Chapter 1226 Ice Skater Invented
As the realization of their predicament sank in, with the ancient spider beast lurking somewhere in the blizzard, Gaya turned to Michael, her face etched with concern. "What the hell are we going to do?" she asked, the urgency in her voice cutting through the howling wind.
But without waiting for Michael's response, Gaya launched into a story from her past, a rare glimpse into her vulnerabilities. "You know why I fucking hate spiders?" she began, her voice tinged with a mix of fear and disgust. "When I was little, I stumbled into a nest of them. Felt them crawling all over me before I even knew what was happening. It's a feeling you don't forget," she confessed, shivering at the memory.
In the midst of deflecting arrows being fired at them with a casual flick of his hands, Michael couldn't help but chuckle at the irony. "You, the Goddess of Monsters, and you're afraid of spiders," he said, amusement clear in his voice despite the ongoing assault.
"Everyone has something they fear, human," Gaya's response was a low growl, her annoyance evident. Meanwhile, the archers hidden from sight, continued their assault on Michael and Gaya. Unfortunately fo them, they were not thinning the herd as they were thinking but messing with two gods. "Quit playing with them and finish those fuckers up," Gaya commanded, her tone shifting from irritation to determination. Then, she loaded crossbow bolts into the God Slayer, preparing to take matters into her own hands and eliminate the threat of the unseen archers targeting them.
The air around them crackled with tension as Gaya took aim, her focus narrowing on the hidden assailants. Sensing her shift in mood, Michael ceased his playful deflection of the arrows and cracked his neck.
"You are right. Let's quit playing," As the barrage of arrows continued to slice through the misty air towards them, Michael, with a determined glare, dashed forward, his two swords ready in his hands. His figure blurred into motion, a shadow racing towards the unseen threat.
Hidden among the snow and fog were the archers, clad in the golden armor that bore the crest of Aurumvale. They stood in formation, their bows drawn, aiming into the mist with uncertainty clouding their vision.
"I can't see shit through this storm," one of them cursed, releasing another arrow into the white abyss. "Just keep firing," the leader of the group commanded, an elf wielding a halberd with authority. "Fire at every shadow, every movement. We need to thin the herd," he ordered, his voice cutting through the wind with a cold determination.
In the midst of their assault, one keen-eyed elf squinted into the distance, noticing something moving towards them at an alarming speed. "Is that the ancient beast?" he asked, a trace of fear tainting his words, the possibility of facing the monster they'd been warned about looming in his mind.
"No," another archer responded, catching a brief glimpse of black long robes through the swirling snow. "But I think it's an adventurer in black, probably the one we've been firing arrows at."
The elf who had spotted the figure snickered, his fear replaced with a rush of adrenaline. "Then kill that idiot," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand, underestimating the threat racing towards them.
As Michael surged forward through the icy mist, he leaped with a ferocity that matched the howling storm around them. With a swift, precise slash, he silenced one of the elves instantly, the unfortunate soul's head cleanly severed from his body in a chilling display of efficiency.
The elves, momentarily frozen in horror at the sight of their comrade falling so abruptly, quickly descended into panic. "Fuck, what the hell was that?" one of them cried out, barely able to comprehend the speed and brutality of their assailant.
"Attack, you fools!" another shouted, trying to rally his companions into action, but his command was cut short as a crossbow bolt whistled through the mist, striking him squarely in the head. The bolt's impact was lethal and immediate, sending another elf to the ground in a lifeless heap.
The remaining elves, now shouting in a mix of horror and anger, realized the true danger they faced too late. "KILL THEM!" one managed to yell, his voice tinged with desperation and fear.
"You picked the wrong targets." Michael snickered. He moved among them like a shadow, his movements a blur of deadly grace. Despite their training and armor, the elves stood no chance against the God of Darkness. One by one, they fell to Michael's blades, their cries and shouts quickly silenced in a matter of seconds.
As Michael stood amidst the fallen bodies of the Aurumvale elves, his victory was abruptly interrupted by an unexpected assault. A medallion, hurled from the mist, flew at him with precision. In the fraction of a second before it could reach him, emerald green chains burst forth from the jade medallion, rapidly coiling around him in an attempt to bind him.
"Fuck," Gaya exclaimed as she witnessed the sudden attack. But Michael, with his newfound power as a Greater God, easily shattered the chains. The emerald links shattered upon contact, their fragments scattering across the snow.
