Before them the image shook as the slaves back faced them, Sunny equally startled as the rest of them in the room. Debris rained from somewhere above as the screams of slaves and horses became intertwined-the sound of chains becoming deafening as they pulled other in desperation to flee.
Carriages toppled as some unfortunate souls were shoved into pits of fire by the panicked others, there's scream mixed with the crackling flames.
"W-WHAT IN THE SPELL IS HAPPENING..?!" Effie yelled in confusion and disbelief.
everyone was just as shocked and confused.
the screen flickered and new images were being shown.
As ice and stones continued to rain,many were wounded, and few even lost their lives. Agonizing wails filled the air.
"On your feet, fools! Get to the wall!"
The veteran soldier-the one who had whipped Sunny a few hours before-was shouting angrily, trying to get the slaves to move towards the relative safety of the mountain slope.
However, before anyone could heed his command, Something massive came crashing down, sending tremors through the stones beneath their feet. it fell right between the cavern and the mountain wall, plunging everything into silence for a few seconds, at first it looked like a lump of dirty snow, roughly round in shape and as tall as a mounted horseman. However, once the creature unfurled its long limbs and rose, it towered over the stone platform like a nightmarish omen of death.
"That thing must be at least four meters tall" sunny thought, a bit stunned.
"A-an Awakened tyrant.." Nephis spoke with a grim expression.
"A-AN AWAKENED TYRANT?!" Effie spoke in disbelief and horror.
"H-HOW IS THAT THING ON A FIRST NIGHTMARE?!?!"
"HOW WOULD WE KNOW..?!" Jet replied in confusion and sheer disbelief.
"maybe its because of his "fated" attribute.." it was Cassie who spoke in a grim tone.
"and why is that?" Kai asked in confusion.
"as we have seen his fated attribute can trigger an bad or either a good things that can happen to him."
"i think i can say accurately that his "Fated" attribute manipulated the events to spawn an Awakened tyrant."
"b-but how is that fair?!" it was Rain who spoke with an pale face.
"Are you that foolish little girl?" It was the prince of nothing who spoke suprisingly.
While everyone simply threw murderous looks at him, unfazed he continued.
"We clearly know that The Spell never creates executions, it creates trials for individuals."
"As the Old policeman said its a trial that gives them an opportunity to become an Awakened."
"So why would The spell intentionally try to sabotage him?"
Rain opened her mouth to protest, but no words came out as what he said were indeed logical.
she knew that she was being foolish for asking those kinds of things..but what could she do?
it was her brother.. they were talking about.. "Her precious brother".
before she could say anything more- new images appeared more horrifying than the last.
The creature had two stumpy legs, an emaciated, hunched torso and disproportionately long, multijoined hands-two of them, each ending with an set of horrifying bone claws, and another two, these ones shorter, ending with almost human-like fingers. The thing that at first glanced looked like dirty snow turned out to be its fur, yellowish grey and ragged, thick enough to stop arrows and swords.
On it head, five milky, white eyes regarded the slaves with insect like-indifference. beneath them, a terrible maw crowding with razor-sharp teeth were half-open, as though in anticipation. Viscous drool was running down the creature's chin and dripping into the snow.
What unnevered sunny the most, though were the strange shapes endlessly moving, worm-like, under the creature's skin. He could see them clearly because, unfortunately, he was one of those unlucky souls closest to the monstrosity, getting a nauseating front-view.
"well, that is just..too much" he thought, stupefied.
"I-i still cant believe this thing is in a First nightmare.." Kai thought terrified.
"The greater the despair, greater the reward as the saying goes." cassie murmured.
everyone watched it all with bated breaths.
The screen flickered and new images appeared on them.
As soon as Sunny finished that thought, all hell broke loose.
The creature moved, slashing its claws in his general direction. But sunny was one step ahead: Without wasting a single moment, he jumped sideways- as far as the chain allowed- conveniently placing the broad-shouldered slave between himself and the monster. His quick reaction saved his life, as those sharp claws, each as long as a sword, sliced through the broad-shouldered man a friction of a second later and sent streams of blood flying through the air.
Drenched in the hot liquid, Sunny hit the ground, and his fellow slave-now simply a corpse-fell on him from above.
"Damn!, why are you so heavy?"
Temporarily, blinded, Sunny heard a chilling howl and felt an enormous shadow passing over him.
Immediately after, a deafening chorus of screams filled the night.
