Ren grit his teeth, his body going rigid as if trying to resist the surge of dark magic crushing his mind.
His hands still clutched his head, yet the weight of the scream didn't lessen, each warped vibration struck his skull, forcing him to squeeze his eyes shut, struggling to contain the dizziness and ringing in his ears.
A sharp bolt of pain shot down his spine, spreading into his legs, as if his entire body were being jerked upward with every pulse of sound.
He felt every nerve stretch taut, every vein in his wrists and fingers pounding as he tightened his grip on the sword hilt.
Ren drew a deep breath, trying to push the dark magic out of his mind, forcing himself into clarity.
Oathrend was still in his hand, cold, heavy, like the last anchor keeping him upright in the chaos.
The monster kept screaming, its wrinkled skin quivering with each cry, as though trying to tear open the air and Ren's will, at the same time.
But this time, in his eyes, a faint blue spark flickered, the glow of resolve, of survival instinct, a small anchor in the maelstrom ripping through his mind.
Even with his head close to bursting, Ren knew one thing with absolute clarity:
He would not retreat. He would not bow to this nightmare.
He felt each savage heartbeat, each breath filled with bloodlust and pure killing intent pouring from the monster, sending chills up his spine.
But what terrified Ren more wasn't the brutality, it was the sight unfolding before him: the severed fingers from earlier were rising again, twitching and writhing like living creatures.
This time, not three, but six twisted arms burst from the monster's body, reaching toward him like endless claws, each limb dripping with a foul, slimy stench of death.
Ren inhaled slowly, pressed the blade down, body tensed to its limit as if trying to become a fixed point in the chaos, but in his heart, he knew this was only the beginning of the true nightmare.
The six arms whipped like fleshy whips, bending and spreading like enormous pincers, ready to tear Ren apart in a vicious, obvious intent to kill.
The two longest arms shot forward, locking down both sides of his ribs, pinning Ren like prey trapped in an iron cage, while the monster lunged on crooked, broken-looking legs, giving momentum for the four shorter arms to strike at his limbs, closing down his remaining space inch by inch.
Ren instantly shifted all his weight into his hips, leapt backward, his boots sliding across the stone floor, the long arms missed him by inches. It looked like he had escaped.
But suddenly, they slammed into both walls, gripping the edges of the hallway, and with overwhelming force, pulled the monster's body forward, dragging it closer to Ren, pushing him into an even worse position.
The four shorter arms lunged at his Onyx armor, trying to lock down his arms and legs.
Ren twisted his hips, tightened his grip on the sword, and sliced off one of the arms reaching for his leg, slime splattered, and the sickening sound of tearing flesh echoed like layered screams along the hall.
But the sword couldn't cover all blind angles around his body, and immediately, the monster seized Ren's left arm, pulling hard with brutal force.
The bones in Ren's body cracked one by one, each numb, horrifying snap making him hold his breath and tense every muscle to endure the crushing strength.
The pale joints, stiff like skeletal hinges, clamped onto Ren's remaining limbs and lifted him effortlessly, like a weightless toy, his body suspended in a terrifying mix of helplessness and fear.
It slammed him against the left wall, the arms like obscene tentacles dragging across his armor, groping and scraping as if trying to peel apart an insect trembling in its grasp.
Ren's arm was twisted and crushed like a crab claw, the force spreading from shoulder to wrist, digging into each joint, each muscle fiber, nearly robbing him of balance entirely.
Cold sweat seeped through the Onyx armor, his body so tense that every nerve felt ready to explode, but instinct forced him to hold on, to defend, to move only when necessary.
Oathrend remained firmly in Ren's right hand, heavy and steady, the last anchor keeping him from being swallowed by the surrounding chaos.
He twisted his torso, grit his teeth, channeling all his strength into a rising slash, aiming to sever the arm crushing his left one. Flesh tore, bones grated, screeching through the hallway, but the monster refused to let go.
The remaining arms still coiled around him, tightening with relentless pressure, trying to crush Ren into fragments, pinning him beneath the storm with no escape.
Ren felt his body being crushed, each breath strangled beneath the weight of his armor, his heartbeat so frantic he could hear every throbbing vein groaning inside his chest.
