The Dark King

by Steffen Schmidt

  He didn't dare to move his body. Instead he looked around. There was a weak and faint light coming from the top of his head. He looked up and vaguely saw the place where light was penetrating.

  He sighed in relief. After he recovers he could climb out.

  He felt a burst of burning in his stomach because of hunger. He though of his backpack which he lost in the previous chase. However, now the priority was to eat something up. As he had eaten once after he had left the giant wall. Yesterday he was escaping from hunter and the beast. It was almost nighttime (dusk) when he lost his consciousness. He didn't know how long he has been in coma. At the best case he had been in come only for a night.

  Dudian's palms groped around. He was trying feel the nature of things by touching. Even if he could find weeds he was ready to swallow them.

  He smiled wryly in hope that the previous collapse will lead Mason or others to him. "However, wouldn't such a violent sound lead the undeads to him? What would he do then?", he thought to himself.

  He suddenly dispelled the idea of ??calling for help. Instead of rescue he would attract group of undeads. He would be completely finished.

  While he was thinking he felt touching some sticky liquid that flowed by him. The building's water should have dried up. Is it the rain water that have penetrated inside the building?

  He was very thirsty. Even if radiated, he would want to drink the water at the moment. As long as to relieve the feeling of hunger and thirst he was even willing to bite the corpse.

  He slightly began to move his arm. He didn't want to force it so that not to affect the wounds on his chest. Slowly, little by little he picked up his hand and took it close to his mouth. He was about to lick it when the strong bloody smell penetrated his nostrils.

  "is it blood?", Dudian was startled.

  At this time, slight movement echoed from the darkness.

  Dudian's pupils shrank. For God's sake, do not be... ...

  roar!

  As if confirming his guess a roar echoed from the darkness. Few stones were smashed and fly over. The grim sounds came about four or five meters away.

  The beast!

  Dudian's mind almost stopped functioning. "It's still alive!", passed by his mind.

  He clenched his teeth. He pushed his palms onto the ground and moved his body bit by bit. There was a pain as if his body was torn. His forehead was full of cold sweat.

  He continued for seven or eight times, as a result he moved for two or three meters away. He was tired and was about to collapse.

  However, he found out that the roar, although it was non-stop growling but was not approaching him. It seems that... ... it was stuck in the same position.

  Dudian had some doubts. Was it really stuck somewhere?

  At this thought, he immediately touched his own pocket that carried the fire sickle. It was not lost. His palm was weak but still while trembling he hit the fire sickle. Out of friction the fire burned and lit the darkness.

  Small fire began to disperse the darkness near him.

  Dudian raised the fire light. The black beast was lying in front of him in a narrow channel. Its neck seemed to be broken and there were large stone scattered all around it. It wanted to crawl out but its body was stuck under the accumulation of stones.

  He was relieved. Fortunately it was stuck or he would be eaten up while he was in coma.

  At this time, the light burned out and darkness was restored.

  But Dudian's mind was relaxed. He had seen the surrounding environment. The beast body was stuck in a steel box similar to a container. The only place in the building where such a container existed was the elevator shaft!

  ...

  ...

  Chapter 67: Kill

  Dudian looked at the direction of the beast. It was clear that they were at the ground floor. He had to climb up to leave the shaft.

  However, there were obstacles in the elevator shaft.

  Although, not far from him there is an open entrance as the elevator door had fallen down.

  He made up his mind. He walked towards the broken stone heap and began to climb. A lot of wound began to open up and dull pain covered his body as he climbed upwards.

  He didn't stop but adhered to climb. If he continues to stay here, his body will lose all its strength at some point and he will be left to death in this God damn forgotten place.

  Soon, he climbed out of the elevator.

  Clouds of light scattered in the elevator shaft. There was dust in the air. One side of the walls and windows were all dilapidated, full of holes.

  Dudian look at the direction of the beast. There was a pile of concrete there. On the side a twisted broken steel was exposed. Because of these stones crimping on it, the beast wouldn't be able to climb out.

  He was feeling lucky that his body had rolled after falling down or else he all the pile of stones would have falled onto him. He had escaped the death!

  Half an hour later, Dudian had finally came out of the rubble of the building. There was still a feel of lingering fear as he looked back at the collapsed building.

  He hid behind the stones and looked around for a bit. There were no undeads around. He thought that the undeads should have been attracted by the collapse of the building. Most probably have come over here but haven't been able to sense him so gradually scattered and left.

  Earlier he had wrapped a dark blue ball in his chest to stop the blood outflow. As he had slept over, it had caused his body temperature to decrease. Most probably because of this he was able to avoid sensors of the undeads.

  But at the moment, he had already taken out the dark blue ball and put into his pocket.

  He quietly went by a nearby shop. As everywhere else, this shop was covered with vegetation and moss. Dudian's eyes fell on a plant. He took out the dagger from his waist and cut it off. He looked to the juice that was dropping from the plant. It was transparent water. He felt hunger struck him again. He grabbed few piece of leaves from the plant and gently chew them.

  There was a slight sweetness that filled his mouth. He quickly ate a few slices of rough leaves. But he was aware that the leaves may be contaminated with germs or their radiation content may be too high.

