Art Devion Viewpoint—
After countless battles against the Dark Knights that have exited the spatial rift in the sky, my body is slowly weakening with every fight. I've lost track of how many knights I've killed. Hiding on the ground isn't an option anymore.
Due to the difference between the winged creatures and the Black Knights, I needed to change my plan: move toward a large tree branch. Almost all the knights were on the ground.
The sensation of my eyes slowly freezing was a clear sign. Overusing my Wisdom Eye has taken a toll, and I had to deactivate it before it caused major damage.
The clear vision of my surroundings darkened as I deactivated it. Dismissing this, I pondered a possible solution; thousands of Black Knights roamed in every direction inside this vast, dense forest.
"Woah."
A shadow figure of a sword came flying at my head. I successfully dodged it, but a minor scratch marred my cheek.
'Tsk.' I saw the Dark Knight that had thrown the sword at my head.
Dashing down toward the Black Knight, I grabbed its head and tossed it to a nearby tree out of irritation.
The Black Knight began to disappear, as if swallowed by a black aura. The thick black armor it had been wearing vanished, turning into nothingness.
"Clank." The sound of heavy steps echoed.
I looked around and realized the knight I'd thrown was just bait, and I'd fallen for it completely—such a hassle. Since I couldn't see much in the dark, coupled with the dense formation of trees, I used one of the FrostSworik-zero sword skills. Grabbing the sword, I began to cast it.
"Glacial Expansion."
The air around us suddenly changed as all the atoms in the air began to freeze, slowly creating bright blue glacial crystals.
!!
Noticing the Black Knights' sudden backward movement, I seized the opportunity to escape by dashing toward a nearby tree branch.
This would buy me time. As for them, their inevitable consequence would soon succumb to them; the air that was just normal seconds ago had now been frozen. All the Black Knights caught turned into frozen crystal, their bodies transformed into massive blue, gem-like crystals.
"Glacial Collapse."
I cast the sub-skill of Glacial Expansion. Its destructive power was something to be recognized; even with my mid-low stats, the caliber of power was devastating enough.
The frozen crystals shattered upon casting the sword skill, and a bluish-black magic circle appeared on the crystalline sword.
The destructive power echoed through the entire forest. Black Knights caught by the frozen air were crystallized and shattered, their bodies ripped apart, limbs, each cell frozen to an absolute negative level. The surrounding trees were destroyed; even the massive nearby tree shattered into pieces.
Looking at this made me smirk at how strong this sword was—in real life, it was pretty broken.
I still wondered why it was only classified as an A-rank sword. Moving farther and farther away from the destruction caused by the intensity of Glacial Collapse power, I swiftly moved to a tree branch. I couldn't move to the ground because there were so many Black Knights in every direction. Without suppressing my presence, it would be a huge problem; they'd immediately come to my location.
Quiet and precise, I dashed across each tree branch that stood fifty to a hundred feet above the ground; they were tall.
I found a rather massive tree, two times the size of the larger tree I'd come across earlier. It stood about two hundred feet above the ground and had massive roots that rose up from the earth. That could be a good spot. I quietly moved through the tree, not encountering any threats, clutching the sword in my hand.
A sudden gust of wind threw me off balance. I used the crystalline sword to stab the tree and use it for dashing to a nearby branch.
"Dash."
The winds blowing in the air were quite intense, but not enough to cause any serious issue with my body's balance; the tree branch was wide enough to accommodate me. Sitting down on the wide branch, I looked at the time left until sunrise. I was still heading toward the eastern side.
[9:45 hours until sunrise.]
A rather long way to go.
"Hahh…" I couldn't help but sigh in frustration.
[Item:
-Blue crystal sword (1) 'FrostSworik-zero' A-RANK
-Cooked meat (2)
-Healing potion (2) "Heals most of the wounds." (Serious wounds are not healable.)
-Mana potion (2) "Restore all the used mana." (Wouldn't work on an over-exhausted body.) ]
I had taken a hit on the cheek, but it wasn't serious—just a minor scratch.
I wouldn't feel any pain from such a minor injury. Looking at the mesmerizing view of the night sky, the spatial rift was still open, waiting for another wave of monsters to emerge. I thought that if another wave only started if all the previous monsters were killed, I could actually use that to my advantage to survive until morning. By leaving fifty or twenty winged creatures alive and just continuing to run, refusing to kill them, it would be much better.
But I noticed that when there were still hundreds of winged creatures left—if I didn't kill them, another group of winged creatures would spawn from the spatial rift. This trial was indeed endless.
My survival rate was going down the more the fight between me and the unknown creatures from another dimension continued.
Dismissing the sky, I looked at the vast area full of trees that had merged into one dense forest. Activating Wisdom Eye, negative information flowed as my eyes began to change color from black to sky blue—shining in the dark forest.
"…"
It was truly a captivating view up in the sky. My hair was continuously moved by the constant wind.
I felt like I was in the Amazon rainforest, but it was vast, and the trees were twice the size of those in the Amazon. The only difference was there was no visible mountain range in the area that my eyes could see, only high-rising trees and vines.
"?" In the far distance of the horizon, where some trees obstructed the view, a source of light illuminated the distant horizon.
The eastern side. I quickly jumped toward a tree branch on the ground. I had to find out the source of light.
