After Claude pulls the spear out of the gaping wound inside the blue demon's decomposing head, he tightens his grip on the wooden handle of the weapon. He then points the tipped end of the spear at the open doorway and assumes a confident stance.
However, as the adrenaline rush and excitement of killing his first demon wear off, he questions whether exposing himself like this out in the open is a really bright idea. If the incoming opponent is just as strong as the blue demon he just faced, then he might be in a tad bit of trouble, even with the spear in hand.
The footsteps of the demon only grew louder by the minute. Soon, it is joined by more threads on the cold tile floor, creeping ever closer to the dining room. What is this? Will he be facing two demons this time around? That's not good, not at all. Fear grabs Claude by the balls and enters his mind. It suggests that he'd be better off hiding somewhere, regardless of how many demons are there.
Claude immediately crouches down and quickly moves to the kitchen. There, he opens one of the large cabinets under the kitchen countertop and hides there. The demons had already done a wonderful job clearing the drawers out. Claude will take advantage of that fact by using it for his benefit. Despite his tall height, there was a double-door kitchen cabinet with enough space to fit him if he tried hard enough.
However, there was a problem. Although he could cramp inside the compartment, his 6-foot spear couldn't. He couldn't just leave the spear on the ground; that would cause too much suspicion. But he can't just leave it back where he found it, because otherwise he wouldn't have a weapon.
Claude quickly scans the kitchen, desperately looking for a hiding spot to keep the spear. He looks left, right, down, and then up. Nailed to the wall were more cabinets, with some space above them. Acting on his feet, Claude throws the spear up into this space. It lands with a clack and then rolls to the back, hiding it from plain view.
Once the spear was taken care of, Claude immediately crouched down and opened the cabinet doors. He goes in with his feet first before stuffing the rest of his body inside. In order to utilize the most amount of space, Claude pulls his legs to his chest and tilts his head to the left. After he was inside, he closed the door with free hands and then waited for the demons to arrive.
Just as Claude closes the door, he hears a familiar creak coming from the direction of the breached doorway. However, unlike last time, he felt that creaks were softer, as if something more lightweight was stepping on the surface. He wasn't sure whether it was because the walls around him muffled the sound or if the demon was truly different.
"T2ggbm8hIEl04oCZcyBHdXJ1a2shIEhl4oCZcyBkZWFkIQ=="
"UXVpY2shIExvb2sgYXJvdW5kISBTZWUgaWYgdGhlIGh1bWFuIHdobyBkaWQgdGhpcyBpcyBoZXJlIQ=="
Claude could hear bits of their muffled speech enter his ears. Although he didn't know what they meant, he felt that it had something to do with the dead demon in the middle of the room. The conversation was followed up by more footsteps, continuing to creep ever closer to him.
"U2hvdWxkIHdlIGNoZWNrIHVuZGVyIHRoZSBjb3VudGVyPyA=" one speaks.
"RG9u4oCZdCBib3RoZXIuIFdob2V2ZXIgZGlkIHRoaXMgZGVmaW5pdGVseSB3b27igJl0IGJlIGFibGUgdG8gZml0IHVuZGVyIHRoZXJlLg==" they continued to speak.
After a few good seconds, Claude decides to peek out of the cabinet. Though the coast was clear, he could still hear the demons conversing with each other. Claude, scared but curious, decides to quietly come out of his hiding spot. After which, he slowly stands up to peer over the kitchen counter.
He sees two figures equipped with swords standing near the corner of a room, gazing at the rotting corpse of the giant blue demon. Their backs were turned on him, so he was unable to make out their faces. Despite this, Claude is immediately able to tell that these two demons were different from the one he just fought.
They were very short in height, about 4 and a half feet tall. Their ears were longer and pointier, and their hands consisted of 6 total fingers. Their bodies, although just as muscular and veiny as the giant blue demon, looked to be a shade of dark green, contrasting the lighter skin tone of the giant.
"SSBjYW4ndCBiZWxpZXZlIGhlIGlzIGRlYWQsIG1hbi4gUG9vciBHdXJ1a2suIEkgbWVhbiwgbG9vayBhdCBoaW0hIFRoZXkgd2VudCByaWdodCBmb3IgdGhlIGhlYWQh" Claude hears one speak. The other turns their face in response, partially revealing its features. Its face was missing the tusks the blue demon had, instead featuring a long and crooked nose that pointed straight down to the floor. The rest of the facial structure remained the same.
"V2hhdCBhcmUgd2UgZ29pbmcgdG8gZG8gbm93PyBIZSdzIGRlYWQsIGFuZCBJIGRvbid0IHRoaW5rIHRoZSBodW1hbiB0aGF0IGRpZCB0aGlzIGlzIGEgd2VhayBvbmUuIA=="
"SSBkb27igJl0IGtub3cs," the other demon responds. The asking demon turns their head back to face the corpse. They continued their conversation using their strange demonic language.