  After eating the leaves, Dudian felt the burning sensation in the stomach suddenly went down. He didn't continue to eat the leaves but cut the plant from the stem. He sucked the water out.

  If the vegetation was able to thrive and survive in a place such as this, then it was an indication that it already had anti-radiation and anti-virus properties.

  After drinking some water, Dudian felt a bit more comfortable. Suddenly he thought of the beast that was stuck in the elevator shaft. A trace of coldness flashed in his eyes. He was the culprit that forced the beast into such a sitation. As long as it didn't die, there was a possibility of breaking out. Once it broke out, it will be very dangerous for Dudian in the future.

  Thinking for a moment, Dudian came towards the scrapped cars that were covered with moss. The front cover was knocked out. The engine was unusable and corroded. He didn't use much effort to take out the gas tank. There was nothing inside as he checked the gas tank with a dry stick.

  It was an expected result. But he didn't give up and began to gently scrap tank from inside with the stick. Soon there was a layer of swarthy material on the stick.

  He took out the fire sickle and ignited the dark material. It actually burned!

  Dudian was surprised. He went to the other cars and pulled out the gas tanks from all of them. He scrapped inside and gathered a large amount of swarthy material.

  Dudian went to the shops and small supermarkets that were close by. He found fabric and clothes. He picked as much as he could and crawled back in to the collapsed building. It didn't take long before he was in front of the elevator shaft.

  He was tired and exhausted. He sat by the elevator shaft and rested for a while. He lit the torch. This time he saw everything more clearly. The beast was covered in pile of stones. Only its
neck, head and half of its forepaw was exposed.

  Dudian sneered as he stirred the dark oil material, rolled it in the combustible fabrics and wood. Later on he throw them toward beast.

  The beast suddenly woke up and opened its eyes as these things knocked on to its face. It growled and grimaced in pain.

  Dudian smiled slightly and threw the torch down.

  Whoosh!

  Torch fall on top of the fabric and fire burned up!

  "Roar!!"

  The beast body came in contact with the fire. It began to roar up in pain. It head was violently shaking. Stones slightly loosened because of its movement. Lots of gravel rolled down. However it failed in its struggle to move and shaking the stones didn't help much.

  Dudian was completely assure down in his heart as he saw the scene. He was worried that the beast will suffer pain and in madness would use extra force to get out. But after all, the building had collapsed and it happened to be at the bottom. It had suffered a great deal of damage also lost a lot of blood.

  The fire illuminated the dark elevator shaft. The beast's struggling roars gradually dissapiated with the flames.

  Dudian quietly looked at it. He felt that the life was so fragile. Even such a strong monster couldn't escape the clutches of death. Perhaps... No... It should only blame itself as it was not strong enough, right?

  Dudian slightly clenched his fists. The ambitions in his heart grew as the flames burned and growed more and more...

  The flames continued to burn for ten minutes. Gradually they were extinguished. The smell of a cooked meat surged with the hot air.

  He didn't know that how smart the monster was. Maybe it could play dead too?! So for insurance, he picked up a stone and throw it.

  Stone hit the beast but it did not respond.

  Dudian was relieved. He went down and closely looked at the charred body of the beast. Its body surface was burned. Blood was spilling out.

  "It seems that this beast is really different from the undeads. Its head does not had to be cut off to kill it." Many thoughts passed by Dudian's mind.

  "I'm just interested. Is its head different from the undeads?" Cold light glowed in Dudian's eyes as he held the dagger.

  ...

  ...

  Chapter 68: Infection

  Suddenly, Dudian thought of a matter that he totally forgotten about. While he was stuck in the elevator shaft his body below his butt had been covered in blood which was flowing there. The blood of the beast!

  "Does it contain the virus? The armor should have isolated it. I have not been in contact with it, ah!" He quickly stood up but his legs were numb. At the same time more and more tingling feelings came from all parts of his body.

  He clenched his teeth and dragged his body outside to remove the blood. He came up towards the wall which he had used before to climb ub.

  The beast's blood hadn't flown here. He leaned against the wall while slightly breathing. He looked down at his body and check his armor from behind. He didn't know when it had happened but there were quite a few scratches. The blood had penetrated and infected his body using mostly those scratches. He hadn't felt anything until he had seen the scratches. Like a leech it had already penetrated his body. He didn't even feel its existence when he touched the blood on his skin.

  Dudian's face turned pale and there was a trace of regret in his heart. If he didn't come back to kill the beast, perhaps he wouldn't be infected.

  "Although nobody would expect me to escape the hunter, but I even managed to escape the beast's attack. Eventually I couldn't escape the retribution of the Heavens... ... ..." Dudian bitterly thought in his heart. People would often talk about karma and they would say "forgive and forget". Perhaps if he didn't come back to kill the beast it would starve to death in here. But now he will be burried in here with the beast.

  Dudian was leaning against the wall. Body's sharp tingling made him shiver and unable to climb up. He hoped that this virus won't take his life. He could only hope at this point.

  In addition to tingling, he felt his consciousness get blurred and dizzy. He slightly lifted his left hand and touched his forehead. He felt hot and could not help but feel despair.

