NOVEL NEXT Book 3. Chapter 9 “An Enemy Presence” Part 2
Book 3. Chapter 9
“An Enemy Presence” Part 2
NOTE: I decided to modify the ending of the previous chapter, so take it as it would have ended in the explosion.
Before the giant eye closed completely a massive wave of energy escaped from it, completely collapsing what was left of the enemy camp along with the trees surrounding the area and throwing Kalysto back a hundred meters causing her to crash into the thick trunks of several nearby trees as what was left of the eye vanished amidst a swirl of black mana.
[Warning! The user has lost 10% HP].
[The skill Dispel Ezhil has leveled to level 27!]
[The skill Ezhil Purification has leveled to level 36!]
The shockwave destroyed everything in its path, sinking the earth and leaving an immense crater behind.
“What the hell was that?” Groaned Kalysto as pain invaded the side of her body after she hit the same spot for the fourth time in less than an hour.
Shit! Regeneration! Regeneration! She thought as she let out a groan and touched her torso. Does this guy have something against my ribs? Regeneration!
“Inventory!” she muttered. She was about to take out a bottle of holy water and drink it, but then she noticed the notifications and remembered the curse and the restriction of only being able to drink a potion every ten minutes. “... Shit!... Basic healing!” She grunted, as she pursed her lips and the pain spread through her body as she tried to turn her body to lean on her forearm and sit up. But the pain stopped her.
[The passive skill Pain Resistance has been activated.]
A sigh of relief escaped from her lips as the sharp twinge disappeared and she was able to start breathing normally, however she decided to stay lying down for a couple of seconds more while she finished recovering without the help of the holy water.
How long is that curse supposed to be active? She worried.
Isn’t a curse supposed to disappear as soon as the caster dies? That guy is already dead! Why is it still active? She continued to grumble as she struggled to normalize her breathing.
...How am I supposed to get rid of that thing?... However, as much as she thought about it as she watched the blue sky and the slow drift of the clouds as they passed, she couldn’t come up with any ideas.
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“Yes, of course!” She scoffed. “And that’s why he attacked me in the tower and we almost died?”
<
That annoyed Kalysto.
“Shut up! Nobody asked for your opinion!” she yelled. “Besides, I have no intention of killing my boss! I’m alive thanks to her and I remind you that if I die, you die with me!” She growled, annoyed with the whole situation. “I’ve been fighting since yesterday without any rest! I’m tired and sleepy! I haven’t had a good nap since God knows when and to top it all off there are four portals in the city, a tower, an altar who knows what the hell dor that I just destroyed and to make matters worse, now I’m cursed! Which means that from now on, even if I’m not attacked, I can die at any moment! So it will be a problem to sleep for more than an hour no matter how tired I am! And I like to sleep!” She shouted in annoyance, worried about the curse she received, “So shut the hell up, because I’m not in the mood to listen to you!”
Especially after what the queen had said to her.
Come on, Kalysto! Focus! She thought before Persephone had time to refute her.
[The skill Mental Defense has been activated.]
“And if you try to take control of my body again in the next few hours, I will purify you!” She shouted to the sky with force. After waiting a few seconds in which the only thing she could hear was the loud sound of her breathing as she clenched her fists, no one answered her and no notice announcing that the ‘mental defense’ skill was disabled appeared to her left.
Kalysto closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the sudden silence.
“If only I had killed that monster before it cast the curse!” She complained. And she turned her head to the right, looking at all the devastation left after the fight.
I’m so tired! She thought as she began to close the set of notifications she received during the fight. I want to go to sleep for a week and get out of bed just to go to the bathroom and take food to bed!
A prolonged sigh burst from her lips, knowing that this was something she wouldn’t be able to do again for who knows how long.
I’ve got to find a way to get rid of that curse!... Will the boss know I’m going out? She wondered, raising her arm, tempted to touch the tattoo on her left wrist and talk to her. But instead, she pulled out another bottle of health potion and took three long gulps before a notification window appeared before her.
