CHAPTER. 146: THE END OF THE NIGHTMARE (PART 2)
In a single moment, chains of lightning and grand spears fell from the sky, the ground was torn open from the barrage of attacks. The booming sound resounded, along with the splattering of corruption, and yet I didn’t dare let my guard down even as my vision became flashes of white and mounds of frost.
This was just the beginning—
And I parried. A spark mixed with corruption flashed as my hand trembled in pain, I pulled back only to see the first corrupted demonic being that had attacked me. Part of its shoulder was missing but other than that it seemed perfectly fine. For a moment I felt annoyed, annoyed that it had been hit by at least ten [Frost Lightnings] but it also made me realize truly just how wide the gap between normal power and the power of the corruption was.
Still even then—
I dodged as a strike of darkness missed me. Another corrupted being walked out of the smoke, this one had a single horn and a tail, but I paid it no mind as I focused on dodging another attack.
— even then, I’d get out of this place alive.
I grunted, blocking another attack as its power made my arms ache. My feet slid across the ground, breaking it as my leg threatened to crack. I really hated this status quo. I hated how all my hairs were standing on end, I hated how I could hardly focus on other things, and I hated having to forgo all thoughts just to simply survive.
[Deadly Impalement].
My spear pierced through one of the corrupted humanoids, it screeched before I used [Repulse]— The corrupted being was blasted— sent flying dozens of meters away in an instant. Then, I turned and used [Repulse] yet again, swatting another of the corrupted beings away. And just like that, I had gotten rid of two of the corrupted beings, though—
Sparks flew.
Unfortunately—
I dodged.
There were still four other corrupted beings—
I ducked and kicked, using numerous body enhancing skills at once as my shin nearly snapped the leg of one of the beings— with a screech it lost balance before I stabbed with Sol’as’ Spear and used [Repulse] again. The corrupted thing went flying and that left three corrupted beings with me.
However, that was still— I grunted managing to deflect a hit— three of them. I slid back, the ground losing grip at my feet as my eyes narrowed. Before me, there was a being with a long tail and a conically shaped head, another one had claws for hands and the last one had spikes for all limbs. And they were all eyeing me with all their bloodlust.
My eyes momentarily wandered to the background where I saw the corruption pushing the army, I saw allies be turned into masses of darkness only to be killed seconds after by those that were still alive. I watched as some were killed in an instant, their bodies being bisected at multiple points. And I witnessed as some froze in fear and got other people killed by being a bother. I observed the army collapse in real time.
The sky was quickly being tainted by the mantle of darkness surrounding the land, signaling how quickly things were coming to an end. Except for the land we stood on and took, everything else was corrupted, it was like an unrelenting plague that would never stop until all was consumed— no, that’s exactly what it was, and that was also the reason everyone was so fearful of the corruption, but even then—
I saw a gigantic tornado of wind sweep over the battlefield, killing thousands of corrupted beings in a single moment.
Even then, there were those that refused to kneel to the corruption.
I watched as Alfina flew through the sky, her magic slicing and killing thousands of corrupted beings at once, I watched as different SSS Tier beings tore through the corruption effortlessly, and I knew not everything was lost. At least not for now. That was also why I had to push harder and be stronger.
I turned to receive an attack from the corrupted demons, one of the attacks hit the shaft of the spear and pushed me back, another made me duck and the one with spikes made me squiggle out of the way— then a shadow streaked, exploding the earth next to me as a slash of darkness was aimed at me— I managed to use [Perfect Parry]. One of the demons was back? And a salvo of shadowed projectiles came.
Ice wrapped all around me and an explosion of darkness engulfed me, sending me flying away. I rolled, flakes of frost falling to the ground as enemies filled my surroundings. My body ached in light pain as I began to stand up; I couldn’t do it, not relying only on Sol’as’ Spear and my preparations—
And one of the demons pounced, all my instincts pushed me to act as mana flared through my muscles; my left hand tapped the dagger at my waist before pushing, all the while my right hand let go of Sol’as’ Spear and reached into the pocket that had just formed into the air— it all happened in a split second as I grabbed onto the weapon within.
