‘Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck!!!’
Illyan, whose chest was pierced in three sections, was cursing under his breath as the ‘ground’ under their legs started to tilt…
Zers this time was completely knocked out after the Frozen Worm cried out again. On the other hand, Illyan tried to grab the antler which pinned him on the Frozen Worm and pull it out. Unfortunately, the pain in his arm made him notice something which made his face go pale.
Looking at his palm, he saw tens of small red dots as if he was pierced several times there.
‘The antlers have miniature barbs on them! Fuck!’
How long was it since Illyan felt so angry yet helpless as now? Because of those barbs, he now couldn’t take it out!
Not because it would tear his flesh! There was something worse… The barbs were now stuck in the protrusion of the Frozen Worm. Not only would it be extremely hard for him to pull it out, but it would also stimulate the Frozen Worm and make it more and more aggressive…
Swish
And he was not even talking about the wolf monster that got stuck because of its antlers as it still used its claws to attack him. He was utterly helpless in whatever he wanted to do…
The only rescue right now was that the turn of the Frozen Worm caused some of the Wolf monsters to fall off the edge while the wolf monster in front of him had to take the brunt of the worm turning around while it was still hanging on the protrusion with its antlers. That made it hang from the overturning Frozen Worm with the antlers being the only body part that was holding it. The pressure on its neck was immense as it had to use its claws to hold onto whatever it reached for so that its head wouldn’t come off from twisting too much.
The cold breath was spreading from its body and Illyan’s wounds started to freeze. It was only thanks to his great resistance that he was able to shake it off and repeatedly attack the monster with his axe. However, as he couldn’t put his entire body into these swings they were almost negligible.
‘What should I do now? At this point, the Frozen Worm will take us down underneath…’
Frozen Worms had two ways of attacking. One was extreme freezing breath that could rival even some weaker ice dragons, and the second was a body slam with its massive body. As they were worms even though they grew exponentially and had power that most creatures would envy, it still had the intelligence of a mere worm.
The only way of releasing the coldness it ate all day was to spit it out through its gigantic mouth that could even stretch twice as wide as the widest segment of its body.
But this kind of full-powered attack is hard to use on something that is on its body where it could hurt itself by using it or it could simply not reach that part because of the limits of its biological body.
Because of that, the best way it had to shake off such pests was to go swim right against the icebergs or in this case in the frozen sea using its protrusion to tank all the ice in the way. Most of the creatures that were holding onto the Frozen Worm this way would die.
And Illyan and Zers would be one of those if he wouldn’t do something. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any idea what to do. When his warrior’s body failed him his mind wandered to the arts of shamans looking for an idea. However, his prowess in this specialization was too weak.
He couldn’t even use the [Elemental Dance] he learned to fight against the Wolf Monster let alone against something like Frozen Worm. As it took time to accumulate the Spiritual Energy with the help of the martial dance he couldn’t use it in such a quick and erratic fight.
Because of that, he could depend only on his instincts, battle-awareness, and his regeneration.
At one point Illyan suddenly felt weightlessness that made him wonder what was happening. But one glance at the head of the worm in the distance which was directed down he realized what was happening soon enough…
The weightlessness took only a second before extreme pressure crushed upon them as his wounds got aggravated. The worm started to descend with unprecedented speed as its massive body parted the clouds in the sky.
‘If I can’t destroy the protrusions then I have to destroy the antlers of this monster.’
“Hiii- Hu-maan!”
But the monster also didn’t seem to want to give up as it was swinging its claws at him with bloodthirst.
As the antlers were quite long the swipes of those attacks could only graze him but it didn’t change the fact that it quite impeded him. Having no other choice he had to withstand this while waiting for the best opportunity before swinging his axe right at the antler that was holding his body. Unfortunately, the outcome was undesirable and made Illyan feel despair.
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Clank Cink
As he watched the part of the edge that had been chipped off the axe made him feel numb.
There was no way he could get out of this situation in such a short time.
But time was now the only thing he didn’t have.
He wanted to bellow at the sky and ask the heavens why it was him who had to go through this. The emotions that have been bottled up in him ever since he felt the unfairness of life when he was but a small child. It felt as if he had a big dumpling in his throat.
He felt so suffocated at this moment.
Why did he have to fall here together with this disgusting thing that killed his family while waiting to be crushed.
‘Not to mention you…’
Then he turned his head to the right and looked at the unconscious Zers.
The only person he could say from the bottom of his heart was his friend. Yet now, his fate seemed to be sealed because of…
‘Me…’
Illyan knew that lamenting won’t solve anything but as his mind was chaotic something caught his attention.
‘Why? Why is there so much misfortune around me? Is it because of me? Or are there other external reasons?’
He felt it. It was distant but there was a feeling, the sensation he felt.
At that moment, his eyes brightened with a golden hue as he saw the fragment of the ‘truth’.
