Chapter 141 141 A mistake…
[OP: ]
A single drop of gold, big but not too large, producing blinding light that was too bright to even see the unique, complicated, attractive, and unfathomable power it contained, materialized right above the two of them and attracted the attention of the creature that had stepped foot into the next stage of a corrupted being.
It was unexpected for them, again.
The creature they had defeated previously when they were playing the game had not once materialized the greatest negative emotion to step foot into the second stage of the corruption. It had never been able to.
They knew there was no possibility that it was even possible to begin with, but, another variable situation occurred and Lucy received serious injuries.
"KHUUUUOOOOOOO!"
The creature that had maintained a humanoid form until now had now transformed into a complicated being with a tail resembling a dragon, wings resembling a bat, and mouth and facial features resembling a… mad, ferocious beast. And, a form so distorted with so many elements that calling it anything other than a 'thing' had become impossible.
It had embodied the 'Hate' that the actual owner of that form, the demoness succubus Eisheth, had blocked for all this time.
It was complicated to describe this being now, however, by doing something so suicidal that even the original body was not capable of handling it, this creature had put a countdown on its own head.
It was going to get destroyed on its own soon, but before it did, it would make sure to finish the one that hurt it with that filthy light, and the one who gave it to him.
It would destroy them, that was now the instinctive part this 'thing' would play. And, the light so bright that even the strongest eyes would be blinded by it, attracted its attention, aggravating its behavior to another dimension.
"KHWWWWWWAAAAAAAA!"
The sounds it made were strange, the strength it possessed destroyed the cracked ground, the black liquid on the ground seemed to be flowing back to it, and the creature was moving towards the source of this bright light, towards its prey that it had damaged severely.
"Haaaa… now what El?"
But thankfully, the drop that she produced worked on time and recovered Lucy to a certain degree and, the two of them relocated themselves, hiding away their presence from that creature.
They were in a complicated situation now where even though they could kill this one if they worked together properly, they couldn't do so as easily as they had planned until now.
The opponent was no longer the same creature that it had been. It was a completely different entity from Eisheth or the first stage of her corruption.
<Nya! El->
"Raz, keep maintaining the stream."
Even Raz was worried about them now. This entity they were facing, had already crossed the ranks permitted by this dungeon. And, the system had already recognized it as an anomaly.
Not only was this creature above the level of this dungeon, but it was also not something that should have appeared in this place.
There were a few things that might have triggered it, but, they didn't have time to contemplate the uncertain questions.
"Huuuuu… first of all, let's calm down. This is better in a way. Fuck!"
She glanced at the creature that had absorbed the dark fluid on the ground and was looking around for 'it', however, there was a thin red light covering the surface of its being, a system interface that was waiting for their confirmation of continuation.
They were given a choice as soon as this creature materialized the insurmountable 'Hate' of the demoness. They could continue this dungeon and fight this creature, or they could end their dungeon run and receive the rewards for their achievements until now.
However, they knew very well choosing the second option would not mean they had conquered this dungeon. The anomaly appeared and they were evacuated so that the anomaly could be corrected, after that, this one-time dungeon disappeared forever.
It wasn't an option the ONE would allow themselves to go with, so they will certainly fight this thing even though it might seem impossible from any angle.
The spectators were all going nuts already and were on the edge of their seats, biting their teeth or hoping for the best of the two of them.
"Lucy."
They had come across situations like these somewhere else so El knew what happens in situations like these. Lucy did too but he didn't understand the technical things that happened in the system. That's why he was asking her, and she had one answer that, though suicidal, was pretty possible if they risked their lives once again.
"Yes…?"
She was holding his hands, her face had marks of dried tears, her eyes were red and her face seemed a little pale, but she was looking at him seriously, with a mix of concern and confidence, and Lucy knew that gaze so he was looking back at her, confident in the confidence she was showing.
"Fight it by yourself. I will restrict it. I think we have around three minutes before it destroys itself and everything present in this place, so we have to take it down before that. It will be complicated and will require precision but, if you can cut the 'link'…"
She was confident in the plan, but not the consequences. Not everything she had thought until now had gone according to her plans, this moment included, so she was starting to doubt herself now.
But, she was confident in this absurd-sounding plan where they were literally risking their lives. He would have to fight alone and she would have to be defenseless if she wanted to restrict an enemy of that level.
They were at the point where they had to put everything they had on the line if they wanted to clear this trial and finish what they had started.
She was confident but hesitant… but he believed in her even if she didn't.
"Alright. Let's do it."
Lucy stood up confidently… or at least tried. He fell down as if his legs had given up midway through the process.
"You bastard! What the hell-"
"I'm alright, alright. Don't worry."
He smiled at her when she was again in tears at this incident and tried standing up again with the help of his sword.
He was healed but the pain was still there. It was amazing how he was still standing in the first place.
"Okay, then let's go do the last struggle."
She was worried. Giving up was an option as well but she knew he wouldn't like it either. They had always tried finishing what they had started, even if it killed them. That was the way they followed, that was the way of the ONE.
"Give everything you've got."
She extended her hand for support and he held it, helping her stand up with a smile on his face.
"Of course. And don't push yourself too far. I will need someone to help me when all of this is over."
"…I will try."
She felt bitter. It was a taste she hated more than him so it was even worse for her.
They had lived for sixteen years in this place and they were still so weak that this mere filthy creature was a threat to their lives.
They were weak, she was weak, she didn't like that, but it was true.
They still had a very long way to go before they could stand against the creatures that were actually considered 'strong' on the Worldline level.
She didn't like this, even more since she had just been sitting around playing with her kitten until a few moments ago when she could have used that time for further abnormality analysis or something else.
She might have predicted this and saved Lucy from those injuries and perhaps she wasn't greedy enough, They could have prevented this altogether by defeating this creature as soon as it had finished the corruption process.
This mistake was on her. She had to take the responsibility. And she will tackle the responsibility after all of this is done. At least for now, they had to finish this fucking shitty creature.
"Confirmation. We will continue."
[You have chosen to continue and fight with an anomaly several levels above you!]
[Warning!]
[You are warned to practice extreme caution while fighting the corrupted creature.]
[The manifestation of 'Hate' of corruption has caused an anomaly in the existing system.]
[A temporary penalty will be given to the Corruption and damage dealt against it with appropriate attributes will be enhanced.]
They had confirmed the last fights and the system had provided them with some boost while giving a status abnormality to the corrupted one.
But still, it was temporary and would vanish before that creature destroyed itself and everything else so, they had to finish it as soon as possible.
"Skill."
And to do that, Lucy was prepared for his attack, and El, though still feeling that bitterness, was ready to activate her ultimate skill once again.
Lucy was the same. He wanted to save this one for the last, but now that things had turned out to be like this, there was no need to hold back any longer.
[ "Let's do it, El. This time, for real." ]
[ "Yes…" ]
He knew how she felt, he felt that bitterness and powerlessness as well. Just that he was more angry at himself this time.
"[Dawn evocation]."
He was the reason she was feeling like this. And for that, he couldn't help but curse himself… as well as that bastard creature that caused it all.
"[Aspect of sword]."
He couldn't forgive it.
"Domain of three thousand swords!"
He could not forgive it!
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