The monster reached and dozens of skills went off in my mind all at once—
[Quick Draw]—! and a flash of scintillating light ripped.
The air broke. The being screamed. And the ground behind for hundreds of meters was cleaved in half by the white ripple. Like paper tearing, the corrupted monster split in half chunks of it flying as a deep breath left me. The sound of sharpness lingered in the air as time seemed to stop, and then, a system notification came.
[ You have vanquished the: ——— from the world. Tier: — ]̴͈͝
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[ You have purged part of the Ư̸̖̦̥͑̌͋̀͘n̷̳̼̙̐̎͌͐̈́̈͜ḵ̶̢̥̬̘̪̯͐͊ͅṇ̶̢̲̌͆͝o̷͇̓̅͐͌̐̄̽̈́w̵͚̤̮̖̋̀͛̂n̸̨͈̜̦̼̙͙̿̏ ]
And just like that one of the six demonic beings that was attacking me died. I fully stood up, Alfina’s Sword shining with a golden glow. At first I didn’t want to use it, but what kind of choice did I even have? Its innate ability was something called Sharpest Edge; if strong enough, cutting attacks will critically injure adversaries.
It was strong.
The corrupted monsters around me hissed at what had just happened. Their humanoid bodies slightly distorted but I shook my head. I knelt and grabbed Sol’as’ Spear with my left hand. I wasn’t left handed, but I still stood up, deciding to dual wield both of the weapons.
Then a moment later another of the monsters paused, I turned, [Titanic Strength] and [Bone Breaker] were activated as I lunged with my spear forward. It blurred and hit right through the shoulder of the corrupted being that came my way. The monster screeched as I threw it off balance. Then, my right hand tightly gripped onto the sword and numerous skills activated.
[Death Rend]!
The sword flashed with a golden burst and cleaved the impaled monster in half. The ground split open with an explosion. Corruption flew across my vision as yet another notification called my attention.
[ You have vanquished the: ——— from the world. Tier: — ]̴͈͝
[ You have purged part of the Ư̸̖̦̥͑̌͋̀͘n̷̳̼̙̐̎͌͐̈́̈͜ḵ̶̢̥̬̘̪̯͐͊ͅṇ̶̢̲̌͆͝o̷͇̓̅͐͌̐̄̽̈́w̵͚̤̮̖̋̀͛̂n̸̨͈̜̦̼̙͙̿̏ ]
That makes two.
I let out a small grunt as another part of my mana was corrupted, Alfina’s Sword would expedit that process which was why I hadn’t used it earlier, but right now I had to—
I gripped my sword tighter as two corrupted monsters pounced at once.
Win—
A flash of light passed and sliced the arm of one of the monsters, it screeched in pain and another monster took its place, sending an attack my way. I ducked under it, with a frown.
Even with the sword things were annoying—
And an explosion of corruption engulfed me. I backed off, managing to block some of it but I still sustained injuries. Part of my shoulder and my side was missing, my crimson blood dripped onto the ground only to be consumed by the corruption, and around my injuries the black all-consuming curse was already present.
My eyes narrowed and without hesitation, I wrapped my right hand along with Alfina’s Sword around the spear tip, then I instantly covered it in ice and switched my grip, making a makeshift spear in a single moment. It wasn’t durable at all, but—
[Deadly Impalement] and [Death Rend]!
The spear stabbed into one of the beings and immediately flicked with a flash of gold— the sword ripped from the torso of the monster as another flash of deadly sharpness flew across the land.
A system notification came but I paid it no mind as I used [Quick Step] and appeared behind the monster whose arm had been cut off. Without hesitation I thrust the spear and used [Haunting Sharpness]. It ripped into the corrupted monster as my mana continued to be corrupted, and behind me one of the two remaining monsters lunged towards me.
