Chapter 25: Elite – Gatekeeper Aldrich (1)

“Kra-Kra-Kra-Kra-Kraaaaa!!!”

The monster suddenly surged forward with terrifying speed. Its spindly legs, so out of proportion with its burly, inverted-triangle torso, launched it in a single lunge toward Booker and Rena. It wasn’t supernatural, but its pace rivaled a full sprint from a professional track athlete.

Thud. Thud. Thud Thud Thud!

The pavement beneath the plaza split as the creature stomped down. Its towering, nearly three-meter-tall body vaulted into the air. Its grotesquely mutated right arm, now a monstrous bone halberd, swung down at the two of them.

“Fuck!”

“Nooooooo!”

Booker instinctively threw his arms over his head and squeezed his eyes shut. Rena did the same. They both felt a fierce gust whip over them, followed by the wet rip of torn flesh, a splatter of liquid, and a monster’s scream.

They opened their eyes and turned to look—only to find Aldrich had never aimed at them.

Its halberd had cleaved deep into a human centipede that had been crawling up behind them. A spray of foul, putrid blood drenched Aldrich’s rubber-black skin. The human centipede thrashed, but Aldrich followed up with a brutal chop that severed its front head. Then that massive vertical maw on its torso snapped open again. Tentacles burst forth and dragged the carcass into that gnashing pit of teeth.

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

The sound of bone and flesh being pulverized made their skin crawl. The sheer force and horror of it all instantly reminded Booker of that monster—the spring-legged freak that had slaughtered Vaclav in a blink.

“B-Brother Booker!”

“Huh? Ah… ah!”

Rena’s shout snapped him out of his daze. He forced his trembling legs to move, staggering as Rena, the first to recover, half-dragged him away from Aldrich.

Shing!

“…Huh?”

In that instant, driven by sheer reflex, Booker tilted his head.

A hot stream of air brushed his cheek.

Then, pain exploded across the side of his head.

“Shit! Fuckkkkkkkk!?!?!?”

Blood gushed from Booker’s right cheek. His ear was gone, spinning through the air.

But that was lucky.

If he hadn’t moved, the blade would’ve cleaved his skull in two.

“Brother Booker!”

“Fuck—argh—aaahhhh!!”

Pain and fear crashed into him all at once. He collapsed, clutching the side of his head where his ear had been. Pale and trembling, Rena tried to haul him to his feet, but—

Skrrrk… Skrrrrk…

A looming shadow fell over them both.

Aldrich stood right behind them.

Its maw still twitched and pulsed. The gleaming silver short blade in its left hand dripped with Booker’s blood.

The sheer presence of it was paralyzing.

They stared up at the monster, transfixed. Booker forgot his pain entirely, frozen mid-turn as he locked eyes with that hideous mouth.

But Aldrich didn’t strike.

It slowed.

As if savoring their terror, it merely stood there—looming, silent, unmoving.

A strange standoff settled over the scene.

Aldrich remained completely still.

So did Booker and Rena.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

Until—

“…Huh?”

Booker felt a faint warmth on the right side of his head. The pain eased. Rena had reached out to him with Spirit Mend. Despite being just a girl, she moved faster than the grown man beside her.

“Brother Booker… at least…”

“Tch… yeah, I get it, ngh…”

They exchanged whispers as Aldrich remained frozen. With their eyes still on the creature, they slowly began inching away.

Skrrrk?

Aldrich twitched.

Its halberd arm swung with an eerie motion. Both of them jolted in panic—

“Gugagagagaaahhh!”

A venom-spitting lizardman—somehow it had already gotten that close—was cut down mid-stride, its torso sliced clean through. Flesh and entrails splattered everywhere, spattering Booker and Rena with gore. The suddenness of it, Aldrich’s abrupt movement, the blood, the torn chunks of flesh—it all crashed over them at once.

They stumbled backward on reflex.

That was the mistake.

“Skrrrk?”

Aldrich snapped its gaze toward them.

Its response was swift. Brutal and fatal.

The grotesque halberd-arm swung wide, bone blades shrieking through the air toward Booker. He cried out, raising his medium shield in desperation.

Thom!

The impact rattled his soul.

A bright flash exploded behind his eyes. He felt himself slam into something soft—Rena—then the world spun into dizziness and weightlessness. Pain burst across his whole body. He’d blocked the halberd, but the sheer force sent him flying and took Rena with him.

“Guh—Gaaah—Aaahhh—”

He crashed to the ground, convulsing, struggling to breathe. His lungs felt like collapsed plastic bags. He couldn’t even tell if his arms were broken, but the shield…

The medium shield was now a warped hunk of metal. The golden glow around it faded. It was Durability Maintenance, cast by Rena at the last second. Without it, his arms and ribs would’ve been shattered.

“Cough… cough—ugh…”

Rena rolled beside him. Though she hadn’t taken a direct hit, the force of his body crashing into her had left her battered. She coughed violently, blood foaming at her lips. Her wide eyes locked onto something, and filled with terror.

Aldrich was approaching.

Looming.

Advancing with a casual stride.

“Ughh… shit… hurts… hurts like hell.”

“No… no no no…”

They couldn’t stand. Couldn’t move.

All they could do was watch in horror as Aldrich drew near, as if leisurely stalking prey already claimed.

We’re going to die.

The same thought crossed both their minds.

Skrrrrrk.

Aldrich’s mouth peeled open again. Tentacles slithered out, waving slowly. They locked on.

“Skreee-Kra-Kra-Kra-Kra-Kraaa!”

The monster let out a bone-piercing shriek and raised both its arms—a mutated halberd and a glinting short blade—and brought them down.

The world slowed.

