CHAPTER 53: MIDNIGHT ABDUCTION

In the middle of the night, Ard, who was sleeping next to the window, woke up when he heard the sound of something closing. He immediately sat up, then turned to look at Ainsley and Irwin, who were sleeping in the large bed, and Geoffrey, who was sleeping in the end bed with a very loud snore. He immediately turned to the window and looked out.

He saw several shadows leaping from rooftop to rooftop, but what made his eyes widen was seeing Milia, Claudia, Mirea, Patricia, Alicia, Beatrice, Rosalind, and even Eva, being carried by the shadows toward the large cemetery behind the village.

Without delay, Ard immediately got off the bed and turned to Ainsley and Irwin.

"Hey... wake up, fast," Ard said, waking the two of them.

"Nngh... what is it, Ard?" Ainsley asked, waking up.

"Our friends in the next room were kidnapped! Hurry up, we have to chase them," Ard replied.

"Huh... really?" Ainsley asked.

"Yes. Quickly, help wake up Irwin. I’ll wake up Geoffrey," Ard replied.

Ainsley immediately woke up Irwin, while Ard walked over to Geoffrey and slapped him until his snoring stopped. Geoffrey opened his eyes and held his cheek.

"Ugh... what the hell, bro," Geoffrey said, annoyed, and slowly got up and sat on his bed.

"Our friends were kidnapped. Let’s go after them," Ard replied.

"Huh... seriously? Okay, let’s go," Geoffrey replied, suddenly wide awake.

"Thump," Ard, Geoffrey, Ainsley, and Irwin, who had just woken up, immediately turned toward the window because they heard a noise. They were instantly shocked to see a male villager, about 30 years old, with white hair, red eyes, and fangs, perched on the window, looking in. He seemed surprised to see Ard, Geoffrey, Ainsley, and Irwin awake. Then he immediately jumped away, making Ard, Geoffrey, Ainsley, and Irwin pause for a moment.

"Vampire?" Ainsley asked, putting on his glasses.

"No... they’re human servants of a vampire... or a vampire’s familiars," Irwin replied, having just woken up.

"Let’s chase him," Ard replied, walking to the window.

"Yeah, let’s go," Geoffrey replied, standing up, then strapping his greatsword to his back and following Ard.

Ainsley and Irwin followed Ard and Geoffrey to the window. Ard opened the window, then they all jumped out one by one. After landing below, they immediately ran down the street, following the shadows that were leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

As Ard suspected, they were heading toward the large cemetery behind the village, which was covered in fog and looked terrifying. Ard drew his Exgrandal from his dimensional storage, just in case.

When they stepped into the cemetery and walked toward the large tomb in the very back, "Grrrk," the tombs around them suddenly opened, and several hands emerged from the ground.

"Ghoul! Be careful, everyone!" Irwin said, getting ready and opening his red eyes.

"Ugh... annoying," Ainsley grumbled.

"We have to destroy them quickly. Of course, they can’t be killed, but while they’re trying to recover, we have time to run," Ard said.

"Come on... hurry," Geoffrey replied.

Immediately, Ainsley swung his sword and decapitated several ghouls that had just emerged from the ground. Geoffrey stomped his foot and used earthquake magic, causing all the ghouls around him, both those who had emerged and those who hadn’t, to fall apart and scatter.

After the ground quieted down and almost all the ghouls were in pieces and trying to reassemble their bodies, Ard immediately urged his friends to run into a large tomb located right at the back of the cemetery, which looked like a mansion with a door underground.

They all immediately went down and saw that the stone door was slightly ajar, not tightly closed. Ard pushed the door and was surprised to find that behind the door was a long corridor lit by torchlight, with stairs leading up far at the end.

"Slam," Geoffrey, who entered last, closed the stone tomb door again. Without delay, they ran down the corridor, but when they reached the middle of the corridor, "Blip," all the torches suddenly went out.

"Whoa, what’s going on?" Ainsley asked.

"Be careful," Ard shouted, on high alert.

Suddenly, the torches lit up again, but this time the flames were green, and groaning sounds could be heard from the walls of the corridor. Suddenly, hundreds of shadowy hands and arms emerged from the walls, ceiling, and floor, attacking Ard, Geoffrey, Ainsley, and Irwin, who stood ready with their swords. They struggled to fend off all the attacking hands and slash at the hands grabbing their legs.

