Apocalypse Reset: My Crab Can Heal the World! - Chapter 60

Chapter 60: Heart to Heart
As Barns and his remaining fighters finally reach Ordella, Adon sets his despicable plan into motion. From the sea emerges an army of Mantis Shrimp – but these are unlike the ones Barns fought on the beach with Clancy and Haima. These are bigger, angrier, and with the trademark glowing red eyes.

“Vampire Mantis Shrimp. You’ve got to be kidding me!”

But the shrimp do not immediately attack Barns and his squad. Instead, they rush the town, where the tormented humans of Ordella still live. They begin ravaging the humans, tearing them limb from limb. The town devolves into complete chaos in seconds.

“We have to help them!” Barns commands, rushing forward. As he does, two humanoid vampires swoop from the sky, blocking his path forward.

Godrick steps forward. “Leave these buggers to me,” he says, two of his swords appearing in his hands like clockwork. “Get in there and find Yunie, mate. We’ll clean up these small fry.”

Barns nods his head, determined. “Got it. Clancy, with me!”

Barns and the crab take off into the town, his claw dancing through the vampire shrimp as they tear about the town. Adon is going full scorched earth here – if Barns is going to liberate the town, the Master Vampire wants to make sure there are no humans left to rescue.

But the hero has no intention of losing everyone in Ordella. The Dimartino fighting force is still strong, and they quickly make headway against the vampires, killing the shrimp and driving the humanoid vampires back.

Barns pins a vampire against the wall, screaming into his face. “Adon! Adea! Tell me where they are, now!” he howls, holding the blades of Silver Rake up to the vampire’s throat.

“Th-the Abattoir! The big stone building right on the outskirts of town! Adon’s there now!”

Barns releases the vampire, but before he can scurry off, Barns stuffs Silver Rake into his abdomen. The holy light ignites the vampire, killing him instantly. Clancy sprinkles some foam on the corpse – they’d come back to it later for a revival.

“SLAUGHTERHOUSE RAID!” Clancy clicks. “SAVE YUNIE!”

The two charge down a side street – the large and menacing Abattoir readily visible from atop the hill and bathed in the light of flickering flames. Seems Adon lit some torches to welcome Barns.

The hero and his crab ascend the hill, while the sounds of battle echo from below in Ordella. Barns has no choice but to trust his allies, though he fears what he may find in the Abattoir.

He’s still not even sure how to kill a Master Vampire. Unsure if it’s a fool’s errand or not, he kicks open the door to the slaughterhouse, stepping inside.

It’s a wide-open room, filled with blood and bone. The stench of death is pervasive – even Clancy coughs at the abhorrent musk.

“Barnacles!” Yunie shouts, recognizing the hero immediately. She struggles against her constraints.

From behind her chair, a figure emerges from the darkness. Long black hair, and glowing red eyes – dressed from head to toe in a dashing, frilled dinner jacket and pants, like he’s going to a fancy dinner party in the 1950s.

“Ah, you must be the legendary hero Barnacles. You even brought your crab – how exquisite.”

“And you must be Adon,” Barns says, watching the vampire cautiously. “Let Yunie go. She has nothing to do with this. Just you and me, Adon.”

The vampire smiles wickedly, his soulless eyes staring right through Barns. The vampire wraps his hands around Yunie’s shoulders, and she stiffens up in fear.

“On the contrary, little boy – Yunie here is the guest of honor. See, I have no interest in fighting a human like you, Barnacles. You’re far too determined and heroic. Show me your emotion, boy. I want to feel your rage – to suck it right out of your fading corpse!”

As Adon speaks, he raises his sharp claws into the air. Barns rushes forward, but he’s too late.

“Yunie!” he gasps, reaching for her as Adon plunges his hand into her chest, tearing her torso apart and ripping her heart clean out from her body. She crumples in the chair, and the light vanishes from her eyes. Adon holds the heart high above her head, squeezing it in his fist.

“Now, show me your heart, Barns! Your pain, your fury! I will have it all!” He clenches his fist. The heart in his hand pops, exploding with blood. Adon lets it drip into his mouth.

The world around Barns grows dark. He can see nothing but Adon in his rage. His own bloodlust causes his vision to glow red – a side effect of his Crab Intuition. All he cares about now is slaughtering this vampire any way possible.

Adon laughs wickedly as he fades into the dark shadows of the Abattoir. Barns and Clancy look around in every direction, and though they can hear the vampire’s sinister snickering from the shadows, he’s nowhere to be seen.

“Where is the blind rage, Barnacles? I thought you would be more of a child.”

Barns’ fists tremble with anger, but he couldn’t let his emotions fully control him. Adon was trying to lure him into a trap – that much was obvious. As horrified and torn as he was about what just happened to Yunie, and as angry as he was, he had to maintain focus.

The shifting shadows do nothing to betray Adon’s location. Barns wonders if the vampire is even there, or if he has powers that let him bleed into the shadows themselves.

His fear is realized as one of Adon’s arms reaches out from the blackness itself and grasps at Barns’ neck – but Barns is done being overpowered by vampires. In an instant, he tears his Silver Rake across the vampire’s arm, causing Adon to hiss in pain and retreat back into the darkness.

The vampire manifests directly behind Yunie’s chair, and he kicks over the corpse, sending her body and the chair tumbling to a dark corner.

“I can promise you a fate worse than death, Adon!” Barns growls, looking to Yunie. There was still a chance he could perform a Resurrection on her, but they had to move quickly – could he even regenerate an injury like that?

“So boring. Not even a spark of insanity. Perhaps I was wrong – this woman meant nothing to you.”

“She meant everything to me!” Barns roars. “Yunie is as part of Dimartino as any of us!”

“Dimartino is a cancer on our beloved apocalypse, boy – I’ve had my fill of Ordella as well, if I’m being honest,” Adon says hauntingly from the shadows. “Feel free to take what’s left of this pathetic town. I’ve had my eye on a much bigger prize for some time, and I believe it may finally be within my grasp.”

With those words, the ominous presence vanishes from the room. Barns and Clancy exchange a look. Neither of them can sense the murderous presence of the vampire any longer.

“VAMPIRE FLED! CHECK YUNIE!”

Barns nods to his crab, darting to the corner of the room. He raises his claw into the air. His determination quickly begins to fade as more sensitive emotions boil to the surface.

Barns falls to his knees beside her. His vision swims. His hands tremble over her body, hovering, afraid to touch her. This can’t be it. This can’t be how it ends. Images of the Adventurer Guild and Roscoe flash into his mind.

With tears in his eyes, he shouts at the top of his lungs, praying for a miracle.

“Resurrection!”