Chapter 164: Surrounded
As the creature flew through the air, Kael leaned back just enough to let another strike from the side pass by his face, feeling the sharp wind of its claws grazing past his cheek. At the same time, he twisted his torso in one fluid motion before driving his dagger straight into the monster's face and slitting it open brutally before it could attack again either with its writhing tentacles or its razor-like claws.
Then, without granting it even a breath to react, he kicked it hard in the chest, sending its body spiraling away while he used the recoil to throw himself upward into the air.
'Two down.'
At the exact spot where he had been standing a mere second earlier, a claw pierced through nothing but air, slicing so violently that the water beneath it split apart. Had he delayed even slightly to leap above the creature backward, that strike might have torn through his back without warning, perhaps ending him instantly in a sudden and merciless surprise attack.
'Luckily, these creatures are way too predictable compared to that bitch... Effie. Same types of attacks over and over again... I am sick of it. I don't even need to observe what they're planning anymore to predict their movements. The only actual advantage they had over me up until now was their immense speed. However, even that became easier to deal with the moment I chose my next movement beforehand instead of reacting to theirs. That way, I knew what their next moves were going to be along with mine and was able to break through their defenses easily. In the end, all this struggle had been only for me to realise such a basic tactic, really?'
He landed behind the creature back to back while the monster turned its head from side to side in confusion, clearly struggling to locate its prey. The instant it sensed him, though, its muscles tensed and its limbs jerked in an attempt to either escape or strike in blind panic.
But it was too late to react.
Because his dagger was resting against its neck by then, held backward in his hand with deadly precision.
Walking forward in a steady stride, he sliced cleanly through its throat in one deliberate motion as he scoffed, "Pathetic!"
Its body swayed as though struggling to understand what had just happened, its severed head falling to the floor and rolling several times before splashing into the shallow water nearby. Moments later, the rest of its corpse collapsed heavily beside another one that lay motionless not far away, which had also fallen not long ago.
Of course, he could not deny the truth, which was that he had been able to dispatch them so efficiently only because they were already weakened into a severely injured state beforehand, either by his relentless assaults earlier or by the careless strikes of their own kin or perhaps even their support units, all of which had slowed their movements significantly and dulled their once overwhelming speed.
'Three down.'
Looking over his shoulder, he glanced toward the remaining two creatures that were now circling him with far more caution than the others had shown, their movements deliberate as though they had finally begun to understand the consequences of recklessness.
Watching them attempt this display of coordination, he tilted his head and shrugged, "Coordination, my ass?"
'These two are definitely going to make killing them far more complicated than it already is... without a doubt.'
And just as he anticipated, both monsters launched themselves at him at the same time from entirely different angles, one lunging directly toward him with claws extended while the other descended from high above with terrifying speed, aiming to crush or tear him apart in a synchronized assault. Even so, he parried the first one head-on with a sharp metallic clash while twisting his torso sharply to deflect the second in nearly the same breath, forcing both strikes away with calculated precision.
As time passed, though, the two creatures unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks intended to tear him apart piece by piece, but their strategy remained deceptively simple despite its effectiveness. They continued switching roles and positions repeatedly, one lunging while the other attacked from above, then exchanging places and repeating the same sequence again and again.
Even though he could anticipate their movements beforehand to a certain extent, the shifting angles and distances prevented him from closing in perfectly to break through one of their defenses, leaving him instead forced to prioritize protecting his own back every single time their claws sliced toward him from opposite directions.
It appeared that they had realised the fundamental flaw in his situation, understanding that as long as they attacked simultaneously from exact opposite sides he would remain unable to finish either of them, and so they committed to that approach without hesitation. On top of that, these two had not been injured beforehand, meaning their speed remained at its peak and granted them a sharp advantage that was difficult to ignore.
So he deflected one strike, then sidestepped another, twisted his torso to redirect a descending claw before deflecting again, then turned sharply on his boots to meet yet another lunge, repeating the same sequence over and over until the rhythm of parry and twist and turn blurred together into an almost mechanical routine, to the point that he had completely lost count of how many times his blade had intercepted theirs.
The shallow water beneath his feet rippled endlessly from the constant impacts, but despite all the movement he almost felt as though he had not advanced even a single step, as if he were standing still while the creatures themselves became streaks rushing at him from every direction at once, creating an illusion that bordered on hallucination even though he knew very well that every strike was painfully real.
