Chapter 88: The Battle of the Crimson Wave
[Phantom Step!]
Before the giant worms could crush him beneath their massive bodies, Alen’s figure blurred. He appeared several meters away, completely evading their deadly ambush. However, he didn’t stop in just one place. He immediately burst outward, dashing to another location, knowing the worms would not take much time to detect his exact position. He had to be incredibly careful. Since he had already fought one of these giant worms once before, he knew exactly how these monsters fought and how destructive they could be.
*BOOOM!*
Because Alen had moved so quickly, the worms slammed heavily into each other instead of hitting him. A deafening sound echoed through the barren wasteland as their massive bodies collided. They quickly backed away from one another and frantically searched the area for him.
[Mhmm... As expected, they are just a bunch of dumb brains...]
As Alen ran away from their immediate grasp, he suddenly heard Ravena’s voice echoing directly inside his mind. It was the very first time someone had ever spoken to him using telepathy, so the sensation felt completely new and slightly startling to him.
’Wait! How can you speak to me using telepathy? I didn’t give you the permission to breach my mind!’ Alen thought back, feeling a spike of alarm.
[Oh... calm down, calm down. Once the bond is fully formed, the host and their bonded spirit can communicate with each other through telepathy without actually breaking the defensive walls of the mind...]
Alen let out a heavy sigh of relief at her answer. He looked back at the giant worms who were currently trying to find him. He carefully hid himself behind the massive, thrashing body of one of the distracted worms.
’So, if it was already possible to communicate without actually breaching through my mind, then why did you tell me earlier that you needed me to open the walls of my mind before we formed the bond?’
[Well... You already know I was planning to take over your body... So I just bluffed and said whatever sounded convincing to get you to agree. Well, forget about the past! Let’s focus on n—]
Suddenly, Alen felt a massive, suffocating wave of killing intent wash over him. He had been so distracted by his telepathic conversation with Ravena that he hadn’t noticed the worms’ giant, bloodshot eyes had finally locked onto him.
He looked up at the beasts as they finally found his hiding spot. They were already preparing to launch a devastating attack, gathering a massive amount of dense mana to form a terrifying spell.
’Damn it... Are they preparing for another massive Sonic Boom? I am completely finished if I actually have to face their combined attacks head-on!’
[Hey, you need to leave right now... hurry!]
Alen looked at the incoming monsters. There was absolutely no space to run away, as they were standing far too close and had completely surrounded him from all sides. But as the giant beasts were preparing to unleash their combined attack, their brief pause gave Alen a golden chance to strike back.
[Nexus Elemental Art: Wind Type - Crimson Storm Havoc!]
Suddenly, a violent storm broke through the quiet wasteland. A massive vortex of wind started to surround Alen’s entire body. Within just a few seconds, it turned into a massive, raging storm as Alen poured a huge amount of his mana into the spell. His body became the literal center of the storm, creating a towering tornado.
Alen released the Crimson Essence from the dagger, letting it flow freely alongside his wind magic. The powerful storm instantly turned into a devastating Crimson Havoc.
The red sand and heavy debris from beneath the ground started to break apart from the sheer pressure, flying wildly around the area. The storm grew to become as massive as the surrounding worms. The Leviathans, which were just preparing to attack, suddenly felt deeply threatened by the towering crimson storm. Their primal survival instincts screamed of extreme danger, causing them to immediately back away from the silver-haired boy.
Alen looked at the retreating monsters. He didn’t waste his time waiting around. He lunged directly toward them with an incredible, blinding speed.
The violent storm swirling around his body moved right along with him, tearing the ground apart as he advanced.
As Alen appeared directly above one of the giant worms, he tightly coated the dagger with dense, swirling Crimson Essence. With a powerful swing, he threw it straight toward the monster’s giant eye with incredible speed.
[Hey, you bastard! Don’t throw me! I am not a spear, I am a dagger!!!!]
As the dagger flew toward the Leviathan with unbelievable speed, the worm didn’t even get the time to dodge. Godless plunged deeply into its massive eye, instantly blinding the creature.
*SCREECHHHHHHH!!!!*
As the dagger blinded the massive worm, the destructive Crimson Essence started to flow wildly inside the Leviathan’s body. The energy began to burst and destroy its internal organs with terrifying precision, as the flow of the energy was being directly controlled by Ravena’s skilled hands. The worm’s entire giant body started to spark with volatile Crimson Essence, looking as if it were going to explode into tiny pieces at any moment.
[Yuck! That felt completely disgusting! My beautiful body feels so dirty now,] Ravena complained bitterly.
As the blind worm screamed in agony and rapidly lost its life force, the remaining Leviathans looked at their dying companion. Instead of feeling fear, they felt even more enraged.
*SCREEECHHHHH!!!*
Alen landed gracefully on top of the dying worm. He didn’t wait for the others to recover. He rushed toward the remaining worms with blinding speed. Coating his fist in the chaotic storm of crimson wind, he appeared directly in front of one of the angry worms and threw a devastating punch straight at its face.
*BOOOM!*
Even before his fist could touch the Leviathan’s thick hide, the worm’s massive body was violently thrown backward just by the sheer wind pressure created by the strike. A massive ring of air pressure exploded outward upon impact.
The Leviathan’s heavy body flew several meters away, rolling uncontrollably across the rough ground before finally coming to a complete stop. A massive, gaping wound appeared in the exact place where the compressed wind had hit it, and dark blood started to leak heavily from the fresh injury.
Alen fell back toward the ground, quickly using a burst of wind magic to lessen his falling speed and safely negate the pull of gravity.
He landed smoothly and looked down at his own hands with a completely shocked expression. The roaring wind storm started to slowly subside, and the glowing Crimson Essence forming around his hands began to safely disintegrate into the air.
"Damn, this power is absolutely crazy... I didn’t expect this new energy to be so incredibly powerful. It almost increased my base attack power to double its original strength!"
’It felt like my very blood was flowing according to my own will...’
’It didn’t even take much mental concentration like how regular mana usually does... I simply needed to use my will to shape it and use it in different forms...’
[Ding! Your understanding of the ’Crimson Essence’ has increased slightly!]
[Ding! Your Mastery over ’Godless’ has increased slightly!]
[Bond: Godless (1st form) → 0.1%]
[Ding! You have attained the basic requirements needed to break through to the B-Rank!]
