My (Monster?) Hero Life

"Futile!" Constance snorted as she watched Kace's efforts to hold back the zombie horde.

The monster army could be seen retreating in the distance. However, two figures were clearly lagging behind. These were none other than Sophia and Grugda. Both of them had a bitter taste in their mouth as they watched Kace struggle. They were lagging behind in the hopes that Kace would find a way to escape that situation.

"Damn it! Are we. Really. Going to. Leave him?" Grugda swore furiously as the gap between them and the army grew more significant.

"What else can we do?" Tears ran down Sophia's face as she glared at him. "If you have an idea, spit it out already!"

Grugda became silent with that. It was evident that he was just speaking out of frustration. If they turned back now, they would only be wasting the chance that Kace had given to them. But what could they accomplish without him? He had the most potential that any monster had ever had! Was it even possible to win this war without him? 

Of course not! Otherwise, why would their goddess have sent him in the first place! Sophia was of a similar mind due to the prophecy that had been left in the vampires' hands. However, she also knew that predictions were not set in stone. They could only come to pass if those involved with them made the right choices.

So essentially, a prophecy was nothing more than a glimpse into a possible future. Sophia sighed as she continued to run. She could only hope that she was making the correct choice right now.

Kace was running on fumes by this point. No matter how many he struck down, more would just climb out of the sand. He glanced over his shoulder and gauged how far his allies had fled before a smirk crossed his face. Constance cocked an eyebrow at this, sensing that something was off.

Kace suddenly used Stampede to gain some distance before raising Sylvan over his head. A vicious smile crept across his face as he slammed Sylvan's tip into the ground! 'You're up, partner! Forest of the Damned!' Kace channelled all of his rage as he roared the skills name in his mind.

"YES! FINALLY!" Sylvan's voice suddenly roared in anticipation! For the first time in history, everyone could hear his voice and not just his wielder!

The viciousness behind that voice made everyone freeze. Even the retreating monsters had heard it and felt compelled to stop and see what would happen! Constance's face became grim as a black bubble suddenly erupted from Sylvan. Sealing off a radius of 1000 meters and trapping her within. 

She could only wait for her vision to clear before she could analyse the situation. She heard things shifting all around her that did not sound like her zombies. 'What the fuck did that little shit do?' For some reason, she felt agitated in this zone. Only a few seconds had passed since the skill was activated, but it felt like hours to her.

As the darkness receded, she found herself in a dark, foggy forest of giant trees instead of the desert. The fog made it difficult to see more than a few metres in all directions. Constance suddenly felt nervous in this environment, but that was not enough to make her panic.

"Spread out! Find the Chimera!" Constance yelled as she scanned her surroundings.

The zombies, who were entirely unfazed, quickly followed her orders. Constance focused on her link with her creations. If anything happened, then she would know about it. 'You think a little fog will stop me? Think again!'

Suddenly she lost contact with one of them and instantly issued new orders through her link with them. The zombies began to congregate in that direction before she suddenly lost contact with another. However, this one was the farthest away from the one she had already lost!

'What the hell?' Some confusion appeared on her face as she tried to figure out how that was impossible. As she struggled to comprehend what she was dealing with, she suddenly lost contact with two more! Who were nowhere near each other or the points that had already suffered an attack!

Constance gulped as she realised that she had suddenly turned from the hunter into the prey! A shadow suddenly swept over her face, which made her look up. High up in the trees, through the fog, several pairs of glowing violet eyes were staring back at her. It only lasted for a moment before they all disappeared!

"Forget it! Everyone! Close in around me! Focus on the tress!" Constance yelled as even her skeletal giant began to scan the trees furiously.

At that moment, there was a sudden impact that scattered the zombies who are the closest to her. She suddenly found herself to be face to face with an eight-foot-tall ape-like creature that was covered in feathers rather than fur! The creature looked like it was not quite really there, almost like she could see through it but not at the same time. 

The creature's eyes seemed to glare at her with hunger before it let out a loud roar! This was followed by several others joining in before more of these creatures fell from the trees into the midst of her undead army! 'Oh… Fuck!' Constance cursed as vines shot out from under the creature's feathers and aimed directly for her!

Sophia yelled in disbelief as Kace suddenly sprinted out of the dark dome that had appeared! 'Holy fuck! He's alive!' Sophia wanted to cry out with joy at that moment, but the look on Kace's face told her that they were not out of the woods yet! Since she now knew that he was ok, she could focus on pushing the monsters to escape faster!

Grugda also grinned as he picked up the pace. 'I should. Never have. Doubted him.' The Eljein chuckled as he drove himself forwards. Although they had lost this fight, the entire army seemed to be in high spirits after seeing Kace escape from the enemy's trap. At least now they knew part of what they were up against. So they could be more prepared next time.

Kace kicked up a load of sand wherever he passed. He frowned as he glanced over his shoulder at the dark dome that he had created. 'I can't believe I had resort to this. I thought we could keep it secret for a while longer at least!'

'Don't be so glum! I've never felt this satisfied!' Sylvan chuckled as he felt himself growing stronger with every zombie felled inside Forest of the Damned. 'But it seems like that woman is still putting up a fight.'

Kace grimaced when he heard that. It meant there was a good chance that Constance could survive until the skill ended. They had to put enough distance between themselves and her so that she would not even consider chasing them!

'So, what do we do now? It feels like we're slinking away to lick our wounds.' Sylvan asked with a hint of regret in his tone.

'Isn't that exactly what we're doing?' Kace frowned. 'We'll have to summon reinforcements. This army won't be enough. If possible, I'd like to free Lady Rysa from her condition as well. I have a feeling we'll need her strength!'

'Seems reasonable.' Sylvan sighed. 'Do you honestly think that will be enough, though?'

Kace restrained himself to just shrugging his shoulders as his reply. He found it difficult to judge how much power they would need to break through the Seven Hells who were guarding this city. However, they absolutely had to succeed! Otherwise, the city would be a constant threat to them.

At the same time, back at the oasis city of the natives…

"Hey," One of the guards nudged another as she pointed towards a sand dune in the distance. "What does that look like to you?"

The native beside her frowned and stared into the distance before scratching his chin. "No idea. You're the one with better eyesight. Why don't you tell me?"

The woman frowned at her companion before glaring at the same dot in the distance. "I thought I was just imagining things and just wanted you to confirm that there really was something there."

"That's it? It's obvious that there's something there, right? Isn't it just a wild monster like always?" The man chuckled at how easily entertained the woman seemed to be.

"No, it's not." The woman shook her head before remaining silent for a bit. "I think we should sound the alarm."

The man's eyes narrowed at that suggestion. "Do you really think that's necessary? You know what the punishment is for a false alarm."

"I know, but…" The woman paused while the shape became clearer as it approached at high speed. "How many ships do you know that can sail across the sand?"

The man beside her almost went into shock at her words before his eyes went wide. He gulped nervously and licked his lips before saying, "Yeah, we better sound the alarm…"