NOVEL NEXT Chapter 343: Chapter 343: Defeated by Your Own Weapon
"Hold on! We can't give up now! If we can just hang in a little longer, Jeremy will make it here to save us!" Despite the desperation creeping into Ritchie's heart as he hid within the shadows, he refused to show it. In fact, he was doing his best to encourage Bonnie to keep fighting.
Bonnie remained silent, focusing every bit of her strength on sustaining the shadow around them. Though both of them were pushing themselves to their absolute limits, the shadow continued to crumble irreversibly, slipping further into collapse with each passing second.
Suddenly, a beam of light pierced through the darkness. As soon as Ritchie and Bonnie caught sight of it, their hearts sank. They knew all too well what this meant; the appearance of the light marked the final collapse of their shadow.
"We'll split up and run! At the very least, one of us has to make it out alive!" Ritchie's voice, low and determined, broke the tense silence just before the shadow disintegrated. In that moment, the twisted, distorted space rushed toward Ritchie and Bonnie, and they immediately darted off in opposite directions.
The glowing white worm, however, was not deceived by their desperate maneuver. It immediately locked its focus onto Ritchie, deeming him the greater threat after their recent skirmish. As the worm's body began to shimmer with a silver-white light, it suddenly teleported directly in front of Ritchie.
Ritchie didn't waste a second. The moment he spotted the instance boss, he activated his most potent survival skill. In an instant, his body split into four distinct shadows, each darting off in a different direction. This was his ultimate gambit; each shadow was, in essence, part of Ritchie himself. As long as even one shadow could escape, Ritchie would be able to resurrect from it.
Ritchie's countermeasure was indeed expertly executed, but he had still underestimated the power of the instance boss. The glowing white worm did not chase after any of the shadows individually. Instead, it conjured numerous miniature black holes around itself, allowing them to cluster into a massive black hole at its center.
This singularity grew in size and gravitational pull, threatening to devour everything in its vicinity, including Ritchie's fleeing shadows.
The massive black hole's gravitational pull was relentless, drawing in every one of Ritchie's four shadows until they merged back together. As the shadows converged, Ritchie's true form materialized directly in front of the instance boss.
Now perilously close, Ritchie could feel an overwhelming pressure emanating from the boss. Simultaneously, he felt his body beginning to disintegrate under the combined force of the enormous black hole and the warped spatial distortion surrounding him. His consciousness flickered, fading fast. Though filled with a deep sense of regret, he was utterly helpless to stop it.
In what felt like his final moments, one thought echoed through Ritchie's mind: "Jeremy, where are you? Why haven't you come back to save us?"
Not far away, Bonnie watched Ritchie's dire situation with mounting anxiety. She wanted desperately to help but was completely drained, unable to use even a single spell. Her strength had been fully exhausted in the earlier battle. Just as all seemed lost and despair clung to everyone, a sudden flash of golden light appeared nearby, near both Ritchie and the instance boss.
Jeremy had arrived, standing right beside the instance boss. He gripped his Mortal Combat weapon tightly and swung it directly at the boss. The attack was swift and unexpected, but the instance boss reacted with blinding speed, managing to dodge Jeremy's strike in a burst of white light. Still, this intervention had been enough to save Ritchie.
Ritchie collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. "What took you so long? I thought I'd never see you again!" he exclaimed as his consciousness began to stabilize.
Jeremy didn't answer Ritchie's question directly. Instead, he responded calmly, "I got here, didn't I? Now, get yourself to safety. Leave the rest of this fight to me. I've gained the power I need to take down the instance boss."
With that, Jeremy summoned a portal, stepping through it to appear directly in front of the instance boss once more. By now, the instance boss had undergone a dramatic transformation; its original form—a white, glowing worm—had morphed into an all-black creature, seeming to have absorbed all surrounding black holes and twisted spaces into its body.
The stage was set for a final showdown between Jeremy and the transformed instance boss.
Witnessing the scene before him, Jeremy realized that the instance boss was fully prepared for their final confrontation.
"So, you're ready for the ultimate battle, are you? Then it's time I show you my true power!" Jeremy extended his hands, and between them, a white orb began to take shape—an orb identical to the one the instance boss had once summoned.
"Now, I'll use your own weapon to destroy you! I bet you never imagined you'd fall at the hands of what you created!" With these words, Jeremy launched his attack. As he did, the white orb expanded rapidly, summoning countless spectral portals around the instance boss. These portals not only absorbed the warped spaces surrounding it but also prevented the boss from focusing its power entirely.
Gripping his Mortal Combat weapon, Jeremy unleashed blow after blow on the instance boss. This time, his attacks finally began to take a toll, inflicting visible damage. Their fight was fierce, each strike reverberating throughout the entire Lost Realm instance.
Watching from a close distance, Ritchie and Bonnie were awestruck by the intensity of the battle. Ritchie couldn't help but remark to Bonnie, "Compared to them, our strength is insignificant. If we had power like that, we'd be able to stand on our own and eliminate even the toughest enemies."
Bonnie nodded in agreement. "I only wish I had strength like Jeremy's. If I were that powerful, my father wouldn't stop me from acting independently."
Although both of them envied Jeremy's strength, they knew all too well that achieving such power was no simple feat and would take far more time and effort. As they discussed the fierce showdown unfolding before them, Emma and Claire finally regained their composure and joined them.
"How's the battle going? Can you tell which side has the upper hand?" Claire asked urgently, glancing between Ritchie and Bonnie. Lacking the same strength as the others, Claire couldn't tell who was winning. Emma, too, was just as uncertain about the balance of power in the fight before them.
Since Claire had already voiced the question, Emma decided she didn't need to repeat it. Both Ritchie and Bonnie shook their heads in unison.
"We're not sure who's got the upper hand either," Ritchie admitted.
In truth, no one could definitively gauge who was winning the battle. Although Jeremy had prepared meticulously, it was clear that eliminating the instance boss quickly was out of the question. And as the fight wore on, the instance boss continued absorbing the power of High-Dimensional Data, further complicating Jeremy's challenge. His time was running short.
Beyond Jeremy's own intense battle, the instance boss's skills rippled outward, affecting the others as well. Bonnie, Ritchie, Emma, and Claire could all feel the space around them beginning to warp and shift. For now, they remained relatively safe, thanks to Ritchie's and Bonnie's awareness of spatial distortions and their ability to shield Emma and Claire.
In other areas of the instance, however, Liam, General Howard, and their troops were having a far rougher time. Despite their preparations for unforeseen circumstances, the unique spatial disruptions around them were making survival a serious challenge, leaving them in a state of disarray.
Liam found himself forced to join forces with General Howard to clear away the unusual spatial distortions surrounding them.
"Even though we're doing everything we can, the number of warped spaces around us just keeps increasing. It looks like we might need to relocate to a safer area," Liam remarked, his tone betraying a hint of anxiety. He felt the situation had spiraled beyond his control. If they stayed here, they risked facing a crisis beyond their ability to manage.
General Howard's expression was equally grim. Yet, he was reluctant to lead his men into unfamiliar territory under such tense circumstances.
"True, there's a certain level of risk here, but we've become fairly familiar with this area. If we venture somewhere else, we might encounter even greater dangers. I think we're better off staying put. I have a feeling the battle between Jeremy and the instance boss will be over soon—we just need to wait it out," Howard replied, his reasoning calm and logical.
Howard's argument was sound, although his plan had a more passive approach compared to Liam's. In the end, Liam chose not to press his own idea further and agreed to follow Howard's suggestion.