[Warning! The user must wait 10 minutes before consuming a potion again or the potion’s effect will be nullified.]
After letting out another sigh, she could finally sit up.
Half of the shirt underneath the black leather jacket was almost completely soaked with sweat and the hot summer afternoon only made the situation worse.
And how the hell did that giant eye get here? She growled at the sight of the remains of the altar. And most disturbing of all... are there more of those things strewn over there?
A shiver swept down her back at the thought.
“And that eye!... Why the hell was it here? For what purpose were the altars?” Kalysto muttered under her breath, worried about what it could mean and all the problems that the presence she had first sensed inside the tower was also on Earth. Doubting that it was as simple a sacrifice as she had first thought. “...Is that a way to summon him?”
And what kind of god is shaped like a giant eyeball? She scoffed, but then a new possibility occurred to her, one that chilled her blood.
What if that eye was just a part of him and they hadn’t been able to finish bringing him in completely... What if they just needed more time or more resources to finish the summoning?
She closed her eyes and pursed her lips.
There’s no use worrying about that now. She scolded herself as she tried to get up. Her knees wobbled and her legs almost gave way and she fell to her knees against the ground as several beads of sweat trickled down her forehead, neck and chest.
A slight dizziness enveloped her and as she recognized some of the symptoms she pulled out another mana crystal and coated it, then tried again to get up, this time successfully. Leaning her back against the piece of trunk that survived her encounter.
“No, it can’t be a coincidence,” she muttered as she remembered that in the book of ‘The Fall of the Hero’, whoever was impersonating the demon king was serving someone else.
However, it was never said who it was. And after reading such a disastrous ending, Kalysto was unwilling to read more of the author’s works, even if they were intertwined.
I’m going to have to buy all her books and make time to read them. She thought as she pulled a thel from her inventory and took a bite, feeling her over-tiredness slowly begin to subside very slowly, but since she couldn’t drink any potions other than the health one as long as she had that curse, she had to make it with what she had at her disposal.
“Status window!” She muttered, worried about the amount of HP the curse was making her lose.
[Status window]
Name: Kalysto Luna
Age: 21 years old
Race: Half-breed (????????)
Level: 65
Fatigue: 90
Class: Saintess (Heroic)
Professions: Enchantments
Title: Champion of the fairies (avatar of ?????) (?????? of the ??????)
Affiliation: Kingdom of Bahram
HP: 5964/8520
MP: 4005/8306
DMP: 3600
Strength: 166+55
Vitality: 173+80
Agility: 220
Stamina: 186+110
Intelligence: 167 +100
Charisma: 11
Luck: 40
???: 75
Status: exhausted. Cursed.
Available points: 0]
As soon as she finished checking her condition, she ate another thel. Feeling how little by little her body became less and less heavy and easier to move through the rubble of what, until a few hours ago, was a set of enemy huts.
And she began to pick up the weapons of the enemy that seemed useful, sure that they could be useful for her future business with Sakura.
“Map!” She checked the direction where the girls’ points were and walked in that direction while checking her new skills when she finished collecting the weapons, after verifying that there were no more traces of dark mana or other altars around.
But she found no more of them.
So she tapped on the name of one of the skills she acquired.
[Communication with sacred beasts. Allows the user to communicate verbally or telepathically with any sacred beast (including dragons) within a range of 200 meters. When it is a beast with which one has a magical contract or has been tamed, the range increases to 500 meters. When raised to level 100, the user will be able to communicate with a contracted or tamed sacred beast regardless of the distance. Spends 50 MP per use.]
Immediately, a smile came to Kalysto’s face.
Well, at least this one isn’t too bad.
“Communication with the sacred beasts! Tsuki! Can you hear me?”
“Master?” Tsuki answered with distrust, not at all sure that it was true that he could hear his master in his mind, although he couldn’t see her or feel her near. But quickly the anxiety flooded his voice. “Master, we are surrounded!”