Aldrich’s killing blow came in slow motion.

They watched, frozen. Hopeless. Unable to move.

This is it.

We’re going to die.

“Get away from—”

No time to run. No time to hide.

“—them!”

“Rrraaaaaghhh!”

Aldrich’s attack froze mid-swing. The halberd veered off-target—its deadly arc redirecting into a wide sweep behind it. The force of it sent gusts of wind tearing through the air. It was so close it rustled the hair of the one who had shouted.

The bone weapon had passed within five centimeters of his scalp.

Any sane person would’ve flinched or fled.

But not him.

Instead, he surged forward with a growl.

“Don’t just stand there. Run!”

That voice, half-boy and half-man, bellowed like thunder. He raised his short blade and charged Aldrich directly. His movements and roar were exaggerated, but deliberately. It was a distraction.

We can’t let his effort go to waste!

That thought burned so hot it scorched through the fear and pain.

Booker and Rena scrambled upright, and then someone yanked them back by the collars.

“Hurry, get away!”

It was Felice. Despite her slender frame, her arms were shockingly strong. She dragged the still-staggering pair to safety. Her eyes, like frosted glass, flicked briefly toward them before she raised her rapier and joined the fight.

She dipped low beneath the sweeping halberd—just as Zhou Yuhong had—and closed the distance in a flash.

Aldrich roared, lashing out with the silver short blade. But before it could connect, Zhou Yuhong viciously chopped at Aldrich’s left hand with his own dagger. With a shrill cry, Aldrich’s movement slowed. Felice seized the opening; she raised her rapier level with her chest, then thrust forward with all her strength.

“Raaauuughhhhh!”

A furious roar burst from Aldrich. Its side had been pierced, yet there was no blood, nor anything like blood. HadFelice’s thrust actually dealt any real damage to it? There was no way to know, but it had clearly caused it a great deal of pain.

It flailed both arms wildly, the bone halberd and the silver-glinting short blade tracing great and small arcs through the air without pause, forcing Zhou Yuhong and Felice to pull back and widen the distance once more. And yet Aldrich’s next move went completely against all common sense.

Grrrkkkshhhhh…

Its right arm began to change again.

The bone halberd dissolved into a thick mass of meat. It twisted grotesquely into a shape like insect mandibles, then lunged straight for Felice.

“Ugh—!”

Just as Felice leapt back and both feet left the ground, Aldrich’s new right arm seized her. The limb, shaped like an insect’s mandibles, coiled tightly around her body. Its right arm rose, then snapped upward, yanking her off the ground. It was clear that it was about to slam her down. In less than a second, this beautiful girl would be reduced to a fresh splatter of flesh and blood.

“Don’t touch her!”

Zhou Yuhong moved. Of course he did. His comrade was in danger right in front of him, and there was no way he could stand by and do nothing. But what could he do? What should he do? What was there for him to do?

He and Felice had retreated at the same time, which meant he was now more than two meters away from Aldrich. The only weapon he had was a dagger, a close-range weapon. Even if he could close the distance to zero and strike Aldrich within a single second, what then? Could he stop Aldrich from smashing Felice into the ground?

At the very moment Aldrich slammed Felice down toward the ground—

“I said—let her go!!!”

A flash of silver.

Something silver and gleaming flew from Zhou Yuhong’s hand, streaking toward Aldrich in a sharp straight line.

What kind of hidden weapon was this? A throwing knife? Or had he actually been hiding an extra flashbang all along? There was no way to know, but no matter how one looked at it, there was no way this should have been enough to interrupt Aldrich’s attack—

“Roar!?”

—and yet it did.

Aldrich spun like a skidding heavy vehicle, twisting its body with impossible force. Its mutated right arm released Felice and lashed through the air like a whip, knocking down the small silver throwing knife!

Booker and Rena could only stare in stunned disbelief.

It was just a little throwing knife. Even if it could injure Aldrich—and that was a big if—with a body like that, it would’ve been nothing more than a superficial scratch. Why on earth would it abandon the perfect chance to kill such an agile prey over that?

“Felice!”

In that opening, Zhou Yuhong dashed forward in a single bound, scooped Felice up in what looked almost like a princess carry, and with a superb burst of explosive force pulled them away from Aldrich in one go.

Yet Aldrich was already preparing a new offensive. Its right arm twisted like a tentacle, its body leaning forward. It was clearly about to launch a charging attack at Zhou Yuhong and Felice—

Screech!

And then Zhou Yuhong slammed to a sudden stop.

A sudden stop with no warning at all.

He planted his feet, held Felice tightly in his arms, turned his head slightly, and watched Aldrich’s movements using only the corner of his eye.

“You fucking crazy dick, why the hell did you stop—” “You fucking crazy idiot, why did you stop—” Booker was just about to curse in panic, but to his and Rena’s surprise, Aldrich also stopped moving.

It dropped its stance, its body straightening again. Both arms—the mutated right arm and the knife-wielding left—hung down naturally, and the great mouth in its chest and abdomen closed as well.

It stood there.

Still as stone.

Like some grotesque piece of avant-garde sculpture.

Then it moved.

Not to attack. Just wandered aimlessly.

Zhou Yuhong held his breath with all his might, not daring to let out even the slightest sound. Cradling Felice carefully in his arms, he very, very slowly widened the distance between them and it.

Slowly.

Steadily.

Little by little, he edged closer to where Booker and Rena were.

When he had drawn within less than a meter of them, he lowered his voice, still shaken, and said,

“Just as I thought, this thing’s senses are seriously messed up. It probably doesn’t have vision. Maybe no hearing either. And it seems to prioritize reacting to things that move fast or make sudden, big motions.”