Chapter 5: Slayers

" Run!" the knight commanded, " Follow me into the --" the ground shakes again.

" Climb into that pile of slabs, now!" Servus 132-X shouted.

Disregarding the rest, Servus 132-X ran towards the pile of the stone. Some of the slaves join him.

" W-what are you doing, slaves?" the knight tried to chase after them.

" Now's our chance!" one of the slaves shouted.

Two of the began running away, out into the town. After seeing this, the confused knight put his attention to the two runaways and chase after them instead. The two renegades leapt to their freedom and crossed themselves out of the gate.

" Sir Knight!" Servus 132-X desperately called for him, " Get back here and forget about them!"

" Shut up, slave! You will be dealt with later!" he insisted to catch them.

The two slaves smiled as they were now even closer to their freedom. Unfortunately for them, they forgot about their collars. As soon as the crossed the gate, their collars began to burn. The slaves struggled to take it off, but it tightened even more and the heat coming from the metallic ring proved to be too hot to hold.

Within a few moments, their smiles turned into grimaces of agony. Their cheers became woeful cries of torment. As the collar tightens up their cries soon became horrible croaks. Blood spurting from their mouths and noses. As their eyes rolled back, came the final sound-- the sound of exploding heads.

After seeing the slaves' head explode, it dawned on him that what he did was a wasted effort. He rushed towards the stack of slabs where the other Servus 132-X and the others stood still while urging him to run as quickly as he can.

The ground violently shook again. Servus 132-X and the others balanced themselves on top of the stone slabs only doing minimal movement as he instructed. He told them how the monster locates its prey.

" Veebrazyun?!" the dumbfounded dwarf exclaimed, " Wuzzat?"

The other slaves listened closely as Servus 132-X tries to explain to them what it is.

" Vibration…" he paused as he tries to look for a simplified explanation, " ...It's like trembling but--"

" Ahh! So you're saying, that when we move on the ground, it creates a tremble that bounces back to them?"

"Y-yes." Servus 132-X was impressed by the intelligence of the red-haired slave.

Just a few footlings away, the rushing knight lose his footing and stumbled to the ground. They watched in bated breath as the knight tried to recover from his fall. From the looks of it, his ankle got twisted in a bad way--not good.

The ground trembled again. The knight cried out for help and tries to reach his hand towards the slave. Servus 132-X clenched his fist, he knows it could be too late for the knight. Suddenly, the tattooed slave tries to step in and help. He was blocked by the dwarf.

" Whut are yah doin?"

" I want to help him, move away!" he shrugged his hand.

" Get back 'er!" the dwarf tightened his grip, " Yah squirt! Save yerself!"

While both of them argued the knight suddenly launched into the air. The Giant Centipede had chosen its prey. It grabbed the knight by its pincers, trying to squeeze him. The knight was able to hold against it, to their surprise.

The irritated insect flung him towards the piled slabs of rock. Seeing this, the slaves jumped out of the way. The knight fell into the slab of rocks before finally rammed by the angry monster. His blood spurted on the ground coloring the grass crimson and his screams of terror echoed in the cold night.

The slaves huddled themselves as they watched in horror at the knight's grim fate. The elf pointed the sword of the fallen knight lying on the ground. Servus 132-X knew what he meant by it, he had no choice but to fight.

He dove and took the weapon on the ground and unsheathed the sword to reveal the pale blue glow of the blade.

" Hey!" he called out the creature, " Over here!" he stomped his feet hard on the ground, ignoring the painful protest of his injured foot.

The rest of them, stood in horror as the centipede crawls towards him.

" Lez do somethin!" the dwarf said.

" I'll pass." replied the red hair as he watched Servus 132-X amusingly, " Fool." he cracked a grin.

Servus 132-X has been dodging the aggressive creature's attack. He would swerve away from the pincers as he looks for its weakness. He has found nothing so far. He regretted his decision taking up the sword, but what else can he do? His heroic impulse took the better of him and now he's paying for it--possibly with his life.

He stepped backward to gain some space between him and the monster. Alas, his foot got caught by debris and fell on his back. The raging centipede followed him down, imposing its mass on him.

He gritted his teeth as the centipede rammed his pincers on him. He could feel the impact against the solid ground. His body screamed and protested in pain, but he didn't want to die this. He doesn't want to die the same way he did in his 3rd incarnation, eaten alive.

The pincers proved to be a challenge, as the monster tried to squeeze him with it. He used the knight's sword to prevent that from happening. But now all he can do is wait until the blade finally succumbs to the strength of the monster.

The blade screeched against the pincers of the Giant Centipede. Soon cracks begin to appear in the blade. The monster's weight proved unbearable even to the most sturdy of blades. Without warning, it hoisted him above the ground. It planned to kill him the same way as what it did with the knight.

He hangs on for dear life as he got hoisted in the air for more than twenty footlings before the damned insect tried to drive him hard to the ground. Servus 132-X breaths in deep as he prepares for the worse.

" It looks like it's another number 3 for me," he mumbled.

As the centipede drove him to the ground a force suddenly flips the centipede on its back mid-air. Servus 132-X was thrown away by the force but was luckily caught by the elven slave before both of them landed safely on the ground.

" What happened?" Servus asked as he coughed some blood.

The elf pointed at the other side of the ground. Servus squints he tries to see what's on the other side. It was the dwarf and the tattooed man along with a make-shift trebuchet they made from some cloth and lumber.

The fallen centipede twitched as if it just awakened from slumber and now tries to get back to its belly. Before that could happen, the duo of the dwarf and the tattooed man loaded the hand-held siege weapon and flung a slab of rock to the squirming centipede.

" Yer have my regards, filth!" shouted the dwarf.

The projectile struck the centipede in its head, lodging the big slab of rock in one side of its ugly head. After that, the centipede stopped moving altogether. Servus 132-X sighed in relief.

Moments later, he was joined by the smiling dwarf and tattooed man. The four of them were relieved by the outcome of his gambit.

" Yer a crazy basterd, you!" the dwarf chuckled, " I like yah, lad!"

Servus 132-X can't help but smile, even if he almost lost his life in the process. He coughed some more blood after that.

" Is he going to be okay?" the tattooed man asked.

" We can only hope but pray, lad!"

The elf held him close in his arms before laying him on the ground.

" Whoa! Whoa!" the red hair interrupted, " Y-you guys are all insa--"

" Move aside, slave," the knight pushes him aside.

Lord Prestonheim's knights arrived at the scene along with their leader, bloody and battered, but victorious.

" What has happened here?" Lord Prestonheim asked.

" From the looks of it my lord, they killed that Centipede." one of his man pointed at the big carcass.

" And what of Dalen?"

" My Lord, Dalen didn't make it."

The lord rushed to Dalen corpse and saw the knights grisly end. He bowed to the knight thanking him for his service and bravery. After offering his prayers, Lord Prestonheim approached the slaves who were surrounded by his knights.

" What did you do to him?" the knight inquired while holding his sword on the sheath.

" Stand down!" Lord Preston commanded.

He looked at the scared slaves and saw Servus 132 laying on the ground, breathing with effort. He knew the man is on his way to join the dead tonight. He looked at the other slaves as his mind tries to decide what to do with them for the damages they've caused.

He knew that they didn't kill his knight, but as the Principalia's edict dictates, they must die.

" Knights, kill the--"

Before anyone could react, Servus 132-X suddenly arose and took Lord Prestonheim's sword before pushing him aside.

The centipede they thought they've killed suddenly rose up and tried to bit off Lord Prestonheim's head off clean. But before the monster can, Servus 132-X greeted it with a blade and finally decapitates it--ending it for good.