I Awakened My Game System! Now Three Great Houses Want Me Dead!-Chapter 102: Sleep

Xenos was truly happy.

Never had he fought something this big before, and the thrill of it was incredible.

’Don’t get too excited; you still need to kill it.’

Xenos nodded at that reminder and turned towards Aspro, who was already growling, his horn flaring.

"No, not this time, boy."

He kneeled a little and patted him a few times.

"Too many minds in there. You’ll fry yourself."

Aspro barked once, reluctantly stepping back with his tail low.

"Good boy."

Turning back around, Xenos cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders.

"Alright then..."

A house-sized fist came at him.

"Let’s kill this thing."

He raised his left hand and launched a glob of acid at it, making the fist slow down for a moment while melting it at the same time, before, all of a sudden, the acid fizzled out.

Inside his Soul, the Rune dimmed, now deactivated.

’What—?’

He groaned while jumping to the side.

’You’ve got to be kidding me.’

Eris hummed as its fist crashed down where he stood, shattering the ground into itself.

’Your Rune’s exhausted. You’ve used too much Divinity already.’

He rolled to his feet, dirt and bones flying everywhere.

"I noticed that."

The giant turned, its steps shaking the forest floor, and—

WHOOOOOOOSH!

Its arm came again, too fast and heavy.

Xenos jumped forward, intending to deflect it with everything he had.

The sword shimmered for a heartbeat, cutting through the arm just enough to redirect the blow before the force sent him flying.

Digging his heels in the very moment they touched the ground, he managed to remain on his feet.

Without wasting a moment, he then stabbed the creature’s arm before it could sail past and grabbed on tight as gravity had its say.

"UUUUUGGGGGGRAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The giant roared, trying to shake him off with wild movements, but Xenos climbed anyway, laughing as chunks of rotting flesh rained down around him.

Realizing that it couldn’t just shake him off, it swung its arm like a whip, trying to crush him against a tree, but he was already gone, reaching its upper arms.

The giant swung again, though this time with its other arm, intent on crushing him into itself, but he dropped fast before it could, twisting midair and stabbing his sword into its side to catch himself.

The impact jolted through his bones, yet he held on strong, stuck into its arm’s side.

And, as if he already wasn’t in a bad position, human-sized arms erupted from the creature’s giant arm, reaching for him, trying to pull him in.

"Hahahahahaa!"

Using his inventory, he yanked his sword free and flipped backward.

Rotting hands closed around nothing but air as he landed against its torso, his boots sinking into soft and inviting flesh.

His next step was upward.

Xenos ran up the giant’s chest, dodging hands that reached out while closing in on its massive, grotesque neck.

’You’re almost there!’ 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Jumping over a wall of hands, he finally took a moment, the neck directly before him.

"Don’t jinx it."

Indeed, he had reached it.

It was a mass of writhing muscle and fused skulls, a disgusting sight that he was about to end...

"GGGGGGRRRAAAAAAARRAAAAAAH!"

But before he could move, a hand came at him once more... a hand that he was ready for.

He raised his sword, angled the edge, and deflected.

"Gh—!"

The attack rolled off him with a grunt, sailing past to punch its own shoulder.

"RRRAAGGAAAAARRAAAAAAH"

What followed rattled his body to the bone.

Still, he remained on his feet.

And that had him see it.

A second arm came.

"Ah, shit—"

Following through with the momentum of the first blow that he deflected, he sprinted towards the shoulder, trying to dodge the second.

Yet, glancing behind, he realized...

’It’s too fast.’

He couldn’t make it.

WOOF!

A pulse of psychic force slammed into the giant’s arm mid-swing, freezing it for half a heartbeat.

That was all that Xenos needed.

Continuing off his sprint, he jumped high and drove down, his blade going right through the creature’s neck.

Golden light exploded from the strike.

That was [Wise Fool] shining...

Luck answered his call.

"RAAAAAAAAAH!"

Without stopping for a mere moment, he twisted and dragged the blade across its neck in one perfect cut.

The head tore free, rolling down the giant’s shoulder beside him while trailing black ichor.

Right after that, the body convulsed and collapsed, crashing into the remaining trees.

Xenos fell with it, hitting the ground in a roll before letting go and falling, dust and gore spraying everywhere around him.

A longer heartbeat later, something soft and heavy landed on his face.

"Mmph—!"

It was Aspro, of course.

The fluffy menace had come to celebrate.

Xenos coughed, pushing the dog’s tail out of his mouth, then broke into a breathless laugh.

"Who’s a good boy~?"

He rubbed the dog’s fur with bloody fingers.

"You are. You saved my life."

Eris hummed once more.

’You actually did it.’

"Yeah..."

He lay there, patting the fur ball, staring up at the sky, or at least trying to through its fluff.

"I guess I did."

The forest was quiet again.

It was just him, his ridiculous mutt, and the smell of victory...

A disgusting, horrid Tartaros-wishing smell.

Yet, in that moment, he didn’t seem to mind.

For the first time in hours, Xenos let his sword drop beside him.

"Ahahaha... ahahahahahha!"

He began to laugh, a sound of someone who’d cheated death for the hundredth time.

Eris didn’t say anything to that, which in Her case meant a kind of supportive approval.

Slowly, his other hand reached out to his face, his fingers touching the little Wheel tattoo beneath his eye, feeling the faint hum of Divinity still there, an aftertaste of Luck.

Meanwhile, Aspro, caring not for the blood, dragged himself down to Xenos’s chest and turned around, his tail wagging as he began to lick at his buddy’s face.

Even though the dog’s muzzle was sticky with gore and ruin, Xenos didn’t care either, enjoying the little one’s company.

He wasn’t much of a dog or a cat person, preferring birds, as they didn’t require much looking after and were pretty loyal if raised young, not that dogs weren’t, but yeah...

Aspro had already changed his mind.

Maybe dogs aren’t so bad after all.

"No wonder they call you a man’s best friend."

Though Aspen didn’t know of the saying, he barked anyway, as if agreeing with it.

’Hm.’

It was incredible how his Dual Fated worked, wasn’t it?

Everything was interconnected.

His saving of Aspro, his release of the assassin, and then this.

Fate, Destiny, whatever name it held, was an incredible thing. Much like Divinity, it held this realm together, for if one stood outside Fate...

They’d no longer be of the living, unremembered by all but themselves.

A thought that Xenos appreciated.

"...so."

He closed his eyes.

"What’s next?"

Eris chuckled fondly.

’Go to sleep, fool.’

And for once, he listened.