Not paying it any attention, he tried to roll the corpse to the side, but was stopped by a forceful lurch of the chain that twisted his wrists and filled his mind with white-hot pain. Disoreinted, he felt himself being dragged a few steps, but then the chain suddenly slackened, and he was able to control his hands again.
"See, things could have been worse.."
Putting his palms against the Dead man's chest, he pushed with all the strength he had. The heavy corpse stubbornly resisted all his attempts, but then finally fell sideways, Setting Sunny free, However, he didnt get to celebrate this newly found freedom, as his blood suddenly turned to ice. Because at that moment, with his palms still pressed against the broad-shouldered slave's bleeding body, he clearly felt something wriggling under the dead man's skin.
"You just had to think about how things could get worse,right, you idiot? he thought and then flinched back.
Pushing the corpse with his legs, Sunny crawled as far away from it as he could-which was a meter and a half, thanks to ever-present chain.
He quickly glanced around noticing a mass of dancing shadows and the silhouette of the monster rampaging amidst the screaming slaves on the opposite end of the stone platform. Then he concentrated on the dead body, which was starting to convulse with growing violence.
On the opposite side of the corpse, The shifty slave was looking at it with slackened jaw and a horrified expressions on his face. Sunny waved to get his attention.
"What are you staring at?!. Move away from it!"
The shifty slave tried but immediately fell down. The chain was twisted between the three of them, pinned down under by the broad-shouldered man's weight.
Sunny clenched his teeth right under his eyes, the corpse was going through a nightmare-inducing metamorphose. Strange bone growth pierced its skin, extending like spikes. The muscle bulged and wriggled, as though trying to change shape. The fingernails were turning into sharp claws; the face cracked and split, bearing open a twisted mouth with one too many rows of bloodied, needle-like-fangs.
Effie continued to watched as a sense of Dread fell over her the more she watched.
"G-Gods.. how can you even survive..s-something like that on your first nightmare..?" Effie questioned still frozen in shock.
Nephis solemnly nodded in agreement, "its..hard to believe this is a trial.."
"Something like that.. shouldnt exist.. in a first nightmare merely"
"And..not to say he doesnt have an Aspect which would help him in this situation.."
"S-surviving in a trial like this.. and it also being his first one.." It was Kai who spoke with quiet admiration.
"i-i dont know what would i had done in Sunny's position.."
"i..would had probably gone insane.."
"And..lets not forget he was an mundane before this.." it was cassie who spoke.
"Brother.." Rain whispered softly feeling quiet pride and sadness for her brother.
they can only watch helplessly Sunny facing hardships and not being able to help him.
meanwhile cassie secretly wondered was this.. what it felt like being forgotten by everyone?
indeed, how ironic it was as they were whispering support to Sunny but he couldnt hear them almost..as if fate didnt want him to hear it.
Suddenly cassie's eyes widened and she thought feeling a chill run down her spine.
Did fate..had s-something to do..with Sunny being forgotten..?
if t-then..why? and..w-was i part of it somehow..?
n-no..i shouldnt probably make baseless assumptions.
but the more she thought more paler she grew.
her thoughts were disrupted as the screen showed them new images.
The broad-shouldered man-what was left of him - slowly rose, his mouth producing strange clicking noises. Without giving him time to fully come to his senses, Sunny cursed and jumped forward, grabbing onto the length of the slackened chain.
One arm of the monster, now fully euipped with his five jagged claws, shot forward to meet him, but Sunny sidestepped it with one calculated movement. What save his skin this time was not quick reaction, but simple presence of mind. Sunny might not have learned any fancy combat techniques, since his childhood was spent on the streets instead of a school. but the streets too, were kind of a teacher. He had spent his whole life fighting for survival, quite often litereally.
That expreience allowed him to keep a cool head on his shoulders in the midst of any conflict.
So instead of freezing or being consumed by fear and doubt, Sunny just acted.
Stepping close, he threw the chain around the monster's shoulders and pulled, pinning its hands to its body. Before the creature still still slow and groggy from its transformation,could properly react, Sunny wrapped the chain around it several times, barely saving his face from being bitten off by the creature's terrifying maw.
The good thing was, the monster couldn't move his hands now.
The bad thing was. the length of the chain he used to immobilize it was gone, leaving almost no distance between them.
"You two!" Sunny screamed, addressing his two fellow slaves.
"Pull on that chain as though your lives depend on it!"
Because they were.
The shifty slave and the scholar gaped at him and then, understanding what he was thinking, started to move. Grabbing the chain from the opposite directions, they pulled as hard as they could, tightening its grip on the monster and not letting it shake loose.
"Great!" Sunny thought.
