Chapter 291: Temple [2]
'Fuck...'
The realization that I had missed the pillar hit me rather quickly.
As my head flicked in all directions, trying my best to think of a solution, I held my breath.
In the end, I extended my hand in the direction of the pillar, a single thread shooting toward the pillar in the hope of penetrating it, but...
Tink-
To my utter horror, the thread bounced off the pillar, and the speed at which I dropped increased.
Having not expected this to happen, my heart fluttered in panic before I twisted my body mid-air and faced the tightrope made out of my threads above me. Extending my head, even more threads burst out from my hand, shooting toward the tightrope.
"Uekh!"
The speed at which the threads shot was faster than the speed at which I was falling, but even then, it was barely enough.
'Not good...!'
As my threads hooked onto the tightrope, it slowly started to sink, just barely slowing down my fall.
The worst part about the situation was that I couldn't hold onto the thread given how sharp it was. I could only continuously stop it and lengthen it in order to slow down my fall.
....I just needed it to not snap.
But even that wasn't enough. Looking down, I could see that I was merely a few meters away from the ground. freeweɓnøvel.com
Through my gritted teeth, I used every means I could think of to slow down my fall. It worked, but it was barely enough.
Thump!
In the end, I still ended up hitting the ground hard.
"...Uekh!"
Hitting the ground, I felt the wind get knocked out of me as my back cracked in different places.
By some miracle, I was able to stop my head from hitting the floor, but the damage was still there.
Laying on the ground, I felt every part of my body ache.
Despite the pain, I was still able to keep my mind clear. Having grown used to these types of situations, I knew to keep my mind clear in situations where I was experiencing pain.
'I can't quite tell, but it looks like I broke my pelvis, and I've gotten several broken ribs...'
All in all, the injuries were bad, but not to the point where they'd hinder me in the short term. '....I definitely could've done better.'
It was just that I barely had any time to properly assess the situation. Had I had enough time, I probably would've been able to come up with a better solution than the impromptu ones that I used to just barely scrape my own death.
"Too late anyway."
And with such thoughts, I turned my body and hastily stood up.
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My eye twitched under the pain that suddenly jolted into my mind, but I chose to ignore it and looked around me.
"Ah."
My heart sank to the depths of my stomach the moment that I looked up.
I felt my skin crawl at the sight that greeted me as my breathing grew heavier and my heart started to drum loudly within my mind. Surrounding me were over a dozen Wraiths, their empty eye sockets burning holes into my soul as their slender hands scraped against the ground, sending chills down my spine.
I couldn't find it within me to say a thing as I pursed my lips and looked around.
'Twelve...'
Those were the number of Wraiths that were currently surrounding me. In the distance, I could see a further number approaching my general direction.
I looked around, scanning my surroundings for a way out, but all my means of escape were sealed.
The only option left for me was to...
Fight.
"H-hoo."
My chest trembled at the realization.
I still had a little bit of mana. A little less than half, with most of it having been used on the tightrope, which was still lingering at the top.
Realizing the gravity of the situation, I recalled all the threads back and tapped onto my ring. Two figures appeared shortly after that.
11
Owl-Mighty and Pebble both looked at me with the same baffled looks.
"I know. I'd like some help if possib—"
Swoosh!
My words were cut short by a slender hand that shot in my direction at an unbelievable speed.
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I hardly had any time to react before the hand reached for the side of my neck.
"Uekh!"
In the nick of time, I was just barely able to avoid it, but not before several other hands shot in
my direction.
Swoosh, swoosh-!
Twisting my foot, I tilted my head to the left and barely just managed to avoid one of the hands with another aiming for my abdomen.
Chains formed over my left hand as they curled around it and I brought it over my abdomen.
Clank!
A metallic sound echoed as I was sent staggering several steps back.
"Нааа... Наа..."
Sweat poured down from the side of my face as I looked around me. The number of Wraiths had grown from twelve to fifteen, and they were increasing in number.
My heart sank at the realization and my head flicked in Pebble and Owl-Mighty's direction.
The entire time they had stood still without doing much.
"....A little help?"
I was really in need of some help.
"Not yet."
"Not yet...? What's that supposed to m-"
Swoosh-
I quickly shut my mouth and ducked down, avoiding an incoming hand.
All thoughts about them disappeared from my mind and I focused on the Wraiths that
surrounded me.
Without skipping I beat, I stepped forward, activating [Step of Supression].
The gravity that surrounded me magnified and the Wraiths slowed down.
'Good, this makes it easier.'
