Valkyrie's Lament

Chapter 5

Merry-Go-Round III

Silver had never seen the guy with messy hair before. Honestly, she felt like she was not in the same group that she first went through. The game was the same, the monster was the same, just waking up in a coffin, and the final five people who were supposed to take down the Baphomet was not. Right now in front of her fighting before her eyes was a young man with bed head, a lean body, and a strikingly handsome face.

Was the vision not the same anymore? She thought, but she shook her head. No. Everything that Kushiel is throwing out was the same, and even the words were similar. There were a few familiar faces that she thought she remembered in the crowd, but she was not sure. Honestly, the first month of her memory were quite fuzzy, they were a large numbers of people that passed through her life in a blink of an eye.

Using this chance of distraction, Silver sneaked towards the back of the Baphomet. She rushed forwards with her gleaming sword and jumped up as high as she could. With a downward force, she impaled the Baphomet, lodging herself in his back.

A piercing roar could be heard as the Baphomet swung to the side widely. It’s buffed up hands could barely even reached his back, trying desperately to get Silver off him.

Silver swung from side-to-side, clinging on for her dear life. She was able to stay on as the Baphomet bucked in anger. The crazed boy scowled when he saw Silver hanging off the Baphomet’s back. He darted forward with the dagger in hand and slashed at the Baphomet’s abdomen. A large horizontal cut through stomach causing some of its intestine to spill out.

“Grawoo!” The Baphomet stumbled with its hands desperately trying to stuff it back in. All the imps that were off away from him were forcefully recalled. They all sprinted towards the Baphomet in rapidly and jumped towards him without outstretched claws.

Silver pulled out her sword in alarm, and she sliced at any of the Imps that jumped towards her. She got the feeling that something dangerous was going to happen any minute and she was caught in the middle of it.

The imps threw themselves at Silver and the teen. The teen punched and hacked his way out of the swarm and darted towards the metal walls. Even Silver was pushed back from the mad frenzy. Her sword was slicing effectively through them like butter as she made her way towards the wall, but she was blocked in making it difficult to escape.

Stomp! Roar! Stomp!

The arena shook as black bloods whipped out, splattering everything in its vicinity. The Imps, that finally got towards the Baphomet, merged itself around the Baphomet’s wounds. In seconds, the opening sizzled and closed back up, making it look like there were nothing that caused any harm to the Baphomet at all. It took almost half of the Imps merging together to close up the wound.

With a shake of his cloven foot, it turned and thundered towards Silver. She was the only human that he saw that was near him. Alarmed, Silver cut through three more imps and ran for her life. The Baphomet chased her down with frightening steps, even when he stepped onto the conveyor belt, he did not falter. His step was firm and steady, giving the Baphomet the edge on speed and balance.

Silver ran as hard as she could, the speed of the conveyor belt was pushing against her, making it very difficult for her to escape. Her legs were screaming to stop and take a rest. Even the metal walls, that were popping up from the ground, was not in her favor. Every time she tried to take a right or a left, it would block her path, causing her instead to go towards the guillotine.

“You gotta be kidding me.” Silver growled. She was not pleased that on both ends were her death. The Baphomet’s arms slammed against the metal wall causing it to crumpled up like paper.

Every step she took, the closer the guillotine were. She could hear the high speed sound of the blade coming down and splintering anything that were caught in its grasp. When it was finally done, it would slowly raise back up with a creaking like sound.

“Either, I face the Baphomet now or take my chances.” Silver gripped her sword’s hilt tightly. She look straight at the guillotine that divided the four areas. Putting away her sword and with her full strength, she ran.

Kathunk!

Kathunk!

Kathunk!

The guillotine move up and down in a rhythmic beat. Silver eyed the machine, and begun to count the seconds that the guillotine went up and down.

Kathunk!

Kathunk!

Roar!

The Baphomet made a last spurt of energy, bulldozing towards her in full speed. She could hear the thundering footsteps of the Baphomet coming towards her in every second. Her heart was pounding up to her throat, making it difficult for her to swallow. If she missed this chance, she would die, and she was not ready to die now. Not when she had many things to do with her life.

Kathunk!

“3.” She worded out softly through her mouth.

Kathunk!

“2.”

Kathunk!

Growl! Crash! Bam!

“Sliver!”

Kathunk!

“1.” Silver dove towards the opening of the guillotine when it was pulling up.

Kathunk!

“Ugh!” Silver let out a painful yell.

Silver felt a throbbing pain as her shoulder hit against the unsuspected metal wall that popped up at the last minute. Her shoulder was dislocated, giving her a shocking pain that ran down her whole body. Gritting her teeth, she carefully align her shoulders and pulled her arm in the opposite direction. She heard a pop as her shoulder went back into place.

A torrent of shock wave once again shot through her body causing her to spaz out uncontrollably. She huddled into a ball and panted. Sweat fell down her face, and her body let out tremendous heat.

“Roa-” The Baphomet went silent and its head rolled towards Silver’s feet.

The conveyor belt halted and the sound of fireworks exploding could be heard sounding off around them.