However, the energy released by the medallion drew the attention of the ancient beast, the giant spider lurking within the mist. Reacting instantly, Michael leaped out of the way as a white form, the spider, shot through the mist and struck the ground where he had just stood. The impact left behind an empty cocoon, a silent testament to what might have been had Michael been slower.
Gaya, observing the spider's ability to rapidly create cocoons, couldn't hide her astonishment. "Look at that...it shoots cocoons faster than I shoot arrows," she commented, her tone a mix of admiration and concern for the danger they now faced.
"Some smart assholes are using medallions to kill others!" Gaya shouted, her voice laced with frustration and anger at the cowardice of their unseen assailants. She quickly began to move, signaling Michael to follow as they attempted to put distance between themselves and the ancient spider.
The spider, undeterred, screamed into the mist, a chilling sound that echoed through the mountain. It continued to fire white foam at them, its aim guided by the disturbances in the air.
As some of the remaining adventurers caught a clear glimpse of the spider, their reactions were a mixture of shock and horror. "Holy shit, that's the beast!" one of them yelled, his voice cracking with fear.
"Are we supposed to fight that thing?" another cried out, the prospect of facing the spider directly a daunting one they hadn't considered.
"We're fucked. We're so fucked," a third adventurer muttered, the reality of their situation sinking in as they witnessed the monstrous spider in action.
Unlike the others who were panicking, Michael formulated a plan on the fly while darting through the icy mist with Gaya.
"If this thing tracks its prey by sensing celestial energy, then I'm about to give it a real wild goose chase," he declared as his mind raced with strategies to outsmart the ancient spider.
Without missing a beat, Michael retrieved a medium-grade celestial crystal from the system storage. With a firm grip, he crushed the crystal, its shards glowing a vibrant emerald as they scattered in multiple directions when he flung them away. The release of celestial energy from the shattered pieces was immediate and potent, creating a beacon for the spider.
Attracted by the sudden surge of celestial energy, the spider veered off its course, its attention captivated by the glowing emerald shards. It began to viciously attack the scattered pieces, each strike a testament to its relentless nature.
"Holy hell, it's going after someone else!" one of them exclaimed, relief mixed with terror in his voice.
"Looks like it's thinning the herd without us lifting a finger," another shouted, a grim sense of satisfaction in recognizing an unintended ally in their hunt for the map.
Meanwhile, Michael took advantage of the distraction to focus on his next move. He observed the ice beneath his feet and the distant mountain peak, an idea forming in his mind. After quickly buying a metal board and a few other components from the system store, he began to assemble them with purposeful haste.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Gaya asked, her curiosity piqued by Michael's sudden shift in focus.
"Improvising," Michael responded simply, his hands moving deftly to fit the components together. He was constructing a makeshift skateboard, complete with a small engine designed to melt the ice below and vaporize it using the dark flames to propel them forward. "This board will use the ice as fuel. The engine will melt it, and then I'll superheat the water with dark flames to create steam for propulsion," he explained to Gaya, detailing the innovative design that would leverage his Inventor trait to escape the spider's pursuit.
"This should give us the speed we need to outrun that spider and make it to the mountain top before anyone else," Michael concluded.
The skateboard, now fully assembled, was a sleek piece of improvisation, its black metallic surface gleaming against the backdrop of the icy mountain. "Hop on it," Michael said with a confident grin and hopped onto the board. Althoguh slughtly hesitant, Gaya took a deep breath and stepped on behind him and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.
"This better not make me fall," Gaya warned.
"Hold tight," Michael chuckled before channeling his dark flames, which cascaded from his hands down to his feet, feeding into the small engine attached to the skateboard. The moment the dark flames made contact with the ice, it melted instantaneously, only to be vaporized by the intense heat. This sudden transformation of ice to steam propelled them forward with an impressive burst of speed.
As they soared through the ice storm, the sensation was exhilarating. They moved with such velocity that the snow and wind seemed to blur around them, creating a tunnel of white.
Their sudden burst of speed didn't go unnoticed by the other adventurers struggling through the storm. "What the hell? Did you see that?" one exclaimed as Michael and Gaya zoomed past them, a blur against the snowy backdrop.
"Is he using celestial energy? How is he not getting killed by that damn spider?" another shouted, confusion and envy coloring his voice as he watched the pair disappear into the distance.
"They're fucking flying on a board!" another shouted, pointing in the direction Michael and Gaya had disappeared.
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