The monster bulged its muscles, trying to break free. The chain creaked, caught on the bone spikes, as though slowly breaking apart.
"Not so great!"
without wasting anymore time, he threw his hands in the air and caught the creature's neck with the short, thinner chain connecting his shackles together. Then he circled the monster with a quick step and pulled, ending up back to back with it-as far from its maw as he could.
Sunny knew that he wasn't strong enough to strangle a man with his bare hands-let alone a weird, terrifying mutant like the one trying to eat him. But now, using his own back as a lever and the weight of his whole body to pull the shackles down, he atleast stood a chance. He pulled down with all his might, feeling the monster's body pressing against him, bone spikes brushing against his skin.
the monster continued to struggle, clicking loudly and trying to break the chain tying him down apart. Now it was just a question of what would break first-the chain or the monster itself.
"Die!.Die, you bastard!"
Sweat and blood were rolling down sunny's face as he was pulling, and pulling down with as much force as he could muster.
Every second felt like an eternity. His strength and stamina-what little he had to begin with-were quickly running out. His wounded back, wrists and muscles pierced by the spikes were in agony.
And then,finally, Sunny felt the monster's body go limp.
A moment later, a faintly familiar voice rang in the air. it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.
[You have slain a dormant beast, Mountain King's larva.]
A few breaths of reliefs ran out.
"H-holy..he actually killed it..?!" Effie exclaimed in shock.
isnt he supposed to be an mundane before any of this?
"..and h-he actually killed an.. awakened tyrant..?!"
everyone was still processing it as it was simply too absurd an mundane killing an Awakened tyrant althought it was injured..but still!
"he really did it.." Kai spoke his voice tinged with admiration
"and not to mention his aspect which was useless.." it was Nephis who spoke.
"he killed it by his own will and sheer power."
"doing something like that..without anyone's help.." Nephis voice was tinged with awe
is he..similar to me? Nephis wondered
meanwhile Rain had an prideful and smug face.
seeing her brother killing an Awakened tyrant which its name was Mountain king as a mere mundane through sheer will power her admiration towards her brother only grew.
You are truly worthy..to be my friend.. Sunless.. The prince of nothing thought with an ecstatic face.
even jet couldnt help but look at it all in awe and disbelief..
still..who's his teacher? she thought.
The more i see sunny i cant help but my admiration grow more and more..
still..j-just what happend for everyone to forget such an talented individual? Nephis thought with an pale face.
Cassie who saw Nephis's pale face silently squeezed her hand to reassure her.
Nephis calmed down a bit but still she had an bad feeling something bad was going to happen soon..
The screen flickered and new images were shown.
Further away, torn bodies and peieces of flesh were lying on the ground. Many slaves were killed. A few had somehow managed to escape and were now running away.
"Fools. They're dooming themselves."
The chain, as it turns out, was at some point broken in two-that's why it suddenly slackened when sunny was being dragged by the mass of panicking slaves. If there shackles had an less sophisticated locking, he could had tried to free himself now. However, each pair was fixed to a specific link: Without unlocking them, no one was going anywhere.
The tyrant-mountain King, Presumably- was hidden from its sight by the bright glow of the bonfire. however Sunny could feel its movements due to the subtle tremors spreading through the stones, as well as the desperate screams of those slaves who were yet to perish. An angry below or two could also be heard, indicating that some of the soldiers were still alive, desperately trying to fight the monstrosity off.
What pulled his attention was the most, thought, was the fact that several of the maimed bodies were starting to move.
"More larvae?"
His eyes widened.
one after another, four more corpses slowly rose to their feet,. Each beast looked as disgusting as the first one had, and not a bit less deadly. the nearest was mere meters away from sunny.
"Damn it all!" he thought
And then, weakly:
"i want to wake up"
As strange clicking filled the air, one of the beast turned its head toward the three slaves and gnashed its fangs. Shifty fell on his ass, whispering a prayer, while scholar just froze in place. Sunny's eyes darted to the ground, trying to find something to use as a weapon. But there was not a single thing he could use: Full of vitiriol, he simply wrapped a length of chain around the knuckles and raised his fists.
"Come at me, you bastard!"
The larvae dashed forward with incredible speed in a flurry of claws, fangs, and terror. Sunny had less than a second to react: However, before he could do anything, a numble figure moved past him, and a sharp sword flashed in the air. The monster, beheaded with one strike, fell gracefully onto the ground.
Sunny blinked
"What was that?"
Dumbfounded, he slowly turned his head and looked to his left.
