Chapter 59: Out Of The Spring
The revelation sent shudders through him, and Rudy tightened his jaw.
Even though he had just slain a deviant horror whose body was way weaker than the deviant demon they had teamed up against, Rudy really had no way to defeat this dreadborn.
He didn’t even know how to kill it in the first place; the cores themselves were so spread out that he couldn’t decide the spot to attack, and even [Scarlet Sight] wasn’t showing any of its weak points.
That was the reason why he had been unable to find out that the oasis itself was a dreadborn.
He stared at the faintly glowing clam, his face terrified, and forced himself to stand.
Although the oasis was a deviant disaster, it relied on mind attacks, which Rudy already had a resistance against because of his [Cold Headed] trait.
"I have to get out of here," he concluded as he shot one last glare at the clam and surged upwards towards the cavity’s opening.
As he swam, the clam let out another sharp hum.
The hum spread through the water and crashed into Rudy, slamming him into the wall.
This hum wasn’t physical; instead, it was so strong that even the mental attacks were causing physical reactions.
"Fucking hell!" Rudy cursed through gritted teeth and pushed himself upwards using the wall.
Then he used the remaining essence he had to swim as fast as he could.
He shot towards the opening at an unimaginable speed, and before the clam could attack him once more, he left the cavity.
Although his body wasn’t greatly injured, he barely had any fabric covering his body, and essence fatigue was making it hard for him to continue upwards.
The clam continued to use its humming attacks, and after a minute, Rudy burst out of the spring.
He slammed into the ground and rolled for a moment. His fingers dug into the rotten grass as he forced himself to his feet and glanced at the spring.
The spring’s surface was calm and as pristine as it had been during the hex, but after a few moments, it rippled.
"Something’s coming..." Rudy mumbled darkly and turned to Sera.
Sera was checking up on Kalien, who had woken up from his short slumber, and both of them held grave expressions.
"It seems they are free of the hex," Rudy concluded and took a step towards them.
But as he did so, he remembered that he was almost naked and his terrifying left arm looked like something straight out of a nightmare.
As he realized what [Blood Usurpation] had done to his arm, he wished nothing more than to get rid of that stupid skill; however, the amount of essence and life it had stolen from the Slumber Bellfish was staggering enough for him not even to dare consider that possibility.
Cursing whomever he could think of, he put on the [Obsidian Aegis.]
Silver sparks appeared around his body and took the shape of a grand black armor that seemed to belong to some dark commander.
The armor was as black as obsidian, etched with jagged silver filigree that caught the bright sunlight. Spiked pauldron framed his shoulders, each one crowned with cruel barbs — a dark cape billowed behind him.
The armor was adorned with hanging chains and obsidian pendants, and its gauntlets ended in sharp claws that could tear through flesh.
However, for some odd reason, the armor had no helmet.
’This would do.’ Rudy glanced at the spring; the ripples had become stronger.
He ran towards his circle.
"Seraphel!" He called out and stopped before them.
Sera and Kalien looked at him and whispered, "Vlad..."
The sound of splashing water entered his ears, and he turned his head towards the spring as he muttered, "We have to leave this place immediately."
"What?" Sera pressed, confused
Rudy turned his head towards them. "We don’t have time—"
Sera’s fist crashed into his face, twisting it to the side. As the attack had no essence in it, it did nothing to him.
"What the fuck...?" Rudy mumbled, dumbfounded, and his eyes turned cold.
He turned his gaze to Sera and spoke calmly, "What are you doing, Seraphel Thessyne?"
Sera glared at him with heated eyes and responded darkly while pointing at the spring, "Why did you do that?! Because of you, the spring goddess has turned mad!!"
"Huh?" Rudy blinked a few times, and his face darkened as realization hit him.
’They... They are still under the hex.’
He gritted his teeth and grabbed Sera’s shoulder. "Come out of it! There is no spring goddess. This is wretched dreadborn playing mind games with us."
Sera let out a baffled chuckle and said, "So this is how you are going to repay the goddess who had given us this paradise? You savage giant!"
At the same time, Kalien finally rose to his feet and asked, "Why did you do it, Vlad?"
Hearing the two, Rudy’s head spun.
The sound of splashing water got louder, but the two of them ignored it as if it wasn’t even there.
’What do I do?’ Even with all the knowledge he had about the old realm, he was stumped.
He closed his eyes for a moment and replayed everything that had happened in the past week.
A moment later, he whispered, "The grass made us fall into the hex, the water made us hungry, and the fruits strengthened the effect of both..."
He clenched his left hand and concluded, "I have to get them out of this place, and the hex would break."
Sera’s expression darkened, and she asked in a baffled tone, "What did you—"
The spring exploded and its water splashed everywhere.
Just like before, Seraphel and Kalien ignored it, and Rudy grabbed Sera’s wrist.
"Unhand me!" She shouted furiously and tried to free herself from his grip.
He glared at her.
"Until we reach the return beacon, your life belongs to me."
Watching them, Kalien slammed into Rudy and sent him stumbling back.
"Kalien!" He shouted and stepped forward.
The rotten grass near him came out of the ground like thin snakes and wrapped around his shin.
"Fucking hell!"
