How monstrous. Do I have the stamina of an elephant—no, a dragon? Jesting himself pathetically, Märchen walked on the large half-floor toward the large door at the front.
Staring at the door, he whispered to himself, "Now then, how am I going to open this?" He curved his right index finger below his lips, seemingly in a thought.
After a while, he sauntered forward and pressed his hands against it. Gathering his strength, he exerted himself and gritted his teeth, the muscles in his arms bulging as he pushed against the door.
After almost 20 seconds, he gasped out and retracted his arms back, straightening his spine as he looked at his palm.
"Sigh, why did I think I could open these doors with only my strength?" He swiveled his body and distanced himself from the door, cupping his lips as his eyes roamed about. He murmured in his hand, "I might as well try to open the doors below... They're smaller and they look lighter than the doors here..."
As he was about to descend his steps, a heavy rumbling noise boomed through the cold air. Märchen paused momentarily and turned half of his body at the source.
The heavy door that was supposed to be closed had been opened mysteriously as if it wanted to lure him into going inside.
However, Märchen didn't rashly bite the bait. He observes what lies beyond it and clutches the hilt of his sword, preparing to attack anything that comes out of the door.
"…"
A few seconds later, nothing emerges.
Nonetheless, Märchen remained cautious with his eyes glued on the opened entrance. Obviously, something was amiss throughout the whole situation, and it seemed to be staged out by an unseen hand.
This state of mind shifted abruptly when Märchen heard a harsh cry coming from behind. Instinctively, he turned his head and caught sight of a figure at the bottom of the staircase.
The figure wore a beige vest under a plain linen shirt with a pair of black pants. With grayish skin, it was about 2.5 meters tall and had a lanky build, with its neck bending backward in an unusual manner, causing its head to tilt towards its back.
Its jaw was stretched abnormally towards its chest, creating a bizarre sight. The figure's mouth lack any teeth or bottom whatsoever, as though it could eat a whole cow if the corner of his mouth stretched like its jaw.
At first, Märchen thought that it was a spirit, which excited and disturbed him a bit since it meant that he could see one now.
But then, he realized that he hadn't acquired any magical abilities from the failed transformation nor seen any smoke-like particles being emitted from the figure.
The latter was mentioned by a genuine mage in his party, stating that spirits emit smoke-like particles that naturally signal their presence. She also mentioned that we also emit those particles but not as often as spirits.
As he thought that, another sudden rumbling noise loomed behind him, but this time it had slowed down. Turning his attention to the double doors, he saw that they were eerily closing themselves on their own.
Almost immediately, he quickly shifted his gaze back to the figure, worried that it might act when it was in his blind spot.
Expectedly, the tall distorted, humanoid monster had vanished below without a trace.
Alarmed, he retraced his steps away from the staircase, scanning the area for the distorted figure but found nothing in his sight.
Eventually, he stopped inspecting and changed his gaze toward the large double doors that were closing themselves from Märchen. Clicking his tongue, he pushed a leg forward and ran to the closing door.
Suddenly, he felt an intense chill coursing through his nerves as his hair stood on end. He instinctively extends his left foot and arches his spine backward, using the momentum he made to slide against the marble floor.
Immediately after that, strands of hair had slipped from the edge of his unruly bangs. Sliding down, he instantly turned his head behind him.
There, he saw the distorted entity once more, with one of its hands covered in illusory, gelatin-like scales. Its nails were elongated and sharp, like miniature rapiers.
H-how fast! When did it get there?! Remarking the humanoid monster's speed in his head, the figure disappeared instantaneously in its spot.
Losing the momentum of the slide, he quickly sat up and pressed his right foot below. His calves tensed before launching himself forward, positioning his other leg just above the floor to prevent falling immediately after the impact.
Landing on the floor, he accelerates to the doors, switching his head from side to side to catch even a glimpse of the figure. Suddenly, as if sensing something, he swiftly stomped his right foot and leaped to his left side.
At that moment, stripes of red scrapes emerged from his right leg, tearing the right portion of his harem pants.
