[Fairy Tear.]
[Description: A powerful crystallized tear from an ancient fairy, whose power calms the mind in the most desperate moments. It slightly increases perception and reduces the sensation of pain.]
Victor’s nerves settled under the Fairy Tear’s influence. At the same time, the shadow lurking in the darkness let out a dry laugh.
"You came, Goggles, and you brought new toys."
"Give me Brika back," Victor said, taking a step forward with his sword in hand.
He had absolutely no idea what he was going to do, but he couldn’t put this off any longer. With both his and Brika’s lives in danger, he had to move forward, so he stood his ground before the darkness.
The Wendigo laughed again.
"The little goblin? Let me see... I think I left her around here somewhere."
Wet cracking sounds echoed through the street. Then something landed with a dull thud in a puddle, followed by a faint, muffled moan rising from the darkness. Between the houses, moving like a snake, strands of long black hair held something out in front of Victor.
The Initiate’s composure nearly shattered at the sight of Brika’s condition. She looked as though she were dead, yet she was still breathing. There was still a faint scent of life lingering around her body, although her eyes were vacant. She wasn’t even trying to fight anymore.
However, when she saw Victor, her eyes widened in horror. With her mouth covered by hair that served as a gag, she desperately tried to scream. The few tears she had left spilled from her eyes like tiny raindrops as she struggled and shook her head.
"Look how happy she is to see you," the Wendigo said. Its mocking tone was disgusting.
Victor looked down at the ground. He took a calm breath and glanced at the Fairy Tear, silently thanking himself for having obtained it. Without it, he’d probably be thinking about running away right now.
"I just love reunions! Don’t you, little goblin? I think I could start this game with a form you’re going to love."
Brika froze. She looked Victor straight in the eyes, as if trying to tell him to run through her gaze alone.
Victor sighed.
’How considerate of you, Brika, but if I run, this monster will only get stronger.’
Without knowing what other powers the creature might be hiding, Victor took another step forward. The hair dragged Brika back into the darkness. The Wendigo stepped into his path.
"Let’s start the game, Goggles. A scavenger hunt, did I say that already? Yes, I did! We’re going to look for things. That’s right. I’ve scattered several body parts all over this place. There are nine in total. If you collect them all, we’ll move on to the next game, and..."
Victor didn’t let the Wendigo finish. He lunged at the monster, aiming his sword at its heart, but the Wendigo quickly dodged. It stretched out its twisted hand to grab his cloak, but Victor spun around and tried to cut it off.
"Or we could do this and skip all the games," the beast said.
’It’s still fast, but I can dodge it now.’
He still hadn’t forgotten being hurled into a wall or the humiliation he’d suffered. Back then, he had been weak, weaker than he’d like to admit, but now, as it happened, he was armed to the teeth.
He prepared to attack once more. He launched himself forward with all his strength, his senses pushed to their limits, but the hair holding Brika captive moved, positioning her like a human shield in front of the Wendigo. Victor came to an abrupt stop, but stumbled and rolled across the ground.
"You’re amazing, Goggles. You’ve become quite skilled, but swinging a sword around like it’s a stick won’t get you very far. If you want to play the knight in shining armor, you should at least know how to use a knight’s tools."
"Shut up!" Victor shouted. He charged once more, but the damned bastard used Brika as a shield again.
Victor stopped once more, but this time he crashed straight into Brika. Fortunately, he’d moved his sword out of the way just in time, so she wasn’t hurt too badly.
Then the Wendigo burst out laughing.
"I like this game, too."
Victor clenched his fist tightly.
’Damn it... I just can’t do anything to it.’
The first time he’d encountered it, he’d at least managed to hurt it by shooting it with his rifle, but now the Wendigo seemed untouchable. Maybe it had the same durability and strength as before, but what about its abilities and Path progression?
Knowing an enemy’s Path was practically the same as knowing everything about them, but there wasn’t much Victor could deduce from what he already knew about this monster.
The Wendigo, however, stopped fighting. It positioned itself in the middle of the narrow street and stretched out its limbs, bracing itself against the walls like a spider. Then it pulled Brika toward itself and spread its hair across the houses on either side, forming something resembling a spiderweb.
Victor gritted his teeth. He was already here, standing before the creature that held his life in its hands. If he ran, he’d die, but if he stayed, he might die anyway. At this point, everything came down to chance, and with his pathetic luck, the odds were heavily tilted toward tragedy.
"Are you tired already, Goggles? I’m still waiting to play, my dear friend. Are you going to leave me hanging?"
Victor drove his sword into the ground and smiled, but an instant later, his expression twisted into the same ferocity he’d already seen in Brika. Then he screamed at the top of his lungs and launched himself at the Wendigo, but once again, he failed.
As the monster mocked him, Victor and Brika’s eyes met.
Now Victor could finally understand her. He understood why she kept declaring that everyone was going to die. It was because of this monster, which had been tormenting her relentlessly. It was perfectly natural for her to have lost faith in survival and resigned herself to death. After all, she had nothing else left to do.
And so, Victor fought with all his might, pushing every one of his abilities to its limits. But when he launched himself forward once more, the Wendigo effortlessly grabbed him by the throat and said:
"Look into my eyes."
Brika screamed desperately, finally managing to free herself from the gag.
"Victor!"
It was too late. Victor was now a prisoner of that monster.