Chapter 740: Fly [1]

Chapter 740: Fly [1]

‘This sure fucking sucks…’

Swoosh—!

Feeling the back of my hair rise as the space before me rippled, I watched as a golden streak manifested from out of nowhere and shattered the illusion that I had set up in advance as it swirled out of existence.

Swoosh, swoosh—!

Just when I thought I had managed to take care of one attack, the space around me rippled once more. This time, it came from all directions as a rain of golden streaks shot down on me from all directions.

Tap.

Pebble pressed its paw on my shoulder, and the arrows stopped.

And yet—

“Human!”

Pebble wasn’t able to stop all of the attacks at once. Several arrows managed to move past its control, and I had no choice but to imagine a pink orb while simultaneously bringing my hand up as threads shot out in the directions of the incoming attacks.

Some shattered, but…

Bang—!

Some still managed to get through my defenses as I was pushed back several steps.

*Hum*

I didn’t even have the time to groan before a low humming sound echoed in the air, and a large figure appeared before me.

Fast!

The Captain’s towering figure loomed over me, his shadow stretching wide across the ground as he raised his weapon high before bringing it crashing down toward where I stood.

But that wasn’t all. I could feel the weight of his weapon increase as he used some sort of ability.

‘Gravitational…?’

I clenched my teeth.

Swooosh—

The air howled under the weight of his strike, a sharp whistle cutting through the space as his gaze swept from side to side.

….before eventually settling away from where ‘I’ stood.

The axe curved through the air before finally inching towards where I stood.

“….!!”

Bang—!

His strike narrowly missed, and the illusions I had cast moments before flickered out of existence. The weapon’s back end slammed into the ground, embedding itself deep into the floor with a heavy thud.

‘Now!’

I didn’t miss the chance. Realizing that this was the only way for me to turn the situation, I dashed towards the captain, my hand turning a dark shade of green as I tried to reach out for him.

At the same time that I did, I mumbled, ‘sadness!’

The blue orb within the captain’s body enlarged, and his body trembled. As if that wasn’t enough, I also activated [Eyes of Existence]. In that split moment, everything stopped.

Be it the captain and everyone else around me.

I could even hear them voice out their confusion, ‘What’s going on? Who is he? What is happening…?’

The mana in my body plummeted tremendously.

From halfway to half of that.

I just barely managed to keep myself from stumbling as my hand eventually reached for the captain, and his entire face paled. I wanted to use my emotive magic to completely knock him out, but it wasn’t necessary.

“——!”

I kept [Eye of Existence] activated right after that as I stepped back and turned around, focusing my attention on the forest behind me. At the same time, without looking, I brought the threads out and knocked out the captain.

Thud!

A loud ‘thud’ echoed as his heavy frame fell on the ground.

*Hum*

A low humming sound echoed right after, but it was already too late.

‘Third one out…’

Rustle—!

I dashed into the forest, not looking back. My mana was almost completely empty. I had about one tenth of my original reserve, and unable to sustain [Eye of Existence], I deactivated it while running as fast as possible.

I didn’t look behind me as I ran. I knew that I couldn’t look back.

Every little second mattered, and I knew that it wouldn’t be long before they chased after me again.

‘There are only three left. I need to take care of three more before I can finally end this.’

My lungs were hurting, and while I was still fine, I could tell that the situation was turning disadvantageous for me.

‘I need to be as careful as possible going forward. Given my current reserve of mana, I’ll need to rely more on my emotive magic. Emotive Magic doesn’t use that much mana.’

I had already recalled all the threads that I set up throughout. I also couldn’t use [Mana Sense], but it wasn’t like I was completely blind.

The Melanchony was still with me. Wills didn’t require a lot of mana to be sustained. Only when using skills.

I could still rely on the Melanchony to help me determine the location of the others.

Rustle—!

Cutting past the vegetation, I looked around.

‘Think. Let’s think carefully. How can I get out of this situation…?’

My current situation was anything but good. I was injured, and my mana reserves were extremely low. Pebble also looked to be struggling, its form a little more transparent than before.

“Human…”

I could hear the worry in its voice as it spoke.

Pebble understood that our current situation wasn’t good.

But I couldn’t give up.

I had to see through the entire event until the end. Even if I lost.

‘I definitely bit off more than I could chew with this… but it’s not like I wasn’t aware. Things are still going as I predicted. In fact, in my prediction, I am supposed to be struggling even more than now. This is a testament to how much stronger I’ve become, but this isn’t enough. I need to grow stronger. I need to evolve. Everything I’ve done so far is to set up the stage. Set up the stage for me to finally reach the Seventh Tier.’

