Shadow Slave: Immortal Ice

Eirwen looked around, his cheeks turned a light shade of pink, frustration and embarrassment was clearly visible on his handsome face.

Tch "What a pain," he clicked his tongue and gave up on trying to find some smart way of doing this. He would simply use brute force. For a second he looked in front of him and calculated the best way to reach the Terror Birds neck.

He took a few steps back, lowering his fingers to the ground. First, he needed to run fast enough to build the speed required for a high jump—enough to avoid the legs still thrashing about pathetically. One hit from those, and he'd be crippled, if not outright killed. Next, he had to deal with the wings and beak. But for that, he already had a plan.

Huff

Eirwen exhaled sharply before pushing forward, his body turning into a blur as his feet exploded against the floor. It wasn't even a run anymore—he propelled himself forward with such force that it felt like he got shot into the air, his feet were only an inch away from touching the floor, yet he was still airborne.

The air pushed back against him, dragging at his pants and whipping his hair into wild strands. The pressure felt like a wall as he blurred down the hallway, his surroundings smeared in his vision as he focused on his plan.

Less than a second later, the floor cracked beneath him, splintering from the sheer force as he pushed off into a high jump. The red carpet rippled violently, nearly catching fire from the raw energy surging through his body and out into the surrounding space. Each movement carried explosive energy that felt ready to tear the world apart around him. Little tendrils of electricity danced around him for a split second.

His eyes widened ever so slightly again as he pushed himself into a state of pure focus. Nothing existed around him except for his enemy. Everything else was nothing but a blur of colours and motion. His knees lifted and his hands stretched forward, moving with accuracy as he tore through the space between them akin to a bullet, the speed making everything around him distort into blur.

Meanwhile the bird didn't stop thrashing around even for a second, screeching helplessly as it desperately tried to turn around akin to a turtle stuck on its back.

Eirwen launched himself over the bird's legs, crashing down like a meteorite, his descent only made his speed amplify. The creature immediately locked its gaze onto him, its thick wings raising to shield its body in a defensive move.

He grunted and slammed into the wings with no hesitation nor any bit of self-preservation. The impact didn't explode or shake the room. The wings were just too thick. Eirwen didn't leave a mark, instead he slid down the wings like they were nothing more than a hill.

Just as the Nightmare Creature tried to spread its wings wide to reveal its beak and swallow him whole, Eirwen pushed off, flipping over the creature in a single somersault. Its beak shot up, snapping at the air in vicious, frustrated strikes as the creature's tantrum escalated. The whole hallway trembled and groaned from the force of it.

Eirwen's eyes were still slightly wide, his breath steady, as he hit the ground, rolling over his shoulder before his bare feet slammed into the floor, stopping himself just in time to not roll any further than needed.

Before the Nightmare Creature could look back and tear down at Eirwen with its beak he shot forward with everything he had left, propelling himself in a burst of raw speed. In a split second, he was at the base of its thick neck, his body snapping back as he wrapped his hands around it with brutal force.

There was barely enough room to interlock his fingers, the pressure of his grip straining as he pulled with everything in him. Guttural groans escaped him, muscles burned and strained as he fought to choke the life from the creature. It thrashed violently, screeching with deafening fury. Until it didn't. With a sickening snap, something inside the beast gave way, and it went silent and limp.

Eirwen didn't let go until the Nightmare Spell confirmed his kill. This was his first ever Nightmare Creature slain. He had killed dormant beasts as a regular human before and even one slightly stronger, but that wasn't a true fight, since Gale was always nearby.

[You have slain an Awakened Beast: Infant Terror Bird of the Underworld]

His mind immediately focused on two things. 'First of all, it was an Awakened creature! One whole rank above me! Sure, it was of the lowest class but still… Second of all, it was only an infant?! If it hit me at least once with its wings or claws I would be done for!' Eirwen cursed as he panted heavily. He turned around and sat down against the -now dead- Terror Bird's neck.

"This bloodydamn Underworld again too," he sighed when the Nightmare Spell suddenly whispered inside his consciousness.

[You have received a Memory]

The exhaustion inside Eirwen disappeared as he immediately dove into his Soul Sea. 'I have slain someone who I have no business killing! Give me something good,' he grinned while summoning his runes.

Memories: [Whistle of Dread]

He arched his brow and touched the rune, opening a new set of runes:

Memory Name: [Whistle of Dread]

Memory Rank: Awakened

Memory Tier: I

Memory Type: Tool

Memory Description: [When a group of cultists tried to summon a mature Terror Bird, one of the summoners got horribly drunk the day before. When the ritual proceeded, he messed up his part which caused an infant to get summoned into the real world instead]

Memory Enchantments: [Infants Shriek]

Enchantment Description: [When the summoner blows into the whistle it produces a terrifying shriek which stuns everyone who can hear it. The more enemies the stronger it is.]

"I guess it's alright," He shrugs before rolling his shoulders and recalling the runes, plummeting back into reality again. He would much rather have an armour or some sword or maybe a polearm, but he was still satisfied more or less. His fists were enough, since he could just stun his enemies and kill them. This would work perfectly against large groups of humans.

Eirwen stood up after a moment and spat onto the ground, a bit of blood was still mixed in his saliva, but he shrugged it off. Now his goal was to reach the throne room.

