NOVEL NEXT Chapter 81: Discovery
Time inside that nightmare hadn't flowed the same as it did here.
I had spent minutes trapped in hallucination, wandering through illusions that gnawed at my sanity, but out here, in the real forest, only seconds had passed.
That was the only reason I wasn't already dead.
If the eye had dragged on even a little longer, I would've been nothing more than ash in a crater.
Swallowing hard, I steadied myself against the trunk, forcing my shaking legs to hold.
My gaze fell back to the Alpha Deer below, its massive form bathed in the eerie glow of its own power. But something was different now.
Earlier, I had thought the strange ritual it performed with its herd was nothing more than the creation of that illusory eye hanging in the sky. Just a trick to overwhelm me mentally.
But looking at it now—seeing the faint runes still smoldering in the ground around its hooves, the way its antlers shimmered with currents of violent energy—I realized I had been wrong. Dead wrong.
It wasn't just an illusion. It was more than that.
The Alpha Deer wasn't simply casting illusions or throwing beams—it was feeding. I could see it clearly now, the way faint threads of light bled off the bodies of its herd, siphoned into its towering frame. It was draining them dry, consuming their very life force to fuel itself.
And now it stood there, antlers blazing with lethal energy, stronger than it had ever been. No longer just a beast commanding illusions—it was a predator swollen with stolen power.
The weight it radiated pressed down on me like a mountain, every nerve in my body alight with panic. [Danger Sense] screamed in my skull, not just warning but howling, a shrill alarm that threatened to rip me apart from the inside.
Every instinct shrieked the same thing over and over again: This foe is beyond you. Run. Flee before you die here.
And gods, a part of me wanted to listen. To let go, to say, Fine. You win. I'm out. I'm done with this damned creature.
But I didn't. I couldn't.
My fists clenched so tight my nails bit into my palms. My breath hissed through gritted teeth. As much as my body begged me to escape, my mind burned with something sharper—anger. The memory of that illusion, of my mother's voice twisted into poison, seared itself into me like a brand.
No.
I wasn't running.
If I had to claw my way through hell itself, I was going to see this fight to its end.
And more than that—I was going to repay the Alpha Deer for daring to crawl into my head, for twisting my fears, for making me doubt myself.
The last of the herd collapsed around their alpha.
Their bodies twitched once, then stilled, and in the next instant, their remains scattered into ashes. Wisps of mana that looked like threads of pale-blue smoke lifted from their corpses and spiraled into the Alpha Deer's body.
The beast welcomes the power, and its antlers lit up, lines of energy pulsing like veins under skin. Each hum of power rattled through the air, and wisps of mana curled off its body, giving it an oppressive aura.
Even from this distance, I could feel its power.
"Great," I muttered, clutching at my chest.
The burn mark from earlier hadn't stopped aching; every breath felt like a knife turning under my ribs.
My arms were lead, my legs shaky, and my mind… gods, my mind was fraying.
The illusion had left afterimages burned into my vision — Elene's face, my parents' blank stares, that damned eye watching from above.
But [Illusion Resistance] kept me tethered, yanking me back whenever the edges of reality blurred. I hated that it was even necessary.
Still, I knew one thing: if I let myself breathe too long, if I gave in to the heaviness dragging at my bones, then the adrenaline pumping through my veins would fade, and with it the thin thread of survival I was clinging to.
"Status window," I whispered, forcing the words out through clenched teeth.
[Status Window]
Name: Eli Cross
Race: Goblin
Title: Drugar's Chosen
Level: 24
HP: 420/755
MP: 300/475
Kill Count: 3
[Stats]
Strength: 45
Stamina: 45
Agility: 38
Intelligence: 35
Perception: 30
(Available Points: 15)
[Skills]
Innate Skill: [Phase Walker (SSS)]
Passive Skills: [Analyze (N)] [Iron Fist (E)] [Roar of Intimidation (C)] [Finder (N)] [Iron Persistence (C)] [Illusion Resistance (C)]
Active Skills: [Stealth (C)] [Mana Shield (B)] [Flame Orb (C)] [Warcry (C)]
I stared at the numbers. On paper, they looked fine. Strong, even.
But standing here, chest burning, lungs seizing, sweat dripping into my eyes as a monster charged itself with enough mana to melt a mountain — it didn't feel fine.
I glance at my free stats point.
Fifteen points.
A small pool of power, but maybe the last thing keeping me alive.
"Five to strength, five to stamina, five to agility," I ordered.
The rush hit instantly. My body convulsed as raw energy surged through me. Muscles knotted tight, then loosened, filled with new force. My lungs opened, pulling air so deep it felt like drowning in oxygen. My limbs buzzed, every nerve firing at once, as if the world had slowed half a step.
I wasn't healed, not even close.
But I was stronger. Strong enough to overcome the hesitation I felt.
The Alpha Deer lifted its head, antlers glowing like a pair of suns ready to explode.
I jumped.
The air whistled past me as I hurled myself from the branch. The forest floor rushed up, but before I landed, the deer unleashed a blinding beam of mana.
I didn't think — I triggered [Swap] and the world folded.
Suddenly, the Alpha Deer was in my place, its own beam blazing toward it. But as expected, the energy beam twisted in a desperate arc that chased me like a living thing.
Except I wasn't there.
A flicker, a blink, and I was gone, reappearing a dozen paces away as the beam fizzled into nothing. The Alpha Deer stomped, fury blazing in its gaze.
"Foolish Goblin, your tricks wouldn't work!"
"I'm aware."
I raised my hand and conjured a Flame Orb. Fire gathered in my palm, swirling and condensing until it pulsed like a miniature sun. I hurled it with all the force I could muster.
The Alpha Deer's antlers flared, spitting another beam of pure mana. The attacks met in midair with a blast that lit the clearing like daylight. My fireball burst apart in fragments, and the shockwave nearly knocked me off my feet.
I blinked through the smoke — and saw it.
The deer's antlers, brilliant and terrible, now bore faint cracks running along their length. They were hairline thin, glowing faintly with the unstable energy within.
And after every beam, more cracks spread.
My heart kicked hard in my chest.
"That's it," I whispered, lips curling. That was its...