering:

[You have slain a dormant human: the Follower of the Underworld]

[You have slain a dormant human: the Follower of the Underworld]

[You have slain a dormant human: the Follower of the Underworld]

[You have slain a dormant human: the Follower of the Underworld]

"And no Memory? You stingy bastard!" Eirwen cursed before spitting out some blood that got into his mouth. He saw a piece of tooth fly out as well. He stared at it for a couple seconds with disgust.

After a moment he huffed again and sat back down on the bed to quickly meditate on everything he knew this far.

"First of all, my goal is to trigger that explosion, not prevent it. The explosion happened as the time got rewind so I can't change that. Second of all this Castle is probably filled with these cultists who follow the Underworld." He quickly analysed everything like Gale taught him to. Meanwhile he used the white sheets to clean off some blood from his body, "Third of all this whole city is damned" Eirwen mumbled before walking to the curtains and opening them wide. Behind the window he saw a gothic city, the architecture was dark and depressing, with a lot of sharp edges and tall roofs.

On the streets below he could see knights in dark red armour fighting off Commonfolk and some weird looking beasts which resembled some Nightmare Creatures. Somehow no noise from outside reached the castle.

Eirwen closed the curtains once more and looked around the room more clearly. Now it was mostly filled with blood, flesh and broken furniture. The walls and floor had also been shattered through the whipping of his chains.

He sighs and looks down at his wrists, chains as thick as his forearm dangled from them, "I suppose I can use these for a bit longer"

"Anyway, returning to the main issue," He kept pondering as he slowly walked towards the door which led out of the room, "Whatever it is I must do, it's probably tied to that explosion. It looked like it came from the middle of the castle." Eirwen rubbed his temple but decided to not overthink it and just chose the simplest option. The throne room. It was always something with the throne room in similar novels and books. Even in the 'Tomb of Ariel' the author described the throne room of that kingdom as something important.

Once he stepped through the door, he immediately felt a strong gush of wind fly to him from the right. He braced for the impact and moved his arms to his right side to shield himself, yet he still got blown away, flying back multiple meters. The chains nearly knocked him out as they smashed everywhere because of the wind.

Eirwen groaned like usual before looking up from his position on the carpeted floor, "Which son of a bi-" he started cursing until he saw the creature.

It was a grotesque bird-like Nightmare Creature. It was gigantic, filling the whole hallway. The bird had legs of a chicken, body of an eagle and the head of a terror bird, its wingspan too big to fit in the hallway.

"Oh you are one disgusting thing," Eirwen chuckled as he finally met his first Nightmare Creature. A piece of him hoped it would be something weak, but now, after getting his bloodlust boosted massively through the previous massacre, his confidence was too high. He hoped it would be something he could have fun fighting against.

Gale had warned him about not getting too carried away. 'A killer must never lose his cool' or something like that. But right now, Eirwen could not care less about keeping his 'cool', he wanted blood. And he wasn't used to not getting what he wanted.

In a span of one second Eirwen analysed every advantage and disadvantage that he had. His advantage was that he wasn't as gigantic as the bird, so his movements weren't restricted. The hallway was wide and tall yes, but the Terror Bird's wings were just too long to fit in here. It couldn't fly so it would be forced to mostly use its beak and claws. It could also just crush Eirwen under its weight, but he was too nimble for that to happen so easily.

His disadvantage though, was only his lack of a real weapon. He had to check whether the chains would do any damage or if he would have to use his fists. Gale explained to him that the Dream Realm worked in kind of a 'conceptual way'. It possessed its own logic and laws. For example, two completely identical swords would do a different amount of damage just because one of them was conjured by a Saint. Gale called it 'The law of the holder'. His way of explaining was really weird. But mundane weapons or items didn't really work, the world denied them and rendered them useless against Nightmare Creatures or Awakened.

Eirwen looked at the creature with a poker face and spat on the ground before snapping his left arm down, sending the chain flying with a sharp crack. His opponent had nowhere to dodge, so it raised its massive wings in defense.

A grin crept across Eirwen's face as he lunged forward, the ground shattering beneath his feet with the force of his takeoff. His legs strained, muscles burning as he closed the distance in an instant.

The Nightmare Creature didn't even flinch. Its wings and body were untouched, not a scratch to show for the effort. 'So the chains are indeed useless,' Eirwen thought, his sharp eyes scanning every inch of the beast as he rushed in. 'Or maybe those wings are just too damn tough.'

