Chapter 389: Sacrifice
Dorian and Lucas did their all to fend off the charmed while the soldiers struggled to resist the defiled, this feat becoming several times more difficult as they had to fight with a rapidly waning pool of essence.
Soldiers wielding high-grade weapons and equipping high-grade armour, though this zone didn’t give them a 100% drop rate, with how many they had killed the human forces were now armed to the teeth with quality gear, those alive at least.
The group’s speed gradually climbed as the slower bunch among them began to die out to the savage bombardment of the corrupted, losing the ability to keep up, falling back into the heart of the horde with a dwindling sputter of essence.
It was a complete bloodbath on both sides, the soldiers saw red, their killing efficiency continuing to climb as their bronze genes stirred out of dormancy.
And began to activate and shift their cells, their stat efficiency climbing the more they expended, as they relied on the influx of stats that came after each kill to keep them going.
A horrifying screech bursting from afar, rippling with a haunting tremor, as the savage glow behind the creatures’ eyes grew more wild, their abilities being enhanced even further.
The mental attacks of the charmed beasts becoming greater and the lethal force of the defiled becoming even more efficient.
The danger the beast posed suddenly became greater than some soldiers could adapt to fast enough, and they were slaughtered for it.
The harrowing reality of this new era dawning hard on most, a world maintained by the delicate balance of strength.
A world where weakness was a sin, atoned only with death...
They were forced to watch themselves die, yet remaining helpless and occupied with keeping themselves alive.
Those who had begun to wear the mentality of invincibility due to their barely-up-to-par strength had their worldview shattered, it didn’t matter that they could hold their own against a defiled... not when they were facing ten!
Light sparked as abilities were unleashed with full fury, their gene skills activating wildly, with abandon.
All the soldiers using everything within their means to fight, forced and pressured by death, they had no choice but to adapt endlessly, tapping into their racial traits and skills as demanded.
A trickle of warmth ran down Uriel’s nose as he poured all his mental capacity into assisting the soldiers and helping maintain the temporal dilation effect.
He rode at the forefront of the group, too fast for the corrupted to catch up to yet balanced enough to maintain his cast range.
Despite his waning mental capacity as his brain was slowly being plagued by a foggy, obstructive effect, dialing down his mental processing speed by several degrees.
His essence dwindled to dangerously low numbers, and he was forced to draw from his combat mount’s reserves, he was slowly approaching his limits.
Unlike those behind him, he hadn’t gotten any kills so far, so he couldn’t replenish lost stat points, especially his essence unit.
But this remained the least of Uriel’s worries...
He wore a frown as he stared ahead, his jaw tight, they had long crossed back into the area with lesser amounts of abyssal force concentrated in the air, and they were rapidly approaching the shore.
Where the greatest obstacle to their escape awaited, their ticket home was the elder, and his ability activation time wouldn’t be instant.
How were they meant to activate the space gate uninterrupted and safely? Where would they find the time?
And worse, the elder would have to be left in the open, in a state that was several times harder to defend.
He could die at any moment and then they would all lose their way out of here, leaving them no choice but to wander back into the sea.
That was a scenario he couldn’t allow to happen, and the only solution to this was clear... they had to stall the horde by whatever means they could handle.
He remained silent as he galloped, his complexion going increasingly pale, as his passive damage gained from moving at such speeds began to climb to a level even his robust health couldn’t handle.
His fingers dug into the reins as he focused his all on maintaining his rapidly declining state as he pushed forward, struggling to sustain the weakening temporal manipulation and keep as many soldiers alive as he could.
Fatigue climbing as the fog clouding his brain grew denser, veins bulging on his head, as he struggled to keep focus by all means.
While Uriel struggled, he wasn’t the only one who had come to the same conclusion while pondering the same worry.
Lucas and Dorian, who had witnessed the old man activate his ability, were both smart enough to understand the looming problem they would all encounter once they got to the shore.
Dim beams of light from the grey sky finally began to pierce through the dense canopies of the trees as they began to thin, the paths growing wider.
It became clear that the shore was close, while the humans’ faces shone with anticipation and focus, believing they were moments away from escape, the expressions of Uriel, Lucas and Dorian remained bleak.
While Elaine had no clue, too busy directing her frozen army, manipulating her black ice shards with lethal efficiency while also casting Cryo Bind where it was needed, all at once.
Her wraith-summoning class skill would be more efficient in taking care of the corrupted, but the essence cost would be too detrimental, not worth the damage the wraith could cause.
Crunch! A sickening snap accompanied by a muffled grunt rang out from the rear, as in a moment of weakness a Gator-type charmed beast had taken a clean bite off Dorian’s arm, ripping the limb right off the bone, the flesh torn right apart.
The poor captain’s health stat took a sudden lethal dip, the digits beginning to flicker red as a warning from the system.
Dorian swayed in his saddle, his mind still muddled from the effect of the mental attack he had suffered, blood pouring in dangerous quantities as he moved, directing his steed with a single arm.
This mutilation suddenly reshaped how he perceived his gene skill! Dorian’s gene skill, which was mostly channeled through his physical might, predominantly his limbs, so it was only natural he felt the weakness that followed.
His efficiency would never be the same...
The captain bit back a groan as his speed began to wane, his essence dwindling to double digits. His frame strayed back as monsters began to gain on him from the sides...
"I’m going to die!" he realized, it wasn’t a possibility, it was a foreseen conclusion... Yet Dorian’s gaze remained strong, his back straight with dignity as he knew what he had to do.
His steed began to slow even more, as Lucas noticed his plight and prepared to help, pulling on his reins, but Dorian’s words stopped him.
"Don’t, it’s useless. Just go and don’t look back... please." Dorian spoke, his voice weak yet clear enough for Lucas to hear.
Lucas’s chest tightened, every instinct dragging him to turn back, but his respect for his colleague still won out, his teeth gritted, his vision blurring, he could feel the rising pressure of pure essence building within Dorian’s body and he understood what was happening.
Pushing forward, he focused on increasing his speed, leaving his friend behind...
Dorian’s veins began to glow beneath his skin with a building luster of overloading essence.
His frame overwhelmed by attacks as myriad corrupted pounced his way, teeth bared wild and claws glinting sharp.
Time seemed to slow, as Dorian could feel it, the presence of the nether, almost like the grim reaper was breathing over his neck, the pressure of death overwhelming his being. His mind spun with memories, a faint, helpless smile forming on his lips as he whispered...
"Let’s hope this will be enough..." his skin beginning to rip as gleaming cracks spread through his body, almost like he had become a broken vessel...
His eyes were losing focus, as his energy spiraled out of control, his mind went blank and his consciousness fell into darkness, no pain, no fear, no pressure, only peace.
His body ruptured as a force of essence piled to dangerous levels exploded into the atmosphere, swallowing his frame and all the monsters around!
BOOOOM!!