The knightâs mandibles opened wide, preparing to chomp the pesky human in half. Reading his adversaryâs intentions via Soul Vision, the young man was ready to crouch beneath the monster at a momentâs notice, clenching the half-formed sickle tightly in his fist.
Yet just as they were about to clash, something strange happened. The beastâs body suddenly relaxed, its expression easing.
âNow what?!â
At first, Percy thought it was an act. A ruse to get him to drop his guard. But he doubted the creature was
that
smart. Besides, it didnât really need to trick him to end this. Honestly, his odds of surviving the frontal assault of the elephant-sized beast were abysmal. More importantly, he could
see
the waspâs bloodlust had all but evaporated, not finding any trace of hostility in its soul.
âWho cares?!â
Whatever the reason was, he wouldnât waste his chance. Swinging his weapon at the knightâs face, he gouged another deep wound into its soul. What was it, the
sixth
now?
An advantage of fighting in close range was that he could more easily maintain his constructs. A chunk of it still crumbled away, but he needed less mana to repair it than to form a new one, soon delivering another strike after the first.
No reaction.
For some reason, the towering monster that had savagely fought to slaughter them all just minutes ago was now standing motionless, eating Percyâs attacks with no intention of fighting back.
âHas it lost consciousness or something?â
he wondered, as the silver maelstrom finally formed within his torso once more.
Yet, just when he was about to redouble his efforts to slay the knight, another change occurred. A spark of intelligence suddenly flashed inside its compound eyes, gazing at the young man not with hatred or hunger, but curiosity.
Percy shivered, leaping backwards by instinct.
He knew his best course of action was to continue hacking at the monster, but his body refused to listen, a primal wave of terror now coursing through it.
Somehow
, the bugâs pensive look was even more frightening than its previous demeanour.
But the wasp didnât stop there. Tilting its head, it unleashed a suffocating aura inside the narrow corridor. Physically, nothing happened â Percy didnât need to use Mana Sense to see the colourful motes dancing through the air like before, many of them flowing towards him. The bug hadnât moved an inch from its spot eitherâŠ
Still, he couldnât help but feel like he was stuck in amber, as a palpable presence flooded the cavern, holding him in place. No Green beast should be able to exert this kind of tangible authority!
This⊠it felt almost
regal!
âShit.â
It appeared the Starry Queen had taken notice of their actions! Percy had no clue why she had stopped the knight from killing him, or why she seemed intent on capturing them alive⊠and honestly
, he wasnât interested in finding out
.
Summoning every shred of willpower, he fought to twitch his thumb, eventually managing to point it towards his palm. Then, he pushed some soul mana through it, extending a sharp point off its tip.
âAAAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!â
The pain was immense.
But it worked
. Gritting his teeth, he intensified his breaths as he formed another sickle in his right hand, still stabbing himself with his left.
âGO TO HELL ALREADY!!!â he yelled, dashing towards the creature.
It raised two forelimbs to stop him, though Percy saw its reaction coming from a mile away. He didnât know if the previous damage had slowed the waspâs movements, or if it was the queenâs control over her subject that was clumsy, but it worked in his favour either way.
Crouching beneath the knightâs legs, he slid underneath its carapace, as he relied on his momentum to slice a long line through its soul. If a dozen small attacks werenât enough to take it down, Percy would have to go big!
The rough floor of the tunnel further shredded his already injured back, but he didnât let the pain dull his offensive.
The sickleâs edge met a lot of resistance â it was like trying to chop a tree with a rusty axe â but Percy wasnât deterred. He kept flooding his weapon with mana, as his core and channels emptied again, bringing him out of Circulation a second time.
In the end, the construct shattered right around the waspâs sternum, Percyâs body coming to a halt not much further. He wasnât sure if that had been enough, but he knew he shouldnât remain in that spot either way. Kicking against a rocky protrusion, he rolled to the side, colliding violently against the wall.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
And just in time tooâŠ
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM
With a deafening sound, the heavy carapace of the colossal bug fell limp on the floor, countless cracks spreading out from the impact.
Instinctively, Percy wanted to hold his breath until the results came in, though he knew the fastest way to check if the beast was alive was to gather enough mana for Soul Vision. And a few seconds later, he had his answerâŠ
He finally exhaled in relief, plopping back onto a hard crystal. It hurt a bit, but not as much as everything else. Still, Percy ignored his protesting body, pushing himself up. There was no time to waste. Limping towards Nesha, he placed two fingers on her neck, checking for a pulse. It was faint, but she was alive.
âNot for much longer though.â
Luckily, he had the means to save her. Reaching for the spatial amulet around his neckâŠ
âNo. No-no-no-no-no!â
his heart skipped a beat upon realizing it wasnât there.
âShit! Where is it?!?!â
The artifact contained
everything!
From the two yearsâ worth of ingredients heâd painstakingly accumulated, to the healing potions he needed to save his partnerâs life. Hell, without them, he wasnât sure heâd be in any condition to escape the tunnel himself, before the queen sent her troops after him.
