I Became the Simp Character I Roasted Online-Chapter 41: Feral II

Moving like a horrifying, oversized insect, the creature launched itself forward while keeping its belly pressed to the frozen mud.

"Back up!" Dain barked, grabbing Revan by the collar of his coat and hauling him backward.

Revan stumbled. The sudden, violent pull yanked his torso, sending a fresh wave of pain.

He choked on a gasp, his knees buckling just as the creature’s snapping jaw closed on the empty air where his shins had been a second before.

the creature didn’t stop. Using its momentum, it swept its heavy, bone-plated foreleg in a vicious vicious sideways sweep, aiming to take both of their legs out.

Dain stepped into the sweep instead of retreating. With a guttural shout, the Marshal drove his heavy steel boot down onto the creature’s sweeping joint, trying to pin the limb to the earth.

Crack.

The ice beneath them spider-webbed, but the monster’s physical strength was absurd. It wrenched its arm free with a violent jerk that threw Dain off balance. The veteran staggered sideways, his useless right arm flailing as he fought to stay upright.

The creature instantly pivoted, its eyeless skull locking onto Dain’s exposed flank.

’Oh, no you don’t.’

Revan forced his trembling legs to hold his weight. He lunged forward, gripping Volkar’s black sword with both hands. He didn’t aim for the heavily armored skull or the hidden spine. He aimed for the only soft tissue he could see.

the inside of its gaping mouth.

He thrust the blade straight down its throat.

CLANG.

The creature snapped its jaw shut a fraction of a second too soon. The mundane steel blade caught squarely between its massive upper and lower teeth. The force of the bite sent a jarring shockwave straight up the sword, rattling Revan’s bones all the way to his shoulders.

The monster wrenched its head violently to the side, ripping the sword out of Revan’s exhausted grip. The blade flew out of his hands, clattering uselessly against a rusted shield ten feet away.

’Damit" Dain roared.

The Marshal recovered his footing and swung his broadsword in a desperate, one-armed sweep

The heavy blade slammed into the side of the creature’s neck, digging a shallow trench into the bone plating but failing to bite through to the flesh underneath.

The impact was enough to stagger the beast, forcing it to release its hold on Revan’s position and scramble a few yards back, hissing angrily. It dropped low to the ground again, circling them, waiting for the perfect moment to tear them apart.

Revan fell to his knees, his chest heaving, his hands completely empty. He wrapped his left arm around his broken ribs, struggling to pull freezing air into his lungs.

"I was trying... to save your... old ass," Revan wheezed, spitting blood.

"Next time, just let it bite me!" Dain growled, his breath pluming in thick white clouds. The veteran was running on fumes. He leaned on his broadsword, his chest rising and falling heavily. "Now you’re unarmed. Brilliant strategy, boy."

Revan didn’t argue. He slowly pushed himself up, his eyes darting across the bleak, bone-littered battlefield.

Things were going straight to hell.

Over by the utility cart, Lyra was bleeding. A fresh, jagged cut leaked dark blood down her thigh. The sudden injury forced her to drag her leg, her footwork faltering on the frozen mud for just a fraction of a second.

It was a golden opportunity for the creature.

Instead of pressing the attack on her, the beast pivoted. It completely ignored her desperate slash, launching its massive body forward to ram its heavy bone skull directly into the iron frame of the cart.

Metal shrieked and buckled violently under the impact. The cart lurched.

The heavy iron chains securing the massive, dormant abomination on the flatbed groaned loudly, the sound carrying over the howling wind.

"Lord Voss!" Dain roared, his voice cracking. "Finish yours! We need to form up!"

Cassian was practically dancing with the third creature.

The young lord effortlessly sidestepped a frenzied lunge, the creature’s jaw snapping empty air. Cassian’s thin, elegant blade flicked out, opening another shallow cut along the beast’s foreleg.

"It’s remarkably resilient, Marshal," Cassian called back, his tone perfectly smooth, utterly devoid of panic. He smoothly redirected the beast, subtly angling its next charge away from himself and straight toward the two terrified guards huddled near the stretcher.

The guards panicked. They broke formation. One of them swung his sword wildly, missed, and slipped on the frozen mud.

The creature pounced, its jaw clamping down on the guard’s calf. The man shrieked, a horrific, gurgling sound of absolute terror and agony.

"Voss, you sociopathic bastard," Revan hissed.

"Eyes here!" Dain shoved Revan backward by the shoulder just as their own creature lunged again.

Revan stumbled backward, his hands instinctively coming up to defend himself. His heel caught on something hard and unyielding hidden beneath the snow and crushed bones.

Metal.

He looked down. The rusted iron rail of the old express line protruded three inches above the packed earth. A solid, unbroken line of steel cutting across the flat wasteland.

