The smile on Nyx's lips gradually faded as the meaning behind the myriad of smells and distant sounds that she could pick up with her enhanced senses started to come together. Overlaying this with the mental map she had built of the arena and connected prison from information gathered by her shadow clones, Nyx began to frown.
If she was correct and had interpreted who the blurred humanoid outlines were, the Twilight Sect were surrounding Nyx and an alarming rate. Not only that, but against her expectations, they seemed to be throwing everything at her without holding back. The fluctuations in the surrounding essence indicated strong practitioners, weapons and even spell-formations being set up and deployed at an alarming rate.
"Little piggies, little piggies..." Nyx slowly turned her head to the left, looking back down the corridor leading to the stairwell. A few of the corpses littering the ground were still twitching as blood slowly expanded outwards. "Just how do you keep finding me so fast~?"
After staring down the corridor for a few moments, the two glowing orbs representing Nyx's eyes narrowed as she turned and started walking in the opposite direction. As she walked, Nyx calmed her breathing as she contemplated. "Hmm, looks like this body isn't really good for prolonged fights, especially with an elemental imbalance. Hit and run it is."
Nyx chuckled slightly, her ears continually twitching as new sounds became audible. "Well, that's if they let me. I guess Timur can be considered somewhat competent. Give me a minute, and I can kill a couple of dozen, an hour, a brigade, a day, a good-sized town..."
Nyx's thoughts, mostly reminiscing similar past events, were distracted as she reached an intersection and looked both ways. After taking a deep breath, Nyx covered her mouth with her fist as she coughed. Icy mist spilt from her mouth and swirled around her hand, causing the air to sparkle slightly in the yellow glow of the nearby light stones.
Nyx shivered as she uncurled her hand, dislodging the small amount of ice that had built up. Though her silhouette was still shrouded in shadow, the ends of her hair were no longer pitch black. Instead, they had a faint, dark-blue colour that helped distinguish them from the rest of her body. The same blue colour, appearing similar to cracks in Nyx's skin, could be seen spreading from around her eyes, mouth and the area just over her stomach.
While the crack-like lines were pretty static on her face, growing outwards too slowly to be easily detectable, those on Nyx's chest wiggled and moved as if they were alive. It seemed as if the dark essence covering Nyx's skin was continually trying to push the blue lines back towards her stomach. At the same time, the blue lines were desperately attempting to break out of the encirclement and spread the vein-like network even further.
Nyx sighed, dropping her hand as she checked out the corridors again. The dim yellow light stones revealed enough for her to realise that the inside of the arena was much larger than she expected. "Seems my perspective when looking through shadows is a little out of wack. I guess shades of black aren't the best for estimating distance."
"OK, if I am going to survive until nightfall, I need a plan. Timur, the snake and the bird should be the only serious threats unless I get mobbed by the rank and file. Then again, if they have any more supprises like the winged woman, I don't think I am going to last too long. Not unless they are idiots and decide to let me rest between one on one fights."
Nyx tilted her head to the side as her ears twitched and flattened against her head. The scrapes of metal, creaking leather and hushed voices were getting louder in all directions. "Alas, it seems I am not that lucky."
After taking a deep breath, Nyx took a few steps forward and rested her forehead on the stone wall before closing her eyes. Beneath her eyelids, Nyx's pupils became round as scenes of dim corridors, rooms and stairwells flickered across them at a mindboggling rate. Nearly all contained groups of humanoid shadows with weapons drawn rushing towards the same direction.
Nyx opened her eyes, her pupils returning to their reptilian, predatory form, as she straightened up and moved away from the wall. "Fuck it. If they can tell where I am, then there's no need to suppress my domain anymore. Should make things more interesting."
The moment Nyx had this thought the nearby light stones flickered as the area around her rapidly dimmed. It was as if a dark wave of energy was escaping her body. Within milliseconds, small insects were scrambling from their nests and cracks in the wall, fleeing in every direction.
Releasing a sigh relief, Nyx stretched as if she had just been relieved of a significant burden. As she did, she recalled a few scenes of her life after escaping Welshmar's capital. "Ahh, how I miss the forest and my simple life. I only had to suppress my domain when humans were about or if I wanted to hunt."
Smiling, Nyx was about to turn away when she noticed a thin layer of frost slowly spreading outwards and climbing the nearby wall. Wiping a finger against the wall, the small flakes of ice fell away as Nyx tilted her head and frowned. "It seems the ice essence of the dungeon core is more compatible than I thought it would be. I haven't even absorbed it into my system, and it's affecting my abilities."
Shrugging her shoulders, Nyx turned towards the loudest source of approaching noise and crouched into a sprinters pose. Taking deep, slow breaths, Nyx stared ahead as her tail flicked back and forth behind her.
"Three~."
"Two~."
"One~."
"The Hell?! It's a domain. Everyone activate your pendants and..." Upon hearing the man's startled shout, a dazzling smile bloomed on Nyx's' face as her body erupted forward.
