Chương 33: Joyride
Both combatants were ready to begin.
The fight started with Caster dashing in a blitz of speed. Attacking straight on, he swung his ghostly jian overhead.
Feeling the prick of danger as well as seeing the attack allowed Aldric to perfectly time a parry. He raised his claymore at an angle that caused Caster's blade to cross against the surface.
"SCREECH"
The sound of metal against metal spread through the camp. This movement stunned Caster as he shifted too much weight into the attack. Aldric used this chance to attack with a forward swing.
He had resolved to not use his aspect and wanted to focus on training his battle style. At its surface, it was a basic style that preferred a mixture of strong and fast blows that he learned from Instructor Mako. But with the synergy of his [Insight] ability, Aldric had subconsciously begun to incorporate parries and counters in his battle art. The danger-sensing abilities of his attribute helped him time his counters; however he was starting to realise that some people were just that much faster than [Insight].
In a flurry of clashes, Caster slowly began to speed up. He was shocked at how well Aldric was responding to his speed. It was not that Aldric was just as fast as him but his reflexes were inhumane.
Whenever Caster attempted to blitz him and attack his back, the cury-haired teen reacted instantly and met the collision before he even looked back.
Having no choice, Caster began to go faster and faster. Quickly draining his soul essence.
'He's moving too fast for my eyes to follow fully. I can only rely on [Inisight] to keep me in the fight'.
Caster faked an attack on his back and used his maximum speed for a brief second to attack his front. Dealing a shallow slash across his chest.
With Caster drawing blood first, the battle was over.
"Well done. No one has been able to keep up with me at that speed before."
Caster complimented.
"Thanks"
Aldric accepted the compliment at face value and gripped his wounded chest.
Nephis came to heal Aldric's injury. She placed a hand on his chest and a warm feeling spread through him. Aldric had to suppress his darkness so that Nephis' soul flames could heal him.
The sight gave Sunny a feeling that he couldn't quite put into words.
With that, she jumped back into the fray.
----------
3 days had passed in the blink of an eye. Their ride was here.
The 7 humans were standing at the edge of the vast canyon. The twilight of dusk falling behind them. The dark sea slowly rising to meet them.
They stood still in the face of the flood.
It was times like this that Aldric was grateful to be here. To see these amazing sights. An ancient city in ruins as the backdrop for a setting sun. While a nebulous dark sea encroaches the horizon bit by bit. It was nothing compared to what he saw back home. He wanted to see more. It was part of his motivation to be an archaeologist. The role would allow him to explore all types of areas in the dream realm and learn more of its rich history. That was more aspirational though as he had more important things to do.
Raising her sword, it shined incandescently bright. Attracting all sorts of horrors from the dark depths.
A large body of the sea was parted by a ginormous shape. As it slowly got closer, Aldric could make out a headless statue that was attracted by the beacon of light.
"Prepare yourselves"
Nephis spoke.
Once the statue reached the edge of the canyon, Nephis made a large leap and dug her fiery sword through the stone. Using it as a perch, she climbed onto the statue's shoulder.
Caster disappeared and reappeared beside Nephis in a show of speed.
Aldric jumped towards the side of the statue and coated his feet with darkness. Allowing him to grip the statue with his feet to jump off again and land near Caster.
Kai flew straight on the platform while holding Cassie in his arms. Aldric could see Effie help Sunny climb the statue due to his short stature.
They made their way to the headless platform of the builder and stood in the dark. They were relying on Sunny to be their eyes. While Aldric could see in the darkness as well, he did not have shadow sense. So he could only rely on his sight alone which was less useful than Sunny.
As the statue continued its march south, Sunny shouted hurriedly.
"Get ready. The bastard is going underwater for a couple of minutes."
'Damn it. How do we know how long it's going to take for it to cross the canyon?
Aldric complained as he prepared himself to hold on for dear life.
The dark sea enveloped his body completely. Being in such a large pool of darkness felt alien to him. It was as if he were a brightly lit candle standing next to the sun.
Holding in his breath, he tried his best to calm his racing mind by focusing on his [Tranquil Core] attribute. It was harder than usual with the biting cold water surrounding him but he made do.
Completely devoid of all his senses, time was hard to quantify.
Luckily he began to feel the pressure of the water decrease just as his lungs were starting to burn.
"WHOOOSH"
The displaced water crashed the body of the statue as it emerged from the vast canyon. It took a while but they finally could breathe again.
