"…Huh?"
Suddenly that voice's arrogance vanished. I looked over and I spotted it just moments before it muttered:
"Y-You…"
Its eyes changed upon seeing my face. Eight, calm, and tranquil irises, suddenly became bloodshot and filled with rage.
Its mandibles quivered with the words it spoke, while its body loomed over me, casting its dark shadow across my face.
Thus, all I saw was a lump of darkness suspended by eight carapace-clad appendages.
That same lump of darkness moved in a blur. Its drooling mandibles headed straight for my head.
My own pair of eyes shrank in absolute terror. It was attacking me the instant it realized something. As for what that something was?
I did not know.
"Wait!"
—Whoosh!
I screamed, lunging to the side. Ash flew into the air, polluting my lungs and smearing my skin with obsidian marks.
A little bit got into my eye, blinding me momentarily.
"I'm not—"
—Whoosh!
I staggered back, narrowly avoiding a spear-like appendage. A line of blood appeared from my left shoulder down to my hip.
It tore through my skin and muscles like it was tofu.
My eyes widened, and I felt the beat of this body's heart. A burst of strength engulfed me, and I hurriedly rolled to the side, uncaring for the ash that clung to my wounds.
—Swish!
I was almost bisected in that instant, but this brought about a realization:
'I get stronger when I'm wounded!'
But that realization wasn't as important as my next words:
"I'm not Eve!"
I screamed into the air, desperately hoping that this overgrown spider wouldn't kill me right away. If I could buy a few seconds longer, I could come up with a plan. Something to get me out of this mess.
But.
—Whack!
The spider didn't seem to care.
—Bang!
My vision went black for an instant, but my body suddenly grew stronger as well.
As my vision returned, I noticed that the ground had grown awfully close.
"!!!"
Hurriedly somersaulting forward, I avoided two things. I dodged the possibility of becoming a human skewer and I saved myself from the embarrassment of face-planting onto ash.
Luckily, this body knew how to move. On top of its growing strength whenever it was wounded, hope would stay within my grasp.
Still, things looked bleak.
—Swish!
Another cut appeared on my arm as I dodged. The only indicator of the spider's attacks was the whistling wind. My eyes could not keep up.
How the hell did this guy burn the entire facility to the ground?
Realizing the need for more information, I dove deep into Eve's memories. In exchange, more and more wounds appeared on my body while I dodged.
Nevertheless, I was growing faster and faster. Strength surged through every muscle, and even my mind's capacity was heightened.
A pleasant surprise.
Thus, I swiftly found what I was looking for:
A memory of the spider crawling its way through the wires and the runes, causing havoc everywhere it went.
Explosions blasted the air at every breath.
It was the chaos of technological sabotage.
"Sigh,"
This was relieving to know.
But it served me a dish on a silver platter. A dish best served cold.
"I have no way of winning…"
Realizing this, I turned my body and ran. The wounds I had accumulated brought me a monstrous dash as I leapt across several meters with each stride.
This was… inhuman.
'As expected of a reincarnator,'
Eve was on par with those priests who manipulated holy light. Albeit, his path was physical instead.
If not for my ability to resurrect and heal the hosts I inhabit before taking their bodies, then Eve wouldn't have been able to run from the spider at all.
Because, when he met the spider…
"Unlucky…"
He was already injured and tired, worn down by the defences of the facility, with only a single trump card meant to erase me from existence. By the time he came across the rampaging spider…
Things did not end well for him.
Instead of me being the spider's target, it became him. Instead of me being his target, it became the spider!
I was left out!
Thankfully!
—Whoosh!
I felt the wind buffeting my face at the speed I ran. It didn't help that I was running upwind, straight through the streams of ash caught in the breeze.
My lungs were suffering.
But it was better than death.
I was running further and further away. The spider had been injured during its rampage, unable to heal.
Now was my time to escape.
My feet carried me over crumbling black pillars and over half-melted steel appliances. The entire facility, with its winding corridors and complex junctions, had turned into ashen flatlands I could sprint through.
Perhaps the final screams of my companions had been screams of both suffering and peace.
Peace because those screams would be their last.
So, I mourned for them for a moment… and I would come to regret that.
In the hubris I bore to think about those who had died, I missed a step. My shoes was suddenly caught in a gap between marble and shattered stone.
—Crack!
I felt my shin break.
Pain assaulted my mind. The feeling of bones piercing through flesh. The numbness of the leg below it from the abrupt stimuli. The shock of knowing I just dashed my hopes of survival.
Still, it was bearable compared to the pain I've been through before.
And then my body continued to grow stronger.
Stronger and stronger.
Suddenly.
—Click. Click. Crack!
The bones melded back together in a gradual reversal of the shattering process. However, it still retained the bloody aftereffects, and numerous holes had opened up in my flesh.
Though I would lose a lot of blood, this at least meant that I could still run.
Unfortunately, however, I had fallen to the ground when my leg was caught in the cracks. Time, as precious as it was, wasn't on my side.
—Whoosh!
I hurriedly raised my arms and sent a palm strike over my head.
—Crack!
The flat side of another black appendage slammed against my forearm. I felt my bones shatter and mend themselves back into place, just as it had with my leg. At a much faster pace.
—Pack!
Then, my palm pushed the appendage away with a strike bearing just enough strength. Just enough for the appendage to miss me by an inch.
Feeling the power coursing through my body gave me an adrenaline high.
—Ssuk!
The appendage thus pierced through the melted steel behind me.
I hurriedly rolled away. In the spur of the moment, I also grabbed a fist full of ash in both hands.
Then, with a wave of my arms, I flung the dust into the air, straight for the spider's eight eyes.
My logic was simple.
More eyeballs, more pain.
I was not sure if it would work as intended, but it was definitely worth a try.
Right after flinging the ash, I turned and dashed away to resume my sprint.
This time, I wasn't going to be arrogant enough to think about other things. My only goal was to flee using the burst of strength this injured body gave me.
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Polls will release after Chapter 12. The novel will be meaty enough for sufficient context by then.
Become a Supporter to influence the story at [ Ko-fi . com/ubemantou ] and [ discord . gg/SnNg5G9qrt ]
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