Chapter 42: Against The Invincible Chaos—1
"Don’t worry. She’ll be fine." I replied, "Right now, we have a bigger fish to fry."
"On it." She nodded and scanned the entire area. However, it was quite difficult even for her to pinpoint the demon. "Zanthrix, it’s harder to see in a weather like this. Besides, I’m not detecting any electrical impulses of any lifeform nearby."
"Well, duh! He’s a demon. It won’t be a surprise if you fail to detect his electrical impulses. Just be on your guard and let me know if you sense his presence somehow."
She nodded in a concerning manner.
In any case, there was no possible way that we could locate his presence...
’Wait... there’s but one way actually.’ I thought.
Every time he attacked me, the system notified me of the ’strong bloodlust’ message beforehand. Then there was his sinister presence between them.
’If I follow the pattern, I may be capable of inflicting the same damages.’
Of course, the time gap between those successive events was less than a second. But if I were to concentrate, I might.. just might be able to land a hit or two.
’Not like I had anything else to rely on—not in this bone-freezing cold at least.’
I thought and looked at Zariel.
"Zariel, prepare with your wide-range attack. If I fail, you’ll strike the enemy with it okay?"
"But if I unleash a wide-range attack here, you’ll be caught in. You might sustain damages as well."
I chuckled, "Then let it be. We don’t have any other options left."
Seeing how serious I was, Zariel made up her mind and did what I told her to. Meanwhile, I prepared one of the arrows and waited for the system to notify me.
[DANGER!! Strong bloodlust detected]
Here it comes. I thought as I immediately shifted my focus to my surroundings. As soon as the presence was there...
[Damage Sustained!]
[Health: 1760/1860]
Dammit! That’s faster than I thought.
I frowned in exasperation.
Before I had detected his presence, he landed another hit on my chest, pushing my body backward. The HP drain was as low as before and the pain was as grave as before—as if my rib bones had been shattered by the force he applied.
It was worse.
[DANGER!! Strong bloodlust detected]
There was another notification and I took another hit. This time it was on my stomach.
I coughed blood.
"Zanthrix!"
"Don’t worry. I’m fine. Just be prepared whenever I ask." I replied.
I didn’t know what he was up to.
If he had wished to kill me, I probably would’ve been dead by now. But he had an ulterior motive. As he had said before, he was breaking my physical endurance to weaken my mental endurance. But how in the world did he manage to inflict pain without doing much damage?
[DANGER!! Strong bloodlust detected]
My eyebrows twisted and for the first time, I detected his body near me.
Clash!
With the metallic part of the Strom Arc, I blocked his punch. However, the shockwave produced by the clash was immense. I hardly held my stand firmly.
For the first time, I saw him.
I saw the demon with a sinister aura around him.
On the contrary, he looked like a bat. However, he seemed to look more like a hybrid of a human and a bat.
He was as tall as me with glazing crimson eyes. His skin was dark-toned and his fangs dripped his saliva. His hands were attached to his wings—like any bat would have.
His face was rotten as if a human had been dead for a decade or so—but not entirely decayed. It was more like a man who failed to evolve into a vampire and had his facial muscles all twisted and torn up.
He smiled.
The human-looking bat demon smiled and I clenched against my teeth.
"Pretty impressive, specimen. To think that you’d caught up to my speed, you’re quite unique indeed. But the more uniqueness you have, the more thrilling it’d be to chew you up, keh-keh-kehhh!"
"You think so?" I replied, struggling to hold his punch any longer, "What about this?" then I looked at Zariel and commanded, "Now!!!"
"Lightning Chains!!"
With my indication, Zariel unleashed her attack. However, it wasn’t a wide-range attack like I’d told her to use. It was like a trap.
The thunder accumulated and surged through her hands. Then it was unleashed in the form of chains—rigid and electric.
With the speed of sound, it captured the demon within an instant.
"I knew I could do it." Zariel said proudly, "There’s no need for you to get hurt. I can trap him easily."
"Keh-keh-kehhh! Quite confident, little fairy. But you’ve made a mistake. This kind of low-level trick doesn’t work on me. Keh-keh-kehhh!"
He broke out soon after saying that. The chains formed of lighting shattered with sparks.
He disappeared into the blizzard once again.
I would’ve scolded Zariel for not following my order. I indented to. But it wouldn’t change the outcome of this battle. So I told her instead,
"Quick, he’ll be nearby. Unleash your wide-range attack now."
She nodded like a quiet child and accumulated a vast amount of thunder energy. It surged through her hands and gathered on a single point before she unleashed it upwards.
"Thunder Rumbling!"
Her thunder energy ascended and touched the sky like fireworks. Then it showered like meteors all around us, causing tremendous explosions on landing.
"He got away." I bit my lips, "Now what? We won’t be getting another chance like that to strike him again. If only this weather were on our side, I would’ve seen him coming."
Perhaps, I said it out loud. Zariel heard and then said,
"Zanthrix, forgive me that I didn’t follow your lead." She murmured, "I’ve made a mistake. Now let me make amends for it."
"What are you saying..."
Before I could stop her and comprehend what she was up to, she flew upwards—cutting through the harsh blizzard swiftly and halting just above me.