Whoosh-
Something flew out of the arena and went in direction of the spear.
Boom-!
Shortly, there was another explosion and I saw a small dot moving in the air.
'They took the bait.'
Supplying Ether to my gloves I remained glued to the outer wall of a shop beside the stadium.
'I think I broke my left arm in that jump.'
The moment the spear was no longer in their field of vision, I had jumped down from the spear.
Thud-!
I stop using Ether and my body crashed to the ground.
A groan escaped my lips as I fell from the second floor without a proper landing.
'I need to move. It won't take them long to realize that the spear was only to bait them.'
It should take them a few minutes to find my position after catching up to the spear, but that wasn't much.
'Fuck'
My head felt like it was being poked by thousands of needles, moving made me think that I had wet sandbags in place of limbs.
My eyes were barely working and I couldn't even see my feet. Blood covered my eyes and red color dominated my vision.
'Eth, are you there?'
[Synchronization] had ended I had to move before its backlash came.
-Gru!
"St..tay inside"
I pushed back the ball of stone that had been trying to get out since the beginning.
'Eth'
(Y-yes?)
(Wait, what happened!?)
(You look like you already have half a step into the grave!)
Finally, Eth responded.
'I'll have both steps into the grave if you don't help me.'
'I can't see. Tell me the path to the portal beneath the stadium.'
From there Eth dictated where I had to go and I ran.
I tripped, hit against the wall, hurt myself, but I didn't stop. I didn't even know when I was going to lose consciousness, I had no time to rest.
'10 seconds'
I used every last drop of that seemingly endless ether and nether and that only bought me 10 seconds.
The amount of Nether and Ether in my body increased by many folds, far beyond Enma-rank, with [Synchronization], and that bought me only 10 seconds.
That massive [Zero] explosion barely worked on them. They couldn't follow me only because they were disoriented from the sudden loss of energy.
Mia and Iris use Mana, while Isabell and Huntress use Prana. All four of them are awakener types who are heavily dependent on their energies, unlike aura-users.
Had [Zero] worked properly, with the amount of Nether and Ether I used, mages and prana users should be knocked out for at least 2-3 hours.
Bang-!
I kicked the door open and moved down the stairs.
In the middle of my descent, I missed a step and slipped.
My body rolled down the cold hard stairs, painting them red, and I reached the room faster than I would have if I walked.
Screechh-
The rusted door creaked upon my push.
The energy in the room gushed out.
I dragged my feet toward the place I could sense the portal.
Screech-
Thud-!
The door closed behind me and…
'Wait the door closed behind me?!'
"Stop"
The light coming from the portal dimmed. The person who closed the door was standing in front of the portal, blocking my path.
"I said stop."
That voice…Leon?
I didn't know if I was hallucinating or if he was actually here.
I couldn't even understand what Eth was telling me.
Crackle-
A golden light entered my vision.
A tinge of golden entered my crimson vision.
Escaping never felt so close yet so far.
I had no ether left, not even enough for a single weapon. All I felt was if I used more ether I would lose consciousness.
But there was no other choice.
Tap- Tap-
"Stop moving or I'll attack."
Tap- Tap-
I raised my right fist and punched.
Thud-!
"…what are you trying to do?"
The punch had no strength behind it. It was likely that he didn't even bother to dodge.
Finally, my legs gave up and I fell.
"Wait!"
Leon caught me and my head rested on top of his shoulder.
"..k.."
My body was screaming in pain.
"What?"
It wouldn't move.
"..k."
But I still had to.
"I can't hear you."
So ….
"Ka-"
Boom-!
My right arm exploded into a gory mist.
Both Leon and I were thrown off our feet.
-n0ve1、com "Ar..gh"
I heard someone groaning.
The explosion was a small one, however, both Leon and I took it at point-blank range.
I tried to stand only to fall back. With my right arm missing, i couldn't push my body up.
Using what little ether I could maipulate, I controlled my left arm and dragged my body to the portal.
My biggest weakness became my only method of reliance. My left arm was no better than unawakened humans and needed ether to move, but this also meant that as long as I had ether I could move my arm.
It didn't matter if my bones were broken or crushed, a little ether and it would muster the strength of an unawakened human.
Splosh-
"Argh!"
My hand hit something wet and I heard a scream.
The splashing wasn't stopping no matter where I moved my arm.
Was this blood? But I came from the back so it should be…
'Leon!'
Clarity instantly returned to me at that horrific possibility.
(Nathan, can you hear me!)
(Nathan!)
(Leon is dying!)
'W-what!?'
(That explosion blew a hole in his stomach!)
'W-what should I do Eth?'
I can't save him. Did I kill Leon? N-no what sh-
(Calm down)
(Use the Elixir potion)
Yes! I still have Elixir!
Vupp-
I held the vial above Leon's abdomen and crushed it.
C..runch-
(Wait, save it for yourself too!)
Crunch-
The vial shattered, dropping its content over Leon.
I sipped what little Elixir felt onto my hand to relieve my throat, then used it to wash away the blood from my eyes.
"I'm …not r..returning the cr..edits*cough cough* I… bor-rowed from you."
Leon's physique was amplifying the Elixir's effect. His wound was closing up at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Making sure his breathing was stabilized I started moving again.
(..why didn't you use the Elixir on yourself?)
'…'
(I know you can hear me.)
'My injuries will take a while and the real issue is Ether exhaustion'
(You always-! Haaaa….forget it)
I pulled my body at a snail's pace. It took me a while but the distance was a mere 10 feet.
As long as I touched the portal I will be teleported randomly anywhere in the mountain range.
I did it.
'Just a bit more.'
Crackle-
(Nathan, I think we have a problem…. A very big problem)
I didn't have the strength to lift my head but I heard the sound of the roof breaking.
Crackle-
(He is awakening the skill we helped him get from the dungeon.)
"I was wrong about you. You only know how to hurt others"
Crackle-
My spine tingled from the lightning he was emitting.
"I won't make the same mistake again."
(Incoming!)
Fwosh-
A giant fist descended on me.
"[Golden Turtle]!"
Bang-!
The room shook and I almost blacked out.
Thud-!
A heavy silence descended as quickly as it came.
(I think that was his last attack. He lost consciousness)
(You should move.)
(…Nathan?)
(Nathan!?)
'Don..t shout'
(..can you move?)
I tried to move my left arm. However, I was no longer able to focus.
It had been years since I felt Ether exhaustion and I had forgotten that it made thinking harder.
My goal was within my arm's reach, not even 3 feet, but I wasn't able to manipulate Ether.
Booom-!
Light entered the room from above.
"Is that the other kid you brought with you? Whatever he did earlier made it easier to find them."
"Leon! Are you okay!?"
Someone also landed beside me.
"Are you alive?"
Thud-! Thud-!
"Can't he feel himself being kicked? Should I try slashing? That way he ought to give a response if he's alive."
"..ier.."
"Oh, you're alive? Let's take yo-"
"[Pi..erce]"
My nails grew and touched the portal.
"Shit, not again!"
Schwing-!
Iris tried to cut my arm off but it was already too late.
My body was sucked into the portal.