Chapter 52: Catch me if you can! hahahaha...
When I managed to get back on my feet, still feeling the adrenaline burning through my veins, I slowly raised my head.
High above, standing still in the sky, was a woman.
She was simply floating.
She had the body of a mature woman, with voluptuous curves and a posture that overflowed with arrogance.
Her skin was as dark as chocolate, contrasting with the long white hair that slowly danced around her body.
Her face was perfect.
Beautiful.
But completely devoid of warmth.
Her blue eyes.
There was only hatred.
It was then that a strange feeling took hold of me.
She reminded me of Crystina.
The facial features.
The shape of her eyes.
The structure of her nose.
It was like looking at a much older version of her.
"..."
Could it be...
My mind quickly began putting the pieces together.
I kept my usual smile.
I raised one hand in a gesture of peace.
—I presume you’re Crystina’s sister, right?
I had barely finished speaking.
Her voice exploded across the heavens.
—Filthy rapist! How dare you even open that mouth?
—You violated my sister!
—A Light mage, of all people!
—You defiled her body with your filthy seed!
—You miserable worm!
—I swear... I’ll shatter every bone in your body!
"..."
I was completely speechless for a moment.
—Since you intend to kill me...
—Could you at least tell me your name?
She smiled.
But there was no joy in that smile.
It was the smile of someone imagining how they would dismantle a corpse.
—My name is Magaly.
She tilted her head slightly.
—And I’m going to destroy you...
—piece...
—by piece.
At that very moment, my expression remained calm.
But inside my mind, orders were already being transmitted at maximum speed.
—Biochip.
—Lock the virtual targeting system onto Magaly’s forehead.
["Beep!"]
["2x Zoom."]
["Target successfully locked."]
Perfect.
I didn’t hesitate for even a second.
My right arm rose.
The armor’s internal mechanism rotated.
The ignition chambers compressed the explosive crystal.
"CLACK!"
Then...
The launcher roared.
"BANG!"
A crystal shot forward like a meteor.
"BOOOOM!!"
I didn’t wait to see the result.
I fired again.
"BANG!"
"BOOOOM!!"
And once more.
"BANG!"
"BOOOOM!!"
Three shots.
Three explosions.
A rapid enough sequence to kill or seriously wound acolytes before they could cast any spell.
But...
—What...?!
My entire body trembled.
The three projectiles changed course just a few centimeters before reaching Magaly.
It was as if they had collided with an invisible wall.
The crystals ricocheted to the sides.
The explosions detonated far from her body.
The shockwaves did nothing more than make her hair sway gently.
She didn’t even blink.
Damn... I ran into one dangerous MILF acolyte.
Acting on pure instinct, my hand dove into the pouch fastened to my waist.
My fingers found one of the small vials I had looted from Heitor’s equipment.
The fire potion.
I pulled it out at once.
I hurled the vial with all the strength my arm could muster.
The bottle traced a perfect arc through the sky.
For a brief moment, I felt hope.
Then...
"BOOOOOM!!"
The explosion was colossal.
A sphere of fire blossomed in the air, completely engulfing Magaly’s figure.
I clenched my fists.
The flames slowly began to die down.
My hope died with them.
Magaly remained exactly where she was.
Motionless.
Serenely floating at the center of the blaze.
The invisible film surrounding her rippled faintly, diverting all the explosive energy before it could reach her.
She looked like a goddess walking through the flames.
Damn...
How was I supposed to fight something like this?
Before I could come up with any answer, Magaly slowly raised one hand toward me.
Her gaze remained filled with contempt.
That was when the biochip interrupted my thoughts.
["Immediate evasive action. Tilt your head to the left."]
I didn’t even question it.
I tilted my neck on reflex.
"CRAAASH!!"
A sharp crack echoed beside me.
I felt a strange gust of wind brush past my face.
I looked to the right.
Space... had split apart.
A black fissure tore through the air exactly where my head had been an instant earlier.
I let out a heavy breath.
A cold bead of sweat ran down my forehead.
I began to piece together the obvious...
My eyes returned to Magaly.
She didn’t manipulate only shadows.
She manipulated space itself.
Shadows to conceal.
Space to kill.
A monstrous combination.
According to the biochip.
Magaly was a Level 3 acolyte.
A being who had remained at that stage long enough to push her techniques to their absolute limit.
She wasn’t just powerful.
She was a veteran.
A specialist.
Meanwhile, I...
Was still only a Level 2 acolyte.
The gap between us was overwhelming.
If it weren’t for the biochip...
The pieces of my body would already be scattered throughout the forest.
I shoved that thought to the back of my mind.
This wasn’t the time to waste energy overthinking.
I raised my launcher once again.
"BOOOOM!!"
"BOOOOM!!"
"BOOOOM!!"
"BOOOOM!!"
The explosions came one after another, serving only to force her to keep her barrier active and make it harder for her to see.
None of them dealt any damage.
But maybe they could buy me a few seconds.
Then I felt an unusual heat rising through my right arm.
I quickly glanced at the armor’s mechanism.
The cooling runes were glowing red.
Steam escaped through the metal joints.
No...
The launcher was overheating.
If I kept firing at that pace, the mechanism would jam... or explode in my own hand.
I gritted my teeth.
I needed to change my strategy immediately.
Otherwise...
I would die.
I spun around.
And ran.
The steam springs compressed violently.
"TIZZXXX!!"
"VROOOOM!!"
My armor shot through the forest.
Branches scraped against my helmet.
The earth burst apart beneath every step.
Behind me, Magaly’s furious voice echoed like thunder.
—You can’t escape from me, worm!