Standing there with a valorous expression was a handsome young soldier who had once offered him water. He looked calm and collected, if a little grim. There was not a speck of dirt or blood on his leather armour.
"He is, Awesome." Sunny thought before catching himself.
"Poser! i mean he's a poser!"
With a short nod, the soldier moved forward to face the remaining three larvae. But after taking a few steps, he suddenly turned around and gave sunny a long look. Then, with one swift motion, the young warrior took something from his belt and threw it to sunny.
"Save yourself!"
With that he was gone to fight the monsters. Sunny reflexively caught the item and watched the soldier go. Then he lowered his gaze and studied the thing clutched tightly in his hand. It was a short and narrow with a straight bend on its end.
"A key. its a key."
His heart began to beat faster.
"its the key to the shackles!"
With one last glance at the fierce battle starting between the young soldier and the larvae, Sunny dropped on one knee and began to maneuvar the shackles, trying to get his hand into a suitable position to insert the key.
it took him a few tries to understand how the unfamiliar lock worked, but then finally there was a satisfying click, and he was suddenly free. The cold wind caressed his bloodied wrists.
Sunny rubbed them and smiled with a dark gleam in his eyes.
"Just you wait now"
"That's right Sunless! Give them retribution!" it was The prince of nothing who spoke suprisingly.
"Yes sunny! Fight..uhh-wake up! Do what you must!" Effie chimed in
Suprisingly no one gave Mordret any disdainful or hateful glares this time.
Rain was happy and she joined in too.
Still she thought if Sunny was her brother..and he had such pettiness.. did she have it too? Rain wondered.
meanwhile Mordret kept cheering, "Yes, Sunless..Vengeance! I am glad your not one of those boring people who preach off its uselessness! You truly are my friend!" The prince of nothing exclaimed with an ecstatic face.
Rain seeing it shuddered.
she looked at her idol Changing star and asked quietly.."is..he always like this? so..weird?"
Nephis simply shrugged unfazed by his antics, "he always had been a weird one and hard to understand." she replied.
Jet watched it all in amusement
The screen flickered and new images were being shown.
Sunny hurried over to the other two slaves and quickly unlocked there shackles.
As soon as shifty was free, he pushed Sunny away and did a little dance, laughing like a maniac.
"Ah! Free at last! Gods must be smiling upon us!"
Scholar was more reserved. He squeezed Sunny's shoulder in gratitude and smiled weakly, casting a tense look in the direction of the ensuring fight. Two of the three larvae were already dead; the third one was missing an arm but still trying to tear its opponenent apart. The young soldier danced around it, moving with a graceful fluidity of a natural-born warrior.
"What are you waiting for?! Run!"
Shifty made a move to run away, but was stopped by scholar.
"My friend, i would..."
"If you say,"advise" again, i swear to gods, i will bash your head open!"
The two slaves looked at each other with open animosity
A moment later, Scholar lowered his eyes and sighed.
"If we run away now, we will surely die."
"Why?!"
The older slave simply pointed at the tall bonfire.
"Because without that fire we will freeze to death before the night if over. Until the sun rises, running away is suicide."
Sunny did not say anything, knowing that scholar was right. Actually he realized it right after strangling the larvae. No matter how terrible Mountain King was, the bonfire was still there only lifeline in this frozen hell. it was just as what the broad-shouldered slave, may he rest in peace, had said.
There was no need for anyone to kill them, because the mountain itself would do it if given a chance.
"So what?! i prefer freezing to death than being eaten by that monster anyway! Not to mention..ugh..turning into one of those things.."
Shifty was pretending to be brave, but there was no conviction in his voice. He glanced at the darkness surrounding the stone platform and shivered before taking a small step back. At this point, the third larvae was long dead, and the young soldier was nowhere to be seen. He had probably gone to join the fight at the other side of the bonfire-leaving the three slaves alone at the mountainside part of the stone platform.
Scholar cleared his throat.
"The monster might be satitated with those it had already slain. It might be defeated or driven away by the imperials. in any case, if we stay here, we have a chance to survive, however small. But if we run away, our doom will be certain."
"so what do we do?"
Unlike scholar, Sunny was sure that mountain king would not be satisified killing just most of the slaves. Neither did he believe that a bunch of mortals would really be able to defeat it.
Even if they were not normal people but Awakened, a fight with a tyrant was not one could easily survive, let alone win.
But if he wanted to live, he had to get rid of that thing somehow.
"Let's go take a look."
Shifty looked at him as though seeing a lunatic.
