Chapter 142 - We're all Dead

The shadows by our feet rose from the ground and ensnared us both in a mess of black spikes. Eshner's face winced as the hazy specs of darkness fell from the spiky points impaled in her arms and legs.

The corners of her mouth retracted back and showed her fangs. She tensed up her body and a moment later the spikes around her shattered like brittle glass.

Her hand reached out for me but I had already disappeared into the shadows.

{User has activated Shadow Step}

The bar above her shoulder dropped slightly as my chakram plunged into her neck. Her eyes came into view as she snapped towards me and a gust of wind was carried behind her arm as she slashed the air where I stood.

I activated the Second Step and dropped into the floor once more. Eshner thrashed around and with a frantic expression, she slashed out at open air. Her claws created louder swishes the more desperate she looked, but it was too late. I had ascended from the shadows.

{User has activated third step}

I ducked under her claws and closed in on her stomach, with my fist tucked beside my shoulder, I reeled back as far as I could. A green aura surrounded my arm and my eyes tunneled in on her exposed abs.

Her mana isn't the only thing that’s running low, her fighting abilities are quite lacking now. I was able to close in on her without any problems, is this fight over?

“With this, I’ll end it.”

{User has activated Berserker Blow}

I drove my fist into her stomach and her mouth jolted open, spit and blood escaped her throat and a line of blood and spit sprayed out.

With the full force of the orc's arm over mine, I extended my arm out and buried Eshner into the ground. Her body came to a crash and created a powerful explosion of wind that pulsed out around us.

The ground beneath her back shattered into loose pieces of dirt and left a massive hole around us. My teeth clenched shut as I pushed further until her back hit the newly lowered ground.

A second burst of force exploded out as she hit the wrecked gravel and the hole around us had deepened and expanded out.

The effects of the skill disappeared and with it, my mana took a massive dip to near empty. I pulled away from her and reached for my chakram with a steady grip. Without any mana left to cover herself with, she was as vulnerable as any other monster to my blades.

“W-wait…Ack!” She cried out with a bloody cough.

Without the strength to raise her hands, Eshner lay there with one eye open and a terrified expression locked on me. Her hands shivered and her body followed with an equally frightened tremble.

“Don’t come any closer…I can…I’ll tell you what you want to know–anything!!” She pleaded.

“Even if you could tell me what I want to hear…all I can think of doing right now is killing you.”

My blades plunged into her chest and after a silent whimper, the frantic trembling from her body steadied and dropped stiff. The last spec of light from her eyes was snuffed out and her body turned cold.

My vision turned blurry and filled with purple.

{User has successfully slain Eshner the Beast Demon}

{Emergency Quest has been completed}

{Unique Reward has been unlocked for defeating a higher ranked monster} - {Devour enemy corpse to retrieve reward}

{Level Up}

{Level Up}

{Level Up}

{Level Up}

{Level Up}

{Level Up}

I wiped the blood from my brow and glanced over the string of messages that appeared in front of me. With a dejected expression, I confirmed the information on the floating screens and turned to pick up my blade.

My eyes widened slightly.

“What…her body hasn’t disappeared?”

***

Olivia’s mouth hung open slightly as she watched over her shoulder. The fight had ended and Rei hung victorious over the fallen demon’s corpse, purple blood stained his face.

“He seriously did it..?” A cute grin formed as the corners of her mouth rose. “Now it’s just up to us.” Her attention panned back in front of her to the mage wrapped in shadows.

Larc’s bleak expression remained locked on Eshner's dead body. Countless scenarios played out in his head and each one of them ended the same way. His face turned paler than usual, the thought alone sent him into a frightened state.

The end of his mouth trembled, he forced his eyes away from her body and back on the humans in front of him.

“We’re all dead…” He muttered.

One of Adder's brows lifted. He adjusted his grip and the titan followed suit but suddenly the mage disappeared from the titan's hand. He slipped away in a trail of powdered black mist and reformed on the floor of the cave.

Adder immediately backed away and sent the titan's fist flying down at Larc. Larc raised a hand and the shield of mana appeared to cover himself. The titan's fist ricocheted off and Larc’s other hand rose in front of his chest, aimed at Adder.

Titans Helms members snapped into action and quickly rushed to their leader's defence. They fired off magic spells and lunged in, weapons first.

Blasts of fire and powerful waves of concentrated wind flew across the room. He raised his other hand into the air, along with the first and with both arms raised, the magic shield covered around his body like a bubble.

The blasts and attacks struck his shield but none were able to break through. He lowered his arms out to the side and the bubble expanded out, it hit the fighters and mages closest to him and sent them flying back.

Adder and the titan above him were unaffected by it, he took a step hoping to attack when a wave of fatigue fell over him. His one eyelid lowered and the large amount of sweat that accumulated on his face became apparent to him.

“Shit! Out of time already…” Adder grimaced.

The mana body of the titan above him collapsed in on itself and fell apart. The bones slowly evaporated into the air while larger pieces broke off and fell around him like wreckage from the ceiling.

Larc took one final look at Rei and his mouth crinkled into a detested smirk. His lips slowly glid off each other as he muttered,

“You fool.”

Every piece of his being, from his sleeves to his hair rippled with lively waves. He slowly faded out of sight like a haze escaping through the air, his eyes still fixed on Rei. Within seconds his body drifted off into the open air and the room fell silent.