"Go on. Lure me again, bitch."
Hill snarled as he stared at the zombie in front of him.
As requested, the appendage on its swollen forehead pulsed brightly, causing an invisible energy to coil around Hill's body and pull him in.
His face contorted deviously into a smile. While one wouldn't want to be dragged towards an eldritch horror, Hill knew he had no choice.
He'd already entered the kill radius, and every attempt at escaping the range of the lure failed, leaving only one option.
It was time to fight to the death.
The second the pull faded away, he grabbed his butcher knife and sprinted right at the beast. It seemed surprised, a rare show of emotion from an apocalyptic creature. Its previously human head twitched violently before splitting into four sections, revealing a maw full of jagged teeth.
Hill didn't hesitate. This was his last shot to at least damage the damn beast.
With a sharp breath, he slashed its neck open in an attempt to behead it in one blow. Blood sprayed out upon impact, briefly blinding him.
When he opened his eyes, his jaw went slack.
The wound was deep. Blood was practically gushing out of the zombie's neck like a waterfall.
But it wasn't deep enough.
The lure pulsed once more, locking him in place. He could only watch as the zombie lunged forward.
And then... everything went black.
****
Death was supposed to be an eternal nothingness. A void that couldn't be perceived by the five senses.
At least, that was what he believed.
That's why he was surprised to feel his body resting against something cold and hard. A loud roaring sound made its presence known constantly, as if he was resting in the middle of a thunderstorm.
Opening his eyes, he found himself laying down on a circular white marble platform. Around the platform, a towering cage stood tall, reaching towards a flickering light source way in the distance above him. A mass of darkness swirled around the cage, almost as if the platform was stood in the center of a massive tornado.
For a few seconds, Hill simply sat there in silence.
Then, he broke out into laughter.
"I've been caged like a rat!" He gasped, trying his hardest to calm himself down. "A fucking rat! It's so... " He sighed. "...fitting."
He stood up and brushed his knees before walking around in a loose circle, his crimson eyes scanning his surroundings.
"Or maybe like a bird—" He began before being interrupted by something truly strange.
A series of glowing runic characters had suddenly appeared in front of his eyes. They shimmered and trembled, struggling to keep their form before collapsing. Then, they reconstructed themselves, but not how they were before.
Instead, the runic characters had somehow converted into peridian characters, Hill's main language.
[Welcome
"Huh?" Hill blurted out. "What's this?"
As if answering his question, the runes expanded.
[You have met the requirements necessary for rebirth. Stand by for your trial!]
"Oi, what the fuck is this?" Hill spat, swiping at the runes with his right hand. Strangely enough, his hands passed right through the glowing characters. He jumped back, slightly disturbed by the sight of something passing right through his skin and bone.
That's when he noticed it.
On the other side of the platform, a black magic circle appeared on the ground. It pulsed, letting out black smoke. Then, a rotting hand shot upwards from the center of the circle before slamming down on the ground. A second hand followed. Then... a familiar head.
"What the hell?" Hill cursed, taking two steps back. "That's the bastard that killed me!"
His gaze whipped back to the runes as they expanded once more.
[You will have five minutes to defeat the
Reborn? Wait, so I get another chance?
[However, if you fail to defeat the
What!?
He looked back at the magic circle. The zombie—no, the plague beast had finished climbing out of the circle. It shook its head violently before letting out a hoarse scream.
Then... it lumbered forward.
Hill immediately sprinted in the opposite direction.
"Nope, nope, noooope!" He yelled as he reached the bordering cage before turning around. "What do you mean I have to defeat that thing? And without a weapon!?"
The plague beast was steady approaching, its head splitting open into those four disgusting flaps that had doomed him mere minutes ago.
"Shit!" He cursed, looping his fingers around the lowest cage panel as he began climbing upwards. There was no plan in mind. He just needed to create as much distance as possible.
Rung after rung, panel after panel, he climbed without ceasing. He could hear the guttural sounds of the plague beast below him. Every so often, a bright flash would occur, indicating that it was trying to use its lure.
That was bad news.
He glanced down at the platform and grimaced. It looked incredibly small, which meant that he was really high up. Due to how its lure worked, if he ever got in its attack range, he would definitely fall to his death.
Shit, shit, shit! What the fuck do I do!?
He decided to continue climbing higher, unsure of what to do. There was no hope in attempting to fight the beast. He would just die. But there wasn't any point in running away either.
Every single path that he could take just ended in death and corruption... whatever that even meant.
Suddenly, the runes flared to life in front of his eyes.
[30 seconds remaining...]
[29...]
"No!" He gasped, his gaze whipping down at the plague beast, who was still steadily climbing towards him.
I have to do something! He bit down on his lower lip. But what? I've practically cornered myself!
An idea popped into mind.
It was a desperate one... but it had to work.
There was no other choice.
As the runes continued to count down, Hill stopped climbing and stared down at the plague beast. The light of its lure was fading, which meant that it just tried to use it.
Now!
He jumped off the cage, plummeting towards the plague beast. It leaned back in surprise, its maw stretching open. Hill immediately stuck his arm out, letting the beast chomp down on it. He screamed in agony as his vision briefly blacked out, but it wasn't enough to make him pass out.
The beast wrenched his arm off his shoulder, making him scream out once more. However, it didn't expect him to wrap his legs around its torso. The sudden increase in weight combined with the blood spurting everywhere caused the beast to lose its grip on the cage.
They plummeted towards the ground, but Hill had other plans.
I just need to defeat it, right!?
He twisted his body, forcing the plague beast to end up beneath him. He smiled manically, ignoring the tears streaming from his crimson eyes.
If it's like this, this bastard will hit the ground first! I'll kill it! I'll win!
However, just before they hit the ground, the plague beast jerked to the side, causing the two of them to be side . Hill gasped, attempting to readjust his position.
But it was too late.
Their bodies slammed into the marble surface of the platform in a bloody explosion.
The runes froze in their countdown, and then began to malfunction.
[Congratulations! You have passed—]
[Error.]
[Unexpected outcome processed.]
[Error.]
[Unable to resolve outcome.]
[Pending administrator input...]
Seconds passed, but nothing happened. But then, an angelic figure shrouded in a white veil descended from the light above.
It stared down at the bloody mess on the platform.
And then it spoke.
"... How did this... happen?"