["Lower your left arm."]
I obeyed immediately.
A spatial rift passed through the exact spot where my arm had been.
Right after that...
["Jump to the right."]
I propelled my body forward using the armor’s springs.
Another rupture tore through the space behind me.
["Tilt your torso."]
["Reduce speed by twelve percent."]
["Sharp turn to the left. Now."]
I wasn’t even thinking.
My body simply obeyed.
It was as if I were running a few seconds ahead of my own fate.
Behind me, the attacks kept missing.
Not a single one could reach me.
Even without looking back, I could feel Magaly’s growing irritation.
No ordinary Level 2 acolyte could repeatedly evade spatial attacks unleashed by a Level 3 acolyte.
She still didn’t know how.
But she was absolutely certain that I possessed some kind of ability capable of predicting or anticipating her attacks.
And that uncertainty seemed to enrage her even more.
.
.
.
Several minutes later.
.
.
.
.
.
I ran like a leopard.
Every muscle in my body burned under the relentless strain.
The steam springs compressed and expanded without rest, propelling my legs to a speed no ordinary human could ever reach.
My chest rose and fell frantically.
But I couldn’t slow down.
Not while that damned woman was still chasing me.
I risked a glance at the sky.
She didn’t even seem to be making an effort to keep up.
Whenever I changed direction, she merely tilted her body slightly and adjusted her course.
She was like a hawk pursuing a desperate rat.
It was hopeless.
No matter how much I accelerated.
Her spatial techniques practically erased any advantage my speed could give me.
Those rifts shortened impossible distances.
If I managed to gain a hundred meters...
She would simply tear through space and reappear dangerously close.
The Arcangrove Tower was still far too far away.
Even pushing the armor to its limits, I would never reach it before Magaly intercepted me.
I kept running.
But my mind had already accepted an unpleasant truth.
If this keeps up... I’m going to die.
That was when an idea came to me.
And probably the only one capable of keeping me alive.
Without slowing down, I forced my body to the right.
The springs groaned violently.
"CLANK!"
My trajectory changed abruptly.
Instead of heading toward the Tower...
I plunged deeper into the heart of the forest.
Thorns scraped against my armor.
Roots nearly made me stumble.
But I knew exactly where I was going.
The Rotten Phantom Leader’s habitat.
A few minutes later, the forest began to change.
The smell was the first thing to hit me.
A putrid stench of sludge, stagnant water, and rotting flesh permeated the air.
With every step, my metal boots sank a few centimeters into the ground.
Thick mud.
Sticky.
Mixed with decaying leaves, broken branches, and roots covered in fungus.
Muddy water formed small pools everywhere.
Half-rotted branches floated lazily across the surface.
Sometimes...
For no apparent reason...
They simply sank.
As if something were pulling them down.
I kept moving forward.
Then I heard them.
The wails.
They weren’t screams.
Nor were they cries.
They were something in between.
Drawn-out voices.
Distant.
Like hundreds of drowned people trying to breathe at the same time.
The sound drifted through the swamp’s mist, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
I kept running.
Compared to Magaly...
This place felt almost welcoming.
The biochip projected a partial map before my eyes.
The swamp region covered nearly thirty square miles.
Dozens of Rotten Mud Phantom colonies lived there.
The smaller groups consisted of seven or eight individuals and occupied the outer areas.
Farther toward the center...
There were colonies of fifty...
Seventy...
Sometimes more than a hundred creatures.
The Rotten Phantoms were demons of low intelligence.
Most had been born from humans who had drowned in that very swamp.
Their souls, consumed by hatred and resentment, refused to depart.
They remained trapped within their corpses.
Whenever a traveler approached the shoreline...
They would emerge in silence.
They would bite the victim.
Drag them beneath the mud.
And ensure the birth of another one like themselves.
From a distance, they resembled extremely thin women.
But getting closer revealed that much of their muscle had disappeared.
Their skin, bleached by their long stay underwater, clung directly to their bones.
Their limbs were thin.
Their ribs remained exposed.
Mold grew over their decayed joints.
Their hair hung in filthy clumps.
Their nails had transformed into long, curved black claws.
And whenever they opened their mouths...
Rows of long, razor-sharp teeth appeared like rusted blades.
Most wandered completely naked.
A few still wore the tattered remnants of the clothes they had on when they were alive.
Old dresses.
Unrecognizable.
Faded by time and water.
On solid ground, they were relatively weak.
Even Terrestrial Venom Sharks could fight them.
But...
Inside that swamp...
Everything changed.
The mud was their domain.
There, their strength practically doubled.
Moreover, ancient colonies could develop a Rotten Phantom Leader.
These leaders were not ordinary monsters.
They awakened intelligence comparable to that of an acolyte.
Some even came to master rudimentary elemental techniques.
If the mages allowed it...
Perhaps these creatures would evolve.
Perhaps they would form a new intelligent race.
Perhaps one day they would become true acolytes.
But we lived in a world ruled by mages.
Promising species weren’t given opportunities.
They were given collars.
Experiment tables.
Or death.
Any evolution that threatened the supremacy of the mages was crushed before it could even bloom.
Today...
The peace of that swamp would come to an end.
Because of me.
And because of Magaly.
I was the first to cross its boundaries.
I filled my lungs with air.
And started shouting at the top of my lungs.
—Brimy!
—You miserable bitch!
—Hiding in the mud like a rat?!
—Get out here!
No response.
I smiled.
Then raised my voice even louder.
—Brimy!
—You pathetic slug!
—Where’s all that courage?!
—Or is the great leader of the Rotten Phantoms only good at hiding at the bottom of the mud?!
....
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