The monster's pulling force didn't stop, every jerk stretched Ren's bones to the brink of snapping, every muscle burning as if set ablaze from within.
He twisted his body, planted his weight in his hips, and despite the pain, forced Oathrend down in a sharp strike at the joint of the arm constricting him.
"Let go."
"Let go."
"Damn it, let me go." Ren shouted through gritted teeth as his shoulder nearly twisted out of place.
He stabbed wildly at the pale, corpse-like arms of the monster.
The clang of metal against bone and flesh rang out, sharp, skin-crawling like a razor's screech, yet the monster still refused to release him. The remaining arms tightened further, as if trying to drag him into absolute despair.
Ren gasped for air, eyes clenched shut, each breath screaming inside his chest.
In that chaotic instant, every sense in his body stretched thin as wire. His limbs trembled, yet his will fought desperately to stay in control.
Ren inhaled deeply, tightened his grip on the hilt, muscles hardening as he prepared for another counterattack.
Each pull, each wave of pain running down his arm and shoulder reminded him that with every passing second, if he lagged even a heartbeat, he would lose his chance to stand back up.
The monster's crooked, twig-like legs finally drove its body forward, pinning Ren back against the wall.
Its mouth, a row of jagged, glass-shard teeth, snapped open and bit into Ren's shoulder, sending a shock ripping through his body.
A horrific metallic crunch rang out, mingled with the tearing sound of scraped armor and flesh.
Thankfully, the bite only left deep dents in the shoulder plate, unable to pierce fully through, but enough for Ren to feel the raw violence and savagery behind it.
Seizing the tiny opening, Ren gathered every ounce of remaining strength into his right hand, tightening around Oathrend.
His sword arm snapped free of the monster's grip, muscles flaring, tendons bulging beneath the armor as he channeled everything into a single slash.
The saber shot forward, cold, merciless, razor-clean, the blade piercing the darkness as it drove straight through the monster's head.
A precise, decisive strike, enough to make the world hold its breath for an instant, leaving only a faint rasp and the stench of slime drifting through the hallway.
The monster shrieked in unbearable pain, the scream drilling into Ren's skull like a burning auger, each vibration stabbing at his mind until his head felt ready to burst.
Its twisted arms clamped down harder, then slammed him into the wall again and again, each impact threatening to crush his body under the rage powered by agony.
Thick, tar-black blood and foul mucus splattered over Ren's armor, releasing a sour, stomach-turning stench. A thin mist rose from it, clinging to his visor like a haunting fog.
The monster continued smashing Ren into the wall like a shredded doll, the stone behind him cracking, fracturing like shattered webbing under the insane assault.
Ren's HP dropped rapidly with every hit, until finally the creature hurled him away, ripping his grip from the sword, the sudden void beneath his fingers like falling into an endless pit.
[HP: 904/1600]
[You have received Debuff: Fear]
[All stats reduced by 30%]
[You have received Debuff: Blood Bane]
[Lose 10% HP every 10 seconds]
[You have received Debuff: Banshee's Scream]
[Temporarily immobilized]
Ren almost gagged as the stack of debuffs flashed beneath his health bar, despair and crushing pressure flooding every corner of his body.
Thankfully, the creature was clutching its head in agony, its warped arms, once divine scythes meant to harvest life, now thrashing so clumsily they could barely perform their intended task.
They writhed, scraping wildly around the sword still lodged in its skull, the jagged tips stabbing into its own head instead of reaching Oathrend.
Six monstrous limbs tangled together, lashing and tearing, ripping the air itself as the creature's screams became even more deranged, destroying itself in its frenzy of pain.
Ren sucked in a deep breath, forcing his breathing to steady, his body drawn tight like a stretched bowstring, every muscle trembling from strain and pain.
He immediately pulled out a healing potion from his inventory and drank it unsure how long Blood Bane would last, but unwilling to let it drain too much of his remaining life.
He also tried a few holy water vials, the kind that could nullify negative effects, but they seemed useless.
The monster kept screaming, its grotesque arms snapping and whipping at each other like living whips, but in their clumsy fury, they opened gaps.
Ren felt every opening, every tremor in its movements, every unconscious twitch of its limbs.
Cold sweat soaked his armor, but he knew, if he didn't seize this moment, his chance of survival would vanish.