THAT DAY I BECAME A STAR

"Pedro! You are retreating too much! Keep the lines!"

We have taken different positions to counter the Longinus. Esteban and Pedro are acting as vanguards, killing most of the weak Longinus. When a Sloin comes, they fall back and let it receive Peter's Sting in full. Then I jump in and kill if it isn't dead.

The only problem is that I still feel a lot of them. And more importantly, there is a particularly strong one I can feel. After five minutes, Pedro starts showing signs of fatigue. He is sweating and isn't holding his weapon properly.

"Switch positions!!"

"Okay!" I change with Pedro under Esteban's signal and join the fray. It's good I came upfront now, the big one is com-

"KRIEEKK!!".

The space of the door gets completely destroyed and even some Longinus comes flying to us. We killed most of them in mid-air or as soon as they land but when I look at the door. There is a monster the size of a gnoll where the door used to be.

"Shit!!"

"Impossible!"

"Why?!! Why?!!" Pedro's screams are especially imbued in fear. But I can't blame him. The monster in front of us not only very big but ugly as well. A Longinus Prator.

"It's as hideous as the book said."

That thing is really ugly. It has no eyes, a large mouth with a lot of small black sharp teeth. Its arms are made of a multitude of fangs and it has some sort of wings on its back. Its legs are like a dog.

The Longinus Prator starts walking slowly and I can see Esteban flinching from the corner of my eye. I guess I have to take care of this. I advance and jump on the Longinus. It tries to slash me with its multiple fangs but I dodge it and strike its arm with all my strength. Some of the fangs break but that's about it.

"KRIEEKK!"

"Just shut up and die."

As I land, it moves again and uses its other arm to strike me from behind but I hear him coming.

"Thanks."

Without looking behind me, I hear Esteban striking the other arm. The sound of his sword clashing it is powerful enough to indicate me that he broke some fangs as well.

I turn around with a powerful swing and hits the Prator's leg.

"KRIEEKK!!"

I manage to cut half of its knee but no blood comes out of it. There is only black flesh appearing.

"So, you can feel pain as well."

"Stay focus!"

Esteban jumps again and strikes the Prator's head, but his attack barely does any damage. The monster brushes it off by moving his head to the side, knocking him off. But I should take advantage of that. The prator, unlike the other Longinus' bodies, doesn't glow to show its crystal's location. But still, I can feel it there, right under his armpit.

"There!!"

I stab while infusing as much Angas as I can and the blade pass through the monster.

"KRIEEK!!"

The prator immediately starts disappearing.

"Good." A vanguard tries to attack me by surprise while I retrieve my raizen but it gets shot down by Peter.

"Don't just slack off, dammit!"

***

After I killed the prator, it took us five more minutes to clean up all the Longinus. Esteban left me to handle most of the monsters that came and tried to rest as much as possible.

"How is she?"

After the fight, Pedro is checking Rose's condition. Although he stopped the bleeding, her condition is still critical and she has to be treated as soon as possible. I wonder how Lanuvel once she meets her mother. If they meet, that is.

"She might not make it. Especially because of the lack of blood. I would require RESTORE to save her completely but I can't perform such a high-level script."

"There is no use talking about it now. We must first get out of here. Carry them and let's go!"

"Yes, sir!"

We carry the only surviving prisoner and Rose while Esteban grabs some of the crystals. The prator's crystal looks especially different. It has an apple's seed shape. But it still glows like the others.

Suddenly, the atmosphere changes. The air becomes heavier.

"What is happening?"

"I don't know. Stay vigilant and be on your guard."

Pedro is really frightened. Thankfully, Esteban's composed face is settling him down.

We walk to the stairs, Peter and Pedro are ahead since they are carrying the bodies.

"Hm…You guys managed to defeat them all."

A voice resounds behind us as soon as Peter places his foot on the stairs. A voice as cold as a winter's night. As terrifying as your worst nightmare.

I don't even need to turn to know what it is. This feeling can't be mistaken: a Longinus. A Longinus so strong my whole body started trembling as soon as I heard his voice. But how? Why didn't I feel his presence before?

I look at the others, especially Esteban but nobody seems to be able to move. I don't know if it is because of fear or something else. But we are all frozen in place, trembling like leaves with their teeth clacking.

"It seems I made a mistake in my judgment. Perhaps I should have added another one?"

The presence behind us talks like we aren't even here anymore. Then I hear a step, and another one. He starts walking towards us, slowly.

"Well, no matter, it was a good experiment."

As soon as his voice sounds close enough. I turn around in a swift and powerful movement and throw myself at the presence. I stumble upon a man, with black hair and eyes. No wait, his eyes, they aren't black, they are empty!! It's like the void itself is feeling them. He is wearing a white tunic like a priest.