"Around thirty meters... not bad at all for an incomplete domain."
"One, two~ Nyx is coming for you ~." Unlike when she was talking to herself, Nyx projected her internal voice outwards and towards the group nearby. As she did, she could sense the growing fear and confusion and felt a small, pleasurable tingle run down her spine.
Just as the man finished telling his group to prepare, having been alarmed to the point he momentarily forgot what he was about to say when by Nyx's voice appeared in his head, she reached the door that he seemed to be the other side off. Without a second's hesitation, she jumped at the wall on the opposite side, using all four of her limbs, and propelled herself at the flimsy wooden door.
"Three~, four~, she's smashing through your door."
As the splinters of wood parted, Nyx's eyes locked onto the startled, terrified expression of a middle-aged man and her grin widened. Before he could even scream, her hand had flashed outwards, and she had ripped out his throat.
"Five~, six~, make a-" Nyx's thoughts froze for a moment as her instincts took over. Lowing her head to avoid the spinning axe flying in her direction, she realised that not all of the group were as supprised or shocked as her first victim.
As Nyx continued onwards with the momentum from crashing through the door, two men wearing chainmail thurst their glowing silver shields in her direction and blocked the rest of the group from her sight.
“Ha, you think that will-.” Nyx winced as she spotted a spear made of stone appearing out the corner of her peripheral. Using nearly every muscle in her abdomen, she was able to twist in mid-air and barely dodge the spear by a hair's breadth.
Lashing out with her claws, Nyx tried to force one of the shields out of her way before she collided with it, but all it resulted in was a hair raising screech with no visible damage. Having failed to move the shield and unable to stop, Nyx started to cross her arms in front of her head. However, due to the spikes getting in the way and the speed she was travelling, she couldn't act in time.
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With a loud crash, she slammed face-first into the shield with enough force to send the man, who was off-balance from thrusting his shield forward, crashing to the floor as Nyx passed over.
Glaring down at the man as she passed over, Nyx released a hiss of anger. Just as she was about to kick out with her clawed foot, a blinding light suddenly appeared before her. Seconds later, Nyx felt a burning sensation on her arms, which were still blocking most of her vision from her failed attempt at saving her face earlier. Realising what was before her, Nyx’s pupils contracted quickly as her brain went into overdrive.
A wall of flame had appeared out of nowhere, the light and heat exerting an equal amount of pressure on her dark essence and the ice energy that was suppressing her elemental poisoning.
Nyx felt her heart lurch when she urged her dark essence towards her arms. While she had been expecting it to be somewhat sluggish due to the influence of the dungeon core, the rate in which she could gather essence was so slow that she felt as if time were moving in slow motion. While it would barely meet the requirement to avoid any damage from the impromptu firewall, it would not be enough to prevent the pain.
It was only then that Nyx noticed that the Twilight disciples were moving extremely quickly. As if time had sped up.
"Time mage." Nyx released a low growl as she quickly scanned the group. However, she was soon forced to close her eyes as she tucked herself into a ball. The action caused the spikes on her back and elbows to stick outwards as she basically became a black ball of spikes hurtling through the air.
After passing through the flames, the dark essence covering her body hissing noisily as wisps of smoke trailed behind her body, Nyx rolled once before returning to her feet.
Even though she was facing in the other direction, Nyx had twisted her head enough to see behind her. What she saw caused her to internally swear as she lost the will to continue the fight. The two shield-bearers had once again appeared before the group. A female mage in red robes was conjuring another fireball as two swordsmen moved to each side to provide support. Nyx’s eyes scanned for the earth and the time mage but couldn’t find any signs of them.
Using the remaining momentum of her roll, Nyx kicked off the ground and sprinted away from the group on all fours. “She who fights and runs away~.”
"After her!" A female voice, which must have belonged to the mage as she was the only woman Nyx could see in the group, rang out behind Nyx. The woman's voice sounded strange. It was as if it was a recording that had been sped up one or two times, making it seem squeaky and slightly high pitched. To Nyx, this only confirmed her fears that their group had someone who could manipulate time.
“Lives to fight another day~.” Reaching the first corner, Nyx abruptly turned and felt her speed explode.
The sudden change in momentum, though her mind wasn’t fine-tuned enough to actively notice the actual shift when the caster lost sight of her, was so significant that she found her limbs becoming tangled as she crashed to the floor.
Cursing the fact she should have spent more time getting used to her bodies strange movements and flexibility in the grasslands, Nyx rolled a couple of times before finally regaining her footing. However, just as she was about to continue, Nyx was forced to leap to the side as seven golden swords embedded themselves into the stone floor where she had been moments before.
Shimming out of thin air like a desert mirage, another group of blue-robed disciples appeared before her. A young woman, looking no more than a young girl in her early teens, swept her arm forward as a barrage of small metallic spikes flew towards Nyx.
"Fuck Off!” Nyx's inhuman roar as she dodged the new projectiles, her voice sounding extremely demonic and haunting, caused the group to flinch back and momentarily halt the barrage of attacks they were about to unleash. A second later, the pendents on their chest seemed to glow as they regained their state of mind and attacked in full force.