With their movements slowed, it became a lot easier for me to handle them as threads burst
forth in all directions, shooting for the sockets of the Wraiths around me.
My head throbbed with each thread that came out of my arm.
In order to control a single thread, I needed a certain level of focus. I had grown used to using
more than one thread, with my limit being around fifteen. In this case, there were indeed fifteen threads, but I also needed to keep my attention focused on controlling the intensity of the gravity that was folding onto the Wraiths.
"Kh...!"
It felt as though my head was being split into two.
Clenching my teeth, I navigated the threads toward the socket of the Wraiths. With the gravity
focused on them, hindering their movements, a few of the threads managed to burrow deeply
into some of the Wraiths, mangling their insides.
Thump!
Their death was rather quick, dying within a few seconds of the threads entering their sockets.
But unfortunately, I was only able to get rid of five out of the fifteen Wraiths that had surrounded me. Evidently, I hadn't been able to focus well enough to keep the gravitational suppression to a similar level for all the Wraiths, with some able to dodge the threads.
"This..."
The situation was a lot worse than I anticipated.
Nonetheless, I knew that I couldn't stop. Taking a few breaths, I extended my hand forward and locked my gaze on the nearest Wraith.
A purple hand materialized right before it, gripping it tightly onto its neck.
[Grip of Pestilence]
The hand shattered the moment it touched the Wraith, but the damage was done as its body
glowed a faint purple color. Its movements started to slow down, and I took that moment to rush in its direction, ducking down to dodge its hands and twisting around its body before
reaching for its back where I jumped and held on tightly.
"Kh...!"
Hooking my arms around its neck, my hands turned purple and I firmly held onto its head. At the same time, I activated [Veil of Deception] and threw a small rock away from me.
The rock quickly changed into my form as it ran in the opposite direction, attracting the
attention of several Wraiths.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The arms of the Wraith I was on flayed wildly as they tried to bend and reach for me. Some of
its hands did reach my back, scraping it and leaving wounds over it, but I persisted and held
on firmly.
Swoosh! Swoo....
Gradually, its movements started to slow down.
I knew that the effects of [Grip of Pestilence] were starting to take effect, and it was only then
that I finally guided several threads into its sockets, finally killing the Wraith.
Thump!
The Wraith fell forward and with me still clung to its back.
A tense silence followed suit as I held onto my breath and remained glued to its back.
Tak, tak, tak-
Keeping my head lowered, I could faintly hear the nearing sound of the Wraith's footsteps as
they moved in my general direction.
Sweat trickled down the side of my face as my toes curled from the anxiety.
I couldn't see a thing.
The entire time my head was lowered.
Tak-
My ear tingled.
I silently swallowed my saliva.
Tak, tak-
Several more steps followed, and my body tensed.
I tried to swallow again, but my mouth was dry.
I lay in silence.
My ears perked up as I strained to listen to my surroundings. In case I heard something
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abnormal, I was ready to quickly leave the spot. At the same time, the mana within my body
drained rapidly.
Tak!
Another step followed.
My heart was at my throat.
To make matters worse, I could hear more and more steps approaching my general direction.
Evidently, the sound from the fight from before had attracted the attention of all the other
Wraiths.
I remained calm.
'Not yet...'
My entire body was tense.
I held on tightly to the dead Wraith while the steps around me accumulated.
'Not...!'
Just faintly, I felt a change occur behind me. Without hesitation, I rolled to the side.
Bang!
That turned out to be the right move as a hand shot in the spot I had previously been in, impaling the area beneath.
Blood spurted out from the dead Wraith's body as I curled my hand into a fist.
Spurt, spurt, spurt-!
Blood sprayed all over my surroundings as threads emerged from out of nowhere, shredding
the legs of everything within my vicinity.
In the moments when I had been hugging the Wraith, I made sure to carefully lay out the
threads while also hiding them using [Veil of Deceit].
My goal was to directly sever their ankles.
Thump, thump!
That proved to be the right move as over a dozen bodies fell on the ground. I pressed my
hands against the ground and jumped up, quickly looking toward my surroundings before
locking my eyes on the faraway temple.
"Haa... Haa..."
Despite my heavy breath, I didn't spare a second and ran in that direction. Notifications flashed before my very eyes as I moved, and as I retrieved the threads back, I started to blend in with the environment.
It wasn't long before I reached the front of the temple where I was greeted with the sight of
over a dozen statues, their height towering over me.
Without paying attention to them, I lowered my head and stared at my hands which were
filled with a web of black.
I knew then that I had no choice but to go even faster.
'More... Just a little more...'