“Congratulation! You plebeians have survived.” Kushiel stated with an unexcited voice. She frowned when she saw the state of the Baphomet head on the floor right next to Silver.

“I was hoping more of you guys would die, but it seems at least ten of you have survived until the end. What unfortunate circumstances for me to give you out your reward.” With a snap of her finger, small naked baby angels appeared out from behind her. They giggled and chuckled as they made their way towards all the survivors.

“For the people who killed five Imps, you get a week's worth of food. I was gracious enough to reward to give you food. Once the food is up it's gone. You might be able to gain more food later on but you see I’m not going to tell you. Instead, I’m going to allow that to sink into your feeble mind and destroy from the inside. I’m so kind.” Kushiel let out a sliver of tears where she wiped it away. “Now for the ten, you all get special rewards. One special equipment and the same amount of food that last a week. With that being said, the next game will happened at the end of the week when all your food runs dry. Kuhuhuuhu. Just the thought to see you guys become thin as a stick makes me shudder with joy. You humans are so predictable that it’s to funny. So the gracious god had allowed a portion of the Temple to be opened. Well I’m leaving. Toodles.” Like a thunderclap, she disappeared in seconds, leaving them all stunned.

A baby angel stopped in front of Silver with a large bag of food and a small orb the size of an marble. Silver slowly got up as small shocks of pain darted in and out of her body, making her feel weak. She grabbed the orb and took the food off of the baby’s hand. She quickly put away the food. The baby angel disappeared into a bright light leaving her behind.

Shakily getting up, she made her way towards the Baphomet’s head. A large red crystal the size of her thumb was lodge at the base of its skull. Silver bent over and picked up the crystal in hand. She used her clothes to wipe away the blood and gladly ate it in one gulp.

She knew that the core red crystals were always in one of three places. The heart, the base of the skull, or the inside of the head. The power of the crystals depended on the placement of the crystal. Smallest piece of crystal were always in the heart, the second largest piece at the base, and finally the strongest piece was embedded in the head. There were always only one crystals in each Demonica’s body.

A sudden rush of energy shot throughout her body, giving her an endorphin like feel. She could feel that her body was getting stronger as she replenished her energy. Letting out a sigh, she felt satisfied. She brought up her hand with the orb, and she pulled out her card to examine its properties.

Energy Orb Candy

Rare Type Y

Consumable item that helps strengthen one’s body. Once eaten the same type of cannot be eaten.

Excited, she ate the orb in hand. The same rush of energy swept through out her body. Then suddenly, she felt suddenly dizzy, making her stumble onto her knees.

“W-what?” The world around her spun into circles.

“Silver! Silver!” Jasper voice repeatedly shouted out towards her. She could hear the pitter-patter of his feet, making his way towards her in a hurry.

Even still, everything went black, making her fall unconscious.

#####

All she could see was a splash of black and red, swirling around her like an angry hornet. Silver huddled into a ball, trying to block out the vicious vortex of energy. The energy swirled and attacked, every corner of her being, making her scream out in continuous pain. It was like a thousand needles that wouldn't allow her any peace that continued to consume her.

Gritting her teeth, she did not allow the energy to devour her in one gulp. The red energy changed into blood and creep towards her. The scarlet water invaded into her nose, mouth, and wrapped around her body encasing her tightly like a cocoon. Even though she struggled hard to get free, the blood drowned her and made it impossible to breathe until finally, she was devoured.

#####

Silver inhaled a deep breathe and let out the air. Her eyes fluttered opened and she felt a tang of iron in her mouth. The familiar taste of blood could be tasted in her mouth from the cut that she had inside her lips. Her silver hair fell forward covering a portion of her face. She could feel a sharp pain on the side of her arm where a horrible bruise were forming from that rough tumble of a land. Even still, she could feel her body rapidly healing and the pain started to ebb away.

The amount of power that she could feel from that small orb was extraordinary, she knew it made her stronger and faster. It just didn't show right this minute, but she didn't mind. She knew it would come handy later on.

What awaited her were a piercing gaze that seem to stare into her soul. A pure soul, that told her that everything would be okay, and that humanity was not as bad as she had envisioned it to be. She couldn’t help but be drawn to the gaze that was staring at her with worry. The only thought at that moment was how beautiful and kind his eyes look. They were not many that gave her a sense of serene. Breaking contact with steady hands, she got up and pulled back her hair. She examined around her.

Death and destruction was present every where. In the large mound of the dead was the Behemoth that she had fought and survived. She was extremely glad that the guillotine was strong enough to chop through the Behemoth’s body, or she would be in trouble if it wasn’t. She then came back to the gaze that watched her patiently. Jasper was next to her, covering his bleeding left arm.

“Jasper? What are you doing here?” She sat up and took a closer look at him. His disheveled appearance and even his black hair made him look like he crawled through the forest. “How did you get injured?”

“I ran over. I saw you make the crazy jump through the guillotine. I just had to make sure that you didn’t die. Plus this wound isn’t so bad.” He nonchalantly brushed the wound aside as if it was nothing. “Just a small cut.”

