Kapitel 11: Let's Get It [2]
"Haaa!"
Lami took a deep breath and changed his stance, his eyes filled with absolute determination.
Growl!
One of the Vilehounds lunged at him. As it approached, Lami's katana appeared before the Abomination's eyes, piercing its brain immediately.
"You should have waited for your friends."
As the words left Lami's mouth, the remaining nine creatures charged at him with maddened eyes. Lami took three steps back and pulled something from his ring.
Bang!
The area was filled with deafening noise, but Lami didn't pause even for a moment. He slashed at another Vilehound, but his swing missed, only giving a non-fatal cut.
"Damn it!"
He quickly deployed a smoke bomb from his ring and set it on the ground, wrapping the area in smoke to catch any unsuspecting Hatchlings.
Woosh!
He slashed at a barely visible silhouette and felt his blade sever a limb. He didn't stop moving; Lami couldn't let the Vilehounds gang up on him.
"Two more minutes."
The smoke would dissipate in that time, so Lami needed to hurry up.
Slash!
Lami swung at the next shadow, this time cutting it in two.
Wooo!
Something sped toward Lami. He crouched instantly but couldn't fully dodge the Hatchling. The Vilehound's legs struck Lami's head, and he tumbled to the ground, briefly blacking out.
"Arrggh."
Lami tried to shake off the dizziness but it was futile.
"Fuck!"
Blood flowed from his forehead. Wiping it with his arm, he struggled to stand. His eyes locked onto the oncoming danger, and he rolled his body.
"Argghhh!"
The razor-sharp claws gashed deeply into Lami's back as he kept on rolling sideways. He soon forced himself to his feet and swiftly swung his blade at the Hatchling's neck.
Thud!
Its head rolled onto the ground while Lami gritted his teeth, trying to suppress his cries of pain.
Step- Step-
Lami forcefully navigated his way inside the smoke by observing the terrain. His back burned with pain, blood dripping steadily, but he couldn't afford to stop.
"One more minute. I need to get at least two more."
Of the ten Vilehounds, Lami had managed to kill three and injure two.
He started running again but stumbled upon another Vilehound, which crawled around with two legs missing. Lami instantly swung his sword, sparing the pity.
'Four done, six more to go.'
Hisss!
"Shit!"
The smoke began to dissipate…
As the smoke cleared, what was revealed was…
Six Vilehounds.
And Lami.
A few seconds passed with no movement, but soon three of the Vilehounds charged at Lami, killing him violently and leaving his gut leaking; however, the scenery soon changed.
Instead of Lami, it was a Vilehound that lay dead.
'Five.'
Soon, two other Lami's appeared.
The now four Vilehounds observed each other, trying to spot an impostor, but none seemed different.
Simultaneously, two Lamis fought bloody battles, both trying to kill each other and sustaining multiple lethal wounds on their already lacerated bodies.
One Lami fell victim to the other and dropped lifelessly, gradually changing, revealing lifeless eyes, sharp canines, and messy fur drenched in blood.
Seeing the dead body, three of the Vilehounds charged at the sole Lami. Two of them bit his limbs off like rabid beasts, but being too focused on their task, they didn't notice the true Lami appearing behind them.
Lami stepped back and rotated his hips, cutting the heads off the two Hatchlings in one strike.
Realizing what had happened, the last Vilehound turned toward Lami and readied itself for an attack, but it was too late. Lami stabbed the last Crazed in the back, shattering its spine.
"Y'all are stupid."
Lami had a clinically insane look on his normally handsome face.
All of the Vilehounds were dead.
Lami had wiped out ten of them in a matter of minutes.
"Hahaha! Crazy," Lami said, laughing through breathless wheezes, his eyes reflecting his insanity.
Thud!
He fell on his knees.
"I overexerted my core."
What Lami did could only be described as madness. He fought ten Vilehounds as a newly awakened with minimal experience.
While other Initiates could achieve the same outcome, Lami had only recently awakened.
