III - SWORD OF THE BRAVE // Doraemon Fanfic

24 - UNBEATABLE

Meanwhile,

Minutes ago....
Down in the basement,

Suneo clasped onto his wound, pushing hard on it to subside the bleeding.

On the other side of the locked door,
General Spider strolled mindlessly.

"Hey... Brat~~"

No response came.

"I know you're there. My blade might have missed the other bastard, but it didn't miss you, did it?"

Suneo could hear every word he was saying but refrained from giving him any sign that he was there.

He vividly remembered Nobita's words. They promised him.

"Do not try to be a hero. If anything happens, run away or hide."

And that was exactly what he planned on doing. There was no way he was exposing himself to the enemy, going against his friend's wishes.

General Spider took in a hard sniff.
"I can smell the blood even from another room, shithead. Even the sounds... of it trickling down..."

He grinned, "Come on, you have to do better than that if you really want to stay hidden."

Suneo pulled out the cloak hanging down his armor collar and placed it on the spot on the floor with all the blood to avoid the sound.

It immediately got soaked red.

"You know what I'm wondering..." General Spider continued, "How come every one of your little friends made their way safely to the top and you are the only one who's stuck with me down here. Don't you think that's weird?"

Suneo fell silent.

"I mean it almost looks like you were intentionally picked to be the pawn here. A pawn on a chessboard....

"I don't know how you see it. But all I see is that your friends abandoned you. They left you trapped down here with me. And I have defeated more Royal Guards of Yumirumi than I can count in the past week. So, leaving you all alone down here with someone like me is practically like leaving you for dead....

"And believe me when I say this. But I don't think they are going to be coming back to save you, young lad."

Suneo remained still, unmoving, as if frozen in place: his face pale.

Spider pressed his lips to the door and whispered aloud, "You are going to die in here... All alone..."

Suneo's hand started trembling slightly. He grabbed it firmly with his other hand, trying to make them stop.

It worked, but not satisfactorily.

He's just provoking you.
Don't give in, Suneo.
Suneo kept repeating those words inside his head over and over.

"It's been so long yet no one has come to rescue you from here. Some friends you have!"

Spider continued in a meaner tone, not even sugarcoating it, "If they really were your friends, they would climb down to get you out of there, especially when they saw me shoot the blade at you too and that you could be bleeding out right now."

Suneo couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Yeah and let me guess! Automatically freeing you too in the process."

Spider let out a devious smile, "Wouldn't it be worth it if it saved a close friend's life?"

Suneo did not respond. It was difficult to keep a conversation going from his end with him being in writhing pain.

"What do you think should be more important to them? Saving you or capturing me?"