Chapter 423 - Named lurker (Patreon)

Shayna died.

At some point, she tried to use the mana she was sneakily collecting in her body. She used it to create a projectile, the same one she used to kill that fire mage lurker. Extremely durable, yet nearly invisible. A much better version of what Brainiac is using.

I still consider it crazy that she was able to create it without me sensing it and while being under my interrogation. I have gained some valuable information about Beyond, the guilds, and the 1st floor, but I wasn't able to ask as much as I wanted or get shards out of her.

Shayna acted quickly and decisively. She wasn't in Beyond for nothing.

That projectile of hers tore a hole through her chest as she made it near her heart - the beating of it and the mana it generates probably masked it. The projectile pierced through the side of my neck, curving into one of the big veins. It was headed for my brain, but I tilted my head back and slightly to the side.

Almost by reflex, I killed her, hand coated in oscillating mana cutting through the middle of her head, and a notification ringing.

Then I forced thermal energy into that spot and manipulated my mana to try to mimic the side of the vein to lose the least amount of blood possible.

So now I'm standing here, a bloodied neck and clothes. Hand on my neck and the projectile she shot exploding high in the air into a wide-range burst of mana. A last spiteful gift and something akin to a flare to everyone in the area.

Thirty minutes remain, and I'm given two options. Either to run away or to make my stand here and try to last these thirty minutes. There is a high probability I will be sent out of Beyond after that. It's not absolutely sure, but I'm willing to bet on that.

Without any need for hiding, I send my senses as far as I can, searching for the enemy.

There are a few options for who I might meet. If I'm unlucky, it will be the named lurker, and in that case, I might die. If I'm lucky, it will be a group of Beyonders followed by lurkers, and a big fight will start.

I still keep my heart beating slowly and do not use kinetic energy; instead, I hold the Emberflame Staff I got from the first lurker we met. Thermal energy from my core flows through the weapon, forming into a golden orb that floats over the tip of the weapon. I stab the staff into the ground and then fix the arcane glove on my right hand, ready to activate it.

I have the damaged arcane ring Shayna took in my pocket; it will be used as the last option when everything goes to shit. Sure, I could use it right away, but I don't think I'm thinking too logically right now.

In my other pocket, I have Golem Heart, something I can use when trying to run away. In the worst case, I can sacrifice the item to slow my enemies. The problem is I don't know how to use it yet, and relying on it to slow down enemies could hurt me instead of helping, as I would be spending effort trying to activate it instead of relying on the skills I'm much more used to.

Lastly, the dagger I took from Roculus is charged and ready to be thrown, where it should release poisonous mist upon impact.

Flamebearer is on my back, it can be used as a shield, and the Bloodthirst claymore is stabbed into the ground near the Emberflame Staff.

Other items are tied together and put into the bag, stored in the hole I found deep underground and placed there through an anchor. They can stay here or be teleported to me in case I will be able to use them.

And so I wait, the minutes passing slowly and presences gradually appearing on the edge of my area. Multiple waves of detection-type skills wash over me, and there are even some fights. The expedition fights against a few lurkers that got nearby.

These smaller groups of lurkers quickly disappear, rolled by the 12-member big group of Beyonders who, finding what they were looking for, do not hesitate and move quickly.

Once in a while, my eyes glance at the corpse of feylith on the ground, and when I do so, I feel a pain in my neck. My wound has mostly healed, but the reminder is still there.

When the first attack is shot at me, I stop holding my heart back; instead, it starts generating kinetic energy to its fullest capability. At the same time, that presence senses it far away and starts rushing here. The feeling is akin to it wanting to crush anyone daring to use the same energy it uses.

Grabbing the staff into the left hand and claymore into the right one, I lift the blade of the claymore and block the arrow shot at me, absorbing the inertia of that attack. Power contained in the attack still pushes me back, and mana seeps out of the ground in an attempt to disrupt my mana.

Instead of letting it, I counter it with a skill of my own and then block another attack and shield my mind against some mental ability.

From the ground, spikes shoot, and I stomp, releasing a blast of kinetic energy and cracking the area around me while destroying the attack.

Fire projectiles of blue color pass by my sides and then turn around, heading towards my back where I reposition and let them hit the Flamebearer while blocking another arrow that now has a different disrupting frequency.

The presence keeps coming closer, and soon the group will be able to feel it as well.

From high in the sky, multiple attacks connect, and lightning shoots at me, followed by primordial energy I did not face yet. The lightning crashes against the barrier I quickly create, and my Mana Wavelength Iris activates as well as I fight against multiple attacks.

Mana seeps out of me in waves, compressing and strengthening my defenses until that primordial energy hits my barrier. The disruption it does is so very different from any I've felt until now, and part of my barrier disappears as if eaten by it.

Void primordial energy, if I had to guess, with a color of very dark purple and bits of white going through it.

For the first time, I reposition, boosting my body with kinetic energy I have collected so far.

Then I sense Eugan's mana using some wide-range attack.

Locating where she is, I boost myself into the air, and using a mana arm I create, I grab Roculus' dagger and boost it with kinetic energy against the group where it hits the barrier they create, spreading a toxic mist around.

An orb I create shoots ahead, and as it crashes against the barrier, it sends a powerful disrupting wave into the area. Then I focus on the compressed orb of thermal energy, and all of it shoots ahead as a finger-thin stream of golden flame.

It pierces through the barrier and then another they create. It does so with a speed that surprises them and makes the staff in my hands crack as I abuse it, forcing it into overdrive without any care for the item.

The golden stream hits the middle of Eugan's chest, and then I swing my left arm that holds the staff, and the flame moves, cutting vertically through her, splitting her head in half.

