My Devourer System: Rise of the Bastard Son

Lucen turned pale and fell backwards, barely dodging the hand reaching for his neck.

The air swished in his ears for a moment, he flipped over and landed in a crouch. Sumael watched him, mouth wide open.

The thirty fingers of the Withmare twitched and spasmed wildly. Its body had fallen face down, twitching softly.

Lucen cursed wordlessly at Sumael to take off its head. Sumael raised his sword, but one of the Withmare's six arms was already reaching for him.

Sumael's eyes shot at the hand, turning his sword on it and slashing it off cleanly. But now the arm was falling to the earth. Sumael dropped to his knees and caught the hand.

Another hand reached for Sumael's neck. But Lucen caught it with a piece of rope from his storage, making the rope appear already tied on the hand.

It wasn't a maneuver he had much time to think of. He pulled the arm up and internally screamed at Sumael to kill it.

But the brutish Knight didn't need to be told twice. His icy-blue sword came down accurately on the neck, just where Warren had taught them to aim.

The blade tore through skin and bone in one accurate swing, exiting the Withmare Fiend's neck smoothly.

The head was already flat against the ground so there was nowhere to fall to. Sumael covered his mouth and let out a heavy breath.

Lucen recast his Veil and used [Reading] and [Comprehension] on his soul to try and guess how far the other Squires were. He watched Sumael as he composed himself with a dark look.

He dismissed his spear rather than pull it from the Withmare Fiend's spine, nodding at Sumael as he climbed down, walking towards the severed hand of the Withmare.

Sumael returned a reluctant smile, turning to the forest and signaling impatience. He was waiting for the others to arrive.

An enemy now made a friend it seemed. Lucen held back an amused smile.

Sumael faced the forest line above the wide basin, muttering a prayer wordlessly, hand over his pounding heart.

The, something bit through Sumael's throat suddenly. He let out an inaudible gasp and choked, mouth wide open and lungs pleading for breath.

He glanced down and found a long black nail protruding from his bloody neck. The Withmare's nail.

The poison seeped through his blood and into his veins in seconds, blurring his vision.

Sumael turned slowly, struggling against the nail jammed through his throat, catching a glimpse of the white furry hand.

But something else made his eyes turn wide.

Lucen held onto the severed hand of the Withmare. A disappointed look on his face, golden eyes gleaming with dissatisfaction.

Enemies didn't become friends.

At least not to Lucen. Sumael would be hunting for Lucen's head again soon, he wouldn't give Lucen a free pass then either.

Lucen kicked Sumael's knees, pushed him to the ground, and then dragging him closer to the Withmare's beheaded corpse.

He listened for a moment. The silent den of the sleeping monsters, the slowing beat of Sumael's heart, and the lack of footsteps from the first wave of Knights.

They would soon be here with Ymir and Kate. Ymir would use her golden needles to surround the Withmare's cave, Kate would create a quagmire in front of the den using her earth magic.

When the monsters rushed out, they would be slowed down and lacerated by their traps, then blown apart by spells from the wave of Knights and Squires coming.

Lucen arranged the scene. Sumael's body beside the severed head and close to the arm he also cut off.

Then he wrote a simple note on his very last piece of paper. A simple excuse he would show to them.

"Came down to kill the Fiend before you got here because Sumael said it would make things easier. I paralyzed it, Sumael severed its head. But it drew life from the stone and attacked..."

He looked up and saw a small group of five people appear over the tree line. Ymir, Kate, and three other Knights, including Duran.

He wrote in a rushed manner and put on his best distressed look, sighing internally.

Duran walked as quickly as he could towards them, ashen-faced. He knelt at Sumael's lifeless body and placed a hand over his empty eyes, closing his eyelids.

The forest was deathly silent. Ymir and the others walked slowly with Duran, weapons raised.

Kate was beside Ymir, green eyes wide and full of disbelief. She grabbed her mouth, letting a silent scream rip through her body. She knelt beside Sumael, black hair falling like a curtain over her pretty face.

The fluttering sound of leaves picked up and a heavy cloud fell over them, darkening the wide basin in the forest floor.

Ymir glanced at Sumael's corpse and back at Lucen. He raised his last note with a horrified look, heart pounding as her eyes ran over each letter.

Now was the important part.

Duran turned up at him and read each line of Lucen's lies and turned toward him, eyes glowing with fury.

Lucen turned to him, face still white with the shock of Sumael's sudden death. Duran's lips were curled in distaste for his theatrics.

Lucen refused the urge to smirk. So Duran had sent his friend to die.

They nodded and muttered wordless prayers for Sumael. Then Kate and Ymir crept towards the den and prepared to cast their spells.

The other two Knights watched Duran, unsure what to do, while he knelt with Sumael's body. Duran raised his hand, sparing Lucen a single glance, before marching to Ymir's side to protect his sister. The other Knights followed suit and Lucen slid by them.

Not long after, the other Squires arrived, sliding down the slope of the basin as silently as possible, sending pitiful looks at Sumael's body and setting up their formation behind Duran.

Set's face was pale as death, he walked up to his sister and brother and solemnly nodded.

Mana surged, and a rush of tapping sounds from the dark den answered it.

Duran glanced sideways at him once more before the battle started. Lucen ignored him, fighting back his smile, and prepared his spear.

Maybe this would teach Duran a lesson. Either way, he now had one less enemy.