Chapter 73: Unwise choice.
Ethan threw both hands towards the sky.
The space above him stretched apart so violently that the descending battle axe suddenly seemed impossibly far away. The Chief’s arms strained as the distance between them multiplied over and over again, buying Ethan the single thing he desperately needed.
Blood trickled from Ethan’s nose as he forced more space to expand behind himself. His head pounded violently. The strain was beginning to catch up with him.
The Chief roared angrily.
The pale runes carved across the battle axe burst into light once more. Tiny fractures immediately appeared throughout the distorted space.
"I will not be held down by a lowly pest". The chief roared from the sky. The cracks spread faster than before.
Ethan’s expression changed when stretched space shattered apart and the battle axe resumed its fall.
Ethan released everything at once.
The compressed space behind him snapped back into place with explosive force, launching him across the frozen plain just as the axe crashed into the ground.
The impact swallowed the place he’d occupied an instant earlier. Snow, ice and shattered stone erupted hundreds of metres into the air before raining back across the battlefield.
Ethan never looked back.
His body continued hurtling across the wasteland while he repeatedly compressed the space behind himself, each release throwing him farther than the last.
Ethan saw no reason why he had to stretch space to the limit like before, he simply had to use the same technique he used on the chief, but this time, on himself.
The Chief burst through the cloud of snow.
"YOU RUN LIKE THE MAGGOT YOU ARE"
His enormous frame tore across the frozen earth, each step collapsing the ground beneath him. The distance between them shrank alarmingly despite Ethan pushing his Dormant Ability to its limit.
The Chief jumped.
Ethan instinctively twisted the surrounding space sideways.
Instead of landing directly on top of him, the massive Eidolon crashed several dozen metres to Ethan’s left. The impact sent a violent shockwave rolling across the frozen plain, throwing Ethan off his feet before he hurriedly stumbled back up.
He didn’t stop, even as his vision began to blur.
The only thing keeping him alive was the fact that the Chief had never fought a Master of Space before.
Ethan suddenly saw the distant outlines of the human camp appearing on the horizon, relief flooded his chest.
The Chief saw it too, his blood-red eyes narrowed. For the first time since the battle began, he slowed.
He clicked his tongue in irritation before resting the giant battle axe across one shoulder.
"Run then, little creature." His voice carried effortlessly across the snow. "Warn them...
"It will not save them."
Ethan didn’t answer.
He simply accelerated towards the camp without daring to look back even once.
...
Damien’s face remained genuinely oblivious, which only made Naomi feel an even greater need to bury the rascal beneath the ice.
The moment she entered striking distance, she began taking human form, though a portion of her body remained liquefied. A wicked grin spread across her face as her fist came crashing towards Damien’s head.
Damien, on the other hand, immediately seized control of Priesty.
The undead Priest suddenly swung Damien’s body over its shoulder before hurling the ritual staff straight at Naomi.
Naomi scoffed dismissively, completely ignoring the incoming weapon.
The staff was aimed directly at the part of her body that still remained liquefied. She knew exactly what would happen. The moment it made contact, it would simply pass harmlessly through, or better yet, melt into sludge like everything else that dared touch Meld.
Unfortunately for Naomi...
The enchanted runes carved into the ritual staff suddenly blazed to life the instant they made contact.
The blow landed cleanly because she’d allowed it to.
Naomi was sent tunnelling dozens of metres away before her back crashed through a small waterfall. The wall of ice shattered apart, cutting off the steady stream of water flowing from above.
Moments later, blood slowly spread through the pool gathered beneath the broken waterfall.
Naomi’s body was nowhere to be seen.
The undead priest once more held Damien in a princess carry before Vincent walked up beside him.
"Clearly your luck with women is rather subpar."
Damien glanced down at himself.
"I don’t know. They seem pretty determined to get their hands on me."
Vincent nodded thoughtfully.
"Yes... unfortunately, they also seem equally determined to kill you."
Damien shrugged, but the next moment he suddenly clutched his chest, his face twisting in pain. Vincent was visibly taken aback. He was certain Naomi hadn’t managed to injure Damien during their last exchange.
"If you’re about to die," Vincent said with complete sincerity, "then please have the decency to help me get rid of this star of misfortune first."
Damien froze for a brief moment before suddenly chuckling.
"It appears my heart has finally healed itself." He looked down at his legs. "I’m not that far from walking again."
Vincent found it rather intriguing. Considering the extent of Damien’s injuries, even an army of healers would’ve struggled to put him back together, and yet here he was. Barely a week later, and only a day or so away from making a full recovery.
It was astonishing.
Vincent didn’t have long to admire Damien’s healing factor before Naomi emerged from the lake.
She was back in her human form, but she looked far from unharmed. Blood stained almost every inch of her body, and a section of her torso had caved in. Priesty’s ritual staff had particularly been ruthless to her body.
"I’m going to kill you all!"
She roared in fury.
Naomi never imagined she’d find herself in a fight where her own life was hanging by a thread. Yet here she was, standing before Vincent and Damien, both of them only a short distance away.
Vincent leaned on his cane as he watched the ice crack overhead.
"Remaining here would be rather unwise."
Damien saw it too, but he was the least bothered.
"Let me know if you see a flight of stairs we can use, until then. We make sure she dies".