A 1-kilometer wide and 5-meter deep crater had been carved onto the earth. The combined actions of Nathan, Cadmus, and Leon increased the power behind the Spear by many times.
At the center of the crater was a grey puddle lying still and lifeless. Besides it nothing else remained.
Phak-
Suddenly, an arm shot out of the surface, followed by a mass of flesh attached to it.
Thud-
Nathan fell to the ground as soon as he stepped out.
A groan left his lips when his mangled flesh touched the ground again. His hair had been half-burnt along with his skin, which had turned black and red with a leathery appearance. Fortunately, although his nerves had been fried from the heat of the explosion, his left arm still worked.
Vupp-
A vial appeared on his left and he poured its contents over his cracked lips.
"Twat waz baa…z"
A strange voice left his mouth as the elixir worked its wonders. Nathan was healing at a rate visible to the naked eye. The recovery boost given by Lark acted multiplicatively with the healing rate of elixir, giving him healing of mid-grade elixir.
He used everything he had.
[Ether – 48 --> Ether – 50 (locked) ]
[Constitution – 15 --> Constitution – 17]
Forcing himself to stand the moment his muscles were healed enough to work, he ran toward the grey pool.
He had to use this moment of respite and throw the Abomination into the Wormhole, or everything would've been for naught.
[Golden Turtle] after reaching [Epic-grade] should've been able to block his own attacks. Nevertheless, because he was worried that if he used a small distance to let the Spear accelerate it wouldn't gather enough energy to damage Abomination, Nathan asked for Leon and Cadmus' help to give the Spear enough power over the short distance it would cover.
The result was as he intended, or one could say, it was better than intended, too good than necessary.
Nathan had blocked the attack but he couldn't sustain the shield against such a powerful attack as his ether reserves hit rock bottom within a few seconds and the skill stopped working.
'I knew this could happen, but it was seriously dangerous. If I didn't have Lark's support magic cast on me, I could've died.'
Death was already guaranteed. Nathan knew they would have no chance of victory if he had hesitated.
He ran to the Abomination without hesitation. The monster had yet to recover. Even if it was invincible, their last attack wasn't something it could ignore without any preparations.
KReeeEECcHHhh-
A strange voice followed by hundreds of spikes protruded from the grey pool.
"[Go..lden …Turtle] !"
Clangg-! Clangg-!
He slid between the spikes and kept running.
The innumerable spikes attacked without discrimination. Nathan narrowly dodged the spikes, blocking the spikes was reducing his little to nothing ether reserves even more.
Jolts spread through his body every time his feet touched the ground. Many a time he almost fell, unable to continue and sometimes even thinking of giving up, hoping to rest.
"Like hell, I'll give up!"
Shouting to himself even when his throat hurt, he lunged at the grey pool and picked it up.
Phhhzzzt-
Without thinking twice, he jumped on the broad sword with the Abomination and shot it toward the magic spell in the sky.
krreEEEcCCHHH-
Clang-! Clang-!
The monster attacked continuously, Nathan's ether reserves dwindled even faster as he could no longer dodge, leaving everything to his shield.
Phhhzzzt-
Fortunately, the Wormhole was not very far in the sky, its suction making it easier to fly towards it. Changing his ride only 2 times Nathan covered half of the distance, his speed increasing with every ride.
But the Abomination wasn't giving up either. Its attacks reduced in number as it focused on a few spikes to increase the power behind them.
Cracks spread over [Golden Turtle] and Nathan puked blood. The grey goo seeped inside the shield, attempting to kill him for once and all.
With one final push, Nathan reached his destination.
Swinging his arm, he threw the Abomination with as much force as he could muster and let the suction do its job.
The Abomination retaliation increased, however.
Dozens of grey tentacles grew out of it and went towards Nathan, attempting to pull Nathan along with it, or better yet, throwing only Nathan inside the Wormhole in its place.
Phhhhzzzzt- (x50)
However, an armada of weapons materialized in the air, combating numbers for numbers.
The battle lasted for only 3 seconds, each of which felt like an eternity to Nathan.
Nevertheless, he didn't stop. This was the last hurdle to their victory.
Bang-!
With one final clash, the Abomination was pushed into the Wormhole.
kREEeccchHHH-
The Abomination's final struggle was music to his ears.
A faint smile appeared on Nathan's visage, which contained a hint of helplessness too. The Abomination had been defeated but Nathan was also being pulled into the Wormhole. After having outdone himself several times already, even breathing felt laborious to him, let alone trying to escape the suction of the Wormhole.
A short chuckle followed by fits of coughs and blood flowing down his orifices resounded. The plan was never to push the Abomination into the wormhole, nor was it to take the impact of God-Killing Spear with the Abomination.
Saving Lark, pinning Abomination to the ground, and then running away while God-Killing Spear strikes. The simple sequence of actions turned life-threatening when Lark executed the spatial spell and Nathan decided to use the opportunity and end it for once and all.
'Well, it's not that bad.'
Nathan attempted to console himself. Broken wormholes were no different from rifts. There was a 0.00001% chance that one might not be ripped to shreds and be transported to another location in the vast cosmos. The only requirement was being lucky, incredibly so.
'Ah, crap. There goes my chance of surviving.'
While Nathan was wallowing in self-pity, satisfaction, and contentment, a familiar voice echoed.
"If that was a plan, I don't want to know what will be a suicidal attempt for you."
Thick wines wrapped around his waist and gently pulled back him to the ground. A subtle glow spread from the vines to him, boosting his health and ether recovery to another level.