Chương 120: Interlude 15

Supreme Warlady Elena Burnstock The Librarian coughed up a torrent of blood as the bubble of space shook. Outside the sealed safety area, the demon Agares prowled covered in blood. The demon emerged mostly unscathed from our initial clash. Unfortunately, the blood on him was ours. I looked at The Mathemancer, who was chugging down potions. He had a hole where his heart should be. He was chugging down healing potions, but a curse skill had hit him. Heart Implosion ensured it would not regenerate.

He would die when his Mana ran out, and there was nothing we could do. The Librarian was missing an arm and struggling to maintain the spatial bubble protecting us. It was one of his Tier 6 skills. I glanced at Blood Gore's head, left shoulder, and left arm, which I had tossed on the ground after force-feeding him several potions. He was regenerating rapidly, but it was still too slow. Most likely another curse skill from the demon, or just Mana interference with Blood Gore's regeneration. I wasn't much better.

The fire burned away my hair, and most of my head was a burnt mess. The cursed flames made healing near impossible. I could see only out of my left eye. The right one had melted away from the heat and Mana. That breath attack had caught me off guard during a tricky clash. The Librarian had gotten off a message with his device, telling his contact at the Last Bastion what we had encountered here on the 26 th layer.

"Elena, I will buy you time," The Mathemancer said.

"I refuse to run. I will not abandon you," I declared in a rasping voice. The cursed flame attack damaged my vocal cords.

"Fool! I will be dead shortly. The Librarian is spending his life to shield us, and Blood Gore is only a third of what he once was." Blood Gore twitched at the mention of his name, but he focused on recovering as quickly as possible. I knew it to be true. I disliked running away from a monster, but there was no winning this battle. I couldn't let my feelings kill us all. As long as I lived, I could return for revenge. Since The Mathemancer had offered, I would accept his last request.

"I won't forget this kindness. Name your request of me?" I asked. It was only right, since he was going to give his life to allow me to escape.

"Learn Calculus," he said. I knew he was teasing me since I disliked math skills. I understood their use, but I preferred instinct to calculation and numbers. But I would learn it. I would hate it, but I would learn it.

"Very well. I will learn and maximize the skill in your memory," I declared.

"Blood Gore. I will carry you. Try not to die." I picked up Blood Gore by the neck. He had a chance at living, so I would not abandon him. His Mana was holding pieces in place as they slowly regenerated.

"One minute," The Librarian gasped out as the spatial dome shook again as Agares punched it.

"Then, prepare to see my attempt at a Tier 7 skill. Perhaps it will be enough to wound the monster," The Mathemancer declared. Mana poured out of him. All of his Mana. It twisted and turned, forming something I could not even understand in full, even with my skills. He created a kind of focusing array to draw in Mana from around him, but it would just flow through everything. The complexity rapidly increased as various shapes formed. Not just runes, but also ritual components and other things I didn't recognize.

It was hard to breathe with how thick the Mana was becoming. The grip on my sword tightened. Sarah, I would need your strength. The demon had backed up, and The Librarian collapsed as the last of his life drained away. Without him, we wouldn't have survived the initial onslaught. His sacrifice was the only reason we were all still alive.

"Absolute Force Reversal." I was already moving and running away, with Blood Gore, and a sword in hand. I didn't dare to look behind at what was happening. Even if it was a Tier 7 skill, I wouldn't allow myself to be caught up in the moment. I would have to use a skill I had earned long ago on that farm. I used this skill often while fighting in the dungeon and improved my skills. A skill that I had never mentioned or told anyone else about. I diligently increased this skill to Tier 5.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The skill wasn't one I enjoyed, but it was necessary for survival against monsters. I'd come a long way since my family's murder, yet I knew I was still vulnerable. Hiding was the only choice when a stronger entity appeared. I would toss Blood Gore away, allowing him to escape and recover. But I would not run. This was the true secret to how I reached such heights.

The danger and risk were insane, but I refused to lose or retreat. I would kill this monster eventually. No matter how long it took. I had thought a team would work, but they were useless in the end. I could depend only on myself and the skills I knew would work. Demon Agares The humans had unleashed a last attack. My blood began moving in the other direction. My body refused to obey my commands. Bile and consumed flesh exploded out of my mouth. I couldn't see anything. For one moment, I felt like I was dying.