An idea formed. It was a terrible, desperate idea. But he was out of options.

"Dain," Revan wheezed, keeping his eyes locked on the scuttling monster. He took a painful half-step backward, aligning himself perfectly behind the rusted iron rail.

"What?!" Dain snapped, tracking the creature’s movement.

"I need you... to hit it."

"I just did! The armor’s too thick, I can’t reach the spine!"

"Don’t reach the spine," Revan said, his voice dropping to a low, ragged whisper. "Hit the skull. Hard as you can. Straight down."

"...?" Dain furrowed his brow.

"I know what it’ll do. Just trust me," Revan said. He bent his knees, lowering his stance despite the white-hot spikes driving into his chest. He spread his empty hands.

"Make it flatten. Drive it into the dirt. I’ll do the rest."

Dain threw a sharp, incredulous look at Revan’s empty hands, then down at the rusted rail sitting exactly between them and the monster.

The old soldier’s eyes widened a fraction of an inch. He understood.

The creature coiled its hind legs, its jaw dripping with thick fluid, preparing to launch itself straight at Revan’s exposed, weaponless body.

"Do it!" Revan yelled.

Dain roared, stepping aggressively into the monster’s path.

He brought the blade down in a massive, overhead executioner’s arc, putting every last ounce of his remaining strength into the swing.

The creature reacted exactly as programmed. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Recognizing the lethal force descending toward its skull, it aborted its forward jump. Instead, it dropped like a stone, flattening its entire body against the frozen earth to protect its vulnerable spine, using its forward momentum to slide straight under Dain’s descending blade.

But it wasn’t sliding on flat earth anymore.

It was sliding straight toward Revan. Over the tracks.

The creature’s heavy, bone-plated chest hit the elevated iron rail at full sliding speed.

Physics took over.

The unyielding metal rail caught the creature right beneath its ribs, acting as a brutal fulcrum. Its forward momentum carried its heavy upper body over the rail, while its massive hindquarters dragged behind.

With nowhere else to go, the creature’s spine bent violently backward over the iron track.

CRACK.

The thick, overlapping bone plates on its back parted perfectly.

The three dim Crimson Tears crystals were suddenly thrust upward, completely exposed, shining like raw, bleeding wounds in the gray light. The creature thrashed wildly, its limbs scrambling for purchase on the ice, but it was temporarily pinned over the rail, entirely vulnerable.

Revan didn’t hesitate. He didn’t have a sword. He didn’t need one.

Ignoring the agonizing grinding in his chest, Revan threw his entire body weight forward.

He drove his steel-capped boot straight down, stomping onto the center crystal with everything he had left.

The glass shattered under his heel.

A high-pitched, electronic squeal ruptured the dead air. Thick, boiling red fluid erupted from the broken casing, spraying across Revan’s leg. The creature seized instantly. Its limbs locked rigid, vibrating violently against the iron rail for two horrific seconds before the sickly light in the remaining crystals died out completely.

The heavy bone skull hit the dirt. It didn’t move again.

Revan sagged, his legs finally giving out. He dropped to his knees in the frozen mud, his forehead resting against the dead creature’s cold, armored shell. He couldn’t breathe. Black spots danced aggressively at the edges of his vision.

"One," Dain gasped. The Marshal let his broadsword drop point-first into the dirt, leaning heavily against the hilt. Sweat was freezing on his scarred face. "Good trap, boy."

"Don’t..." Revan wheezed, his voice barely audible over the wind. "...make me... talk."

Through the chaotic sounds of slaughter, Revan’s exhausted eyes drifted toward the center of the battlefield.

Sylvia was standing exactly where she had been since the attack started.

Despite the absolute bloodbath unfolding all around her, she hadn’t retreated. She hadn’t even flinched. She just stood there in the open, her face a mask of chilling, blank apathy. There was no panic in her eyes as she watched the guards being torn apart. She observed the carnage with the absolute, unshakable certainty that not a single inch of danger would ever reach her.

The violent gusts of wind kicked up by movements of the battle.

Even the silver cross earrings dangling from her ears swayed and glinted, catching the dim light of the battlefield as they rhythmically tapped against her pale skin.

Despite the absolute bloodbath unfolding around her, she had not retreated; she had not even flinched. Sylvia stood there in the open, her features a mask of chilling, blank apathy. There was no flicker of panic in her gaze as she watched the guards being torn asunder. She observed the carnage with an unshakable, almost divine certainty that not a single inch of danger would ever dare to reach her.

The violent gusts of wind, kicked up by the frantic movements of the battle, whipped her silver hair into a sharp, ethereal dance. Even the silver cross earrings dangling from her ears swayed and glinted, catching the cold, flickering blue light of the battlefield as they rhythmically tapped against her pale skin.