“Well pipsqueak. I didn’t die. You need to take care of that wound before it fester up.” Silver felt glad that she was alive. The heart pounding experience of doing something crazy reminded her that this was not an easy game. Fighting head-to-head with something dangerous was considered suicidal, but miraculous she was able to pull through.

“I know. I’m glad that you aren’t.” Jasper spoke happily.

“Give me your arm.”

“Why?”

“So, I can bandage it.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

Jasper showed his wound towards her. A small light cut the size of his pinky with two puncture wound the size of a tack that were spaced close together. There wasn’t much blood. By the looks of it, Silver could tell that it was already closing up.

“It's not bad of a wound.”

“That’s what I said. It’s not something much to worry about.” Jasper pulled back from her. “By the way what did you get? I got some food and a necklace. I mean the design is kind of girlish...” His voice trailed away with a tinge of disappointment.

“Let me see.”

Jasper handed her the necklace that he had clenched in his hands. It was a small rabbit emblem that did look quite girlish. Compare to his pale complexion, it was a lot brighter than his skin. Her lips curled into a grin and she snorted in laughter.

“Your right. It fits you perfectly.”

“It’s not funny.” Jasper frowned. “I mean, I would like some cool weapon or something.”

“Kid, be glad that you gained something.”

Jasper scowled when he heard her say kid again. Silver pulled out her card and examined the item in front of her.

Swift Feet Inventory

Level H item

Stores up to one thousand items and gives a bonus effect of increase in speed for a short duration of an minutes.

“Not bad. I say keep this safely, because it's definitely worth it.” Silver handed it back to him.

“Wait, what did you do? Why did you pull out your card and examine it? Is it possible that you can check out the status on these items?”

Silver nodded without voicing her opinion.

“That’s so cool. I mean I never knew there were such a function.”

“Keep it quiet. You don’t want people to know.”

“Why not? I mean-” Then it hit him. “Oh.…I get what you're saying.”

Jasper did the same thing and examined the item that he has gotten. His lips turned into a wide grin as he wore it around his neck. The bag of food that he was carrying in his hands disappeared into his necklace

Silver stare at her card and she noticed it changed back into her status screen.

Name

Silver Frost

Gender

Female

Average Level

Z

Race

Human Body Status Healthy (Infected)

Age 18 Health

95

Height

5 ft 9’ Mana 150

Weight 124 Ib Stamina

100

--------

Strength 10 Agility

11

Vitality

9 Dexterity 11

Intelligence

14 Wisdom

15

Leadership

5 Luck

8

------

Magic

None

Abilities

None

Items

Comet (X-), Millionaire Inventory Ring (A)

Silver couldn’t help but grin at the increase in her level. Now she was about the same strength as an average male adult, possibly even slightly stronger. What was even better was that her sword, Comet, had increased in level giving her more of an edge.

“If you don’t mind I would like to see your card.” Silver wanted to test Jasper out if he knew what the card was even for.

“Sure.” Jasper handed it to her willingly.”

Silver frowned when he easily given him his ID card. This was something one shouldn’t just easily fork over to someone they barely knew. “You know your suppose to say no.”

“I am?” Jasper face fell into a frown.

“Yes, so they don’t see what you have.” Silver sighed, teaching this kid a couple of basic rules was going to take a bit of time. He was way to gullible, making him an easy target.

“My bad.” Jasper snaked in and grabbed the card out of her hands. He put away his card in his necklace.

“Well at least you’re quick.”

Jasper sheepishly smiled. “I guess.”

Silver walked over to the dead Baphomet’s body and crawled quickly through the unmoving guillotine. There were a sudden unease to see the sharp metal hanging dangerously over her head, but she knew that once the contraption was over, it wouldn't move.

“Silver?!” Jasper called out in alarm. “What are you doing?” He asked flabbergasted to see her crawl through without fear. He stopped for a moment and stared at the dangerous guillotine. He gulped and followed after wearily, but when when he came out the other side, he was staring at Silver’s handiwork and understood what she was trying to do.

Silver was using her dagger to cut through the thick hide of the Baphomet’s skin. Her skillful hands moved through the skin, perfectly skinning the body of the Baphomet’s coat. Jasper stared at her with gaping jaws and looked at her weirdly. He never thought that Silver would go up to the Baphomet and skin it for its coat.

“Help me push the body over.” Silver had already cut through half of its skin and she was already pushing the body onto its side.

Jasper walked over to her side with a dumbfounded look. He helped push the Baphomet with the help of Silver, and they both heard a thump as it landed on its stomach. Silver quickly finished skinning the Baphomet of all its fur coat and wiped the black blood on her clothes. She neatly folded the skin and stashed it away into her ring. All of a sudden, the whole room rumbled and the metal merry-go-round shook and disappeared into the ground.

“W-what’s going on?” Jasper shakily stood his ground in the hopes to not fall.

Silver started to jog towards the open exit, where a few stragglers hurriedly left from this wretched metal contraption. Nobody wanted to stay near the merry-go-round for they fear that it might go off again. Jasper followed closely behind her worriedly as he prayed that something crazy won’t happen any time soon.