Lazy Salvation

CRACK—CRASH—!

The spear traveled forward and screwed the brains of five Great Demons in the same instant.

Ashen didn't stop to marvel that a fourth Step had just killed five monsters a full step above him in a single strike.

He knew that if he stopped even for a moment, those same monsters would multiply by a hundred, and by then, a single thrust wouldn't bail him out.

Thud—thud—thud—

He jumped thrice and continued running.

It had been a week since he'd begun running back, toward the human domains.

What was supposed to be a simple retreat had turned into one of the hardest fights of his life.

All five Outer Gods bombarded him with long-range spells, and if not for the Twin Soul's constant interference, he would have died a thousand times over already.

Changing direction didn't help either; they never stopped, and if anything, the harassment only intensified. Even the mindless Narkals stopped throwing their lives away and started trading injuries for his, one for one.

By now, there wasn't an inch of his body left uninjured.

But he kept going.

Stopping meant death. It also meant breaking his promises to those who waited for his comeback, and above all, it meant leaving all these monstrosities for the others to deal with.

…Something he was sure they wouldn't be able to do, if the first timeline was anything to go by.

Something else of note had happened during the week: he'd run out of mana and had to tap into the vast reserves of the Hourvault.

The skill accumulated excess mana and vitality the less he moved, and during the last historical fragment, he'd spent a good portion of the half century just sitting in a room, experimenting with spells and mana.

But even with all he'd hoarded, he wasn't sure it would be enough to last until he reached the Wrath Domain, not at his current rate of expenditure.

BOOM—!

{They are coming.}

'I know.'

The two souls switched seamlessly, a rhythm they'd grown used to over the past days.

{Path Skill Activated: Eternal Engine.}

'Switch.'

Ashen felt his creaking body snap to peak state despite the exhaustion and pain. Even his mind sharpened, the single goal of returning home burning clear in his thoughts.

He felt that as long as he didn't reach his goal, he would never stop; even if he died, his body would keep going to fulfill his objective.

Self-Consumption came running straight at him, and Ashen felt the all-consuming intent behind the mana it radiated. It prickled his skin like needles, threatening to overwhelm him before they even clashed.

Thankfully, he had an equally tyrannical intent backing him.

{I will shape the will, you move the body.}

He answered by dashing forward. The creature spread its arms as if to embrace whatever he threw at it, but Ashen leapt over it instead, his mana-infused spear arcing sideways through the air.

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He passed over its head, and the instant they aligned, he struck the Outer God's back with the spear shaft, launching it forward as he kept running past.

He'd learned that any attack that didn't outright kill this thing only made it stronger, so his strategy was to keep dodging and ignoring it.

The game of cat and mouse continued until Self-Consumption, frustrated, cornered him. It devoured part of itself through its shadow and surged forward, suddenly far faster.

The Twin Soul took the lead and screwed a red spear thrust through its torso, one that made the creature go pale with fright.

Half its body separated, swallowed by its shadow before it fled in the blink of an eye.

"Tsk."

'Switch again.'

*

After dealing with that self-consuming cannibal for the past few hours, Ashen knew he'd get a period of respite.

Respite here meaning he had to run at top speed while dealing with countless monsters still stronger than him, if by mana quality alone.

But he didn't mind anymore. If anything, he felt like he was starting to sink into a flow.

He felt Spear Harmony cheering inside him; even Mel seemed momentarily soothed.

'Strike here.'

'Dodge.'

'Jump.'

'Block it and run.'

'Now go.'

His actions flowed one after the other with almost no thought. His eyes glazed over, and he forgot the constant pain plaguing him.

{Ashen… do you know why I can deal with those creatures while you still cannot?}

The question echoed in the back of his mind, and he answered on instinct.

'Concepts…'

{Aside from that, there's something else.}

'Intent…'

{Yes. Intent. There are many reasons my intent scares them while they shrug yours off so easily.}

'...'

Thrust—

Slash—

Run—

{One of them is simply that you don't possess a pure heart.}

'Pure heart…?'

Ashen, even in his trance, frowned. He had never considered himself pure. After all the hurt he'd done to his family, even if that wasn't technically his fault, even if some entity had been pulling the strings, there was no excuse for what he'd done recently.

The human counterattack. It was mainly his doing.

He knew there would be countless deaths, but he hardened his heart and went along with it anyway.

There was nothing pure about that.

Hearing his thoughts, the old soul chuckled. {That's not the purity I mean.}

{It's having a single color. A single thought.}

'A single color…'

{Yes. Whenever you infuse your intent into mana, you're probably thinking with all your heart about how you want to end your foe. But that's not all.}

{You're also thinking about how to angle the strike, how to dodge if you miss, how to follow up if you land it.}

{And fear is always there too. Rage… Hate… Bloodlust...}

{So many emotions crammed into a single instant. They leave no room for each other, and you end up with a weak intent.}

'...'

{A pure heart is simply one thought, held at the moment you thrust your spear.}

{It doesn't matter which one. All you have to do is make it one.}

'One…'

Ashen didn't answer, but the fear plaguing him was the first to go.

It served nothing, and it was easy to crush under his overwhelming need to kill the monsters before him.

'One.'

Rage left him next. He wasn't feeling much of it in his current state, but even that trace faded once he started seeing his foes as obstacles to eliminate, not breathing, thinking creatures.

'One.'

Bloodlust followed rage for the same reason.

'One.'

'One.'

'One.'

One after another, they left him, reducing his thoughts to a single point.

'I want to go home.'

But these creatures were blocking him, and so—

'I should remove them.'

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM—

His next spear thrust extended a line of white mana that decimated the horde before him in a single instant.

{Yes. Just like that. Do it again.}

This time, the intent transferred to the mana running through his feet. He crouched slightly.

BOOOOOOOOOOM—

…and jumped.

He found himself traveling kilometers in an instant.

'Yes. This is the feeling. One more.'

{Path Skill Activated: Hollow Resolve.}

He angled his spear at the next obstacle standing between him and home.

.

.

.

"..."

There was none.

Every Narkal had vanished.

Even the Outer God's mana had gone quiet.

'None…?'

He ran forward.

'Where?'

Nothing could be seen across the horizon.

Just him, and a clear path.

A happy feeling.

'Alice… Seraphine… Lucia… I'm coming.'

His run broke into a walk.

The trance ended.

He slowly came to a halt.

Hollow Resolve released its hold.

"..."

Ashen felt his body relax after ten straight days of running and killing.

But he couldn't help feeling it.

'Empty.' He glanced up, face numb. 'Why am I feeling so empty?'

Even the vague feeling of happiness vanished.

Ashen couldn’t understand it… There was no one stopping him, so why….?

Why was he feeling so lost, as if he had let something escape his hold…

"Haah…"

He had the absurd, overwhelming urge to light one up, and with a thought from the Hourvault, a cigarette found its way to his lips.

tsst… tsst… tssss…

"Motherfuckers…"