[Warp] blurred my form from reality, my body reappearing right in front of the humanoid being that had attacked me just a moment ago.
They looked human. The arm length, the legs, and the entire body structure were human.
Yet their presence, their presence wasn't human.
It was similar to my own, yet different. Weaker.
I side-stepped just in time to dodge another bladed feather, [Blood sense] barely catching an image of the body under the cloak.
And yeah, this thing was not human.
Perhaps it was similar to Mirage, being able to shape-shift.
Or perhaps it was just another nightmare creature.
Either way, it attacked me. And so I would attack it inturn.
I have a firm belief in equal exchange after all.
My body blurred; augmentation strengthened the entirety of it.
The next second, my fist flew forward like a missile, cleaving right through the right shoulder of the creature.
No kill confirmation. Fine.
I warped right behind the rapidly retreating figure, extending my arm as straight as possible, planting my feet for the most balance.
And then, the creature impaled itself upon my arm.
It's now obviously a grotesque inhuman body dripping dark fluid onto my forearm.
I raised my arm slowly, only to swing it with inhuman speed to the side, the body flying off and slamming into a cracked wall, then through it.
This time, the kill confirmation did arrive.
Huh, only an Awakened Monster? Strange.
It shouldn't even dare think about fighting me first.
My brows knitted together, that could mean several things.
And of course, the most likely was that a Tyrant was present.
I let out a sigh, cleaning off my hand as best as I could.
This would be troublesome.
I just hope it isn't a Fallen one or something.
I might as well search for different ruins then.
[Assassin's wear] enveloped me fully, dulling my very existence.
I continued to feed the crimson dagger soul essence every few seconds, the map in my mind expanding and refreshing.
Mirage was in the sky, scouting for anything of note.
After killing that strangely humanoid creature none had started a fight.
Perhaps that single one was cocky, perhaps it was an order to the rest of them.
It didint matter much, unless they would gang up on me later.
That in fact, would matter. Like a lot.
I stopped as I heard a shriek high above, obviously from Mirage.
I focused, pouring some soul essence into my body and ability.
And the next moment I was standing on Mirage's back, trying to understand his screeches.
After a few minutes of useless screeching and questions, Mirage seemingly decided to just land where he spotted something.
Or at least, that's my guess.
[Blood sense] was quite useless so high up, at least without pouring a lot of essence into it.
And I couldn't afford to waste any, especially if a Tyrant was roaming around.
***
I hopped off Mirage, my cloak swirling around me like a living shadow.
Mirage let out a low growl, his form shrinking until he was finally able to fit on my shoulder, pretending to be a crow once more.
I could feel the wind shift, a presence strong enough to be felt several streets away.
I turned away, I might check it later, but now I needed to find the gateway. If there even was one.
God I hoped there was.
Traveling for so long was already getting on my nerves, and who knows how long it would take to find another citadel, claimed or not.
Not to mention there was a possibility I couldn't even beat the guardian.
***
I rolled, my bloody shoulder getting dust and dirt onto it.
I grimaced but ignored it.
I weaved between two more ginormous tentacles, the [Vamparic dagger] flashing as I cut into the soft flesh.
My breath returned, and my bleeding slowed.
Yet it did not stop, my injuries were far too big to be healed by mere cuts.
I needed to do something more damaging, slicing off a tentacle, or perhaps cutting into it a dozen or so times.
My thoughts seized as I barely warped away from a gigantic scythe-like appendage, its already bloodied edge flashing with dark light.
A screetch sounded out throughout the entire dark cathedral, Mirage smashing through the roof and landing on the grotesque creature, his claws tearing into the creature's flesh, leaving mere scratches.
Yet it didn't matter, the distractions were working wonders.
I raised my head upwards, and with the roof now shattered by Mirage, [Blood sense] showed me the three brilliantly glowing stars high above.
Of course, they weren't stars, but three transcendent arrows hanging in the sky.
I didn't bother ramping up a single arrow further, but rather kept one of the augmentations to use on myself.
And thank God I did, I would have been cleaved in half if I hadn't done that.
My attention snapped back to the battle as Mirage was sent hurling through a wall, his form bloodied yet alive.
My mind sharpened, all the currently unnecessary and distracting thoughts vanishing.
I couldn't afford to be careless, a single mistake can and would result in death after all.
I side-stepped a tentacle, transferring the augmentation from my body into the crimson dagger.
Then I stepped into the tentacle, forcing soul essence on top of the already tremendous augmentation.
Blood exploded from the tentacle, the crimson substance covering me from head to toe.
Yet I grinned, as the wounds on my body slowly but steadily healed.
This, this is victory.
The next moment my form vanished, appearing by the injured Mirage.
I simply placed my single arm upon his beak, before warping both of us away.
We appeared a kilometer or so away, ontop of a hill.
I rubbed Mirage's beak, making sure he knew I was proud of his performance.
Then I stepped away, raising my arm towards the sky, towards the stars.
And with a simple gesture of dropping my arm.
The three Transcendent arrows fell from the sky like meteors.
Wind was sliced apart, and gravity only bolstered their strength.
Finally, just before hitting the ground.
They truly looked like three small crimson meteors.
And then they crashed into the ground.
The ground quaked. Wind and sound vanished.
And the world held its breath.
Until only a second later.
The world released its breath.
Wind returned at once, sending out a wall of compressed wind that crushed any ruins in its way.
Sound returned with a vengeance, Terrible screeches ringing from everywhere and nowhere at the same time, the wind battling itself.
And just as everything seemingly calmed down.
The arrows finally exploded.
A catastrophic ball of flames, crystals, and light itself formed in an instant.
Eating everything in a hundred or so meter radius.
[Blood sense] expanded slowly, carefully.
Making sure not to miss a single detail, not a single corpse, or lack thereof.
Because in truth, there wasn't much left still standing.
It looked as if these ruins weren't previously a city crawling with creatures. But a mere town.
And then, the kill confirmations arrived.
One after another, repeating and repeating.
Seemingly endless.
Until the last one did arrive.
[You have slain an Awakened Tyrant, Adine of the Swamp].
[You have received a memory].
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