2 Dying A Good Death

Ochtu was certainly in a pickle— he took a good look at his executioner to be. He was certainly blessed by the God of Beauty— sharp blue eyes, lush hair, sharp jawline and an overall good build. He looked like some type of swordsman, he was clad in thick armor yet Ochtu didn't hear the approach, which the undead thought was indeed quite weird.

Again he spoke briefly. "Monster, make your choice."

Ochtu couldn't just die simply. But then again the blade was pressed against his neck so his choices are limited.

"U-uh— it's hard to speak, could you move that off—" Ochtu went for it, why not? He gestured to the blade with his eyes.

"Oh." Oddly, the man complied. Ochtu thought perhaps that since there was such a level of superiority, the man thought he could get away with this much without feeling threatened.

"Now monster,"

"Wait, wait-" Ochtu grew bolder. His job was to stall and keep them at bay, right? Then maybe he could keep going with this sort of rhetoric.

Ochtu spoke before the man before him could. "I have a name— address me with it, would ya? It's Ochtu."

"I see. Ochtu. Then, Monster Ochtu—"

"Hold on! I've told you my name, you should tell me yours—" Pure bullshittery from Ochtu. But the man seemed to be clueless, and it worked, oddly.

"Right— I'm Taos. Now, Monster Ochtu—"

"I request a duel with Taos!" Ochtu figured his bullshitting ran out of mileage, so he pulled a move he thought would work, since this Taos guy seemed to be honorable? It probably wouldn't work out in Ochtu's favor, but still.

To Ochtu's solace, he already knew somewhat that he was going to die, so this was about the best time— as Taos considered the request, Ochtu backed slightly from the blade and stood up properly, now taking a look at the people he heard earlier.

The one with a higher pitched androgynous voice was quite predictably— a beastman, she seemed quite young, or perhaps was simply slender, and she seemed to have a tail that was akin to a cat's. She seemed roguely in appearance.

The originator of the sterner voice was an Orc. Large beings with steel grey skin, and near monstrous appearances— and this orc male had all of the above. Except he was wearing white, priestly clothing and a weird looking staff on hand. Maybe he was supposed to be the healer of the group?

And the muffled voice was.. A tall person in plague doctor's attires? But they had a longbow and a quiver, so it felt like they were mismatched clothing.

Ochtu scanned their expressions, but they seemed.. bored? The beastman spoke first. "Taos, finish this up quickly~ I don't care either way, but the sooner we can get the job done, the sooner we get paid nya~"

And while the others, particularly the orc, didn't seem to agree with that explanation completely, they didn't go against it in any fashion.

And so he turned his gaze to Taos. "So?" Ochtu pressed— he was glad that the human wasn't decisive, but he was also getting bold, thinking that if the lot of them were this carefree, maybe he could get away?

"Okay, but Monster Och—"

Ochtu didn't need to hear anything more, he immediately rushed in. Did he know what he was doing? Not at all. Did he think he was going to win? Well.. adrenaline does wonders. Except in this case it's pure foolhardy-ness because undead don't have flowing adrenal glands.

He relied purely onto instinct. Ochtu knew that better Dullahan were smarter in combat and didn't need to revert to primalistic urges, but Ochtu was not a better Dullahan. He knew he was a dumbass, so he pressed into his senses. His eyes turned bloodshot red, the mana in his body corroded and fed into him more— his skin darkened and his stance was now more beastly as he ran towards Taos. Ochtu didn't know he had claws, but he got them now- when he got within distance, he slashed upwards— Ochtu was an undead, he felt nothing, and he knowingly scraped his sharp claws against the metal plate, aiming to go all the way to the head.

For a normal human— nay, even an infantryman on a battlefield, the sound of such nail-biting shrieking of metal against mana-hardened would've been disturbing. But Taos was of a different breed. Built different, so to speak.

Taos used the middle section of the blade to produce distance between the two, but he was surprised somewhat. Normally, a simple push would've been enough to kick away any undead, but Ochtu was holding on- overpowering Taos just a bit. Taos readjusted, producing enough space to dodge the upwards slash, the swordsmen slashed diagonally to attack Ochtu though it was far too shallow to deal substantial damage.

"Monster Ochtu—"

Words wouldn't get through to the monster, through extrasensory ability, Ochtu was instinctively diving towards exposed areas, his claws pushing towards the neck, but Taos was quick to parry— still, Ochtu attacked, slashing and slicing with his claws. Still, Taos parried and avoided the onslaught as much as he could— even if the flurry was quick, the human's body was quick to recept.

Ochtu snarled, backing off for now, giving Taos some leniency.

"I see.." Taos mused.

Ochtu went back at it, but was using a different approach now, as Taos was prepared to receive slashing strikes once again, the Dullahan threw his head at Taos, which the human quickly side stepped. But even then, Ochtu approached, slashing with his claws and snarling like a beast.

Taos deflected attack after attack— it was mere child's play, seemingly. Still, despite all of this, he didn't counterattack, maybe it was his way of humoring the fight?

Ochtu pressed forward— undead had no fatigue, limitless stamina meant limitless attacking— against the living, there was a chance that they could falter. Taos simply kept moving back, intercepting each attack with his blade—

But suddenly, Taos fell. Rather, he was tripped. Tripped by a magical tether— the line between body and head for the Dullahan, materialized by Ochtu.

"Clever." Taos mumbled, before Ochtu himself fell unconscious.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Ochtu awoke next, he saw a beautiful blue sky, clouds cluttered around like blotches of white paint. He could hear the breeze of wind gently stroking and shaking the leaves in the sky and the grass below. Underneath was a fluffy bed of— hide? Oh, and why was he tied up?

"Oi, oi- where— this isn't heaven—"

Ochtu turned his gaze, and staring right at him was the creepy shaded tint of the visor of the Plague Doctor. They said some muffled speak, and immediately, Taos approached, pressing his blade against Ochtu.

"Monster Ochtu. Good duel. Now, submit or die."

Ochtu had his eyebrow raised— this.. what? "You're still going on about that?"

The beastman interjected.

"Could ya just make this easy for us nya~ the city just hired us adventurers cuz they're busy with a war or sumthin'. If ya just say you submit, we're supposed ta bring you back to the city, and whoever you're stallin' for could prolly get away~"

Ochtu gratefully couldn't blush. No blood that would actually rise to his cheeks. Was his goal that obvious?

"How long would it take for you to kill me?"

The Orc somewhere else that Ochtu couldn't see, spoke up.

"Not even a second."

Ochtu would've reddened again— it seemed that his 'last stand' was really and truly a futile attempt. Child's play in all senses of the words.

Not wanting to be left out of the dialogue, the Plague Doctor was mumbling something— or rather, was probably saying something to console Ochtu, but because of their attire, it came out all muffled.

Finally, Taos pressed his blade against the neck of the Dullahan, carrying a stern and serious expression.

"Submit, or die, Monster Ochtu."

Ochtu would've swung his arms up in surrender, but he was tied up for.. whatever precautionary measure. "I give— I'll submit." Ochtu sighed. He would at least help his master Lich, and that in of itself would've fixed it.

Taos retracted the blade and carried.. a puppy-like expression, seemingly quite pleased.

The beastman spoke up once more, sticking out her tongue. "Goodnight~"

"Wait, what?"

Smack. Ochtu was tapped on the back of his head— he felt something shake his mana core and disturb it, and he just got knocked out.

A good way to die, I suppose?