Seeing the small dot of light at the tip of the liches’ fingers, pointed towards me, I quickly jumped out of the way. As soon as I did, blasts of white rays burned the dust in the air behind me, releasing a blinding light.
The hem of my clothes, which got hit by the ray, turned to ashes in an instant. The destructiveness of those rays was off the charts.
“Master!”
Ember shouted as she was about to use one of her clones to provide support. However, at the same instant, the wolves’ offensive became fiercer. The others were too busy handling the demon wolves to even try to provide support for me.
Ember was forced to use her clones to reinforce the defensive line, maintaining everyone’s safety in a delicate balance.
I, on the other hand, was using my tiny brain to think of a breakthrough. The liches were slow, but I couldn’t try and outrun them as they have a pretty long attack range. I guess the only way I could survive here is by fighting them at close range.
“Mages should be weak in close quarters!” .
I shouted to motivate myself as I charged forward. However, contrary to my expectations, their physical defense was just as high as any other 7th stage. My sword, despite its unbelievable sharpness, only left a fine scratch on its bony arm.
“Hooooooh…”
The lich let out a sound as it waved its staff at an unbelievable speed. I can’t dodge it or block it in time; I can only brace myself and jump back to soften the impact.
My body shot out like a bullet after the staff hit me squarely in the chest, blasting me toward a rock face. Despite its bony appearance, its strike felt like I was hit by a truck, making me see the mirage of another world for an instant.
I tried to move but coughed blood instantly. My whole ribcage had caved in, leaving me unable to breathe for a moment. Then the halo appeared. With a flash of golden light, I recovered fully in an instant.
However, now I have lost my only remaining lifeline. If I were to get hit by a similar attack, then I would surely end up dead.
“…!”
Just as I was thinking about it, the Liches from before were aiming their fingers toward me again. However, the lights were already about to be released. I can’t dodge, as I’m still stuck on the rock wall.
At that moment.
“Run!”
Yulia shouted as she shot a large ball of fire toward the liches. The bony monsters quickly turned to the incoming attack, interrupting their casting as they erected a barrier to protect themselves.
During that instant, I extracted myself from the rock and dashed away. Since the three liches were along the way toward the others, I ran in the opposite direction. Wolves jumped on me from all over.
It was hard to maneuver when you are constantly being attacked from all sides. It was hard to even pay attention to what and where an attack was coming from. Some claws ended up scratching my arms and legs, but I stubbornly protected my vitals.
Just as I was about to reach a steep cliff, a large hand rose from under it and slammed in my direction. It was so sudden that I could only stare at the large palm as it smashed straight into my location.
The large fingers, as long as I was tall, grabbed the ground around me. The air pressure it released sent my clothes and hair into a flutter. I was safe, standing in the gap between its middle and index fingers. I was lucky that it didn’t crush me.
However, as I was considering how much of my luck was spent on that, the hand swiped to the side, sending chills down my spine. I was right beside its finger, so I was dragged along.
The acceleration was so fast, I felt like my soul got left behind. A moment later, I was already flying in the sky, like a bolt that was shot by a crossbow. The speed I was flying at was amazing; however, I could only imagine myself becoming a red stain on the ground upon landing.
I twisted my body and spread my limbs wide, trying to slow down my descent even a little. I called for Ember’s help and asked for her to teleport a slime to where I was about to land.
An instant later, a familiar portal appeared as a small pink blob jumped out. The clone quickly transformed into a large dome and changed the properties of its insides to be a viscous liquid.
Like a speeding bullet, I ended up puncturing a large hole in the middle of the clone. Still, it managed to slow me down greatly. I tapped my hands to the ground as I neared and changed my forward momentum into a spin.
I became something like a rolling wheel as I went along with the remaining force of the fall. I could feel my body cracking as I protected my head from random objects on the ground.
With a loud thud, my back slammed into another rock face. The back of my head knocked hard on it, causing cracks to appear.
My vision spun from the dizziness, both from rolling and from hitting my head. I touched the hurting part, right above my nape, and from my blurry vision, I could see that my hands were red. The back of my head is probably bleeding right now.
“Ugh!”
Rather than the pain of the bruises, cuts, and wounds all over my body, the pain inside my head was greater, making me cradle my head in pain. Before my eyes, scenes flashed past like a movie. A black space, death, thousands of deaths, new techniques…
“T-This is… my memory?”
Although I do not know when and where it happened, the memories that flashed past remained inside my head as clear as a still lake. I know it was my experience, and I remembered a few techniques that I used at that time.
I looked forward, the pain in my head subsiding. The large hand that rose from the cliff finally managed to climb up. It was the Cyclops that we left before. It released an enraged roar as it saw Fang. With large steps, it rushed towards her.
“Oh no!”