Then I surged my Mana. The skill was powerful, but fragile. It broke apart. The human exploded in a massive blaze of fire and lightning, consuming the corpses of both him and his deceased companion. I frowned. I had only consumed some of their Mana, not all of it. The prey had killed themselves to escape me. I never got a group, so I thought it would be a buffet. Instead, they caused me trouble by supporting each other and hurting me. A burst of Mana cleaned my face and mouth.

The corpses had been completely consumed along with their Mana. I observed where the other two had run off to. I couldn't sense them. Did they teleport away? It would have been dangerous at this layer of the depths with such large Mana fluctuations and no time to align properly with their destination. I sniffed the air and traced their path. It ended just outside my sanctuary. This was a place to avoid the annoyances of the depths. A hunt! That was something I hadn't gotten to enjoy in forever.

I rotated through all my sensory skills. Where were they? Still nothing. I smiled more at this. If they had used a powerful skill to escape, the Mana would have been in the air. Instead, they were using something else to hide from me nearby.

"Clever, very clever. But I know you are nearby," I said while looking around. I stared down at the ground and tapped it with my foot. The vibrations spread outwards, but I didn't sense any cavities or voids. I looked upwards. The ceiling of this layer was quite far up, but there was no falling debris. Their Mana was completely suppressed. I wasn't surprised that the woman could do such a feat. Her survival despite being hit with my Hellflame Breath was impressive.

They had disappeared at the spot where I was standing. But where, oh where, did my meals escape to? I screamed in pain as a sword pushed through my chest. An immense amount of Mana flooded into me, and I couldn't control it.

"Die, you spawn of the dungeon! Go back to the abyss from where you came!" the woman shouted as she twisted the blade and swung to the side, bisecting me completely. She didn't hesitate to follow through as she lunged forward to stab me in the head.

"True Form! Hellflame Aura!" A massive explosion of Mana burst outwards from me. I preferred a human form to put my prey at ease and to move about quickly. However, I would not allow a human to kill me. Red and black Mana surged up and outwards. The flesh I had worn disintegrated. Black flames rolled outwards, forcing the woman to retreat. My wounds were gone, my Mana surged to new heights, completely refilled. My stats filled up my body as I towered over the woman who thought to kill me, ten times over.

She was but an ant to my true power. I canceled my aura since my transformation was complete. No need to waste Mana. It would force the woman back, not kill her.

"Behold my true form, puny human!" I roared. My voice shook the depths themselves as black flames rippled over the red flesh of my true body. My horns sensed the shift of Mana while my massive spiked tail shifted, ready to aid me in combat.

"I am your doom monster. That is all you need to know! Now face my sword and vengeance!"" Hellfire Spear!" A massive spear of black flames formed in one of my clawed hands. I stabbed downwards as a boom echoed outwards, and I broke through the sound barrier with my attack. The woman raised her blade to deflect the attack, and a shield formed to protect her from the explosion of flames and debris as my attack hit the ground." Slice!" I didn't bother dodging the attack.

Instead, I exhaled, and my Hellfire Breath impacted the attack, creating an explosion and a rain of black flames. The explosion temporarily blocked my vision and senses. As I readied my next attack to counter whatever the woman might do, her Mana had disappeared. Looking around, I couldn't sense her at all. I roared in pure rage as she had wounded me and escaped again. It didn't matter that I had recovered instantly. I had not felt such aggravation in millennia. This human woman thought she could hide from me!

"Fine. I shall flush you out like the rat you are." I began tracing runes in the air, drawing in Mana from the depths. I would turn this area into Hellfire, and everything would die except me. The depths would not be happy, but they would endure like they always endured. I finished, and the runic symbols spun as black fire began pouring down like water, flooding over the terrain. Everything would burn. Everything would melt. There would be no escape.

The woman might have a skill that allowed her to hide no matter what, but that didn't matter. I would kill her.

"Reveal yourself!" I roared in frustration and kicked up an enormous chunk of burning ground. It went flying into the distance as more Hellfire flames flooded the terrain. The depths shook, it wasn't happy with what I was doing. I swiped a clawed hand. The runes disappeared along with the waterfall of Hellfire." Slice!" I screamed in pain as the skill cut deep into my back. I moved forward clumsily, then spun around and saw the woman with her sword swinging again." Slice!" Another cut blossomed across my chest.

It hurt, but I was used to pain. I raced forward, the air like solid rock at the speed I moved. I didn't take my eyes off the woman for a single moment. She would not leave my sight again. I punched down towards her. She stabbed upwards at my massive fist with her sword. END BOOK 2