"Are you insane? You want to get closer to that beast?!"
Sunny stared at him blankly, then shrugged and headed in the direction of the rampaging monster.
All eyes and skulls and shadows remained trained on the screen as Sunny's blurry figure stumbled through the billowing snow towards the noise in the distance. Mutilated corpses lay strewn about as the Mountain King's roars sounded in a terrible cacophony with the clangor of steel.
Despite Sunny's earlier display of cunning and will..
Aspirations were hollow in the face of cruel reality. And the reality was that there was no way an inexperienced slum child with a meaningless Aspect could Triumph over a tyrant-in such a frail body no less.
All the battle hardened warrior stood by this.
"He's courting death.." Jet mumbled, a restrained mixture of rue in his tone that caused kai to silently glance at her.
"What choice does he have?" Kai asked.
behind,Mordret shifted, tilting his head.
His face bore an expression of growing dissapointment. Sunny had shown such promising spite in a few moments ago..where had it all gone? The promise of mercilessly killing those that had wronged him? instead now freeing the others? it was possibly a right choice to join, but did he have to? couldnt he instead hide and survive?
Rubbing his temples he let out an exasperated sigh.
"Show me something more entertaining dear Sunless.." he thought
Effie besides the charming kai, and rain gripped their handrests with stress, forcefully leaning back as their faces held a look of utter gloom.
Meanwhile cassie on the leather handrests her hands clenched tightly into fists as she lened forward slightly.
on her side Nephis was equally worried as much as her friend Cassie.
Sunny was off to face against a Nightmare creature. And not any creature, at that, but one of the fifth category - a dreaded, fearsome tyrant. The odds of survival were so low that anyone would have laughed in his face if he were ever suggest attempting to fight it. If there wasnt an awakened two or three ranks above the creature, of course.
Which sunny certainly wasnt
And yet, he had to deal with this Mountain king to somehow to avoid an even more miserable death. The ridiculous degree to which the odds were stacked against him from the very begining of this delayed execution had gotten old a long time ago, so he didnt have anymore energy to think about it. What was there to fear, after all? He was already as good as dead. its not like he could get any deader.
So why worry?
On the other side of the bonfire, things were turning from bad to worse. Most of the slaves were already dead. A few soldiers were still desperately trying to fight the monster, but it was clear that they werent going to last long. Right infront of Sunny's eyes the tyrant picked up an dead slave , dragging the chain up with him, and opened its terrifying maw wide. With one crushing bite, The slave's body was torn in half, leaving only bloodied stumps inside the shackles.
Mountain king's five indifferent, milky eyes stared into the distance as he chewed, streams of blood flowing down its chin.
Rain's face was pale seeing it all as an mundane and who hadnt been infected by the Nightmare spell yet, almost puked seeing it all.
The cohort's expressions were not good also althought not bad as Rain where they would be puking..still it was horrifying to see.
"Are you okay..?" Cassie asked in a worried tone although her face was also pale.
"y-yes.." Rain answered weakly still shaken by the events unfolding before her.
Althought not conviced Cassie nodded reluctantly and got back to watching the viewing.
she grinded her teeth silently and whispered, "Fate.."
Seeing that the creature's upper arms were busy, one of the soldiers screamed and lunged forward, brandishing his long spear. Without turning his head, the tyrant extended one of its shorter lower arms, caught the soldier's head in an iron grip and squeezed, crushing the poor man's skull like a soap bubble. A moment later, the headless body was tossed over the cliff and dissapeared into the abyss below.
Shifty doubled over, puking his guts out. Then he skillfully rose to his feet and glared at Sunny.
"Well?, we have taken a look, now what?"
Sunny did not answer, pensively observing the tyrant with his head slightly tilted to one side. Shifty stared at him some more, then turned to scholar.
"i am telling you, old man the boy is sick in the head. How the hell can he be so calm?!"
"Shhh! lower your voice fool!"
Blood drained from shifty's face as he slapped himself, covering his mouth with both hands. Then he cast a fearful look in the direction of the tyrant.
Luckily, the abomination was too busy feasting on the slaves-lucky ones who were already dead and unlucky ones who were still alive-to pay them any attention. Shifty slowly exhaled.
Sunny was preoccupied with thinking, measuring his chances of survival.
"How do i get rid of that thing?"
He didnt have any special powers, nor did he have any army ready to bury the tyrant under a mountain bodies. He didnt even have a weapon to atleast scratch the damn bastard.
