NOVEL NEXT Chapter 51: Doomwrithe Apex
The faint red glow dispersed as Nova's ruby-red eyes glowed, unlocking his ability. In his hands, two daggers, glowing with red and black aura, formed from pure entropy. He gripped his daggers tightly as a goblin, an E-rank monster, came towards him.
The goblin swung his wooden, nearly broken club in a downward motion. But Nova feinted to his left, slicing through the goblin as if the goblin were paper. The goblin split in two, blood spraying heavily everywhere, as Nova swung his dagger downward to remove all the dirty green blood.
Then, a few more goblins came at him, with a D-rank drape in the mix. He smirked at them, putting his dagger horizontally, as he said, his voice strident and tumultuous: "Came at me, you bastards. I will cut every single one of you to pieces."
Nova quickly grabbed Adam, putting him behind a tree, then shifted his gaze to the first wave of monsters, so he lunged towards them. His body felt slightly healed, as if all the energy he had lost had been recovered, and all the wounds had been healed by more than fifty percent.
He slashed through the first couple of goblins, his daggers strongly pulsing with the red and black aura, which only made him stronger. He felt lighter, but stronger. Rolling his shoulders back, smiling up at the sky, as he saw a drape dropping in like a bomb.
He feinted towards the right, then quickly tried to plunge his dagger into the drapes' wings, but the drapes' skin was much more powerful. The drape barely flinched as it used its other wing to send Nova flying against a tree.
Nova collided with the tree at high velocity, which led to serious injuries to his spine. His eyes widened as he collided, feeling the excruciating pain coursing through his spine. He slowly got up as another three goblins charged at him.
He blocked their clubs with his daggers, but another, bigger goblin leaped up from behind them, spraying down, thinking it would kill Nova in a single strike, but Nova slid back against the tree, then used the tree to lunge towards the goblins, slicing them like mince meat, with accurate precision.
Nova wiped the blood from his eyes, his vision slightly blurring. The scent that the goblins left was beyond grim, and combining that with the sharp odor of all the monsters only further fueled his nausea.
The ground beneath him was cracked, with an uneven layout through the dungeon, with crushed branches, and piles of mud. There was a lot of gore, primarily that of the goblins, as their organs and bones, and everything about their body, spewed out when he cut them.
More goblins poured in front of him, from the D-rank dungeon that was connected to the F-rank dungeon he was in; their eyes were wide with terror, of hunger, of blood lust. And their instincts of survival had been overridden by their hunger for blood.
Nova swung both daggers in a blur, moving like a shadow dancing between consciousness and unconsciousness. Even he had a limit to what he could naturally do in his current state.
Limbs flew, bodies splintered, and the shrieks of dying monsters vibrated through the dungeon, through his ears, chillingly harmonious with his own heartbeat.
For a while, it seemed as if he could cut through everything. His aura flared brighter with each strike, the red and black flames covering his arms, his body feeling like a feather, weightless and untouchable.
A goblin's club struck the edge of one dagger, but he twisted just enough to deflect it, letting the goblin tumble forward into the dirt. The thrill of killing so many monsters sent a grin to his lips. A grin that had long been forgotten.
Then, a drape landed with a sickening crack nearby, flapping its massive wings. Nova felt the ground shake beneath him as it roared, a sound that seemed to tear through the fabric of reality itself.
He lunged at it, his daggers aimed for its exposed chest, but as soon as he was able to penetrate, he couldn't pierce through. The drapes' skin felt like it was made of iron. He struck again and again, each blow feeding his exhaustion, each slash draining a little more of the energy that had once felt inexhaustible.
The red-black aura glitched, shuttering like a dying candle. He could feel it, a slow, creeping weakness spreading through his muscles and bones, the edge of his abilities dulling with every swing.
The mana in his veins thinned, no longer replenishing as it had before. Nova blinked rapidly, trying to focus, but the large number of enemies began to appear as one. The goblins, drapes, and the other occasional E-rank monsters now got closer, like a tide he could not hold back.
He slashed at a goblin charging from the side, but missed as it ducked under his blade. Another jab of a club slammed into his ribs, sending him violently back against a tree. Pain coursed through him, his breath strident and shallow.
He pushed himself upright, dagger raised, trying to summon the aura again, but it was faint, weak, barely noticing his existence. The overwhelming sense of being outnumbered began to gnaw at him.
A drape dove from above, striking his shoulder with a force that made him stagger back. He countered with a dagger, slicing along the edge of its wings, but it was more irritation than injury.
His aura spread briefly throughout his body, weakly, before it dimmed again. The mana energy that had once flowed like a waterfall and now felt like atoms slipping through his hands. Imaginary to the naked eye.
Nova's eyes burned with determination, refusing to give up to any of these shitty creatures. He spun in a whirlwind of motion, his daggers flashing, bodies falling around him. But each movement demanded more and more effort.
A goblin managed to scrape his leg with a sharp knife, and another landed a violent blow on his back. Tiny aches that he had ignored previously, without any effort, or at most minimal effort, now vibrated through his body as violently as possible. His body was reminding him that his strength was beginning to expire more constantly.