He had already lost himself so deeply in the battle that he no longer knew the position he was standing in nor the whereabouts of his other teammates. It felt as though his sense of hearing had abandoned him entirely, even though a deafening roar of clashing weapons, shrieks, groans, and desperate cries continued to echo relentlessly throughout the vast and spacious hall, reverberating against the towering walls in a chaotic symphony of violence. It was rather strange, really, how everything seemed both distant and painfully close at the same time, as if the world around him had been wrapped inside a suffocating veil while he alone stood at its center, trapped within the rhythm of relentless combat.
Of course, things weren't going as smoothly as they might appear in hindsight, though. Sure, he had managed to deflect countless attacks with precision that bordered on instinct, but he had received several injuries himself, not too severe to cripple him entirely but certainly not too faint to ignore either.
His shirt had long since been reduced to torn fragments, pierced through by claws that had struck almost simultaneously, leaving parts of his bloodied muscles exposed to the cool air of the hall. His face wasn't in a good shape either, since it had almost become entirely stained with blood, some flesh missing from the brutal grazes, leaving behind piercing grooves carved by vicious claws that had shown no mercy.
The creatures themselves weren't going unscathed either, as their black fur had been stained and torn by repeated strikes, several wounds slitting their skins open in jagged patterns that exposed the darkness beneath. One of the creature's few tentacles on its face was now completely missing, severed cleanly at the base, while another bore a grave injury in its eye, black blood pouring out steadily and glistening against its matted fur as it dripped to the soaked floor below.
'It's not going anywhere. How much time has passed already? What is happening in the rest of the battlefield? The groans and shouts of the adventurers still echo, so perhaps things have worsened. Why hasn't the boss used its third ability yet? I need to know, but I cannot lose my focus here, unless I have a death wish, that is. Still, this has to end now. No more hesitation, like my sweetheart had said.'
As one of the creatures lunged forward in an attempt to cut him down, he deflected the strike with practiced ease and drove his boot into its waist in the same motion, not hard enough to send it flying across the hall but sufficient to make it lose its balance for a fleeting second. Parrying another incoming claw that sought to tear into his ribs, he dashed sideways with a swift pivot of his foot and twisted his wrist with calculated force before driving his blade deep into its chest. The steel sank through flesh and bone alike as he twisted it almost instantly, ensuring the damage would not be superficial.
But even as the creature staggered, it lashed out again, its claw sweeping toward him, while at the same time another set of claws hovered mere inches away from piercing through his back in the span of a heartbeat.
Without wasting a single breath, he seized the creature's attacking arm with fierce determination and beheaded the one before him in a swift and fluid motion.
Before the severed head could even strike the ground, however, the other claw drove toward his back, and perhaps it would have pierced straight through him had it not been for the two wings formed from decompressed whirlpools of wind, manifested silently and unnoticed by anyone, spreading wide enough to intercept the blow on his behalf.
'I can't believe it… I've been locked in combat with these creatures long enough to conserve some mana for a spell or two.'
Twisting his body enough to redirect his momentum, he delivered a devastating punch into the chest of the hovering creature. The moment it was forced back by the impact, a violent surge of compressed wind erupted forward, piercing cleanly through its torso and leaving behind a gaping cavity carved by immense pressure. Before the black blood had a chance to spill from the wound, he severed its head in one swift motion and sent the corpse crashing away with a forceful kick.
'Ah, finally, five down and I'm all out.'
Five?
Something was not right.
Why were there only five when he was supposed to be surrounded by six instead? Where had the last one disappeared to? Had it been slain by the support unit without him noticing? Or had it slipped away to join another clash elsewhere in the hall?
'That must be it. I am worrying over nothing. Let me see how the battle stands now. Are we gaining ground, or are we being pushed back?'
He lifted his gaze toward the distance.
But his sight never reached its destination, since at that exact moment the world suddenly began to spin around him in a slow and disorienting swirl.
Or perhaps it was not the world that was moving but him, as something delivered a bone-shattering attack directly onto his back, the impact nearly crushing his ribs and biting viciously into his flesh in its wake, sending him hurtling through the air before he could even comprehend what had struck him.
Was that the final creature he had momentarily ignored? Even if he had sensed it in time, what could he have done with no mana left within him to summon even the faintest defense? It was almost astonishing that he had not gone unconscious from the sheer force of it yet.
'Ah… it still feels terrible!'
