Chương 22: Chapter 21

Blood surged throughout the burning forest like a crimson flood, dousing flames and melting everything it touched. The air filled with the foul stench of acid mixed with ash and smoke, stinging eyes and burning lungs with every breath. Two humans and an orc sprinted desperately through the charred woods, searching for any place untouched by the spreading sea of blood. Their destination was a small hilltop rising above the forest floor. Calling it a hilltop was generous.

In reality, it was little more than a slightly elevated mound of dirt several feet higher than the surrounding terrain. To them, however, it looked like salvation. Adam glanced over his shoulder at the tide of blood rapidly gaining on them. Then he looked down at the bloody footprints he was leaving behind. The slight touch against his heels had been enough to melt through skin and flesh almost to the bone.

Even after casting multiple healing spells, the damage continued to slowly dissolve as though the acidic blood refused to stop eating away at him. Every step sent agonizing pain shooting through his legs. Only sheer stubbornness kept him moving toward the nearby mound. Finally, they reached it. The moment Adam stepped onto the raised patch of earth, his body relaxed slightly. Then he immediately collapsed face-first onto the ground.

"Adam!" Mei dropped beside him while panting heavily, quickly examining his ruined heels. Blood still dripped steadily from the melted flesh. Adam gritted his teeth so hard his jaw hurt. He clutched his bone staff tightly enough for the handle to crack slightly under the pressure.

"[Heal]!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. [Desperate Heal]: A heal spell cast with extreme desperation. Effect: Heals all wounds, even severed limbs, at the cost of immense magic drain. A deep green light washed over his body before gathering around his feet. The melted flesh rapidly regenerated. Skin stitched itself back together. Muscle regrew. The horrific wounds finally closed completely. Adam let out a shaky breath of relief, but the victory came at a heavy cost. His mana reserves were nearly empty.

The only reason he had even a sliver remaining was thanks to his Mage Hood reducing the cost of spells ever-so slightly. And using the magic storage of his Mage Belt, he slowly restored a tiny amount of mana over time. Granessa stood near the edge of the mound, staring grimly at the endless sea of blood surrounding their tiny island of safety. Then she turned back toward them.

"Either the blood is rising," she said, "or the hill is shrinking. Either way, we only have a few minutes before this place disappears too." Her expression darkened further.

"And I have no idea where those worms are lurking…" Adam couldn't answer. He sat cross-legged on the ground and focused entirely on recovering as much mana as possible during the brief respite.

"The skill can't last forever," Mei said between breaths.

"Otherwise that would just be unfair." She crossed her arms confidently.

"Maybe if we wait, it'll recede on its own." Almost immediately after she spoke, the blood sea actually began pulling backward toward the direction it had originally come from. Mei pointed triumphantly.

"See?" Then another system notification appeared. Lord of Flesh activated [Blood Tsunami] [Blood Tsunami]: The combination skill tied to [Toxic Blood Wave]. All toxic blood in a fixed region floods the area in front of it in a straight line. Mei's eyes widened.

"Oh fu—!" Her curse was drowned out by the thunderous roar of rushing liquid. A massive wall of blood surged through the forest toward them at terrifying speed. It had to be at least twenty feet tall. Trees dissolved instantly upon contact with the crimson wave.

"Go!" Granessa shouted. Before Adam could react, the towering orc grabbed him by the hood of his cloak and slung him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Then she ran. Adam was genuinely grateful for the help. Unfortunately, it was also the least dignified position imaginable while being watched by thousands of livestream viewers. To make matters worse, Granessa's muscles felt less like flesh and more like solid steel as he bounced painfully against her shoulder with every step.

Granessa's feet suddenly ignited with magic power, crimson energy flaring beneath her boots as her speed shot to another level. [Surge]: A dash skill created to momentarily increase sprinting speeds in small bursts. The ground cracked beneath each step as she sprinted through the burning forest with Adam still slung over her shoulder.

"Knife-ear, what are you doing?" Granessa shouted over the roar of the approaching tsunami.

"Cast a dash skill!"

"Umm…" Mei had never actually tried using a movement skill before. Still, most magic and abilities within the Game relied heavily on imagination. Even complete beginners could theoretically cast mythical spells if they could visualize them properly. The problem was the mana cost. Trying to cast something far beyond your limits could kill you instantly. Mei focused desperately. A faint golden spark flickered around her feet. Then lightning exploded outward.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. She shot forward like a bolt tearing through the forest, leaving streaks of electricity dancing behind her steps. [Lightning Dash]: Surround your feet with high-voltage electrical currents to boost running speed. High mana usage! Effect: Increases running speed by 50% Time Limit: 59/60 Seconds Granessa blinked as Mei suddenly blasted past her.

"Good spell," she admitted.

"But you should conserve your mana. That one looks expensive."