‘Someone… Or something…’
Ever since he was small he felt that his life was normal. That he was a normal person with one small gift. But was it really so? His gift was something that grew ever since he was small to the point that even he couldn’t even start to guess what kind of gruesome attack would it take for him to succumb to injuries.
His blood seemed to be delectable to any animal that was intelligent enough to realize the difference.
If that was the case… Wouldn’t even the village incident be his fault?
‘No… If that was the case they would find me sooner. It was only after I was bitten by those smaller ones that this one probably smelled the blood… That means that my brothers’ death was my fault…If I didn’t…’
He shook his head. There were no IFs. And there was no guarantee that they would survive either.
But there was one thing he knew for sure. His blood was precious. Very precious.
But were the animals the only ones who were interested? Maybe if he didn’t develop this ability…
However, he has a hunch that there was something more behind the scenes than just this. Something that was the cause of his misfortune. At one point he believed that his misfortune was the result of the world balancing fate because of his strong ability.
But no more.
The moment of enlightening gave him the hint about this world’s hostility. Or rather the ones pulling the strings. He didn’t know what it was. Whether some gods, ghosts or demons. Or why won’t they come themselves. But he knew he wasn’t welcomed in this world.
And that everyone around him will suffer.
This knowledge hammered into his heart as he fell into deep thoughts.
The winter wind was blowing against his face, biting his skin and the sun was covered by the body of the gigantic beast. Every Wolf Monster who managed to keep themselves holding on the surface of the Frozen Worm already fell or was crushed under the friction of air and the descending beast.
Everything turned chaotic. Only Illyan’s mind turned serene as all the noise turned silent.
‘In the end, my gift is really just a curse...’
He always wondered whether this ability was something to be grateful for or something he should hate with passion. It brought him such enormous advantage in this world that kept him alive for many years and was his only reason for him surviving to this day.
But the opposite was true too. If not for this ability, he would never suffer like this. If he was eaten back then and dissolved in a matter of seconds then wouldn’t he have his peace already? Not to mention that he just now made a guess that much of his suffering was some sort of scheme. Be it Goddess of Misfortune not liking him or some mortal lusting after his gift.
But even though such thoughts were crossing his mind he never crumbled under the pressure. He always strived for the chance of a better life.
‘You shouldn’t shun your own ability. Instead, turn it into your biggest advantage, make it the extension of your limbs. Since you were born with such a gift then it would be a waste to not use it to its fullest potential, wouldn’t it? Hohoho~’ The face of an elderly man showed up in his mind laughing as he was puffing his pipe.
‘Do you sense it? The clear air after pushing your body to the very limit. Your mind is as clear as water in the lake. The union of the mind and body. That is what I think bliss is. If there is a small flaw everything will fall down as the snow statues. While both your body and mind are full of potential you are just a mess at this very moment. Learning to love yourself and life itself is the key. Or at least that's what records say. Whahahahah~!’ The boisterous laugh of the bear-like man lying in the snow while his body was covered in sweat appeared in his mind.
‘Freedom. That’s what you are craving for. Until you truly know what true freedom is then how could you give up and forsake your life? Dying full of regrets while lamenting this unfair world. Is that what you want?’ This time a melodic voice resounded from a blurry figure in his mind. He couldn’t discern what kind of voice or body it was but he could immediately tell who it was. It’s just that she threw away her shell of a little girl who gave up on living.
‘Freedom… No regrets. Loving myself… My biggest advantage…!’
Hearing this his eyes showed clarity just as they neared the surface level of the sea. Illyan knew that doing something at this time was futile. However, if he struggled for his life he should be able to survive this ride to the end.
Unfortunately, this didn’t apply to his sworn brother.
And so with determination in his eyes, Illyan used his broken axe to make a nick in his right wrist and put it over the mouth of the unconscious man.
He didn’t know what it would do or even if it would do something but testing it won’t hurt him.
On the other hand, since his blood seems to be a great tonic for most beasts then there was a good chance that it would be beneficial for humans too. While there wasn’t a threat to Zers’ life he would probably be crippled for life with his inner ear destroyed.
Not to mention that there was a need to survive the extensive bleeding that would come to be…
He waited for them to be as close to the surface as possible. And that time soon came.
Brandishing his half-broken ax he looked at his only friend and made a small smile.
“Sorry buddy but this will come as a big shock to you once you wake up!”
After saying that, he put his entire strength into his swing and severed Zers’ arm that was impaled on the protrusion.
Once he did this Zers’ body started to fall on its own but before it could fly off somewhere Illyan put his entire strength to the point of bursting his muscles to throw him upwards to the side where the surface of the frozen sea still wasn’t broken.
“Live, you fool.”
And with that darkness swallowed Illyan as he dived deep into the frozen ocean together with two other beings…