Percy scanned his surroundings, looking for the pendant. He
had
to find it. And he had to do it fast! He still wasnât sure what the queen wanted from him. Perhaps she had seen how useful Circulation was, or maybe she just wanted to kill him personally.
Either way, the sea of bugs they had left behind was only a few hours away, and that was assuming there werenât any other nearby tunnels filled with the darn things. It didnât take a genius to guess they were probably all heading their way already.
âIt all depends on when I dropped itâŠâ
Had it happened back when the wasps were crawling all over them, there would be no retrieving it. His only hope was to have lost it during the fight with the knight. But the odds of that being the case were swiftly fading as he failed to spot it anywhere around him.
âMaybe itâs under the corpseâŠâ
The only thing more difficult than walking back to the knight was lifting its oversized carcass. Percyâs limbs were already purple and swollen. Even the slightest exertion resulted in a series of popping sounds all over his body. Still, he persisted, knowing he wasnât getting out of here without that amulet.
Reactivating Circulation was torture. To make matters worse, a single application didnât seem to be enough. Gritting his teeth, he pushed as much mana into his channels as his body could handle, eventually managing to budge the knight slightly.
âThis thing must weigh half a dozen tonsâŠâ
It took everything he had and then some, only to roll the body a couple inches to the side. Percy was starting to lose all hope when he finally caught a glimpse of a dark object about a metre to his left.
âHAHAHAHA!!!â he laughed like a madman, his sheer joy giving him the strength to lift the carapace just a little more.
âMicky!! Grab it!
FAST!
â
The bird didnât need to be told twice, eagerly fluttering towards the artifact, happy to finally be useful. Percy hadnât had the time to think about it earlier, but he knew the crow had felt guilty letting him fight on his own, unable to help.
Only after the familiar retrieved the pendant did Percy lower the corpse again, falling back weakly. Micky then brought him the object, as he wasnât in any condition to move.
Confirming that it wasnât damaged, the young man stuck his thumb on one of the cubeâs faces, releasing three brief pulses of pure mana. He didnât know if these enchantments worked with every affinity, but they certainly did with his.
The cube emitted a satisfying sound, before expanding severalfold, reaching the size of a crate. The same side he had just tapped then opened, revealing a stash of tools and vials within. Most of them contained a turquoise liquid, but those werenât the ones he needed.
âThere!â he exclaimed, clumsily pulling a handful of green potions out.
Sadly, he hadnât bought too many of them â only a couple dozen. Given the state of their injuries, he wasnât sure theyâd suffice. Nesha was at Yellow and the potions had grown less effective on him too, ever since his second core advanced.
âIf only I had knownâŠâ
he smiled bitterly.
But he couldnât have. Not about the Divine Root forcing them to leave two years in advance, and not about the Starry Knight beating them within an inch of their life. He shook his head. There was no point regretting things he couldnât change, nor any time for it.
Uncorking three of the vials in quick succession, he quickly guzzled their contents down, hoping theyâd fix him up enough to move.
âIâll only drink more if Nesha doesnât need them.â
His wounds itched as the potions took effect, though it was modest as expected. Still, he
did
feel a little better about a minute later, able to move his limbs again. Making his way to his companion, he soon panicked upon seeing how pale she was, her skin cold as ice. Lifting her chin, he helped her swallow potion after potion, only pausing after the sixth one.
âCome onâŠâ he muttered, biting his lip.
Scanning her intently, he saw many of her wounds begin to close, though that didnât seem to be enough. She didnât regain consciousness either. He fed her another four potions, drinking a few more himself. Finally, her injuries faded away, as did his own.
âSheâs still not waking up!â
Turning Soul Vision on, he examined her again. She was right on the verge â bad enough that he could probably possess her if he wanted, though not completely beyond the pale. He did have a few more potions, though this wasnât something life mana could fix.
âBut I can!â
Pouring all his soul mana into her, he did mend the injuries slightly. Given enough time, he should be able to heal her completely. Yet time was the one commodity they were swiftly running out of. He could speed things up with Circulation, but his own soul wasnât exactly healthy eitherâŠ
âThe knight!â
he remembered.
With Mickyâs help, the colossal carcass could provide them all the soul mana they needed, and then some. The only problem was getting through its hard exoskeleton. Neither his pure constructs nor Mickyâs talons could pierce it. Examining the corpse, Percyâs gaze briefly lingered on the wound Nesha had inflicted. However, his clone had filled it with acid, rendering it too dangerous for the crow.
Then there was the soldierâs body too, but it was a lower grade. It had also died even earlier, and more thoroughly. There wouldnât be anything leftâŠ
âMicky!â Percy called to his familiar, thinking of something.
âCAW?â the bird gave him a questioning look.
âI need your help, but you arenât going to like it.â
âCAW! CAW!â Micky replied resolutely, eager to contribute however he could.
âGo into the knightâs mouth and eat its soul from inside.â