Published at 1st of April 2023 12:46 am

Chapter 393 Trickling Fear

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Just as he landed back down, he was immediately being locked onto by the beams of crimson liquid that curved to follow him, forcing him to maneuver with such finesse that would put an acrobatic to shame.

‘It’s unrelenting–I need to get close, now!’ He realized.

Forsaking any semblance of restraint in that moment, he saw an opportunity to counter as he slipped past the scalding liquid for just a second, stomping down as he pointed his fist in the direction of the Devil Spriggan.

Unleashed forward were large-scale slices of wind that tunneled forward, chopping through the layers of roots that the spriggan manifested as a defense. Though the sharpness of the wind failed to reach the monster, it was an opening for him still as he rushed in, being attacked from all angles again by more locusts and rose buds.

“–“

Focusing himself, he stayed true to the Mountain God Style–staying level-headed and observing his surroundings moment-by-moment as he efficiently chopped through the fiends between him and his enemy.

“Ghh–”

Amidst his rush, an unforeseen attack came from a distance–a sharpened branch stabbed into his wrist, stretching itself like a web beneath his skin as it attempted to extend. Before allowing it to enter his body like a parasite, he grabbed onto it with his metallic hand, imbuing flames directly through the branch before reducing it to cinders.

As he looked over from where the attack came from, he could see that the Devil Spriggan had extended one of its fingers into the long-distance spear, hiding behind roots.

‘Alright–I’m ending this,’ he decided.

Wordlessly, he invoked the destructive unison of both water and nature magic within a single moment: “Rush of The Apex Hunters”.

Through the torn ground of the red-leaved forest, a swarm of hammer-head sharks made of mud swam forth, rising up and bulldozing through trees as they rushed the spriggan with fearsome power.

“Nrgh–?!” The Devil Spriggan witnessed the mystical approach.

The mud-born predators crushed everything in their way, leaving scarlet-leaved trees toppling and trails of mud through the surface before reaching the spriggan. None of the liquid beams hit the sharks, leaving the bark-skinned entity to be repeatedly struck and bitten onto by the magic-made predators.

“You…!”

Closing in with his sword in hand, engulfing it in an enchantment of fire, Emilio breathed in before swiping his sword forth, carving through the Devil Spriggan as the edge of his fiery steel cleaved through its grotesque form.

“–“

All at once, the chaos in the blood-red forest went silent as the spriggan’s form of moss and bark fell apart with the taking of its life.

“You can rest now, Jaeger,” he quietly said, sheathing his sword.

A tiresome fight it had been, leaving him to move on as he wandered around the unique forest in search of a path again.

The deceit of the Devil Spriggan weighed on his mind, finding it hard to differentiate truth from falsehoods as he still believed that the monster posing as the already dead hunter may not have been lying about the identity of “Inconnu”–which was a problem in its own. Even more, he was perplexed by his inability to call upon his System forms.

‘I can feel it inside of me. That flame is there, but it feels like it’s just…asleep? It’s refusing to awaken for some reason…I wonder what’s wrong with me,’ he thought.

There was a massive valley between mountains, occupied by a horned skull that was the size of an entire mountain itself, caked in moss and weathered by time.

‘That’s…a skull? Something that big once was…alive?’ He thought in disbelief.

It didn’t appear to have an animalistic shape; perhaps truly unnerving was the fact that it resembled that of a human skull.

As he slid down the slope that led into the rocky valley, leaving the bounds of the accursed forest, he couldn’t help but stare in awe at the skull that laid ahead. It seemed to serve as some sort of passageway between the mountains or a domain in itself as he noticed the jaw of the ancient head was missing, leaving a path forward.

The closer he got to the skull, the larger it seemed as he looked up, finding the towering, ringed horns that extended upward from it to pierce the clouds themselves as the rainfall continued beating down on the dirt path.

It was moments like these that the fantastical nature of Arcadius felt exhilarating all over again, though such feelings were dulled by the grief that still plagued his heart like a nightly storm.

“Master.”

Manifesting by his side with a serious look in his eyes was one of his Soulbound Spirits–the red-haired, well-dressed man: Gavill. It wasn’t a rare occurrence that his spirits would summon themselves, but most of the time, they only did so when it was necessary.

“What is it?” Emilio looked over.

Gavill was looking towards the ominous, mountainous skull in the near distance, “I sense something…odd about that monument.”

“Is it bad?”

“I can’t pinpoint it, I’m sorry…” Gavill said as a droplet of sweat slid down his cheek, “I can’t say for certain if it’s a malicious force I sense, but it’s something abnormal.”

“Well, this is the only lead I have on any sort of path,” Emilio folded his arms over his chest in consideration.

Gavill looked at him, stepping closer, “Master, what I sense from that monument is…a similar sensation to that unique power you possess–a ‘System’.”

“What?” Emilio’s eyes widened briefly.

It was an unexpected bit of information given to him, but one that made his blood run hot with a feeling that crossed between nervousness and excitement. The prospect of another System wielder led him to only one conclusion–that somehow, by accident or fate, he had found the figure he had sought out: “Excelsior”.

“You can go,” Emilio said kindly, beginning to walk towards the gargantuan skull again.

Gavill nodded, placing his hand over his own chest, “As you wish. However, if you need assistance, we will aid you without hesitation.

“Thanks,” he responded.

The Soulbound Spirit vanished, leaving Emilio moving towards the mountainous skull as the air itself seemed to brush against his skin with a different feeling now that he knew what to expect. It went without saying that he moved with his guard up, keeping his hand close to his sheathed sword as he kept his eyes on the mountainous skull. As he came close to the entrance of the mouth, the age of the dormant skull could be seen; the weathering of rain, luscious, moist moss and nests from birds that used it as a home.

‘…Who or what am I going to find in here? Gavill said the presence he senses was similar to a System like mine…Does that mean I’ll find another person like me? A Reincarnator? Somehow, I can’t help but feel wary when looking at this skull,’ he thought.

Entering the depths of the ancient, ivory structure, he found it to be a sort of ruin in itself that lay within the giant skull; there were pillars built, carved into statues of beings he did not recognize—armored and holding weapons; their monuments were weathered by age all the same.

There were torches attached to the curving walls of the skull’s interior, granting a slight illuminance to the quiet, foreboding area.

“–” Emilio slowly walked through, looking around.

Most of the light came from the center, seeping in through a hole in the mountainous skull at the very top that allowed both the light of day and rainfall drop through. As he reached this center area, he found that he was standing on a slightly-elevated platform, turning to look around as he found an unnerving scenery around him.

‘What…is this?’ He questioned.

Around the stone platform he stood on, he found there to be horned skeletons knelt on the ground, worshiping the spot he stood; these long dead beings were dark robes, worn by the weathering of time, yet somehow still kept in their worshiping positions.

What these fallen beings worshiped was unknown to him as he felt a chill trickle along his spine before turning around, finding just what it was that seemed to spawn such reverence:

“–!”

He backed away, momentarily frightened by the figure he did not notice standing directly behind him. Though as he was about to unleash either his sword or magic upon it, he found that it was simply a statue: a humanoid figure, half implanted into a lonely wall, devoid of a face but wearing horns, was the worshiped statue.

‘A statue?…Why are they worshiping this? It’s…faceless. Could it be…no,’ he thought.

The atmosphere within the skull-inhabiting cult grounds was thick and full of an enigma that caused goosebumps to form along his body as he looked around once more, seeing the robed skeletons that prayed to the statue.

‘To end up like that, they must have willingly died, staying in those positions for a long time before giving themselves to…whatever this is. Just what sort of group is this? Are they all dead?’ He questioned.

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