While he was suspended helplessly in mid-air, another crushing force slammed heavily into his torso, amplifying the devastation as it drove him downward with brutal strength. In the next moment, he crashed into the floor below with such violence that the stone shattered into a spreading net of cracks beneath him while splashes of water erupted in every direction, rising into the air and forming a thin mist that momentarily obscured the scene.
The aftermath of the impact hurled his torso upward slightly as blood filled his mouth and touched his lips with a metallic bitterness, and then, as gravity reclaimed him without mercy, his battered body fell back onto the fractured ground with a heavy but disturbingly soft thud.
'Argh!'
He was in pain, in a deep and inexplicable pain that seemed to seep into his very bones and coil around his nerves like a living thing. To make matters worse, it was becoming difficult for him to remain conscious, which was most likely the aftermath of mana exhaustion weighing down on him like an invisible chain, and everything around him felt distant and hazy, as if he were looking at the world through a layer of murky water.
'I can't move a muscle, damn it…'
And by some strange stroke of luck, a creature stood not too far away from where he lay, its silhouette barely visible through his blurred vision, although he could not make out its face clearly. Even so, he was certain it was staring directly at him, perhaps observing him in silence, or perhaps waiting patiently for something to happen.
But why had it not finished him yet?
Perhaps it did not deem him worthy enough to kill him with its own hands, or perhaps it simply assumed he was already dead since he had not moved a single muscle yet. Who could possibly understand what went on inside a creature's mind anyway, assuming it even possessed one?
'Ah, what has become of me, then.'
Was it not astonishing enough that he had survived the assault of a group of S-Ranked monsters all at once despite being three ranks below them? If other adventurers were to discover his true rank, they might very well drop their jaws in disbelief.
Then again, ranks were assigned based on one's mana capacity rather than actual combat experience, so in a battle to the death where experience dictated survival, those ranks sometimes mattered far less than people believed. Of course, those high-rankers possessed a massive advantage when it came to magic. Therefore, they were capable of casting what seemed like countless spells without pause, so the only path to victory for someone weaker would be to endure those relentless attacks and emerge unscathed, which was hardly realistic in a situation such as this. Regardless of all that struggle, had he achieved anything in return, though?
'I'm not sure. So, what am I supposed to do now? Just lay motionless? Waiting for someone to come and save me? How pathetic!'
He couldn't help but laugh. Then a dark grin spread across his face, bitter and cold, masking the agony raging through his body.
Looking at the creature straight in the eye, he spoke in a hoarse voice, "Hey, you. Where was I again last time…? Oh, right. I remember now. Do you know why I changed my mind about switching weapons so suddenly? It's simple, really. Once, there was a time when I was unable to wield any sword simply because I did not have the talent to do so, if my vague memory serves me correctly. Somehow, I can use it decently enough now. But I don't really know how I learned it, though. I really don't, trust me. Perhaps it was my master who taught me, somewhere in my childhood maybe. Ironically enough, I don't even know who they were either. Perhaps, I have never known from the very beginning, who can say?"
He paused for a moment, then a wistful expression appeared on his bloody face.
"The reason why I am saying this is because the sword skills are what are left of my childhood memories now, the ones I am fully aware of, of course. Everything else was gone, taken away from me by something I don't even know what. That is why I never intended to change my true weapon. That way... perhaps I would be able to preserve this little memory of mine. Until I find my memories back, if it's even possible somehow, that is. But that's something the future me has to worry about, though. This me has something else to achieve."
Taking a soft sigh, he glanced at the ceiling with a distant expression, "But look at me now... I am unarmed and helpless. So, be gentle... will you?"
'What is death anyway? Wait... why the hell am I worried about that? It's not like I'm actually going to die here or anything... am I? Am I?'
As he narrowed his eyes slightly, though, he saw he was surrounded by nothing but monsters from all sides, all seeming to be grinning at him, or so he thought.
A forced smile appeared on his bloody lips.
'Ah, maybe I should've just kept my mouth shut. It would've been far better. Damn it!'
Come to think of it, if this many creatures managed to slip past the frontline within mere moments... and managed to surround him so completely, then what could that possibly imply?
His eyes widened.
'It can't be... has the frontline fallen?'
Though his limbs trembled with resistance, he forced his fingers to dig into the cold ground beneath him and attempted to push himself upright, only to collapse once more as weakness overtook him.
Refusing to surrender to that helplessness, he tried again with gritted teeth, and this time he managed to raise himself slightly, leaning against one trembling arm while lifting his gaze through the narrow gaps between the encircling monsters.
'What…? But how…? We... we lost!'
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(Chapter Ended)