Sunny moved his gaze and looked past the creature, into the endless darkness of the moonless sky. As he was watching the night, a bright flash streaked in the air and collied with one of the tyrant's arms, bursting into a rain of sparks. The young soldier-Sunny's heroic liberator -had just tossed a burning piece of wood at the monster and was now defiantly raising his sword.
"Face me devil!"
NO! YOU IDIOT! Rain jumped out of her seat and screamed with an pale face.
Why did you have to go and act brave and try to kill it?! when your Aspect is litereally so useless?! and..arent you injured..why?..WHY?!
we understand that Sunny is your brother Rain but even i and us cannot do anything and simply watch..
Nephis spoke solemnly understanding her position as her brother was acting.
B-BUT..- Rain tried to speak but was cut off by Mordret who was glaring at her.
"Havent i said The spell gives trials not executions? foolish girl.." Mordret spoke in a cold tone.
"Are you really that foolish?"
Rain glared at him although she couldnt counter that logic still she decided to vent out her frustrations on the Young man before her.
having calmed down a bit she finally decided to sit down again although not stopping from glare at the Young man.
the screen flickered and continued.
Because there was no way for Sunny to kill the mountain king with his own two hands, he had decided to enlist some hands, he had decided to enlist some help. A human wouldnt be upto task, so instead, he was planning to use a force of nature.
"Since i cant do the bastard in myself, lets make a gravity to do it for me."
He was in the middle of thinking over the details of the plan when the young hero's foolish bravado presented an opportunity. Now everything depended on how long the pompous idiot would manage to stay alive.
"Come with me! Sunny said as he started running toward the far end of the stone platform, where the heavy wagon was perched dangerously close to the edge of the cliff.
Shifty and scholar shared a dubious look, but then followed, perhaps confusing his calmness with confidence, or maybe divine inspiration. After all, it was a widely known fact that crazy people were often favored by the gods.
Behind them, Hero nimbly ducked under the tyrant's claws, slashing it with the sword. The sharp edge slid ineffectively across the dirty fur, not leaving even a scratch on the creature's flesh. in the next second, the tyrant moved with frightening speed, throwing all four of his hands in the direction of its new, irritating foe.
But Sunny had no way of knowing. He was running with all his speed, getting closer and closer to the wagon. Once there, he hurriedly looked around, checking if there were any larvae close by, and moved to its rear wheels.
The wagon was left at the upper end of the stone platform, where it narrowed and turned back into the road. it was turned sideways to block the wind, with its front facing the mountain wall and its back facing the cliff. There were two large wooden wedges placed under the rear wheels to prevent the wagon from rolling backward. Sunny turned to his companion and pointed at the wedges.
"When i tell you, remove both of them. then push. understand?"
"What? Why?"
Shifty stared at him with an Dumbfounded expression on his face. Scholar just looked at the wedges, and then at the tyrant.
Hero, miraculously was still alive. He was weaving between the creature's limbs, always just a half second away from being completely eviscerated. From time to time his sword flashed in the air, but to no avail: Mountain King's fur was too thick, and his skin too tough to be harmed by mundane weapons. There was a hint of apprehension on the young warrior's face.
All the other soldier's as far as sunny could see, were already dead. So he really needed that one to live a bit longer.
"Dont die,yet!" he thought
To shifty he simply said:
"You'll see"
The next moment, Sunny was running again, trying to follow the chain from the brace where it was affixed to the wagon. The thing he was searching for was hard to notice due to all the bodies, blood and viscera littering the stone platform, but for once, luck was on his side. A short amount of time later, he had found what he needed-the torn end of the chain.
Finding the nearest set of shackles, complete with a horribly disfigured body of a slave locked in them, Sunny plopped down on his knees and started to fumble with the key.
There was a muffled scream, and with a sideways glance, he noticed hero flying through the air, finally caught by one of the tyrant's strikes. incredibly, the young soldier managed to land on his feet, sliding several meters across the stones. All of his limbs were still in place; there were no terrible wounds on his body, either. Without skipping a beat, hero rolled forward, picking up his sword from where it fell on the ground and then rolled once more this time sideways, narrowly avoiding a heavy stomp from the creature's foot.
"Rolling?! who the hell rolls around in this situation?!"
Without anymore time to waste, Sunny finally managed to unlock the shackles. Shaking the dead slave out of them again, this time around the chain itself-ending up with a makeshift slipknot and a loop.
Now everything depended on his resolve, hand-to-eye coordination..and luck
Turning to shifty and scholar, who were still waiting by the wagon, he screamed now:
"Now!"
.
.
.
.
.
.