I rolled around for a bit, the pain making my senses hazy. That, and the fact that the remaining portion of my torso was smoking caused me to revaluate my recent choices.
Not that I had time to feel regret; My spinning eye settled just in time to look up and see one of the Lvl 9 Fae Squirrels standing over me, about to blast me in the face with its glittering mouth attack.
My serrated foreleg whipped around and drove up through the bottom of its mouth, sealing the opening shut before it could spit out a Mana attack. A tentacle whipped out and greedily wrapped around the wounds in its head, draining its lifeblood as quickly as I could manage.
You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +24.
You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +19.
You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +18.
Your Skill (Temp) Mana Feed has triggered! Restoring 13 Health and 6 Mana over the next 30 seconds.
Your Skill (Temp) Mana Feed has grown to Level 14.
You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +6.
Warning, you have absorbed over 250 Anima! You are unable to handle the excess energy. 67 Anima dissipates. Current Health +13.
I didn’t bother to let any additional Anima build up- I needed Health now. Especially because no sooner had I pushed my muddy body back to my feet than two more projectiles slammed into my back. And Detection, dutiful Skill that it was, warned me that the Squirrel Champion now strode purposefully toward our position.
“We need to go,” My tentacles shook as the tide of adrenaline that had before filled me with strength, now sucked its support back and left me slightly hollowed. But I could still assist Nightshade back to his feet.
“If we retreat now-” Nightshade began, but I formed a clenched fist of tentacle jelly and smashed it into his dumb mantis face.
Your Skill (Earned) Mutinous Grit has grown to Level 4.
Your Skill (Earned) Body Manipulation has grown to Level 9.
“If we don’t retreat, we die,” My words came out ragged, so aggravated by this foolish behavior I didn’t even chirp. I fixed him with as scathing a glare as I could manage. If only this Nightshade bastard had fewer heads and more sense. “The three of us escaped together. And I’m not gonna let this found family fall to pieces… just because of your pride.”
For a moment, Nightshade just looked at me. Perhaps he had never considered that I would disagree with him. After all, I had been doing so well in this life at cultivating a leisurely demeanor. And as we remained fixed in that moment with the horrible fae squirrels surrounding us, I had to face another possibility— if this former demon lord refused to listen to sensible advice and wanted to suicide through glorious combat… what would I do?
Those cold gears of my mind clicked into place. The answer was simple— Loyalty wrapped around my tentacles like frozen iron manacles. I’ll stay and help him. I refuse to abandon this family. Even if he is foolish…
He’s all I have.
Your Skill (Earned) Monster’s Wisdom has grown to Level 10.
System, please. Stop being so creepy.
My thoughts raced. But luckily Nightshade sighed. “...you are correct, brother. Sister Skyrage would not react kindly to us squandering our lives.”
I loosed my own sigh of relief a split second before a sparkling squirrel bolt slammed into my side and obliterated 10 more of my Health. I still had 19 more, but didn’t like the way the musclebound squirrel champion stalked closer every second.
I scuttled sideways, using all my Strength in order to drag Nightshade after me. During the distractions, the hexspiderling hadn’t moved. My Manacore expanded its awareness, sensing almost a dozen more waiting beyond in the reeds. We took off in that direction. Nightshade used his serpent-head arms to pin and devour two unfortunate fae squirrels that raced to stop us. I hip-checked another, stabbing it with my serrated foreleg when it hit the ground. I sucked as much Anima as I could and immediately expended it all for an additional 6 Health, but unfortunately didn’t trigger Mana Feed.
Your Skill (Species) Absorb Anima has grown to Level 27.
The fae squirrel champion seemed to realize our intentions and unleashed a squeaky grunt. This is why you need to be careful with steroids. Completely throws off the balance of hormones in your body-
The squirrels swarmed around in front of us, blocking passage to the reeds. Just as I fought through the mental sluggishness from the Adrenaline Rush, Nightshade’s body began to swell. The tail of his sinuous body coiled beneath him and then launched him forward.
He hit the screeching squirrels like a bowling ball, knocking five in the air and trampling two others.
See? Loyalty is its own reward when your friends are strong. I panted and galloped after him.
As we pressed through the reeds, a small spiderling hopped up onto my shoulder and gestured in a new direction. I nudged Nightshade and we adjusted our escape vector. Wading through shallow water, we came upon a series of more densely packed reeds. Already, the beginnings of a spidersilk barricade hung between them.