I moved and navigated through the thick trees and almost slipped on one of the branches. I successfully avoided the fall and attracting the attention of the Black Knights. Upon moving toward the location, the vivid light soon disappeared from my view; it was like the space around me had changed without me noticing it.
"?"
Upon arriving at the light source, a chill ran down my spine as the view of a destroyed village met my gaze. The layers of the houses were destroyed; some of the logs or wooden foundations had been scorched, leaving only blackened structures. Large chunks of rocks from the village houses were everywhere. Wherever I looked, there were massive chunks of stone, and I noticed burn marks on them.
I looked closely as I walked toward some of the houses that had been totally destroyed, leaving only a tiny portion still intact. It was a large village with a still-functioning fountain in the middle. Water continued to flow from the fountain, likely from the ground beneath the village. I didn't even dare to touch anything in the village, not wanting any possible problems if I ever touched anything in this destroyed and obliterated place.
"Slashes."
!!
A sudden movement I grasped in the shadow. I tried to dodge the incoming attack; two saw blades flew toward my direction at incredible speed.
Without my buffed stats, I probably would have died there, but too bad for the unknown monster. I didn't encounter any Black Knights going to this place, so there was a possibility that this was some kind of boss. I watched as the shadow creature slowly revealed herself. The full moonlight revealed its body to me: a black minotaur clad in obsidian-like armor reflecting the light coming from the full moon in the sky.
'Tsk.'
It was a boss that didn't exist in the game. Changing one major event in the main story was really something I should start to worry about. The possibility of other creatures not from the game was highly possible to show up when changing to another branch of the future.
I moved to attack the minotaur using FrostSworik-zero. I tried to slash its head, but it held firmly onto both of its saw-like swords, which could extend their range.
The monster tried to dodge my consecutive slashes, but I only scratched its back. The minotaur's defenses were no joke as I moved back, readying for another strike.
The minotaur noticed my sudden retreat; it lifted its saw-like sword and pointed it at my body.
Suddenly, it vanished from my perspective. Noticing its presence back at my body, I tried to make a counterattack. Before I could counter, a sudden bolt of pain racked my whole body as the minotaur punched me throughout my entire back. The minotaur's hand was two times larger than my body.
I flew out and hit nearby rocks, blood streaming from my mouth. I glanced back at the slowly walking minotaur, its eyes devoid of any emotion or life. It was lifeless. Someone or something was giving them orders—only my conclusion for now. I was filled with frustration; my body couldn't move as the figure of the minotaur gradually closed its distance.
[Item:
-Blue crystal sword (1) 'FrostSworik-zero' A-RANK
-Cooked meat (2)
-Healing potion (2)-1 "Heals most of the wounds." (Serious wounds are not healable.)
-Mana potion (2) "Restore all the used mana." (Wouldn't work on an over-exhausted body.) ]
Using the healing potion in the spatial ring, I poured all the potion into my mouth. A strange sensation entered my body; broken bones from the strong impact slowly healed, though some fractures weren't healed due to the potion's limitations. In order to survive this hellish world, I had to kill this enemy first. Activating Lightning Rhythm, I vanished in a flash.
"?" The minotaur looked in every direction, trying to find me.
Translucent waves of wind, colored vivid green, emanated. Lightning particles illuminated the surroundings—houses, buildings, and any infrastructure in the village lit up with a lightning aura.
"RAAAUR!"
The minotaur screamed in rage as it frantically swung its saw blade around, destroying more of the already ruined village. I moved to the top of a wooden log that had been slightly burned. I looked at the minotaur with eyes glaring with cold, golden light. A golden aura filled the absurd distance around me, enveloping me and the minotaur.
"CRASH!"
One of the minotaur's saw blades plunged toward my location. The speed was slower now; I was faster at this point. Looking for an opportunity in the open space beneath me, I vanished even before the saw blade crashed down onto the wooden log. A trail of lightning particles danced in the air as I moved faster than sound to the minotaur's back. Gripping the sword hard, I slashed the minotaur with full force in my arm. Although I was fast, it maintained a defensive stance, blocking my sword with its claw sword, which could also be expanded.
Noticing that I wouldn't be able to penetrate it much, I forced my body to exert everything to finish the minotaur by cutting it in half. Vibrant yellow specks of lightning sparked everywhere. The intensity of the fight had reached its climax; whoever won this clash would be the survivor.
'I cannot die today.' Focusing more on exerting power through my hands, I quickly followed it up with a sword skill.
"Scorching Glacialic Blizzard."
Deep dark blue specks followed by lightning particles. A raging blizzard emerged, consuming the minotaur's whole body. I quickly moved back. My body slammed to the ground, clearly exhausted. My legs had given out and couldn't move even if I tried. My back was resting against a stone wall that had survived the attacks from me and the minotaur.
I looked at the blizzard slowly shattering the minotaur's body to pieces, each atomic particle freezing the minotaur to absolute zero. After a few minutes of watching the non-stop blizzard, it soon ended—the minotaur's body was now tinged in dark blue, devoid of any life as its body slowly shattered.
I looked at the sky in surprise, speechless, as another unknown being slowly moved into the sky, looking at me as my consciousness slowly faded from over-exhaustion. The winged human-creature had white peircing eyes and long white hair; just looking at it made you tremble in fear. It was like an absolute being descended from the heavens itself. Soon enough, my body stopped working and my eyes closed forcibly. I didn't want to die.