Arc | Chapter. 147: The End of The Nightmare (Part 3) (Patreon)

Chapter. 147: The End of The Nightmare (Part 3)

The throes of death echoed in my ears, corruption buzzed in the air, and the land was nothing but ruination. In the background, the army quickly fell as I even saw the Nightmarish Thunder fall off the sky and plummet to the ground with the sound of a crying bird. White noise filled all my senses as my eyes slowly wandered down to look at the corrupted lion.

It was like an actual monster, not some corrupted twisted thing, but something with an actual form⁠— it was gray, I could see its fur and various shades filling it and its eyes were crimson and clear. Around it, however, there were flickering strands of corruption and distortion, as if it was electrified except they messed with reality themselves.

I didn’t know if I was looking at a stable form of corruption or something beyond what normal corruption was, but the hostility I felt told me one thing and one thing only.

It was my enemy. And… it was probably going to be the last thing I fought here.

I took a deep breath as I stood up, pain shot through my hands as I gripped onto the Sol’as’ Spear and Alfina’s Sword, both of them were corrupted now, and I was… I looked down at myself. My whole body was bloodied and my skin was barely just now regenerating, I wore nothing but a torn shirt and torn pants, my ice leg was completely exposed as were all my other extremities. Asok’s necklace was barely holding onto me, tangled onto my torn shirt; its crystal corrupted but not spreading its corruption.

I was… in very bad shape.

Corruption was nibbling at random parts of my body, and the others were so injured that to a normal person it’d be a miracle that I was still standing, but even then, I refused to listen to my body and pain. I was fine. I was alive and that’s all that mattered. I was going to get out no matter what, no matter the cost.

I gripped onto the corrupted weapons tighter as their dark aura enveloped my arms. The lion before me stared into my soul, its head lowering as it adapted a stance that made my hairs stand on end. I saw the corruption around the lion flicker before it⁠— exploded.

A tide of corruption blasted in all directions as I heard screams of agony, and it circled around me, trapping me inside with the incarnation of corruption itself. An ocean of broken shadows surrounded me, and in front of me laid: death⁠—

A flash of darkness passed and I instinctively blocked, I felt my leg nearly crack as my feet dug onto the ground, Alfina’s Sword and Sol’as’ Spear rattling with black sparks as the claw of the lion loomed over me. Its strength was enough to make my arms feel like giving up at any moment. I gritted my teeth as the ground beneath me began to break.

If it wasn’t for numerous skills going off and the fact that my body was partly corrupted I⁠—

The lion raised its other claw and my eyes widened as I immediately used [Quick Step]— the ground behind me shattered with a burst of corruption, the swipe of its claws unleashed three slashes that went past the ocean of darkness and immediately exploded something beyond; screams of corruption and agony filled the air.

I sucked a breath and then⁠— the monster came in a blink. My eyes widened and I ducked, a wave of corruption swept above me.

What was I even doing…?

My thoughts lagged for a moment as the monster changed its stance and slammed down, I rolled out of the way⁠— an explosion of corruption sending me rolling further than I wanted. I stabbed both weapons into the ground to avoid going into the wall of corruption as I bled from scrapping myself.

Seriously… I slowly stood up. Just what was I even doing?

My mind was… slightly confused, but also bothered. I was fighting the strongest enemy of my life and I was being defensive, I was letting it push me around without fighting back much. If things continued like this⁠—

Three slashes of darkness came, I side-stepped in-between two gaps as they slashed past me and into the corruption.

Things couldn’t continue like this.

It was just like in training, just like with the Emera Spider… I was simply being fearful… but unlike before, this time it would get me killed.

Which was why…

The monster pounced at me and I used a skill⁠— [Perfect Parry]!

The lion tumbled and I gripped both weapons tightly, my muscles tensing

I had to fight back.

With the power of two skills at once, Alfina’s Sword and Sol’as’ Spear flashed and they cleaved and stabbed into the corrupted lion. The monster shrieked and raised its claws but I immediately pushed it away with [Repulsion]. It was thrown away before its claws embedded deeply on the ground and came to a stop, it gazed directly at me as it let out a roar.

The corruption around us distorting before multiple salvos of projectiles were shot my way,

* * * * *

Flickering,

The Hero of Arlas watched as his vision seemed to flash in and out amidst the tide of corruption, his sword was driven by nothing but sheer primal instinct.

Distortion.

He observed as objects seemed to not remain a constant shape, slashing through numerous monsters at once. His vision was clouded by nothing but non-descript shapes of darkness. Unfortunately, things weren’t going his way, but this was expected.

Corruption.

He watched as his vision began to clear and he saw the flickering masses of darkness that distorted; that’s what they were and he⁠… slashed. His sword destroyed his adversaries as he pushed through.