The chittering cries of the squirrels behind us filled the air. The squirrels crashed and splashed as they forced their way through the reeds in pursuit. Several glittering mana bolts sizzled over our heads.
“Of course, an ambush,” Nightshade unleashed a deep laugh, sounding exactly like he was a villain about to launch into a monologue. “Once the Champion is isolated from his allies, it will be that much easier to hack open his arteries and allow the lifeblood to seep from his veins! As expected, brother, you are focused even on the cusp of a rout.”
Okay, well, let’s not just cut him up and let him bleed to death… surely we can expedite the process a little… I didn’t vocalize my thoughts, not wanting to trigger any other monologues. It felt like a traitorous thought, but one I felt like I had earned after Nightshade had refused to retreat the first time.
Brother Nightshade… does your world have the concept of ‘planting flags’? Because of the way you are behaving… while fighting against heroes, did you pause on the cusp of victory to explain to them how you overmatched them?
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Honestly, its impressive you survived for so long as a Maou like this…
We rushed into the small gap in the webbing and the spiderlings quickly got to work to close that door. Their small bodies could move surprisingly quickly, hopping back and forth between the reeds to weave their barrier.
I felt my heart softening. I would need to pay back this favor to the spiderlings-
Sensing my thoughts, the spiderling eagerly requested more of the liquid from my blessing. They had a holy shrine, which they used to somehow alter their drinking water.
Ah, My flat foot sunk into mud and I could see my reflection in the muddy water. My expression became slack as I imagined thousands of spiderlings scurrying across me, licking off my sweat. Perhaps… perhaps it is less embarrassing to just die here? Steroid head, please make my passing swift-
This time, it was the rampaging force of Nighsthade’s charge that yanked me back to reality (I must really have loosened up to allow that little diversion to distract me). Water splashed in my face and the screeches of the squirrels following us became harsher. I could feel through my Mana Core the spiderlings weaving their webs as quickly as possible. I glanced over my shoulder-
Terminator-style, the Fae Squirrel Champion ripped through the first spidersilk barrier in his smooth walk forward. As he made it through the impediment, he raised his hands and traced some sort of harmonious symbol in the air. Mana rapidly began to gather.
Your Skill (Earned) Mana Sensitivity has grown to Level 11.
Your Skill (Earned) Detection has grown to Level 10.
Your Skill (Earned) Mana Sensitivity has grown to Level 12.
“Run-chi!” I chirped, speaking both to Nightshade and the spiderlings. We sloshed forward as best we can, running up over the edge of a nearby embankment and then diving over it. Right behind, the air sizzled and the powerful energy blast released by the Fae Squirrel Champion drilled through the mud.
Just like flesh, mud held only for a second before the beam of life burned a passage through.
I yelped and scrambled sideways as one of Nightshade’s snake-head arms lost a large chunk of its neck from that annihilating light. He leaned forward and growled, pressing another head to the wound and forcefully causing interstitial body structure to grow in the gap and stem the bleeding.
My body quivered as the sluggishness from the earlier adrenaline rush finally wore off. “Hopefully the webs will slow down the rest-”
“Did you plan even this, brother? I see, so the confrontation between us was written in the stars,” Nightshade muttered to himself. He glanced around. All his heads smiled. “And this battleground is excellent.”
Written in the stars? If we had just fled after killing a few squirrels earlier—, My thoughts burned in frustration, but there wasn’t any real animosity there. Plus, We had stumbled over the mud mound and arrived at a perfectly flat, nearly circular, area without any impediments. Definitely, it looked like this place had been purposefully constructed to facilitate primitive dueling rituals.
No! This wasn’t purposeful, just bad luck!
I could hear several distant squeaks of rage, but they didn’t seem able to approach; for now, the intervention of the spiderlings had bought us some time. To face the foe that apparently had begun to run when we vanished from its sightline and vaulted over the top of the mud mound and soared past where Nightshade and I crouched.
The muscular squirrel did a somersault midair and landed facing us. It crouched down into a fighting pose and beckoned with a finger.
Come on, fantasy world. Why are these developments so…? I sighed to myself.
“Today, we quench this boiling blood of ours brother!” Nightshade bellowed. His non-interstitial body parts began to swell slightly and turn red. “I will restrict his movements— I pass to you the honor of inflicting the first blow.”