The humanoid monster materialized beside him, extending its exaggerated claws toward his right leg which he dodged barely.
Unperturbed by the wound the entity dealt, he drew out his sword and took his stance. However, in the blink of an eye, the figure disappeared once again.
So I was right after all. It sure is fast but it didn't utilize its speed to evade my line of sight. Instead, it uses some kind of magic that makes itself invisible. It cannot hide some aspects of it, however. Such as its scent… Märchen's thoughts sharpened as he walked toward the door's direction.
He narrowed his eyes and coldly analyzed his surroundings, his gait slightly clumsy due to the injury on his right leg.
As he unhurriedly walked toward the gradually closing doors, he noticed a shift in the environment's scent. His hooked nose twitched, as the fine hairs across his body erected up.
With a swift and precise motion, he pivoted and aimed his sword horizontally in front of his chest, gently arching his body to withstand the incoming impact.
Clank! Märchen suddenly felt a heavy force pushing through as his unhoned sword bore the influence of it, causing cracks along the blade before he was flung into the air.
With a heavy thud, he stumbled on the marble floor as he slid against it, arriving near but not close enough to the closing door.
Sitting up, he turned to glance back, realizing that he wouldn't make it inside in time before the door shut itself completely.
With a deep sigh, he sheathed his broken sword inside as he pushed himself to stand, though his right leg wobbled as he almost fell.
Almost immediately after, he jerked his body to the side, a cut appeared on the tip of his nose as fresh blood protruded out.
Almost instantaneously, he swiftly raises both of his arms to grasp the thin air, which materializes into a long forearm covered in sleeves.
The humanoid monster materialized once more, captured in Märchen's hands, though the scenery was akin to a child firmly holding a teenager's arm.
Without wasting a second, his fingers dug into the figure's forearm as his muscles tightened, veins radiating from his arms to his neck.
With one decisive move, he threw the tall figure over his head toward the closing door, the impact resonated as it glided across the floor.
Although he couldn't push the pair of tall heavy doors, he could carry a cow or possibly a bull over his shoulder. If the tall entity was more muscular or more fatter than a bull, he would be the one who would be thrown away instead.
As the humanoid monster sat up, it found itself wedged into the door, preventing it from shutting itself. In response, the figure's skin becomes slightly thicker as illusory scales resembling jelly emerge, protecting itself against the force of the doors.
Observing the scenery, Märchen lifted the corners of his lips, seemingly satisfied with what he had accomplished, disregarding his injuries. "Phew, I never had known that this would be manageable. Indeed, a predictable creature is the easiest to overpower."
During the second confrontation with the monster, Märchen developed a plan to prevent the entrance from closing and to subdue the humanoid monster's movement.
The plan was simple; all he needed to do was to use himself as bait to lure the entity near the door, allowing him to cleverly maneuver the entity in between the doors with his newfound strength.
This required sheer luck for it to be successful. Fortunately, fate was kind enough to lend Märchen a hand, allowing the plan to be executed effectively.
If it fails, he might need to formulate new ways to stop the door from closing completely while incapacitating the entity's movement.
As if the humanoid monster could understand his words, it uncurled its neck and revealed its 4 sunken eyes with wrinkles present all over its bald head.
It cocked its head to the side as its small eyes dilated, dominating the white sclera. Its lengthened mouth suddenly became perceptually iridescent, a stark contrast to its dull appearance.
Before Märchen could even react, he felt a searing pain in his head as explosions of emotions erupted in his mind, feeling the need to cause destruction around him again.
He fell onto his knees as he propped himself with his hands on the floor. He sensed a burning sensation in his skin as cracks of smolder resurfaced on it.
The humanoid creature didn't rely on instincts to kill him. Rather, it was playing with its prey. It was underestimating him as it thought that it didn't need to use most of its abilities to kill the human!
But now, in this problematic situation, it had dropped its sadistic nature and finally revealed one of its abilities to Märchen—to stir his emotions to the point that he could not control it!