Its spiked limbs were aimed at me but I did not panic as I shifted the grip within my spear, and with a powerful tug I used the same skill as before—
[Quick Draw] into [Death Rend].
With a half circle of light flashed and tore through the corrupted being that was headed straight at me— and the ice snapped. Alfina’s Sword flew, making a crescent arc that slashed through everything, and at that moment the last monster attacked me. It appeared right behind me, and punched—
I parried with Sol’as’ Spear and I was sent flying, but I smiled.
[Armament Recall].
Alfina’s Sword flashed and— zipped through the air. Beheading the final monster and shattering the ground with a beautiful cutting arc.
I came to a stop, as Alfina’s Sword landed on my hand, and just like that—
[ You have vanquished the: ——— from the world. Tier: — ]̴͈͝
[ You have vanquished the: ——— from the world. Tier: — ]̴͈͝
[ You have vanquished the: ——— from the world. Tier: — ]̴͈͝
[ You have purged part of the Ư̸̖̦̥͑̌͋̀͘n̷̳̼̙̐̎͌͐̈́̈͜ḵ̶̢̥̬̘̪̯͐͊ͅṇ̶̢̲̌͆͝o̷͇̓̅͐͌̐̄̽̈́w̵͚̤̮̖̋̀͛̂n̸̨͈̜̦̼̙͙̿̏ ]
…
— everything had died.
I let out a small breath and shook my head, about seventy-five-percent of my mana was corrupted at this point. Soon, I’d be a bit fucked. My eyes turned to my surroundings where the army seemed to finally be pushing back— of course casualties were there still but now more than ever the corruption seemed to be struggling.
The darkening of the sky had stopped and now, it was time for our counter attack. Of course, now than ever I understood that we were going to lose, but even then I wanted us to win this battle even if we lost the war.
It was a testament to the existence of everyone here, and I was planning to help for as long as I was able to—
And a roar shook the land.
I turned only to see the corrupted Eternal rising up, magic circles filling its surroundings as it seemed to be slowly raising its hand in no particular direction. Though, it didn’t matter as I watched the two wolf-like SSS Tier beings attack with skills that could easily destroy a continent. One was a gigantic tsunami of water, and the other was a rain of sharp-red petals that seemed to kill everything it touched.
It arrived at the Eternal and the eternal, now with its corrupted hand raised clicked its fingers.
The attack vanished.
The sound disappeared.
The earth trembled.
And a gigantic magic circle scribbled itself onto the sky.
In just a single moment, the tide of battle changed for the worse.
The corrupted inscriptions of the circle were all flashing with indomitable power. Then, as another SSS Tier skill flew it activated. There was no grand explosion, no spell that instantly killed everyone, there was only a wave of corruption—
The gigantic storm disappeared in a single moment and darkness came.
The corruption swept through everything, the sky became dark once more and the land became what it had once been. Then, it passed through me as well— Sol’as’ Spear and Alfina’s Sword immediately became masses of corruption, all of me became coated in corruption as I screamed in pain and then, with a skittering sound I saw it.
The corrupted chunks of the monsters were producing tendrils, threading and crawling towards each other, and as soon as the first one fused all of them came like magnets, gluing themselves together as I struggled on the ground to get rid of the corruption that was coating me.
I didn’t know how long it took, or how much it hurt as I simply followed my instincts until I was able to get a clear view of things, but when I raised my bloodied head and body to look I saw something.
It wasn’t a corrupted mass, but a lion-like being with an aura of corruption, its darkened body completely visible.
[Corrupted Eternal Lion. Tier: Unknown].
It didn’t have a sign of corruption in the inspection until— the window flashed again and flickered before completely breaking, leaving nothing but a garbled mess of text in my vision.
That’s when it clicked.
The lion was the most corrupted thing I had ever seen.
And my mana was…
I had 20% left.