While the demons continue to chatter and Claude continues to listen, the opportunist inside his heart comes out to hand him a bit of advice. It points to the distracted demons and whispers in his ear, telling him that this was the perfect moment to strike!
They currently have their backs turned on them, unaware that Claude is still present in the room. Their attention is focused on the leaking carcass of the blue demon, now slumped over the floor. If he attacks them now, he'll catch them by surprise and be able to kill them both!
Although Claude, thirsting for blood and vengeance, wanted to pounce on them right now, a bit of doubt still lingering inside his heart held him back. What if the demons hear him while he tries to retrieve his spear again? What if, when he attacks, he misses his target and they cut the spear in half? What if he can't even retrieve his spear? Then he can't do anything but hide! He doesn't even have a secondary weapon.
As these doubts fly over his head, it just occurs to him that he forgot to retrieve his Damascus knife! Thinking that it could come in handy later, Claude starts quickly scanning the room with his eyes to find out where the blade went.
He eventually finds it buried deep inside the drywall, just a few feet away from where the demons were standing. Although he could grab it if he ran towards it, it would be a very risky move with barely any benefit. The demons both have a longer and pointier blade, and thus Claude would be better off grabbing that spear. Assuming things go well, he'd be in a much better position.
Upon taking a quiet, deep breath, Claude musters up the courage to grab his spear. He first puts his foot on the counter, followed by his arms on the open windowsill. Then, with the pull of his arms and the push of his leg, Claude effortlessly moves up and stands on the hard top of the polished granite.
With slow and deliberate movement, Claude gradually gains a grip on the spear. Once it was in his hands, he steadily lifted up the weapon, took it out of the dusty top of the cabinet drawers, and gently placed it down on the granite kitchen countertop. Afterwards, he grabs onto the open windowsill for support and descends back down to the kitchen floor.
Finally, he then turns around and is relieved to see that the demons still had their backs turned on him. They were inspecting the wounds of the blue demon, their bodies a lot further away from the knife on the wall. In the likely event where something goes wrong, Claude should be able to grab it and use it as a secondary weapon.
Armed with the spear, he quickly formulates a plan before kicking into action. He makes his way closer to the demons, carefully avoiding the glass fragments littered on the floor, and gets into position. Once he was in place, he began mustering up all his strength to deliver a lethal blow to the enemy. As he prepared, Claude tightened his grip on the spear and concentrated on a single point of the demon's head. He then takes a quiet breath before lunging forward.
"QWxyaWdodC4gSSB0aGluayB0aGF04oCZcyBpdC4gTGV04oCZcyBnbyBiYWNrIGFuZCB0ZWxsIHRoZSBib3NzIGFib3V0-"
The goblin was suddenly cut off as Claude thrust an 8-inch spear blade deep into the back of its head. The spear effortlessly makes its way through flesh and bone, reaching its brain and turning it into a fresh, meaty donut.
The other demon, taken fully by surprise, moves back and accidentally steps on some of the glass shards littered all over the floor. As the demon trips and falls, these little pieces of glass shatter, sending more fragments into the back of its skin and flesh. It paralyzes the green demon, giving Claude ample time to pull his spear out of his demonic victim's head.
Claude then sets his sights on the other demon, aiming to finish it off. He lifts his spear high into the air before bringing it crashing down on its face. However, before the blade could dig itself into the green demon's face, the beast grabbed onto the blade with all its might and stopped it from piercing its flesh.
Claude tries hard to push forward, but to no avail. Despite being half the size, the demon nearly matched him in strength. Panic sets in for Claude, forcing him to act a little dirty. He swings his leg as fast as he can and kicks the demon in the groin. As it yells out in pain, it immediately loses its grip on the blade. The spear then slowly slices through its flesh and stabs the brain.
The spear blade enters its head through its eye before gradually going down further and deeper into the head. The demon, in a fit of panic and desperation, tries to reach out for his sword to cut the spear in half. Claude, reacting quickly, kicks it away from its hand, sending it flying to the side of a wall.
Eventually, its body movement rapidly slowed down as all its internal organs started shutting down. Its loud and fierce growls soften and then fade into the thin air. Blood comes out and seeps into its mouth and nose, drowning and suffocating it. The demon dies, and Claude remains victorious.
Claude had done it again. Despite being faced with two demons, he managed to kill them both without suffering a single injury. The victory brought back the blissful sensations of last time, coupled with a further ego boost unlike anything he had ever experienced before. Although luck did play a big part in his victory, he felt a great sense of accomplishment regardless.
Although he would have loved staying there to bask in his win forever, Claude had more pressing matters on his hands. He still needs to complete his objective—find his mother and get out of the state. Before Claude left the dining room for good, he walked over and retrieved the Damascus knife, just chilling on the wall.
Although the blade was still drenched in the putrid blood of that blue demon, he still slid it into his left pocket for safekeeping. Now with a second weapon acquired, Claude felt comfortable enough to exit the dining room and start searching the house for more demons and for his mother.