[You have defeated Manaflow Shaper - lvl 268]

I move the stream towards the leader of the group, but he just lifts his armor glove from his damaged rusty armor and meets the flame with ease. Before I can move it again, he reaches with his hand towards Eugan's body, and her blood floats into the air, seeping into him.

Listening to my instinct, I lift the Bloodthirst and make the winds of the blade cover my face and my body. Multiple barriers stack in front of me.

It's all for nothing.

I find myself thrown again, the left arm holding the staff cleanly cut off, and peripherally I can see it flying through the air before it's evaporated by the attacks, the now-destroyed staff falling to the ground.

Crashing against the hills nearby, I let out a groan and teleport towards one of my anchors just as the attacks reach me.

Before I can even check my wounds, a trap waiting for me there explodes, the explosion sending me crashing through the buildings nearby, more wounds forming on my body.

Using the opportunity, a man reaches me, a hammer imbued with mana hitting my right arm that I lift to block for my head.

My unique passive absorbs the impact, and a noticeable amount of mana seeps into my reservoir. I use the surprise, and boosting my body with kinetic energy, I swing the claymore in my hand.

Not given the opportunity to finish my attack, I absorb my own inertia, stopping mid-swing and boosting my body again to block against the three arrows that, in quick succession, hit the blade.

Each with a disrupting effect that differs.

I succeed in defending against the disruption, but the force of the attack throws me away, and mid-air, I boost myself with kinetic energy, avoiding a burst of flames.

A lightning attack crashes against Flamebearer on my back, and void energy disrupts the barrier I create, and the leader's blood projectiles pierce through my body again, leaving wounds in their wake.

I take a step but stumble, noticing a piece of my leg missing.

My mana flares up, a mana prosthesis quickly replacing it, and I dash to the side.

Multiple attacks surround me, heading towards my body, and after a long while, my mind and eyes feel like burning as I disrupt the attacks.

[Resonance - lvl 50 > Resonance - lvl 51]

The reward for that is a sword stabbed in my belly and a hit with the hammer that sends me rolling again, with a big part of the impact absorbed by my unique passive.

I use another of my anchors, and as the trap in front of me explodes, I cover my body with mana, enduring it all, the damaged parts quickly replaced by my reserves.

More mana seeps out of my body and reservoir, creating armor around me that becomes denser and slightly bigger. For the first time, I activate my domain, instantly feeling attempts to destroy it or fight against it, multiple people joining forces. Their rapid reaction makes me note in the back of my mind that negating domains appears to be a regular aspect of the fight.

I grab the claymore with my left arm made of mana, and with the glove, I touch the blood on my clothes. Then I activate the damaged arcane glove, and projectiles made of my blood similar to the leader's shoot through the air where I sense the archer.

They pierce through the barriers, through the armor, and everything in their way. A shower of bloody projectiles tearing apart the archer.

[You have defeated Nullshot Ranger - lvl 261]

Bitch.

Then they tear my domain apart, with the three much weaker domains attacking me at once.

The armor cracks under the attacks. Disruptive waves hit my body, making the armor flicker, and bloody projectiles cause more damage to me.

It's difficult to even stand now, thermal energy working in overdrive, powering my poor epic healing passive.

The leader appears in front of me. I can't even see his movement, and I'm sent flying, more bloody projectiles piercing through my body as I'm only able to block the vitals.

And then they finally feel it, that presence showing a terrifying mastery over kinetic energy finally coming to their range with incredible speed.

A spear made of blood forms in the leader's hand, and it pierces through my armor, my arm I lift, and halfway into my chest.

I hate to accept it, but it's obvious.

Currently, I'm not strong enough.

I release all of the kinetic energy I had stored, but the leader endures it all, only the spear in his hand breaking. Reforming all the mana around me, I shape it and compress it into a javelin I shoot at him. That javelin turns bright white, and I teleport away.

The trap placed even here throws me against the wall, even though I block most of the explosion with the orb I surround the disk with, similar to what Gareth does. The orb just bursts open and the part of the explosion burns my side.

Then there is no other attack. In the distance, I can see the leader standing where my javelin hit him. There is no damage on his body, but he is looking between where I'm staying and where the fight now is. The rest of the group faces the powerful enemy. There are no other lurkers nearby, just that one.

A tall male demon with long white hair and short black horns. Even though dead and a lurker, his face is beautiful, his red eyes still having a hint of craziness all demons seem to possess.

I'm not using any senses, all of my kinetic energy is now gone, even the core emptied. My heart is beating as slowly as I can make it. Even then, I can see the mastery of kinetic energy the demon possesses.

His movements are incredibly quick and twitchy, with bursts of kinetic energy propelling him forward and allowing him to move at incredible speeds.

He has no weapons, and with just his own arms, tears the group apart one after another. There is some sadistic enjoyment to it all, and everyone who wants to run away just freezes at the spot, the kinetic energy of their movement absorbed.

The debris freezes in the air, the weapons stop moving, the torn-off limbs and the blood, everything floats there as if frozen in time, and only the demon moves through it all, allowing his targets to move only as he attacks them.

The remaining half of the group faces him like that, while more people are already running away, each in a different direction.

It takes just a single glance, but the leader starts running as well, and I do the same, putting a damaged arcane ring on my finger.

I do not even try to get the equipment from deep underground. Instead, I sit on the ground. Gradually, I feel the ring hiding me and my heart slows down, the thermokinetic construct turned off. I do not even move my fingers and slow my breathing, trying to limit the amount of kinetic energy I produce.

Closing my eyes to avoid blinking, I sit there and wait.