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Chapter 41 - The Last Stretch
🕑 Added 2024-03-12 19:55:45 +0000 UTC“We’ll begin soon,“ Shai told the spider, bracing herself. Shai would have liked to eat something further to recover more, as Marvel left her alone to meditate after their alliance was formed. Unfortunately, her instinct screamed against it. It wasn’t a viable option when [Essene Eater] was preoccupied with the awful stuff she had swallowed.
Moreover, she was supposed to continue on the same path to attack again, ingesting the sinister contaminated substance. Of course, she planned on expelling those disgusting things this time around.
“Fear won’t confine my mind,“ Shai muttered inwardly, “‘Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them. Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain, but for the heart to conquer it. Let me not look for allies in life’s battlefield, but to my own strength. . .’ “
“What was that?“ Marvel asked, hearing her even though Shai didn’t intend for her to.
“Nothing,“ Shai answered, focusing her mind.
“It didn’t sound like nothing.“
“It’s a quote,“ Shai said, “a part of it.“
Marvel gave her a long look.
“You don’t know what a poem is?“
“Oh, I know what a poem is,“ Marvel said, still giving her the odd look. With her glowing red eyes, it was hard to discern. “But I didn’t think you’d know.“
Shai turned her head slowly to meet the monster. It had finally managed to break free from the web entanglement. Not for long, though.
The wyrm descended another dozen metres, becoming entangled in the intricate layers of the web. Several hidden traps were triggered in its wake, as blocks of stone rammed into its head and back simultaneously, until another web construct enveloped it completely, halting its progress.
Marvel and Shai exchanged a look, communicating with their eyes. It was time.
They had discussed their plans, so Shai didn’t panic when Marvel glued her web to her tail and spun her in the direction of the suspended wyrm.
Shai’s eyes narrowed and focused completely on the serpentine enemy as her slender body whispered through the air, through the gaps of the web intricacies, to plunge into the creature.
Shai hadn’t made her attack yet when the wyrm squirmed, writhing inside the web confines, screeching. Marvel played her part, attacking its mind, even though the mental contamination irked her.
Shai launched an [Arcane Shot] to make a hole in its confines and slid inside, the web still clinging to her tail. She got to work, slithering across its huge, wriggling body to find the hole she created and dug into it.
Making every unit of essence count, Shai dug her head a couple of feet into the writhing creature’s body and began to suck out its blood. With complex control of [Essence Eater], Shai merely used its suction force, not the synthesizing.
Gallons of dark, disgusting blood poured into her mouth as she persisted until she couldn’t take it anymore. Her narrow form bloated instantly, reaching the limit. She couldn’t continue sucking the blood without compressing them through the synthesizing process. Shai didn’t want to tempt fate by doing so.
Opportunities to inflict damage on the wyrm were easy, no need to force her chances. It was merely the first attempt, countless more remaining until they reached the bottom of the chasm. The fight would be long, no need to be impatient.
“Pull me back!“ Shai screamed into her mind, wiggling her body to come out of the wyrm’s twisted flesh.
Marvel heard that with the link remaining intact. Without pausing her mental assault, she yanked the web still glued to Shai’s tail, aiding the serpent’s escape.
Thankfully, the wyrm almost freed itself from the net, leaving no obstruction in Shai’s path. It couldn’t even sense Shai disappearing to attack. As her body was yanked downwards, Shai left everything to the spider and contorted her form to force out all the disgusting blood from her system.
It was almost incomprehensible that she had sucked so much blood with her narrow form; it fell downwards in a spray of rain, staining the cobweb, lost in the darkness.
“Are you alright?“ Marvel asked, sticking Shai to herself.
Shai shrilled fiercely a few times as if to make sure she expelled all the disgusting blood.
“Almost fine,“ Shai answered finally, keeping her disgust out of her voice, though Marvel could feel it. “How about you?“
“Not prime, but I can continue for long like this till my mind collapses.“
“How many times do you presume that is?“
Marvel sent a thoughtful wave. Shai was getting pretty confident in discerning them. “A couple dozen times at the very least.“
“Let’s make all of them count.“
Hopefully, by then I’ll be able to finish it, Shai thought, eyeing the Wyrm. The wound she inflicted was minuscule compared to its massive form, but in most cases, dozens of minuscule wounds were enough to take down even a titan, much less this misshapen abomination. It was never perfect, to begin with, and their assault left it even more incomplete.
The problem was its defence. This abomination had inherited some twisted form of the same passive defence. Of course, Shai managed to leave it vulnerable in some places, but none of them was in any critical spot like its head or heart.
“Give it some time,“ Marvel said. “After it runs out of energy, nothing can save it from us.“
Shai agreed. Sadly, it seemed an Iron-ranked creature had a tremendous pool of essence. The way it wasted precious essence, Shai could have killed it twice over.
“An Iron-ranked creature can easily have three to four times more energy than a copper ranker,“ Marvel informed. “The difference grows even larger depending on the path and law comprehension. While I doubt this creature comprehends even the dullest concept, I can guess it has close to ten thousand points of essence reserves. The evil power that twisted it filled its empty husk full of contaminated essence.“
Shai sucked in a deep breath. That was already over twenty times her energy reserves. The sheer disparity between their stats stunned her. Thankfully, the wyrm was inept at utilising the energy, or they would be in its stomach.
Unsurprisingly, the wyrm entangled itself in the webs, astonishing them yet again.
A huge block of stone smashed into the wyrm, suspended in the air, eliciting its most indignant scream, as the white snake escaped under its watch, powerless to retaliate. Its state deteriorated enough to lose its iron-rank aura.
“You said the traps are not life-threatening,“ Shai accused Marvel as the spider helped her latch onto a safe web to rest.
“They aren’t,“ Marvel said, sounding a little less certain, “if you’re careful.“
Shai let out an exasperated hiss. She wasn’t complaining as the blocks of stone had significantly damaged the wyrm, battering its body, nearly reverting it to its state before advancement. Additionally, Shai had riddled its body with holes, dark blood oozing out even after she had departed.
Shai felt sick as well, despite her best efforts to expel all the filthy blood from her system. Considering she had done this over a couple of dozen times now, excluding the period before the wyrm advanced, there were ample reasons for her discomfort.
Sadly, it wasn’t time to rest yet. The wyrm was already showing signs of weakness, unable to form the black bolts to attack, taking longer to extricate itself from the web entanglements.
They were on the final stretch now.
“Only about a couple of hundred metres remain to reach the bottom,“ Marvel added. “Do not move around on your own. The last few traps were more than a little tricky, though I suppose you’ll be fine with your narrow form. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the other serpentine creature though.“
Shai could sense the relief emanating from the spider as she spoke. Shai too felt relieved, though she knew she would have to continue with her task a few more times.
“Come on, I’ll help you out from now on,“ Marvel said as she propelled Shai towards the wyrm again, before joining her.
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THe full poem to give credits to the original creator.
“Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers
but to be fearless in facing them.
Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain
but for the heart to conquer it.
Let me not look for allies in life's battlefield
but to my own strength.
Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved
but hope for the patience to win my freedom.
Grant that I may not be a coward,
feeling your mercy in my success alone;
But let me find the grasp of your hand in my failure.”
― Rabindranath Tagore
It sounds a lot better in the original text...
