Re:Monster - Re:Vival

Day Thirteen

It was a surprise to see the group of humans arrive so soon after leaving. It was even more of a surprise to see their new addition. A man who looked to be in his 40's with a limp arm and a messed up face. From what I could tell, it looked like necrosis which was never pleasant from what I've heard. From the way he moved and his general demeanour, it looked like he'd been that way for a while.

His grip was tight on his one-handed axe as his eyes scanned the room, widening when he saw Kazig but eventually settling on the fake me. The others must have told him about me. At the very least, I got two things out of the first minute or so of him showing up. The first was that he obviously held some kind of grudge against skeletons or perhaps the undead as a whole and second, if that's the case, my decision to create a decoy was the correct one.

One issue that arose almost immediately with the decoy was Lia. She practically made a beeline for the fake. I thought she'd notice pretty quickly that it wasn't me but after a few minutes it seemed like that would t be the case. I wasn't sure whether I was that unremarkable or she was that stupid. Honestly, it could have been either at this point in time.

"What the hell is that thing!?"

While the others were being somewhat sneaky with their glances, the Ranger must have finally hit her breaking point as she directed her finger towards Kazig. The rest of her usual party just sighed at her reaction while the newbie let out a huff before moving towards the door. Just before he opened it, he let everyone know that as long as they stuck to the plan, they should reach the 19th floor by nightfall.

I couldn't help but wonder what plan they were talking about. I thought about getting in the way a little bit but something about the half-dead man felt off. Like no matter what, he was always aware of the undead around him, keeping himself prepared. He was experienced to say the least. I decided to let them take care of the next enemy, curious about their plan.

My subordinates and I followed the human party through the door to find ourselves on a room once again larger than the last. It kept the same reddish hue to the walls and this time, had four pillars; one at each corner. They were a strange mix of ornate, reddish stone and an unknown, fleshy, pulsating substance. At the centre of the room was the boss. A bull, obviously, although it was surprising to see it's boney body look so... complete. Rather than a skeletal bull, it looked more like some form of Armoured Bull. Other than the armour, it also had a pair of long, curved horns jutting out from above its head and curving around its face to a point below its chin. A matted, shaggy, filthy coat of dark red hair covering half of its body from its head to its mid-section. Not like it really mattered though since the humans seemed so confident.

I watched them take their positions. They seemed to be keeping a specific distance from the bull as they formed a semi-circle around it. The new guy on the far right, the Ranger on the far left, the Swordsman on the right and the Crusader on the left. Naturally, Lia wasn't included in the plan and left behind with us. Not that she seemed to mind.

"Now!"

The new guy took a single step forward and the bull immediately turned to face him, charging towards him at surprising speed. With his body the way it was, I was wondering how he planned to get away, only for the swordsman to throw a small, brown pouch ahead of the beast. On contact with the ground, it exploded like a grenade with a a thick miasma. The second the bull ran through it, it started to slow down, giving the new guy enough time to dodge to the side.

The bull seemed out of it, likely because of whatever was inside that pouch. It twisted and turned wildly before bashing its body against the wall. Honestly, considering it's an undead like me, this had me a little worried. If they had more of those sacks, it was possible that they planned to use them against me. Although I doubted they had enough to deal with all of us which was a comforting thought.