Nightshade, perhaps inspired by the acrobatics of the opponent, executed a perfect back(head?) spring. He spun in the air like a top, the fae squirrel champion watching him carefully. When he landed, he leaned forward and instantly the fae squirrel's arms bulged as he raised and tightened his guard.
But Nightshade just grinned with all those hungry mouths.
He dug his snake arms into the packed mud ground, the limbs swelling even further. He heaved up a chunk of mud and flipped it directly toward the muscular squirrel. Nightshade glanced sideways at me. The look wasn’t a question-
I felt the connection sizzle through my body; the look was a confirmation. We were on the same page. He might be a fool… he might one day get us killed… but he is my brother. And just like I would do anything for him, he would do anything for me.
When he makes the opening, I need to be ready.
The fae squirrel champion stomped its feet. A wave of energy flooded its body, glittering in my Mana Sensitivity. Pale blue flames began to undulate across his palms; this bastard squirrel had eaten one too many kung foo nuts. However, I couldn’t help but admit there was some purpose to it. When he cut down with his flaming palm, he easily carved through the large mud plate.
Your Skill (Earned) Monster’s Wisdom has grown to Level 11.
The pieces of dried mud fell sideways, revealing an empty space. Instantly, the squirrel’s eyes narrowed as it looked back and forth at the two smaller pieces of mud tumbling sideways. I crept closer as the Bloodthirsty Squirrel Champion pounced to the right; a decisive palm strike shattered one of the mud screens into pieces.
No Nightshade.
I moved closer.
In a frightful display of speed, the muscular squirrel planted his foot and executed a heel kick toward the other chunk of mud. Blue flames rushed from its hands to empower the kick. I couldn't help but mentally clap at how his body contorted; despite all those muscles, the champion was very flexible.
But you are still just a pea brain, I smirked.
The ground underneath the champion’s feet erupted in three snake heads— Nightshade had hopped into the hole he had made by ripping up the mud and burrowed underneath our target. With most of its Mana expended on those two quick blows, only a single hand still had the faintest flicker of blue energy.
Your Skill (Temp) Inferior Adrenaline Rush has grown to Level 5.
I surged forward even as Nightshades arm’s wound around the target’s muscular legs. I could hear the squeaks and chitters of other fae squirrels, finally coming closer. To finish this quickly, I raised my serrated foreleg and circled around to the Champion’s back.
Meanwhile, the champion executed a series of lightning-fast hand seals. The Mana spiked and swirled around that hand.
Your Skill (Earned) Mana Sensitivity has grown to Level 13.
Honestly, at this point, I’m not even sure how this being exists. Was he trained by a secret anime master who reincarnated from a Murim world? Did this guy just exit from a closed-door cultivation session?
Also, why the hell are the Blessings received by others so much more useful? And yet I-
The hand exploded with power. A beam of light shot downward, heading directly for Nightshade’s torso and central head. I felt my Anima freeze in my jelly body.
Yet at the last second, Nightshade’s mantis neck rapidly grew. The head slithered like a serpent, winding around the dangerous beam of light and constricting the arm. The head opened its mandibles and dug its teeth into the squirrel’s shoulder. The beam of light scythed downward, completely annihilating one snakehead and partially severing another, but now the limb was immobilized. The Fae Squirrel Champion reared back, but the other heads circled around its legs and kept it engaged.
It began to bring its superior Strength to bear and rip through Nightshade’s remaining heads, but then I arrived.
Your Skill (Earned) Body Manipulation has grown to Level 10.
I ripped the serrated foreleg up through the muscular flesh of the bastard's left side. Blood spurted everywhere, both onto my own body and dripping down to Nightshade. Satisfied that Nightshade would be able to obtain some Anima, I wound several tentacles around the Champion’s back and latched on to feed.
You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +35.
Your Skill (Species) Absorb Anima has grown to Level 28.
You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +21.
You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +40.
Your Skill (Temp) Mana Feed has triggered! Restoring 14 Health and 7 Mana over the next 30 seconds.
Your Skill (Temp) Mana Feed has grown to Level 15.
You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +56.
Your Skill (Species) Absorb Anima has grown to Level 29.
Warning, you have absorbed over 250 Anima! You are unable to handle the excess energy. 152 Anima dissipates. Current Health +30.
Damn, this bastard tastes like dulce de leche!