"I'll worry about that after we survive!" Mei shouted back. Electricity crackled around her body as she surged ahead, almost looking like she was riding lightning itself. Granessa maintained her own movement skill as well. Unlike Mei's explosive speed boost, hers came in short bursts that increased her speed by twenty or thirty percent for a few seconds at a time. Meanwhile, Adam was suffering.

"Oof! Ugh! Huu!" Each stride sent his stomach slamming painfully against Granessa's shoulder hard enough to make him nauseous. If this continued much longer, he was absolutely going to throw up. Finally, he squirmed and awkwardly wiggled his way free from her grip before repositioning himself into a seated position atop her massive shoulder. It was slightly humiliating. He felt like a little kid riding on their parent's shoulders at a theme park.

Still, it was infinitely more comfortable than being repeatedly punched in the stomach by her shoulder blade, and it gave him a little extra focus to slowly replenish his drained mana. While steadying himself, Adam risked a glance behind them. The moment he saw the tsunami clearly for the first time, his face went pale. The wave towered over the forest like a crimson natural disaster. Even from a distance, he could hear the violent hiss of acid melting everything in its path.

Thankfully, they were no longer directly in front of its trajectory. Unfortunately, that didn't matter much. The instant the wave lost momentum, the splashback would spread outward in all directions and drown the surrounding forest beneath a rain of toxic blood. Including them.

"Mountains!" Adam shouted urgently.

"Head for the mountains!" That was the only possible shelter. Even if the acidic blood could melt stone, there was no way it could chew through an entire mountain instantly. At the very least, it would buy them time. Adam no longer had any thoughts about killing the Lord of Flesh. Not that he had any to begin with, but he was sure Mei wanted to. But that thing was impossible to fight against. The three of them desperately scanned through the burning woods while sprinting at full speed.

Smoke curled thickly through the air as ashes rained down constantly. Visibility was terrible. Between the flames and smoke, they could barely even see a few feet ahead of themselves, let alone spot the distant mountains.

"Where are they?!" Mei shouted. No one had an answer. A sudden gust of wind tore through the smoke-filled forest, briefly clearing their vision. Through the flames and drifting ash, they finally spotted something in the distance. Unfortunately, it wasn't the mountains they had been searching for. A vast desert stretched out ahead of them instead. Golden sands rolled endlessly beneath the blazing sky, forming massive dunes broken up only by the occasional swirling sandstorm in the distance.

Still, now that they could see the desert, they could at least determine where the mountains were relative to it. Granessa and Mei instinctively began veering toward the mountain range beyond the desert's edge. But Adam kept staring at the sands. Then he gritted his teeth.

"Stop! Go into the desert!"

"Huh?" Both women looked at him like he had gone insane.

"No time to explain, just go!" Earlier, Adam had been so desperate to escape that he'd convinced himself the mountains were their only hope. But now that he could think more clearly, he remembered just how sheer the cliff faces actually were. Climbing them while exhausted and being chased by a bloody tsunami would be nearly impossible. The desert, however… Two things had clicked into place the moment he saw it. First, many of the massive dunes in the distance were practically mountains themselves.

Climbing sand would still be difficult, but far easier than scaling a vertical cliff face. Second, something from the chat had finally registered in his mind. A message he hadn't had time to properly read earlier. BugFacts: Planaria are aquatic creatures. The extreme climate of a desert would likely nerf them significantly. Adam didn't have time to explain further. Behind them, the massive tsunami finally crashed to a halt. And with it, blood exploded outward in every direction.

A crimson spray rained across the landscape like a deadly spring shower, followed immediately by smaller waves surging outward from the impact zone.

"Move!" Adam shouted. Mei reacted first. Lightning crackled around her feet as she bolted toward the desert in a straight line. Granessa followed right behind her with Adam still perched awkwardly on her shoulder. As they ran, Adam focused on slowly restoring his depleted mana reserves. Unfortunately, his backside was starting to ache horribly from bouncing against Granessa's rock-hard muscles for so long.

At this point, he was beginning to understand why riding horseback for hours without a saddle was so miserable. The boundary between the forest and desert came into view quickly. It was unnaturally straight. As though someone had sliced the two environments apart with a giant paper trimmer before placing them side by side. Adam was fairly certain that from a bird's-eye view, each biome would appear as a perfect square with zero overlap. Like a Minecraft world.

The moment they crossed into the desert, several differences became painfully obvious. First and foremost, the heat. The desert was unbearably hot. Even the burning forest behind them hadn't felt as scorching. The sands radiated heat so intensely that the air itself shimmered. Then they saw the Lord of Flesh again. All four worms wiggled and squirmed at the very edge of the forest biome, their massive bodies writhing atop the charred ground.

Their spike-filled maws twisted into hateful expressions despite lacking any real facial features.

"Don't think you're safe just because the desert suppresses our abilities," the four worms growled in unison.

"In fact…"

"We developed an ability specifically for situations like this." Their featureless flesh twisted into grotesque sneers. The sight was deeply unsettling. Then all four activated a nightmarish skill simultaneously.