Halfway through, the Terror Bird snapped its wings open and let out an ear-splitting screech. The sound hit Eirwen like a hammer, and he stumbled mid-step, groaning through clenched teeth. "Ugh… you loud bastard!" he groaned, as a sharp pain stabbed his head. His ears throbbed, and he felt the warm, wet trickle of blood running down the sides of his face. It made his cheek itchy. He concentrated on the little things instead of the pain. It made his mind clear. Eirwen's eyes were wide and his lips tightly sealed as he forced himself into complete concentration.

The bird's shriek didn't let up, but Eirwen forced himself to jump, letting his momentum carry him forward. His fingers spread wide, reaching for the creature's long neck, like he was about to wrap it in an iron grip. With a flick of his wrist, the chain lashed out again, arching toward its target.

Just as Eirwen grinned, thinking it was over, the massive bird slammed its wings together with a sudden, explosive force. A deafening blast of air hit him head-on. "Fuc—!" he shouted, his voice cut short as the impact crushed the breath out of him. His ribs bent under the force, pain blooming in his chest. The blast sent him hurtling backward, flipping wildly through the air like a ragdoll before he crashed hard into the ground, blood pooling in his mouth as he gasped for air. 'Son of a wh***' he cursed before hitting the carpeted ground with his fist in frustration.

The second he touched the ground, the Terror Bird charged forwards like a gigantic baby that couldn't walk properly. It was walking clumsily and unsteady for some reason. Eirwen immediately picked up on that with the corner of his eye.

Its feet shook the ground as it got closer and closer.

Eirwen rolled back onto his shoulders, planting his palms firmly on the ground. With a swift push, he launched himself upright, landing smoothly on his feet.

"And here I thought it would be easy" Eirwen winced and coughed blood onto the floor. He had no time to rest though, the bird was only two steps away from crushing him with its beak.

With a grunt, he snapped both arms downward in a wide arc. The chains followed, whipping through the air in a blur before sweeping around the Nightmare Creature, encircling its massive body.

"Got you!" Eirwen laughed through clenched teeth, the pain in his ribs making him wince. He yanked hard, his muscles staining as the chains tightened around the bird.

For a moment, it seemed like he'd won, the chains locking the creature in place. But then, with a single sharp movement, the bird shrugged them off, its beak opening once more to shriek. The chains shattered under the strain, fragments scattering like shards of glass.

Eirwen only smiled. He had expected this. Before the chains had even broken, he was already moving, closing the distance between them in an instant. Everything up to this point had only been a prelude, a setup for his actual attack.

As the last bits of the chain fell, Eirwen was already within reach. He grinned, baring his sharp canines, and mimicked the creature's earlier move. His hands came together in a sudden, violent clap, echoing the bird's wings with his own murderous intent.

Eirwen's hands slapped together with reckless force, the collision tearing through the air like an explosion. A roaring gale blasted outward and hit the Bird right on its beak. "Is this how you did it?!" Eirwen roared proudly as the gigantic Terror Bird got blown back by the force.

Eirwen flew back too, again, hitting the red floor like a ragdoll and rolling several feet. He was getting thrown around a bit too often in this Nightmare. But for some reason it didn't feel bad, he even welcomed the pain, as long as it wasn't that particular pain of dying.

"Getting hurt is a part of getting better… or what was it that that weirdo Gale said," Eirwen winced as he stood up from the floor. His body was tattered and torn and some of his ribs were probably broken. But looking up he noticed the state in which the bird was, it was furiously slamming against the walls and floor with its legs and wings, trying to stand up. But there was just no room for it to turn, so it couldn't.

'How did it even end up in here in the first place?' Eirwen pondered as he walked towards the creature.

But now there was another question in his mind, how was he supposed to kill this creature? He had no weapon, and he was right at its feet, one kick from it and he would probably be dead. If he tried to use that clapping move again, he would probably break his arms. He made a mental note that he needed to rest as soon as possible. Rushing this Trial would be great yes, but he's not allowed to make stupid mistakes.

Eirwen stood there and rubbed his chin, humming slightly. "I can't just let it escape, it would be my first time killing a Nightmare Creature after all. And what if it gives me a Memory? Ugh how annoying" he groaned and rubbed his dirty blonde hair; nothing came into his mind.

"Wait… What if I try to..." he mumbled as he suddenly got struck with an idea. If it worked, he might be able to stop the creature just long enough to leap onto its neck and snap it.

After a moment of gathering his thoughts he coughed and cleared his throat before opening his mouth and screaming at the top of his lungs; he was trying to imitate the shriek of the Terror Bird that stunned him before. 

Embarrassingly so he failed…