There was only one direction in which he could go so he didn't waste any time. For a second he contemplated whether he should tear the beak off that Terror Bird and use it as a gigantic lance, but it would slow him down, and speed was one of his strongest points. 'Maybe my Aspect Ability would amp my speed even further,' He mused in his head before focusing on the details.

"I suppose the room I was in was that of some prince, the bed was large, but it was prepared for only one person, so it wasn't for the king. The furniture also signalled that only a singular person resided in there," Eirwen analysed everything on his way down the dim hallway, occasionally some rumbles or shouts could be heard from outside the castle, "Nevertheless it belongs to someone important, so I am probably somewhere in the upper floors. The view from the window was also high… hmmm"

Suddenly the castle quaked violently, cutting his thoughts short, the tremors like a massive earthquake deep underground. Paintings that adorned the tall walls fell, dust flew up and the already weak walls crumbled further. Eirwen picked up his pace. Getting buried alive wasn't something on his to-do list.

"I need to find stairs down," He set up a goal and walked faster. In fear of losing more energy he decided against actually running for now.

---

Minutes later, he had walked a great distance and taken multiple turns. From his perspective, all of them seemed to lead deeper into the castle. Yet, oddly enough, he hadn't encountered a single soul—not a human, nor a Nightmare Creature. The silence of the hallways contrasted with the distant shouts and monstrous roars, growing louder the further he walked. It was clear most of the fighting was happening at the heart of the castle, not at its edges.

What he did find, however, were corpses. A sickening number of them actually.

The majority were humans in robes, but scattered among them were fallen knights in black or dark red/crimson armor and mangled Nightmare Creatures—hulking carcasses that resembled rhinos or other thick-skinned beasts. The air was heavy with the metal stench of blood and the foul odor of opened guts and torn flesh. Bodies lay sprawled and broken, some crushed beyond recognition, others torn apart as if by monstrous claws or jaws. Torn limbs and shattered bones painted even the walls. No one died peacefully here.

As Eirwen rounded another corner, he finally found what he had been searching for. The red carpet abruptly ended and turned into pristine white marble tiles, their polished surface would have glinted in the lights if not for all the blood and flesh on it. Just a few steps further, the floor sloped down into a spiraling staircase, each stair adorned with scratches or smeared with blood.

Eirwen grimaced as his eyes traced the stairs. They were littered with bodies—knights and cultists alike, piled in grotesque piles. It looked like a final stand had been made here to block the way to the upper levels. Some knights lay sprawled with limbs torn clean off, blood pooling beneath them. Others had been shot by arrows or bolts, the shafts still sticking out grotesquely from their armour. A few, crushed under what he could only assume were Nightmare Creatures, were barely recognizable—broken bodies flattened into the stairs to the point they looked like drawings made by someone on the stairs.

He exhaled tiredly and glanced down the stairwell. It wasn't high—certainly more appealing than walking through corpses with his bare feet. Without hesitation, he turned to the railing and leapt over it. His body twisted mid-air and the sensation of strong wind rushed against his face as he fell.

With a heavy grunt, he landed on the tiles below, the impact vibrated through his calves and thighs. Dust exploded from the floor in a soft cloud around him. His knees bent to absorb the force before he straightened himself.

Eirwen glanced around like a curious cat. He was inside another hallway, but there was a little twist. On one side stood a group of knights, their heavy armour dented and smeared with blood. On the other, two massive Nightmare Creatures towered over them, nearly ten meters tall.

'Why can't I hear them?' Eirwen thought, taking a cautious step forward. As he moved, a strange wave of nausea washed over him, and the sudden eruption of sound filled his ears as if he pierced a bubble. The clash of steel against thick skin, the guttural roars of the creatures, and the screams of men all struck him at once. He grunted, wincing as he pressed a hand to his ear and tried to shake off the disorientation.

The knights hadn't noticed him yet; their focus was entirely on the behemoths ahead. The two Nightmare Creatures were too preoccupied as well, tearing through their enemies with merciless efficiency. Thick legs, resembling tree trunks, supported their bloated, barrel-shaped bodies. Blood dripped from their massive tusks, which were filled with gore. Their dark, cracked skin looked like dried clay, making them look even more unnatural and weird.

Eirwen took another step forward and started summoning his [Whistle of Dread] the second he regained his focus.

While the Memory vowed itself into reality, a tall knight clad in black armour, wielding a longsword and a broad shield, barked orders amidst the chaotic battle. His voice was raw and commanding. "Shields up! Spears behind!" he roared, and his men moved with precise discipline, in perfect sync.

Six knights with shields larger than themselves formed two groups of three, positioning themselves diagonally on either side of the two Nightmare Creatures. Their formation forced the massive beasts into a narrow path, limiting their ability to charge. The creatures roared in frustration, but there was no reckless advance. In between the Shield wall, five more knights stood ready, armed with long golden spears and smaller, tower-like shields. They took turns lunging forward, poking at the Behemoth's column-like legs.

Every time one of the beasts tried to retaliate with its tusks, the knights braced themselves. Shields were raised, trembling under the immense strain of the blows, but nevertheless holding firm. The floor beneath their feet cracked and shifted with every collision, but they maintained their ground, inch by inch, driving the creatures back.

'They're not completely stupid so they can't be mere beasts,' Eirwen already started his calculations as he slowly moved the whistle to his lips.

Now the question was whether he would be fast enough to rush past everyone once he used the whistle.