Two factors determined his victory, aside from his psychopathic tendencies.
Lami could see the mana released from the Crazed Hatchlings, even through the smoke since it was just a regular smoke bomb, and his earrings helped him maintain the illusion longer, with each kill replenishing a small amount of his mana.
If the Vilehounds had only waited for a few moments, his mana would have run out, breaking the illusion.
If Lami hadn't been certain that the Hatchlings lacked even the slightest intelligence, he wouldn't have risked such a suicidal tactic.
There were so many ifs, but Lami's ability to manipulate his targets allowed him to win the fight.
Unfortunately, the same tactic wouldn't work against Awakened or higher-ranked Crazed with his current strength, as they possessed much higher mental resistance.
"...Need to go back. More could appear any time soon." Lami forced himself to his feet painstakingly and slowly but surely made his way back to the campsite, limping.
Blood still dripped from his back, every step heavier than the last. Lami's campsite finally came into view.
Plop!
Without a second thought, he collapsed onto the sleeping bag face down, pain and exhaustion blurring his vision.
He needed to treat his wound, but he had no energy left, so he lay there lazily.
Despite the replenishing effect, maintaining the illusion took a severe toll on his mind.
Lami had treated his wound and washed his face in the river. Now he was sitting in front of his tent with a notebook in hand.
He started noting down the questions that lingered in his mind.
[How do the Pockets work?]
[Whom did the earring belong to? Pathfinder?]
[Will of the Omniscient? How did it get to Father, and what is it?]
[Researcher?]
"No, scratch that." Lami instantly crossed out the last bullet point, throwing off the possibility of being a researcher.
It would bring him some money, but other than that, being a researcher didn't align with his goals. All he had in mind was to become strong—strong enough to save his mother.
Scratch!
Lami's forearm suddenly started feeling itchy, getting his attention instantly. However, nothing was happening with the tattoo like he hoped it would.
"Just a normal itch. I gu—" Lami's words abruptly stopped as his eyes widened in shock.
"Huh?"
The words he wrote into the notebook were swirling around, creating completely new words. Lami quickly started flipping through the pages, and to his surprise, the result was the same.
Seeing that, Lami stopped at the double page that was almost full with his handwriting and waited.
"This is absurd," Lami muttered under his breath.
A short moment later, which felt like an eternity to Lami, sensible words were formed on the notebook page. Noticing this, Lami started reading.
"When the darkness descended from above, Mateo Pierce stood tall, trying his best to drive back the Fallen; however, he caused as much damage as the Fallen, not caring about the doom he was bringing. "
"Was he a blessing or a curse? Maybe both? It is yours to decide. Be wary of him; wherever he goes, trouble follows. If you seek success, do not let Vinny Hope, Lumia van Elysium, Seren Steinhart, Ivy V. Starglance, and Eleanor Silverblade fall."
Names and a warning—that was it. After Lami started reading the last word the letters started to dance around once again, turning back to their original forms as if nothing happened.
"Will of the Omniscient... So this is what it does? It gives me information about the future?"
His mumbling voice possessed a tingle of doubt; he couldn't quite comprehend the Will of the Omniscient.
Nevertheless, he flipped the notebook closed, his confused mind slowly growing satisfied. He muttered with a slight smile on his lips,
"Does this make me some kind of an Oracle?"
"... What is it this time?" he hissed, his forearm twitching furiously.
Once again flipping his notebook, he read,
"Don't die to them. It would be pathetic."
"Who?"
Lami was confused, but he also felt danger creeping closer so he unsheathed his katana.
Growwll~
Three VIlehounds appeared behind the trees and immediately lunged at the campsite, completely bypassing the wires.
He sighed.
"This is going to be annoying; I can feel it. ….I will need to relocate as well."
His voice was almost devoid of any emotion. Straightening his posture, he quickly got into a battle stance.
"Huuu. Let's start."
At this point, his two-week-long hell had truly begun.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein