NOVEL NEXT Chapter 36: Instinct [3]
“Two!”
As the words left my mouth, I pulled the trigger multiple times, this time with a much lower speed since my target wasn’t the golem. Click~! Click~! Six shots rang out within a second, each hitting its mark as the spheres shattered on impact.
“Right!” Roran shouted as he dashed forward, covering the distance to the other side in a split second. At the same time, a bright light washed over us from the sides. Despite facing the direction with the least light, I couldn’t help but squint my eyes as I watched Roran while aiming my gun, preparing to assist.
Swoosh~! A shadow leaped out from just ahead of him, aiming straight for his face, but he quickly crouched and swung his sword from that position, slicing the small shadow right in the middle. A small sphere immediately appeared as the shadow disappeared, and Roran caught it in his hand. This all happened in a second, and afterward, the light vanished from our surroundings. I turned my head and confirmed that all the squads were still standing, though a few students were breathing heavily after the assault from the other shadows.
“Pull back!” I shouted toward Roran, who seemed to be spacing out a bit. At the same time, the ground rumbled, and more spheres instantly floated up, replacing the ones I’d shot down. The light immediately flashed again as Roran ran back to us. Having seen this with [Future Sight], I quickly turned to my side, facing Liam, who was still in good condition even after the first assault. I shouted while aiming my gun,
“One!” I pulled the trigger multiple times. Click~! Click~! But this time, the light quickly washed over us after only four shots rang out, but it was enough for Liam to see his path.
Due to the abnormally high number of spheres the dungeon had summoned, I was able to deduce that the light produced by the spheres was not omnidirectional, meaning that each sphere focused on a limited range. Otherwise, the dungeon could have just summoned 6 spheres, one for each golem.
Liam ran toward the golem's position, blue sparks of lightning shooting from his sword. By the time he arrived, the light around us had already disappeared.
He’s too slow.
“Lio is down!” one of the students shouted from behind us, and I quickly turned, seeing one of them lying on the floor, clutching his stomach. Unlike Roran and Liam, the rest of us were F-ranks, meaning that the blows from the golems were much harder to parry.
“Rin, pull him into the center! The rest of you, focus on your tasks!” I shouted, and Rin quickly moved toward the fallen student.
Bang~! A loud explosion rang out on the other side, and I quickly turned back to Liam. Sparks of lightning were jumping across the cave wall, violently breaking it down. Overkill much?
Huh? Another light suddenly came from behind us. The spheres on Liam’s side hadn’t even regenerated. Dammit. I quickly turned around, seeing Rin pull the student toward me while facing the direction from which the light would come as it washed over us.
I won’t make it in time.
“Eleven~!” I shouted while turning my head back in Liam’s direction. He was already rushing back toward us, his eyes closed as the light assaulted us from all directions, except the path I had created for him.
Of course, eleven didn’t exist.
Another advantage of giving vague instruction, it gives me more freedom to improvise. I mentioned a clock when giving them the plan and since there are twelve of us here, they would naturally assume that eleven was someone among them, making it sound more natural. But Rin and I didn't have a number, so there was only 1 to 10. Because of that, everyone would close their eyes, which was what I intended.
“D-dammit~!” I heard a shout from behind me as the light faded, and I quickly turned around.
A second student from the same team had fallen to the ground, clutching his stomach while clenching his teeth. Thankfully, Rin had returned to my side, and I quickly signaled her to assist the fallen student.
It should be easier from here on.
In only a minute, we had managed to take out three of the golems. Mana beasts were also highly adaptive, meaning they too would inevitably fall for the pitfalls of adaptation.
They won't try to go after Liam or Roran.The two of them stood on either side of the space that Rin and I should have filled (facing the first golem that died), which meant that they were covering one-half of the cave.
This allowed us to focus on the remaining Golems without worrying about our backs.
“Si—” I stopped mid-sentence in surprise as I was about to call out a number.
A shadow suddenly shot out from the ground, aiming straight for my head at high speed. Seeing this future with [Future Sight], I cast [Time perception], quickening my thoughts and forming a counter. I then released the skill and immediately crouched down while grabbing the hilt of my sword, unsheathing it in a reverse grip like a dagger.
Replicating Roran’s movement, I slashed toward the shadow as it flew just above my head, using [Future Sight] to predict its path, but… My sword missed by an inch. The shadow zipped past me, and suddenly, a familiar sensation shot through my stomach, knocking the air from my lungs as I fell to my knees.
A second one?
The two shadows melted back into the ground, making a quick escape.
“Ian!?” Roran shouted, taking a step toward me, but I quickly raised my hand.
“Don't move!” I shouted through my pained stomach, causing him to stop as he turned back and focused on defending our backs. I then raised my hand, aiming my gun while still sitting on the ground.
“Six~!” I finally shouted, causing the duo to step forward.
They aren’t using the light anymore?
Thorian and Ruby rushed toward their target golem at my words, but after covering half the distance, the stones suddenly brightened again.
Shit, they’re blocking the path.
To clear a path for them, I needed to shoot the spheres directly ahead of them, but with them already past the halfway mark, their bodies obstructed the spheres ahead. I cast [Time Perception] while aiming through the gaps, and immediately pulled the trigger multiple times. Click~! Click~! Six shots rang out, a few grazing Ruby and Thorian, scratching their bodies before hitting their marks. Thankfully, Ruby didn’t stop and continued forward even as blood dripped from the side of her neck and at the top of her right ear.
The spheres finally flashed, brightening the whole room as I continued to aim my gun at them.
The shadow jumped out, aiming for Thorian, who threw a quick jab at it. The golem bent its body, dodging the attack before sinking back into the ground. It reappeared a second later, leaping toward Ruby, who quickly swung her sword, missing by an inch. It’s too fast. The shadow smashed into her stomach, sending her flying almost a meter back. But as if anticipating this, a massive fireball suddenly crashed into the shadow from behind it.
Bang~! It exploded on impact, blowing Ruby to the other side as she was caught in the crossfire. A warm shockwave swept across the cave, our clothes fluttering violently.
“That bastard!” Rin’s eyes widened as she took a step forward, but I quickly grabbed her leg and shook my head at her.
In the distance, Thorian was pacing toward us, not even giving Ruby’s body a single glance as she struggled to stand on the other side of the cave. He had purposely let the golem pass him, using Ruby as bait to set up a devastating surprise attack.
An effective approach, but… That’s not very nice.
I aimed my gun at him, causing his eyes to widen in surprise as I pulled the trigger without hesitation. He quickly dodged to the side, just as a shadow zipped across where his head had been a second ago. Realizing my intentions, he quickened his pace toward us, cautiously observing the ground. Two shadows suddenly jumped out, both aiming for his body.
He won’t make it.
“Roran, use your authority! Kill the last one!”
Time to end this.
I immediately cast [Time Perception] the moment the words left my mouth, following up with [Object Perception] as I pulled the trigger, replicating the speed I had used to kill the first golem.
Bang~! Slash~! In a split second, the gunshot rang out throughout the room as Roran’s sword slashed through the other golem simultaneously
It’s over.
Cling~! The sound of glass bouncing on the ground signaled the end of the battle as two mana cores rolled forward. Subsequently, the spheres across the room all fell to the ground before crumbling into dust, as if they had never existed. Time flowed normally again, and Rin was the first to move, rushing toward Ruby. With how angry she seemed, I was worried she might attack Thorian, but as relief washed over me, I slumped onto the floor, my breathing growing more erratic.
“You’re really amazing,” Liam’s voice suddenly reached me as he looked toward Roran, who was collecting the mana cores. I didn’t respond and simply looked at him. His eyes were much more relaxed than the previous times I’d seen him. As stupid as it sounded, his current self reminded me of his future self.
“That was nothing,” I said as I sat up on the ground. The students were tending to their injuries and collecting the mana cores across the room. We had a minimum of 30 minutes to recover and leave the floor before the monsters respawned, so I was pleased with their way of thinking.
“No, that’s not true. The strategy against the light was ingenious,” he said with a smile while pointing toward his eye.
I didn’t think it was that amazing.
Instead of trying to strain their eyes against the incoming light, all they had to do was close their eyes. Once they saw the color red through their eyelids, they would know the light was up. It provided them with the opportunity to adjust their eyes slowly, controlling the amount of light entering so they wouldn’t be blinded. And at the moment they did this, they would be able to spot a dark spot within the light. Since the shadow golems had physical bodies, their bodies would naturally obstruct the incoming light, creating a dark spot that the students could see through their squinted eyes, thereby allowing them to defend themselves.
Was it really that amazing?
I honestly didn't think so. I brushed the thought away from my mind a second later as I focused on the exercise.
There were less than two hours left, so it would be impossible to clear the dungeon at this rate. Chances are, we would be pulled back before we finished the next floor. It doesn’t matter though. I was satisfied with the information I had collected during the exercise, so I wasn’t that concerned.
At that time, I had no idea what awaited me on the next floor; that the consequences of my past actions would finally catch up to me.
The consequence of choice.
