Lindyss furrowed her brow as she stared at the group of humans and one pet dog fighting the Oebu Sin. She turned her head towards Kim Hajun, who was looking ahead with bloodshot eyes. The cursed elf snapped her fingers, drawing the well-dressed man’s attention as if he were a dog. “Hey,” Lindyss said, gesturing towards the severed hand with her chin. “Didn’t you say the hand was large enough to cover the sky? It seems awfully small to do that.”
Kim Hajun nodded. “It has two forms,” he said despite being uncertain; after all, he had only ever seen it when it was massive. “When it wants to enter the tower, it shrinks down to the size of a regular hand, but when it attacks the tower, it becomes larger.” A frown appeared on his face. “It wants something from the fiftieth floor.”
“An innate ability, maybe?” Lindyss asked, raising an eyebrow. “That’s the only thing of interest on this floor, no?”
Kim Hajun blinked. Although he would’ve dismissed the idea right away because the tower chose who to grant innate abilities to, it was possible for the severed hand to seize an innate ability orb by force. What if it had done that in his prophetic dream to gain the ability to expand in size? If that were the case, then, no matter what, the hand had to be defeated here. Kim Hajun took in a deep breath. “How much of my soul do you require to seal the Oebu Sin instead of killing it?”
“You’ll have to volunteer a friend to give up a portion of their soul as well,” Lindyss said. “Everyone knows capturing something alive is harder than bringing it back dead. It only makes sense for it to cost your soul and more.”
“Alright,” Kim Hajun said. “What can you do to the severed hand that won’t cost me my whole soul? I’d still like to be myself when the third Oebu Sin, the cephalopod, shows up.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that,” Lindyss said. “Even if I own your soul, you’ll still be yourself while you’re alive. It’s just that after you die….” The cursed elf’s eyes narrowed as a slight smile appeared on her face. “You work for me. I’ve never collected a prophet’s soul before; I’m looking forward to seeing if there’s anything unique about it.”
Kim Hajun frowned. “Is that why the only form of payment you want for helping us is my soul?”
“Precisely,” Lindyss said. “Despite my appearance, I’ve lived for a long time, seen a lot of things. The only thing I’m interested in is seeing if your soul is unique. Whatever else the tower has to offer me for saving it, I don’t care.”
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
“If my soul isn’t unique,” Kim Hajun said, “would you mind giving it back to me?” He wasn’t sure what happened to souls after their mortal coils perished, but he had a sneaking suspicion it was better to have ownership of his soul than not.
“Sure,” Lindyss said. She raised an eyebrow. “Does that mean you’re going to ask for my help?”
Kim Hajun looked towards the lord’s fight with the severed hand leaking dark-red energy. Ouyang Feng was covered in his own blood, punching at the Oebu Sin, exchanging blow for blow, punching with his left fist and then his right. Every time he attacked the hand, his arm would shatter despite the regenerating sheet of ice created by the Frost Lord to protect the Martial Lord’s hands, but thanks to the healers standing behind him, Ouyang Feng’s limb would be fully healed by the time it was needed to punch again.
Ouyang Feng’s teeth were gritted as sweat poured down his face. Every punch required his full focus, had to be at full power to match the strength coming from the severed hand. Every time he punched the hand, its skin would crack apart and bleed. Sometimes, if their knuckles collided in just the right way, he’d break one of the Oebu Sin’s bones. However, the Oebu Sin’s flesh squirmed and wiggled, latching together as its broken bones slowly regrew, continuously repairing the wounds it received.
“No,” Kim Hajun said and shook his head. “As long as we can maintain this stalemate, our reinforcements will arrive soon enough.”
***
Vur’s scaly lips smacked together as he crunched and slurped on a grilled insect leg. His four upper legs were still manipulating the sticky threads using the skill he had obtained from Geomi. As for how he was holding the insect leg, he was sitting and using his hindlegs as if they were arms. If the dragons and phoenixes hadn’t already been beaten by him, they would’ve criticized his eating posture. Vur swallowed. “More salt.”
“Yes, of course,” one of the Extreme Heat Clan members who had stayed behind said. He was the one cooking and seasoning the bugs for Vur to eat. Originally, he had stayed behind to harvest the materials from the carcasses, but his actions of gathering meat had caught Vur’s attention, so he became a chef. The fire spirit race member heaped a helping of salt and other seasonings inside the insect leg before grabbing the shell and roasting it with his flames. “Here you are.”
Vur grabbed the leg and chomped down on it. “Perfect,” he said after consuming the whole thing. He licked his lips and wiggled his claws with the threads coming out of them, causing another wave of bound insects to fall to the ground. His eyes lit up as the vibrations from the threads were transmitted back to him in the form of information; Tafel and Mary located the princess bug through one of Tafel’s portals. Once they caught it, they could enjoy a nice, relaxing barbeque before going to check on the situation with the severed hand.