Chapter 51: Portals (1)
Once the shaking had stopped, no one moved at first until the second 'earthquake' appeared. People were getting up from their seats as most of them were running towards the exit.
The scene was chaotic as people pushed others out of the way to save themselves and make it faster to the exit. They were even stumbling as the ground continued to shake.
Neban wondered if it is the portals or the people who are making the vibration worse.
Neban and his group stayed seated, not wanting to enter the herd of people that were aggressively running. There were a few that Neban recognized as hunters because they were pulling out weapons while running out of the front door, towards the portals.
"What should we do?" Isona whispered, sounding scared. Wey was pulling his calm face even though his knuckles were turning white due to the grip he had on the table.
Theo was holding onto Neban, resting his head on his arm as he squeezed his eyes closed, hoping to block everything out.
Neban looked towards the crowd that was dwindling, "We need to go." He finally answered, deeming that it was safe to go to the exit now.
Wey and Isona nodded as they exited their booth, waiting for Neban and Theo before they started walking. Neban grabbed his son, holding him in his arms as he moved out of the booth.
The ground was no longer shaking as it was easy for them to make their way to the exit, but they did not get far when two things simultaneously happened.
Siren yelled out, 'Lorka is coming!'
And once those words left Siren's mouth, the windows and glass in the restaurants shattered as the group ducked down to take cover.
Lorka walked into the restaurant, stepping on the broken glass as he looked around until his gaze stopped on Neban. He pointed towards him while saying, "You, human, we will fight with Mother's weapon in your hold."
Neban thought about how Lorka was supposed to be dead, but he cut the thought short when the man took another couple of steps.
Then he rushed forward as Neban quickly put his son in Isona's hold, grabbing Siren out of his sub-space as he blocked Lorka's hit.
The man must have pulled out a weapon when he was rushing towards Neban because a dagger met his sword as Neban was holding the man back.
"Isona, Wey, please take Theo and leave." He told them.
Isona and Wey looked like they wanted to say something while Theo opened his mouth, "Papa, I do not want to leave without you!"
Lorka smirked as Neban could see the man was getting ready to turn into mini bats. "Go!" Neban yelled as he added more force, pushing the man away whose body was changing.
Isona held a tight grip on Theo as she stood up, with Wey following after her. Neban used [Shadow Web] to slow the mini bats down before they can get anywhere near his son and partners.
The web caught the bats as they started to struggle, quickly biting their way out. Neban could see that the web strings the bats were biting are already beginning to give.
But he was not worried about the others because he could see them running to the exit while Theo was crying because he wanted Neban to go with them. 'I believe he is getting tired of me leaving.' Neban thought.
When the group left the building, Lorka freed himself as he turned back into his original form. "How lucky of them to go before I can play. I wanted to tie them down and have them watch as I kill you before going to them."
Neban glared, not saying anything as he swung Siren at the man. Lorka summoned his dagger out of nowhere, blocking the hit as Neban pulled back to attack the man again.
They clashed with each other a few times when Lorka slammed down hard, causing both of their arms to get blown back. Then he moved a few steps backward before saying, "This is becoming boring; I want you to meet my lovely pet."
Lorka cut his wrist as his blood began to spill. Once it hit the ground, Neban heard the sound of feet rushing towards the restaurant.
When the thing that was coming rushed into the building, Neban quickly turned around as he felt his instinct acting up at incoming danger.
He pushed Siren forward, blocking the monsters' charge as the thing made Neban fall a few feet back until he was hitting against the wall, holding the being from getting him.
The monster looked like a vicious dog but five times bigger than one. Its teeth were sharp as saliva was flowing down its mouth. The thing was a blood-red color while its eyes were white, almost like it was blind.
As the monster pushed forward, snapping its teeth at Neban, he used more force to make the thing let up before rolling away.
Once he did, the monster was already on his trail as he pointed his finger towards the thing and used [Shadow Beam x2] on it.
But the creature was not affected. When the beam hit the skin, it could not penetrate it. The thing leaped at Neban as he used Siren once again to block it from biting his neck.
Lorka laughed as he sat on top of one of the restaurant's tables, watching the show with interest. "My pet's skin is hard to break through; your tricks will not work, human.
'We will see about that,' Neban thought before asking Siren, 'can you cut through the thing's skin?'
Siren sighed, sounding like they were rolling their eyes before answering, 'Do not ask me dumb questions. My weapon can cut through the monster's skin.'
Neban turned to copying a Mage as he spread one of his hands holding the sword's handle, using [Fire Blast] to make the monster let him go.
Neban ignored the heat of the small blast as the monster moved back since it took more of the fire. Nothing happened to its skin, but the light of the fire temporarily blinded the thing.
Getting a better grip on Siren since he was not using the weapon as a block anymore, he moved forward, slicing the monster's chest.
The sword cut the monster's skin, but it was not deep enough.
Neban was going to go back in for another attack when the monster was not blind anymore and dodged the swing of his sword.
It went back in, getting ready to swipe its claws at him as Neban moved backward and used [Fire Blast x4]. The blast blinded the creature again as it started to shake its head, trying to clear its vision.
Neban moved the sword down while the monster was distracted, cutting off one of its front legs. The thing let out a cry of pain as it fell to the ground. Neban was already going for the second front leg, slicing it off.
When the monster was entirely on the floor, Neban aimed Siren at its neck as he glanced at Lorka.
Lorka was looking back at him, not caring that Neban was getting ready to kill his pet. The man watched and waited with a creepy smile.
"You will be next," Neban promised as he picked up the sword and quickly sliced the monster's head off.
Once the head hit the ground, Lorka jumped off the table as he clapped his hands. "What a fun show."
Neban glared at the man, running towards him with Siren raised to attack Lorka when the man turned into bats and flew away from him, only to land near his pet.
Abruptly stopping, Neban turned around to face the man who moved from him, "Running away and playing the coward card?"
Lorka snorted as he rested his back on the booth that Neban and the others were sitting in before the portals came to ruin the evening.
"I do not need to run. I only wish to watch the show a while longer before joining."
"What show? Your pet is dead." Neban mentioned, glancing at the headless, lifeless monster.
Lorka laughed once Neban spoke those words, acting as if what he said was the funniest thing in the world. Letting out a small growl, Neban was getting ready to rush towards Lorka and attack the man when a movement caught his eye.
The dead monster was standing back up as its two legs grew back, but the thing remained headless.
Neban heard Siren cursing in his head.
'Lorka gave that thing resurrection powers. It is different from an undead; we need to take its heart and stab it.' Siren answered, almost sounding like they were growling.
Neban looked at the monster's body moving around before facing in his direction. He believed that it would be easy to get the thing's heart since it had no head. But he spoke too soon when Lorka moved next to his pet, cutting his wrist once again. The man's blood dropped on the monster's head wound.
At first, nothing happened until two heads quickly appeared in the spot.
Lorka smirked, moving away as Neban stared at the now two-headed creature that was rushing towards him.