Spinning to dodge the incoming projectiles, both solid and incorporeal, Nyx swept her arm from behind her in a similar manner to how the girl had acted moments before. As her clawed hand whistled through the air, tendrils of shadow converged into a small dagger-like object. When her arm was fully extended, Nyx flicked her wrist, and the shadow dagger flew towards the group at a startling speed.
Nyx continued her rotation, her other arm repeating the same motion and gathering essence as she dodged two arrows that had seemingly appeared from nowhere.
The leader of the group barely managed to dodge the shadow blade, but the swordsman behind him wasn't so lucky. The man’s head violently snapped back as his body was forced off its feet as the dagger exploded upon contact with his right eye.
Nyx's second projectile missed its target, but with a mere thought, she was able to trigger its detonation manually. While the explosion was too small to inflict any damage, it distracted the group long enough for Nyx to start closing the gap between them.
Kicking off the wall to her right, Nyx moved towards the group in a zig-zag manner that was only possible due to being able to use both her arms and legs. However, when she was a meter or two from her first target, the disciples seemed to speed up and rapidly pull away as shields of various essences sprang up. At the same time, shouts erupted from behind her.
"Fucking time mage. Don’t let me catch you or you’ll be wishing that the ability would work on yourself." Nyx’s eye twitched as she abandoned dodging the group’s attacks and charged directly towards them.
Seeing the change in Nyx’s approach, all but one of the disciples jumped to the sides of the corridor. The only man who didn't was rotating his outstretched arms in a circle as several golden blades started to form as they hovered in mid-air.
Nyx's attention wasn't on the strange weapons being created from nothing, but the pendant around his neck. She could sense his fear grow as he saw her close the distance between them but at the same time, diminish as if it something was devouring it. At the same time, the green glow of the pendant became brighter and brighter. By the time Nyx was in striking distance, the pendant's light was so bright it seemed as if it was competing with the shine of the golden swords.
"Calming pendents... They have calming pendants! What the actual fuck. You need the heart of a sea witch as the main ingredient, and they are only found off the coast of the prime continent." An urge to rampage fluttered briefly in Nyx’s heart before she was able to repress it.Knowing that while she would win the battle, if she lost control this early on, she would lose the war. “This isn’t her style, so who is trying to piss on my fire? Whoever it is, they are going to have a very bad day when I find out. In this life, or my next.”
The air around Nyx, already cold, chilled considerably while the surrounding light dimmed. Narrowing her eyes, Nyx focused on the man’s hands. The moment she saw his fingers start to move forward, she released the dark essence that had been building up in her and chest.
Agonising pain erupted throughout her body, masking the sudden sensation of weightlessness as the dark essence swept out from her core and into her flesh, bone and muscles. Her vision seemed to fade and turn to shades of black and grey. It was similar to the view she got when looking through the eyes of her shadow but different at the same time. The only things that retained their colour where the pendants, the magical weapons and armour the group held, and the golden swords.
As the flying swords passed through Nyx's body, encountering no resistance as if they were travelling through a faint mist, Nyx spotted the dropped jaws and wide eye stares from the man and his group from her peripheral. However, she couldn't enjoy the moment as her body felt as if it were going to break apart at any moment. On a subconscious level, she knew that if it did, that would be the end of her. But at the same time, she felt that the only reason for this was that her soul was incomplete, that a part was missing. The part that had been used to summon her into this body.
Resisting the urge to cry out in pain, Nyx used her soul to force her body to resolidify just as she was passing the man who had launched the swords at her. Revealing a snarl, she lashed out with her claws, yet the moment her outstretched nails reached his face, they passed through harmlessly as his image flickered.
The man reappeared, falling onto his rear as he screamed and tried to cover his face, a few meters away from where Nyx had expected him to be. Yet, Nyx didn't have time to focus on this as she stumbled the moment her feet touched the ground. Her senses were distorted, and she felt a sensation that hovered between motion sickness and feeling like she was about o pass out.
Returning to all fours, Nyx took off at full speed and quickly rounded a corner. As she did, she internally complained about her luck as she gasped for breath. While the first groups she had encountered had been easy to deal with, the last two, containing only blue-robed disciples, each had someone who could control the flow of battle and put Nyx at a disadvantage. While she felt she could still win against the groups individually, it would take time and energy she couldn’t afford to waste.
Nyx's eyes scanned the corridors and doorways as she ran. The smile she had previously been displaying having been replaced with a deep brooding frown. "Damn calming pendants. I've lost the advantage. Mind games are almost useless if they can’t feel fear, and there are no places to hide and strike from without potentially getting myself cornered. Not only that, it’s not like the environment is conducive for hit and runs. One sticky group and I’ll be surrounded."
Sliding to a halt, Nyx listened to the approaching sound of clanging metal and footsteps as she sighed noisily and flexed her claws. "Nothing is ever easy..."