  He thought of himself using the dark blue ball to absorb the heat before getting into the coma. He used his left and and struggled to take out the dark blue ball from his pocket. He used his hand and affixed the dark blue ball to his forehead.

  Immediately an icy feeling enveloped him. He was able to think a bit clearer. However, his eyelids felt heave and his eyesight became gloomy and extremely fuzzy.

  Suddenly, he felt a slight movement from his chest, as if there was something struggling in there.

  He looked down and used his left hand to slightly open the armor. His vision was blurred but he could still see small blood red worms. The gauze was wrapped around his chest. But there were worms that were drilling into the gauze. His muscles contracted in peristalsic wave to defy the worms. But most of them had drilled almost half the way in.

  "Worms, worms ... ..." Dudian's mind at a loss. He raised his hand to grab, but a burning sensation hit his brain. He couldn't even lift his hand. Before he closed his eyes, the last thing that he saw was that the worms finally managed to fully drill into his body.

  Thump! Dudian's head fall onto ground. He was thoughly unconscious.

  His palm was still holding the dark blue wall even though he was in come.

  Gradually this dark blue ball melted in his hand. It turned into a light blue transparent liquid which penetrated into his palm through the small wounds.

  Darkness! He was not aware of the passage of time.

  Dudian once again opened his eyes and his consciousness was restored. He woke up because of hunger.

  He was at a loss as he saw the familiar picture of the elevator shaft in front of him. "Didn't I die?", he thought.

  He immediately thought of high fever he had felt before losing the awareness. He touched his head. Body temperature seemed normal. Then he noticed that his swollem palms had been restored.

  He quickly sat up and checked his whole body.

  There was no kind of visibly external change in the body. His soft armor was dusty and there were a lot of small scratches. He subconsciously looked back at the beast. He saw its charred body still stuck under the pile of stones while its head was cut off.

  Dudian speculated: "Was I lucid dreaming because of the high fever?"

  "Was I saw tired that I had slept after cutting of the beast's head?"

  Suddenly, he opened his eyes wide in astonishment as he looked around.

  ...

  Chapter 69: Fusion

  "Its so dark. I can actually see as if it was day!"

  Duddian patted his face so that he could feel a little pain. He wanted to make sure that he was not dreaming. He turned to look up but there was no light coming from up. The elevator shaft was still enveloped in darkness.

  However, he could see everything very clearly on the ground.

  Dudian blinked his eyes quite a few times before he remembered about the worm stuck onto his chest. All the hair on his body stood erect at the thought of worms. He opened his chest in hurry. The white gauze was still rolled and the blood had penetrated it coloring it red. Moreover blood had dried up.

  Dudian gently touched the wound but didn't feel any pain. He immediately unlocked (uncovered) the gauze.

  After he peeled off the gauze he saw the scar on his chest. It was a vertical dagger scar which was completely healed leaving only a shallow white scar. In addition, there was half of a finger size blood vessel which was solidified outside the skin.

  Dudian's face changed as he gently touch to bloodstains.

  "Those worms haven't actually drilled into my body, right? Right?", He panicked as he remember the worms.

  Anyone who would be willing for an unknown worms to drill into their body would be a creep.

  Dudian thought of his dagger and immediately picked it up. He suspected that the
worms might have sojourn in the bloodstains.

  Dagger gently pierced the blood-vessel like tissue from which the dark red blood flew. At the same time, Dudiant felt an immense pain which passed into his brain. His body trembled, especially the left side of the heart felt most painful. This was a real 'heartache'.

  His hand shook and he immediately stoped piercing. He felt that if he continued it would lead to his death!

  as he released the dagger, that pain was relieved a bit. He looked and saw that the scratched blood-vessels were healed in an instant. Actually the speed of healing was visible to the naked eye. It didn't long before they were back in their original state. Only small amount of blood that was on his chest proved that there was a stab over there.

  The pain that he had felt before gradually subsided as the blood-vessel healed.

  Dudian's face turned ugly. "Have they fused with my body? Did I just become one with a worm?"

  Ultimately, he couldn't find courage to continue to pierce the blood-vessels. He thought that if he could find a microscope in the ruins or based on super-chip's knowledge create one for himself, then he could find the source of the changes on his body. For now he had to place it aside.

  This feeling made him a little uncomfortable, but helpless. However, the thought of survival was in itself a great fortune!

  "My eyes can penetrate the darkness. Most probably each of those worms had some kind of functionality. They are not worms. Its beyond the concept of virus, bacteria or worm. It is a new variation of the microorganisms. It can live in the other life form's blood!"

  Dudian calmed himself as he began to rationally think about everything before the coma. Obviously this bloody worm was from the blood the the beast. Perhaps it was living with it but after it died they followed out with the blood out of their own to... ... find the new host!

  This also explained why he turned out differently after the infection by the blood. If it was another virus infection he would turn into an undead which didn't happen.

  Moreover there had to be large number of worms inside the beasts blood. Most probably it has been long ago that these worms has produced anti-bodies to protect themselves from the virus and enhance their resistance towards it. They wouldn't want to be corrupted by it as they are a different life form.