Immediately, Aldric felt his [Insight] signal something to him. To his left, he could see the unconscious body of Kai floating in the air. Dragging Cassie along with him by the rope as she couldn't hold on any longer. It seemed the statue raised itself out of the canyon so quickly that it launched them off the platform.
Aldric immediately launched a tendril of darkness that tugged on the middle of the golden rope towards him. The two bodies were pulled in his direction. He created a soft wall of darkness 1 metre around his body to catch them.
Aldric quickly awoke them with the help of Effie as Sunny was looking down at the body of the statue.
"We have a passenger."
He spoke in a grim voice.
On the flattened chest of the statue, a monster attached itself to the surface. A cross between an eel and a jellyfish; it was the size of a train. In the centre, there was the deformed skull of a giant humanoid.
Aldric could hear the familiar whispers that signalled its rank. A fallen creature.
Nephis' eyes lit up with the brightness of a flame but Sunny stopped her.
He placed a hand on her shoulder and said.
"Don't. Your flames could attract something even worse."
Just as he was about to resolve himself to do something stupid, Aldric spoke.
"I'll handle it."
**********
Thanks for reading.
Will Aldric finally let loose?
Rereading shadow slave to make this made me realise how many details I missed the first time. Guilty 3 is a very detailed writer.
Not much to say. Till next time.
Chương 34: Swarm
Aldric readied his blade and slid down the body of the statue towards its chest. The viscous darkness wrapped around his feet slowed down his descent and gave him a grip.
The disgusting creature came into view. It was glued to the chest of the statue with its tentacles suckling the surface like a newborn infant.
Noticing its prey descend, the beast chose to meet him head-on and climbed upwards with its large tentacles propelling its body forward.
Now in the groove of the giant's clavicle, Aldric waited for the beast to get closer as it climbed.
Inhale.
He knew that he could not fight this monster that was the size of a train in such a small space along with its dangerous mouth full of rows of sharp teeth. He chose to use his all in this first exchange.
After all, he who attacks first always wins.
Aldric focused all his attention on coalescing his darkness to his palm. His increased control allowed him to condense the ball into the size of a cue ball. The hard part would be maintaining control of the "Black Sun" once it left his body. Beyond a 5 metre range, it would lose its shape and begin to unravel.
So he bid his time until the creature came close enough.
SLICK
A wet tentacle slapped itself just below him.
Catching the beast in the middle of its manoeuvre, Aldric released his attack.
The small spark of darkness darted downwards.
Like a tear in existence, the sun exploded and dealt critical damage to the body of the eel-like creature. A large cavity was opened near its chest and most of its tentacles were obliterated. Its body was dangling over the edge with just its large tentacle holding it in place.
Aldric jumped down and landed on the flailing creature. Withering in pain from the previous attack, it did not register his landing.
Placing both hands on the hilt of his sword, he painted his sword deep into the core of the creature.
"Dark Spear"
A spear of darkness extended from the tip of his sword 5 metres deep into the creature. It reached deep enough to crack the withered skull.
With a look of indifference. He ordered.
"Fall"
As the last tentacle let go, he removed his blade and jumped back onto the collarbone of the statue.
He silently watched the fallen creature fall back into the abyss it came from.
[You have slain a Fallen Demon, Depth Crawler.]
[Your soul grows darker.]
Aldric climbed back up with a series of jumps. Making his way back to the platform, he could now see that Cassie and Kai were fully recovered. Sunny was staring at him baffled.
'I guess he was the only one who could see the fight in the darkness.'
Aldric thought.
Sunny was second-guessing his initial assessment of Aldric being close to Nephis but still weaker. His sheer destructive ability was on par with or even stronger than her soul flames.
'If that hit me, I would be dead.'
The sight reminded him of how powerful some aspects could be. All but his. He looked at his shadow with an annoyed expression.
The group came together back at the stone platform. Left with nothing but exhaustion from the long submersion, the cohort fell asleep after setting a schedule for keeping watch.
----------
The next day was busy. The camp was reinforced and partitioned using the iron plates from the spider carcasses that Effie kept in her storage bag.
Nephis was making meals as she was voted to be the best cook in the group.
After setting up the shelter, everyone was left to their own devices. Some chatted to each other while others were just watching the crimson coral pass them by.
Aldric was thinking about his situation and what was coming next. He had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. Whether it was his instinct or his attribute, he didn't know.