The reason why I had even thought of doing this solo was because I wanted to become stronger and push past the wall that had been blocking me.

And yet, despite all my struggles, that wall still existed.

It felt just as tall and impenetrable as before.

The thought made me despair, but at the same time, I knew that I couldn’t give up.

‘There’s still my Emotive Magic. While it is true that the book somehow manages to reduce the effect of my Emotive Magic, the rate at which it can calm someone’s emotions is a lot slower than the rate I can bring them out.’

The main issue, however, wasn’t that.

Despite this being a battle, we weren’t allowed to kill each other. In that regard, I had to be extremely careful when using my Emotive Magic.

There was a very good chance that I might end up frying their minds if I truly went all out. Especially if I used the first leaf.

I wasn’t totally helpless. In fact, there were plenty of options for me. So many damn options.

But that would also defeat the entire purpose of what I was trying to do.

I wasn’t here to win.

I was here to set up the stage.

‘…Still, even though things are flowing exactly as I anticipated them to, it doesn’t mean that I’m not struggling. Unless I really go all out with my emotive magic, I might actually lose.’

I clenched my teeth and looked around.

The space in front of me fluctuated once more. Several golden streaks headed my way.

I saw them coming, but I wasn’t able to dodge at all.

Bang—!

“Ukh!”

I skidded several steps back, feeling a burning pain in my right shoulder as I held back a groan.

‘…This is bad.’

The exhaustion was starting to catch up to me.

Having already defeated two people of the same tier as me, alongside someone stronger, I had ended up using too much mana.

Just moving my body felt like I was moving massive boulders.

Swoosh! Swoosh—!

The space rippled once more, and I raised my hand, attempting to block it.

But—

Bang!

I was completely helpless as I was forced several steps back once more, the arrows shooting at the same exact spot as before, as my left shoulder was rendered completely useless.

I ignored the pain and looked around me.

I could see that their figures were still far from where I was.

However, they were rapidly heading my way. It wouldn’t be long before they reached me.

‘Move! Move…!’

I clenched my teeth, straining with everything I had to move, but my body refused to obey. Not a single muscle responded. I understood that the exhaustion had also started to settle inside my mind.

Seeing them draw closer to me, and seeing that my body was still refusing to listen to me, I found myself staring at the first leaf.

If push comes to shove, I was prepared to end things here.

‘Oh, shit… Should I use my domain again? Eye of Existence? First Leaf? Emotive Magic…?’

“No.”

I clenched my teeth and brought my hand away.

Taking out the sword once more, I held it in front of me.

Persevere.

I needed to persevere.

The stage was yet to be set up. I knew that the key to reaching the seventh tier was in this fight. I needed to push my body to the absolute limit in order to break the wall that stood before me, and so, even if it ended up costing me the fight, I needed to do everything possible in order to win.

…And as such, I used the sword.

Swoosh—!

The space in front of me rippled once more. An arrow shot out not long after.

Gripping the sword with all my strength, I fixed my gaze on the arrow and swung with everything I had. My movements were a little stiff, but at the same time, precise.

I didn’t miss the arrow.

“Huek!”

The sword cut right through it.

It was almost as if I was cutting through butter.

But at the same time…

Bang!

Another arrow appeared right behind me and hit me on the lower calf.

“….!?”

I didn’t know where the arrow came from, but I didn’t let the failure get to me as I closed my eyes and felt the changes around me.

‘Focus. I need to focus.’

The stage…

I need to fully prepare it.

***

Why?

Bang—!

“Arkh!”

For what purpose does he do this?

Pebble clung to Julien’s shoulder as he swung his sword in wild, desperate arcs. His bloodshot eyes burned with exhaustion, his body torn and battered. In the distance, several figures closed in fast, and Julien strained to block each strike, his movements growing heavier with every clash.

The situation looked desperate, and yet…

He didn’t give up.

‘Quit. You should quit before you die or get seriously injured.’

The human had clearly lost.

There was no way out of the situation. Pebble understood this more than anyone else. Especially since he was connected with him.

Pebble was also aware of the bet that was in place between the Marquis and him. He knew what the consequences of his loss would be, but at the same time, Pebble knew that Julien wasn’t worried about such matters.

He most likely had some way to sneak out of it.

There was no need for him to struggle so much.

And yet—!

“Arkh!”

He continued to persist.

Bang!

He continued to cling to the sword as he waved it madly in the air, trying his best to stop the approaching attacks.

His desperation was clear, and as Pebble looked around, the cat could see that in the distance, everyone thought the same.

So why…?

Pebble looked at the human.

Why was he still struggling?