Nightmare's Call - Chapter 113

Chapter 113: In Action: Part 2

There was a wide arched corridor in the dungeon with prison cells on either side. And on each side, the cells were some distance apart from each other.

Lin Sheng stood near a gap between the cells, shaking his head while skimming the area. He reached out to touch the wall, which felt solid as well as cold, and its rough black stone surface was covered in honeycomb-like eyelets. He glanced down at the stone brick floor under his feet. The floor’s neat stretcher-bond pattern appeared antiquated.

Lin Sheng raised his wooden shield as he slowly moved deeper down the arched corridor. Cracked skulls were left about in the rows of rectangular-shaped recesses in the wall on his left. Large candles that glowed with light-yellow flames could also be found in some of the coves. Additionally, there were solid awl-shaped candlesticks on wire ropes, hanging down from the ceiling at intermittent intervals. The candlesticks were part of the passage’s lighting system.

After he walked some distance, Lin Sheng saw six gray cloth bags strewn in front of the cell on his right. Each of the cloth bags was almost as large as a sandbag. He went up and stomped on one of them. It felt soft and emitted a muffled sound when kicked. There was likely grain in the bags.

Just then, a series of heavy footsteps echoed. Lin Sheng peered ahead through the thin blanket of gray fog in the corridor and saw a team of black-armored soldiers carrying shields and swords, marching steadily toward him. There were five of them, each about 1.8 meters tall. They were exceptionally well built, and their whole body, including their face, was covered in thick as well as heavy metal armor. They almost looked like Mechwarriors[1] from a distance.

The soldiers had noticed Lin Sheng the same time Lin Sheng did them. For a moment, there was a deadly silence on both sides. Then, with a jerk, the five heavily-armed soldiers lunged out at Lin Sheng with their shields and swords, their stomping akin to the sound of war drums. The first soldier rammed into Lin Sheng at full force. Meanwhile, Lin Sheng drew his sword and aimed it at the soldier’s waist as he cleverly dodged in a swift motion. He split the soldier’s armor and flesh open, immediately sending sparks, as well as black blood, flying.

Lin Sheng was no longer his weak past self. With extraordinary Level 3 strength and the memories of so many warriors in his mind, he was strong and battle-hardened. In a series of feint steps, Lin Sheng quickly made it past the encirclement to the rear of the enemy. Pulling an abrupt maneuver, he spun around and dropped his shield to hold his sword to his ear with both hands. A blazing white light emanated from the blade of his sword.

“Quantum Slash!”

As a streak of white light fluttered around the soldiers, the great sword in Lin Sheng’s hands shattered in an instant, and the broken pieces dropped to the ground at once. Black blood simultaneously began to squirt out from the throat cuts under the helmets of the remaining four soldiers, who then dropped dead with a thud.

Lin Sheng glanced at the sword’s hilt and sighed. He discarded it and picked up another sword from one of the bodies on the ground. Similar to the old one, it was also a wide double-edged sword with some patterns engraved on the sides of the blade. The thickness of its blade was a few millimeters more than that of the shattered great sword. It was a good fit for Lin Sheng.

Lin Sheng knelt on one knee and took a helmet from one of the bodies. He then shook the helmet before he put it on. “Nice!” He smiled. Aside from being a nice addition to his armor, the helmet was a small consolation for Lin Sheng’s dismal spirit after he lost his original great sword. Having tasted success, he tried out the soldier’s greaves and metal boots too. In the end, he decided to put on a full set of armor that was looted from one of the bodies. “This weighs at least 50kg, if not more. These soldiers must be damn good weightlifters.”

However, something was strange. Lin Sheng froze for a second when he realized that none of the soldiers had memories that he could ingest. He swung the sword in his hand and glanced down at the soldiers from whom he had taken the helmet. The soldiers were just regular men, albeit their pale skin and expressionless faces. They had all died with the same expression—their eyes were wide open.

“Are they soulless or am I just unable to take in the fragments of their souls?” Lin Sheng sheathed his sword and set off again, leaving the bodies behind.

The metal boots clanked loudly as he walked, and he skimmed the cells that he passed on either side. There were no inmates in the cells, only a toilet, an iron bed, a chair, and a small iron table.

Soon, a sharp left turn filled with a thin blanket of gray mist appeared ahead. There seemed to be something around the corner. Lin Sheng slowed his pace, firmly clenching the hilt of his sword in a state of heightened alertness. As he inched closer, the thing at the bend slowly emerged, finally revealing itself. It was a man wearing a long robe and an iron mask. He was standing motionless like a statue in the fog.

The man was right in front of Lin Sheng but looked like a stationed guard or a mere statue. Without warning, the statue-like man suddenly moved and pointed his hand at Lin Sheng. Pale green mist instantly appeared at the tip of his finger, swirling and surging before forming into a ball.

A dozen green tentacles exploded from the green gas ball in a split second. It happened so quickly that the tentacles arrived within a feet of Lin Sheng in a beat. Lin Sheng stopped dead in his tracks before he came to his senses. He immediately bent his body backward while he raised his wooden shield in front of him. A powerful force pushed him back. Each of the tentacles was as thick as a human’s arm, and their corrosive nature left burnt streaks on whatever they touched, including his wooden shield. The pale green slime from the tentacles stuck to Lin Sheng’s wooden shield, producing a menacing hissing sound. Even the surrounding walls that were spattered with the hideously sticky stuff were eaten into, leaving behind countless holes on their surface.

After taking several steps back, Lin Sheng fixed his eyes on a gap between the waving tentacles. He timed it correctly and lunged out. With his sword already drawn, he swung it rapidly and struck the man, forcing him to retreat. The tentacles froze, and the man began to spit blood under his mask as he had been hit right in the chest. The man leaned against the wall, and blood continuously gushed out of his mouth. Meanwhile, the tentacles, which had been lunging out of the misty green ball quickly lost their strength.

Seizing the opportunity, Lin Sheng charged forward with his Shield Bash, and his wooden shield glowed with a holy light. This time, his Shield Bash hit its target. The man’s body began to hiss and emit a disgusting burnt smell into the air. The man in the long robe, still spurting black blood from his mouth, struggled desperately. But he was pinned under Lin Sheng’s shield, and he remained completely motionless after a while. Following that, plumes of black smoke started to rise from the man’s body and formed a black streak, which then rapidly disappeared into Lin Sheng’s chest.