"Hey... do something!" Geoffrey yelled.

"Yeah, if this keeps up, we could be pulled into the abyss!" Ainsley yelled, knowing what those hands actually were.

"Aaaah... there are so many, and they’re disgusting!" Irwin said.

Ard, who was swinging his sword around him, thought hard about how to get out of the current situation. Then Ard raised his right hand and opened his palm. A bright white ball of light immediately shot out of his hand, blinding everyone.

"Kieeeeek,"

Hysterical screams echoed from the walls throughout the corridor. All the shadowy hands immediately disappeared. Ard turned to look at his three friends, who were out of breath.

"Come on, fast! We’re almost at the end," Ard urged.

"Next time, please be quicker, bro," Geoffrey replied.

"Yeah, I’m already this exhausted, and we just started," Ainsley added, taking off his glasses, cleaning them, and then putting them back on.

"Awesome, my friend! Let’s keep going," Irwin said, giving a thumbs-up.

They immediately ran toward the end of the corridor. Ard kept his palm raised while running to light the entire corridor and prevent the shadowy arms from coming out again. When they climbed the stairs at the end of the room, they emerged in another tomb with a closed sarcophagus in front of them in a spacious room lit by torches embedded in the walls surrounding the room. Ard lowered his hand, then held Exgrandal with both hands again. He saw the stone exit door across the room tightly closed. Then Ard turned to look behind him.

"Be careful. There’s something in this room," Ard said.

"Yeah, I know," Ainsley replied.

"Hmm, what now... there’s something in that sarcophagus," Irwin muttered, staring at the sarcophagus with his eyes and pointing at it.

"Okay, our enemy is in there," Geoffrey replied, drawing his greatsword again.

Suddenly, "Creeak," the sarcophagus shifted. All four immediately took their fighting stances and kept their guard up. "Thud," the stone cover of the sarcophagus opened and fell to the floor, but Ard, Ainsley, Geoffrey, and Irwin’s eyes were fixed on the sarcophagus, waiting for what would emerge from within. "Tap," a large green hand grasped the edge of the sarcophagus, then something emerged and stood before them.

Ard, Ainsley, Geoffrey, and Irwin’s faces immediately looked astonished as they saw the creature standing before them. The creature looked like a man, but its body looked like the large body of an Orc, its lower half looked like the body of a Minotaur, its right arm looked like a demon’s arm, its left arm looked like a dark elf’s arm, and it had a human head.

But what was horrifying was that its entire body was covered in stitches, nails were driven into its elbows, and its eyes looked vacant, staring at Ard and his friends.

"Uuugh... stench," Ainsley muttered, covering his nose while summoning his familiar.

"Bad news... this is bad... that creature... Abomination Ghoul," Irwin said, calling his familiar.

"This is... truly annoying," Geoffrey replied, getting ready and summoning his familiar.

Ard remained silent, staring at the creature in front of him. Without hesitation, Ard brought out Ace, his Garuda familiar, who hovered in the air and then perched on his arm.

"Please, Ace," Ard said.

"Caw," Ace replied, flapping his wings.

Ace immediately flew out and shot toward the creature in front of him. Ace opened its mouth and fired a swirling black and white beam. "Guuuuuuh," the Abomination Ghoul immediately groaned when its chest was pierced by the beam Ace fired. Then it tried to catch Ace, who was already circling in the air. Ard immediately jumped and ran his right hand over the blade of Exgrandal so that the sword blade was enveloped in white light.

"Hiyaaaaah!"

Ard slashed the Abomination Ghoul’s body with Exgrandal, which was shrouded in white light, from top to bottom. "Kreek," the monster’s body was instantly split in two, then fell to the right and left. After the monster died and released a terrible stench, the stone door opened. Ard turned to look at his friends while covering his nose.

"Let’s keep going," Ard urged.

"Okay," his friends replied, covering their noses, and their familiars also seemed to be covering their noses.

They all immediately ran toward the door and exited. As soon as they got out, they emerged in another graveyard inside the forest, but their eyes immediately widened because in front of them was a terrifying, large, black mansion with a seemingly weak fence, the yard overgrown with weeds, and creeping vines covering the walls of the mansion. Ard turned to look at his three friends.

"Okay, I guess our friends are in there," Ard said when he saw the mansion.