Suddenly, he heard Nephis speak.
"Cassie, do you feel something?"
"I think... I think a storm is coming."
"You heard her. Prepare."
The group fell into individual thought. But she was not done.
"I can hear something strange, like a rustle."
The group stared at the cryptic oracle. Trying to understand what she was talking about.
Aldric's instincts shouted at him to look up. He summoned his blade.
Kai also reacted in a similar fashion but he attacked immediately with his bow. Not a second later, a dark shape crashed onto the stone surface.
The horrifying creature was like a small locust magnified to the size of a human. It might have been one of the most terrifying things Aldric had seen. Insects have always been a bane to him.
He kept his eyes focused on the sky.
Kai shouted in panic.
"Swarms! These fiends hunt in swarms! Get ready!"
Everyone summoned their weapons and prepared themselves. Cassie summoned her wind staff and began releasing massive gusts that knocked a dozen down.
Effie used her spear as a javelin to kill them in the air. Once killed, she would resummon her memory. On top of the delay, her essence would be lost after summoning her memory back when it was too far away. It was a matter of time before she was forced to face them head-on.
Caster was using a strange sling to hit the locusts from afar. His face was calm and grim.
Chaos erupted on the statue as they faced an almost infinite wave of flying abominations. Their manoeuvrability made it difficult to injure them on the first attack. So Nephis ordered them to aim for their wings. The attack debilitated them and saved them a lot of time.
Aldric used his darkness to release extremely thin slashes. Only powerful enough to damage their wings.
The wave continued until Sunny spoke.
"Down below, there are a couple hundred creatures climbing up to meet us."
Nephis nodded and took Sunny with her to fight them below.
"Aldric, Caster. Kill any creatures that make it up here and support the rest."
She ordered.
Aldric had stopped using his aspect to coat his blade and fought with pure swordsmanship. He needed to keep a reserve available for what might come next.
Only a few minutes had passed but it was pure hell.
Aldric had a few cuts and was exhausted from being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of creatures and from supporting Cassie and Kai. [Insight] did not work well against numerous opponents.
Occasionally, he would have to fight these primates like creatures that were clearly hosts to some sinister parasite. He fought them at a range, avoiding the clear miasma of pores emanating from their wounds.
The situation was only getting worse and worse. More Blood Flowers were reaching them and the Flesh Weavers did not stop their assault.
Something changed at the height of the battle. One locust charged straight for a primate that reached the ledge of the shoulder. With a bite, it chomped through the throat and was covered in a red mist.
This sparked a complete upheaval in the battle. More Flesh Weavers descended past the shoulder of the statue and met the Blood Flowers head-on. The two tribes of nightmare creatures focused their attention on each other, giving the cohort much more breathing room.
But they were still stuck between two warring tribes.
Sunny and Nephis resurfaced, covered in blood. Their arrival caught Aldric's attention.
A lone Flesh Weaver had descended on Cassie. With its abnormal size, it batted away the flying rapier and dove straight for her.
On pure instinct, she turned around and used her staff to try to block its massive mandibles. With the staff already being damaged from the fight, she was not hopeful that it would protect her.
The locust gripped her staff and was about to break through it in a split second.
All of a sudden, Cassie had felt its heavy weight vanish. Leaving only the light mandibles still around her staff.
'Death Thrust'
The body of the locust imploded like a balloon and showered Cassie in its green blood.
"Sorry about that."
Aldric spoke unapologetically.
With a forced smile on her face, Cassie spoke.
"Don't worry about it."
Just as she spoke, the attack seemingly stopped.
It was as if the world froze. The locusts hovered in the air and the Blood Flowers stood still.
"BZZZZ"
"STOMP"
Both tribes returned back to where they came from in a frenzied rush. Even though they fought to the death just earlier, they ignored each other in favour of their retreat.
Aldric saw Sunny and Nephis looking South with grim expressions.
A raging depth of dark clouds was approaching their position. The wall of darkness was illuminated by ominous bolts of lightning.
The storm was here.
**********
Thank you for reading!
I hope you are all doing well.
Can you guys help me think of some attacks that are feasibly on his level? The ones I'm thinking of are way too technical or need some other ability to do.
In other news, I am leaving on holiday soon. I will be back writing on the weekend. Do hold out as long as you can before I can grace you with my words once more.
Jokes aside, Till next time.
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