As he walked along the bloodied, corpse-filled street, he quietly slit the throat of another pig-man that was secluded, sitting by a store entrance.
It was a quick slash, unleashing without stopping in his march forward.
[EXP + 500 | 500/18000]
Hearing a bellowing, wet laugh from behind, he looked back to see the Swine King laughing at something, not facing his direction.
"--"
His eyes widened as he saw what laid at the eastward end of the swine camp: humans left in cages, beaten and malnourished.
The Swine King pointed to a young man sitting in the cage, who immediately screamed out a bloodcurdling cry as the lesser swine demons followed his order, opening the cage and dragging the sickly man outside of its metal bounds.
"Ge-he-he…" The Swine King laughed wickedly.
With his grubby hands, the gluttonous, snout-nosed demon reached down and grabbed the full-grown adolescent, fitting his grip around the waist of the human as he pulled him up.
"No…Please, no! Somebody please!" The man screamed out.
As he took a step forward with the intention of going in to save the man from the swine's hold, he stopped himself.
"--"
I can't. I'm putting myself in danger if I attack wildly now. It's not just my own life–if I fall, Korain and Xiaodan will follow. Can I take a risk like that?...Jeong-Hui, think, he told himself.
Standing there while concealed in his stealthy spell, he closed his eyes, opting not to look as the man continued to scream out.
"...Please! Please…! No!"
Opening his maw, strands of saliva and gunk were on display from the Swine King's mouth as he brought the human in closer before closing his jaws once again on the top half of the man.
Chomp.
It was a disgusting sound; flesh being squelched and torn, bones being crunches, and those screams being snuffed out in an instant.
"--"
He wanted to gag; the sounds of a monstrous fiend consuming a human wasn't something he was inexperienced in hearing.
…I'm sorry, he thought.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
The Swine King chewed the hefty bite he had taken out of the man before grabbing each leg of the half-eaten body–spreading his arms as in a disgusting fashion, with no respect for humanity, the royal swine tore the corpse in two.
"...Feast…" The Swine King said in a twisted, bellowing voice.
Spilling down below, the entrails poured onto the ground as the retainers of the Swine King ravenously began consuming the fresh meat before he also chucked one of the halves down for the swine soldiers.
The sound of the guts spilling onto the asphalt, mixed with the inelegant feasting of the swine demons, challenged his composure before he began to move closer.
While they were busy eating, he had a clear flank on the caravan of the Swine King, gripping his daggers tightly as he sat his sights on the guards that were stationed around the street.
As he looked up, he could see crossbow-wielding swine watching from above, as well.
Didn't see those before. They'll go first, he thought.
With an instantaneous step, he jumped up before sprinting up the side of the building, climbing to the roof within moments. The swift movement caused his [Concealment] to wear off, but it was too late for the ranged swine to do anything anyway.
"Ree–!"
Just as the snout-nosed mean-eater raised his crossbow, a dagger flew straight between his eyes.
[EXP + 500 | 1000/18000]
Before it could fall forward lifelessly, he dashed by it, retrieving his thrown dagger before swiftly running forward and leaping to the next building with a [Blink Step] breaking the distance.
With his surprise assault, the crossbowman on the neighboring building didn't even register his presence before its throat was already slit with a ruthless slice of his dagger. He kept his eyes on the Swine King caravan below.
[EXP + 500 | 1500/18000]
He could see the malnourished people trapped in the cages below, shaking, crying, and watching in horror as the merciless swine consumed the man.
…Just wait a bit longer, he thought.
As he looked up, he saw another guard stationed on the rooftop across the one he stood on. At the same time, that crossbow-wielding swine seemed to notice him as well as it lifted its flesh-formed weapon, aiming it at him.
"Ree–!"
"--!"
He had to act quickly; there were mere moments given to him to take out that guard before it would inevitably alert the rest of the camp of his presence.
With a [Blink Step], he flung himself forward, though he only managed to cover half the distance between the buildings, and now he had no foothold.
Directly below him was the Swine King and his retainers, surrounded by the grotesquely decorated buildings.
Chnk.
The crossbow fired, sailing towards him with a flaming enchantment that guided the projectile forward through the repugnant winds.
"Cast: Radiant Shield."
[Spirit: -50 | 3750/3800]
With the golden shield coalescing from radiant particles, swaying through the wind, he had manifested the small, round barrier, but not to defend against the crossbolt.
"--"
In a nimble movement, he landed just a single boot upon the shield conjured beneath him amidst the dark winds, using it as a foothold to enable another [Blink Step] as he vanished forward just before the bolt could strike.
"Regh–?"
The Swine let out in confusion before the vermilion-haired, hooded human reappeared in front of it, accompanied by a wide slash that had cleanly sliced the demon's head away from its broad shoulders.
[EXP + 500 | 1500/18000]
"Reeeegh-!!!"
Unnoticed by him was a small swine demon, who was sitting on the building to the left of the one he was just standing on.
As he looked over in surprise from hearing the squeal, he noticed the dwarf swine holding a war-horn in its hands.
Oh, no! He thought.
Brmmmmmmm.
–It sounded off, filling the swine camp with its loud, overbearing tune as the eyes of all of the swine now looked up towards the sound.
The Swine King looked right at him, roaring out as he pointed his brain-shaped staff towards him.
"...Get…human…!" The Swine King ordered with his rough voice.
The command brought the gaze of the man-eating retainers up, drawing the unseen swine demons that were inside of the buildings, and the stationed guards, all to him.
It wasn't just the swine; the imprisoned people looked up, though they held little hope for him.
Shit! He thought.
There were more than he expected, leaving him to act quickly as his new priority was to regroup with his two companions waiting behind–
As he sprinted forth, leaping off of the buildings and aiming to go down the street he came in from–
Vrrrrrr.
He looked up to see a hexagonal barrier forged of black, gunk-like magecraft manifest around the camp, enclosing around it and blocking off his escape route. Attempting to leave, he bashed his shoulder against the black barrier, but it didn't budge–in fact, it repelled him, knocking him back a few feet as he was left agasp.
"What…?" He said.
Looking back, he saw what was responsible for the entrapping magecraft: a cloaked, staff wielding swine that was guarded by heavy, broad soldiers.
…This is bad, he thought.
From all sides, there were enemies; some running towards him with unrefined weapons held high, some readying their crossbows, and now some preparing spells to fling at him.
With so many targets, he set his sights on one first and foremost: the barrier mage.
That one needs to go first, he thought.
Springing forward, he swept across the street with his heightened agility, attempting to cleanly take off the mage's head in one fell swoop before–
CLINK
His daggers were halted by the tall, full-armored swine that used its studded club as a shield.
SWOOSH
Before he could back away and attempt another attack, two crossbow bolts sailed towards him from his left and right, coming in simultaneously.
Leaning his head back, he watched the first projectile carve through the wind, mere inches from his nose, and pivoting around, he avoided the next one from embedding into his shoulder.
"--"
Using his momentum, he spun around, gathering force into a spinning kick launched directly against the club-wielding brute in front of him.
DUNK.
Despite the figure being clad in heavy armor, his kick still produced enough force to knock him back as he instantly sprung forward in an attempt to take out the barrier mage.
"Grgan!"
The mage spouted his unintelligible tongue, waving his staff around as hellish magecraft was invoked.
"--!"
Before he could reach the mage, flaming chains shot out from the asphalt, attempting to bind him as he jumped back, dodging the fiery steel as it followed him.
"Dark Edge."
Deflecting the chains with his shadowy daggers, he darted his eyes around to find a group of the swine now surrounding him, waving their weapons around as they charged in.
A unique form of blood magic took form around the brutish swines' weapons, shrouding their cleavers and greatswords in volatile blood.
One, two, three, four, five…Alright, he thought.
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