The army was… he didn’t think about it as he slashed and then⁠— he paused turning in a direction and seeing a wall of corruption. He knew that behind it, there was the woman that every commander supported, Arc, and she was fighting something that… perhaps he himself would struggle to take down.

But he wouldn’t interfere for he saw greatness within her. Greatness that only the commanders had seen, but even now it was right there.

His gaze made it past the darkness, past the veil, past the corruption and there he saw her fighting.

Hundreds⁠, no⁠— thousands of projectiles were aimed for her life, and without hesitation she swiped⁠— dodged⁠— broke through all of them as she rushed towards the wretched monster of corruption.

Uwell watched as she did something that no human was able to do, he watched as she used dozens of skills at once to arrive before her opponent and in a blink two flashes of light occurred before corruption splattered in two directions, of course it wasn’t enough but she wasn’t going to be outdone because she was.

And another golden slash passed slicing the monster in half⁠— it collapsed into two before tentacles of corruption burst and fused it together and in a single moment the corruption around exploded tenfold.

The Hero of Arlas closed his eyes.

She was Arc, the woman who gathered the support of all the SSS Tier beings that ever existed, the woman who defied all odds, and more importantly she was…

She Who Survived The Damnation of the System.

And he turned away as the monster increased further in power.

* * * * *

What did I fight for…?

For fun?

Most of the time.

For survival?

Rarely.

To return home?

In the past I didn’t, but now⁠…

Now I fought to return home.

I fought to see the only human I’d consider my family. I fought to see Ceylon. And I wasn’t going to stop at nothing…

Even if my muscles tore⁠—

I avoided an attack.

Even if my body gave up on me⁠—

My leg cracked.

Even if my soul ceased to exist⁠—

Corruption nibbled at my body.

I’d survive!

The spear stabbed deep into the monster with a burst of blue⁠— ice exploded as it was thrown away from me as it unleashed a deep cry of pain. I lost count of how many skills I was using, but none of them were fancy. Even if my mana was constantly being nibbled at, I was going to defeat the corruption before me.

The Corrupted Eternal Lion let out a deep roar as its body crackled with corruption.

If I was fighting this thing some months back, I surely would have died. Whether it was getting out of the tutorial, or after defeating the dragons, or even when I had first acquired Sol’as’ Spear, but⁠ unfortunately for it I had learned.

I was different now.

I had learned from every single fight I took, and I understood what my strengths and weaknesses were⁠. Alfina’s Sword was thrown into the air and I gripped the spear tightly as my hands were made to bleed.

Corruption crackled all around me as the monster whipped with tendrils of corruption towards me, but they were quickly destroyed as I moved towards it in a delicate dance, and the monster roared.

Deciding to attack me itself.

I side-stepped one of his claws and jabbed the spear into its shoulder.

I had to get the perfect attack, but even though I was able to find openings I wasn’t able to find the true opportunity.

I evaded once more as I realized that once more, I was going to need to borrow from my experiences; the only attack that had truly taken me by surprise in all of this time…

I closed my eyes.

I saw an image of Jake the Weapon Master as I attacked him, biding his time for the perfect moment, his feet digging onto the ground.

The lion raised its claw and struck.

[Energy Absorption]!

I grunted as I felt a heavy burden be placed onto my entire body; wounds ripped open as I gritted my teeth. The lion disappeared.

His eyes wandered looking for the right time, looking directly at his goal as the next strike came and that’s when he moved the spear and⁠—

[Perfect Parry]!

Its double-clawed attack was parried, the ground all around me exploded with corruption from its sharpness as the Corrupted Eternal Lion was thrown off balance.

⁠— I smiled, just like he did as my mana tapped into Sol’as’ Spear, my muscles tensed, going deep as I felt the desire to be more, the desire to overcome everything, the desire to be unrivaled⁠—

And I stabbed forth, using [Deadly Impalement] at the same time.

“[World Piercer]!”

White corruption flashed, engulfing the monster in front of me. The earth trembled. The tides of darkness parted, allowing me to see a completely dead battlefield with an army of corruption surrounding me, SSS Tier skills flying often as only the commanders remained.

Things were far from over…

A small sigh left me as I raised my hand, and caught Alfina’s Sword as I prepared myself for battle.

Only 5% of my mana remained…

I shook my head only to pause as the dust cleared, and from pieces of corrupted flesh the Corrupted Eternal Lion reformed before my eyes. I frowned, as I realized that this was going to be my final adversary, whether I wanted it or not.

I fused Sol’as’ Spear and Alfina’s Sword once more, this time using corrupted ice as I prepared myself.

The monster met my gaze and for the first time, I heard the voice of the corruption.

I will claim you. Make you one with us.

My surprise lasted for a moment before I smiled.

“Oh, you can have my mana alright, so long as it gets me out of this hellhole.”

Then, the incarnation of corruption attacked.