Key Rush (12)

Time passed by slowly…..

It was honestly getting boring. Just running and running until my Stamina runs out, but that was all I could do at the moment and the beat strategy. There was no rules saying that I had to clear all the monsters here to ascend to the next level.

To be honest, I wasn't sure of how many of these Sun-Cursed Worms existed, hiding underneath the sand. It could be an infinite amount, perhaps. A good way to farm Abyssal Fragments, but definitely not at my current level. It would be great if I could come back here once I'm strong enough, to farm an endless amount of Abyssal Fragments….

I let all sorts of thoughts enter my head as I continued running, trying to drown out the boredom. I was thinking about how Isabella and Zeke was doing, how Cassie was doing, how my family outside was doing. Hell, I even thought about what the cop that killed me was doing. I hope he got fired, honestly. He should be fired! Why was he attacking random homeless man at the park, anyway? Straight up killing me too….

Time passed by rapidly. Or atleast, it seemed like it did.

I wasn't paying much attention to the passage of time, my mind wandering all over the place. My legs started feeling the exhuastion of continuous running, but since my body was in good shape after the effects of the Respite Zone, I managed to hold on much longer, without letting the Sun-Cursed Worms catch up to me.

Even though I was getting bored, I was actually fairly grateful for the lack of activity. This meant I didn't have to waste much innate spirit as Nightfall grew closer. My heart started racing at the thought of facing these Eldrich horrors while they are being enhanced by the crimson moon.

I really didn't want to. The trauma of almost drowing to death dealing with just Bloodroot Stranglers terrified me. Just how worse would the Sun-Cursed Worms will be? I already knew they were much stronger than the Bloodroot Stranglers and much more intelligent too. Plus, killing them only leads to them eating their kin's corpses and growing stronger because of it.

Without Nico's convenient ability of being able to blow everything up with a touch, I wouldn't be able to survive long during the Crimson Moon. So, all I could rely on is my preparations and cunning to survive until daybreak. If it was even possible, really.

Lost in my thoughts, I hadn't realized when the sky started turning orange, my eyes lifting and turning towards the horizon. The sun was about to dip into the horizon, half of it has already done that. From the other side, I can see the Crimson Moon slowly rising. The massive moon peeking out from the horizon in the most menacing way possible.

I couldn't help but get chills looking at it.

I still wasn't used to all this. Even though I had convinced myself that everything I'm experiencing is real, they all still feel so fantastical. My life just underwent an abrupt change after dying. This is my new reality now. A reality where i must fight for my life, to claw my way into resurrection. I wondered if I really had the skill and talent required to being the sole victor among millions of people.

I quickly shook my head of these thoughts before I went down on a depressive spiral of internal monologue. I shouldn't be focusing on the far away, uncertain future for now. Who knows how long The Mulligan will take to finish with the amount of players it has? Right now, my focus should be on the present. The future in front of me. The future where I steal the Key of Ruin and spirit bind with Movarathos.

That's the future I envisioned.

And the future I want to make happen.

So, I turned away from staring at the crimson moon which was rising, with a determined gaze, I looked forward. To the next level.

Distance to next Level: 9.9Km.

By the time daybreak comes, I will have already set foot on the next level! Somehow, Nico still hasn't reached the third level. I could tell from the way the overseer announced my player number that it's supposed to announce whoever steps into the next level for everyone participating in thie mission.

So this means that Nico is still far away from catching up to me!

The sky grew darker and darker, the sun slowly setting. It was about time now. I still didn't slow down, though. Slowing down wasn't my plan. Even as my muscles protested, I continued running, gaining even more of a distance between myself and the Sun-Cursed Worms, just before the crimson moon rises.

Eventually, the sun fully dipped into the horizon.

[The Crimson Moon rises….]

The world was enveloped in an eerie crimson veil, that seemed to hit me like a powerful, disgusting pressure, that made my breath hitch and my muscles involuntarily tense up from the sensation.

[The Monsters grows stronger!]

At that announcement, it felt like the ground beneath me shook.

"Seems like the Sun-Cursed Worms aren't wasting anytime…."

I murmured, managing a crooked smile, as I quickly activated [Probability Pryer] and [The Zone], summoning [The Cleave], all the while never stopping my run, never halting, never hesitating. Just one moment of hesitation meant death, after all. I couldn't hesitate. With the crimson moon now up, the distance to the next level wasn't far, but the monsters have grown stronger.

I wondered how the Sun-Cursed Worms would be like enhanced by the crimson moon. It was a mild curiosity, that ended up answered shortly after.

The ground beneath me stopped shaking, as the sand began swirling, something popping out from beneath it, that loomed over me like a giant building.

"Oh, fuck…"

I gulped at the sight.

It was the Sun-Cursed Worm, but the changes it had underwent was obvious. Gone was the slippery Worm it used to be, replaced by a massive, terrifying spiky creature that was similar to a centipede, but with spikes and three massive obsidian horns at the top of it.

This wasn't all. To make things worse, many of them started popping up. One after another, surrounding me, as if they were communicating telepathically.

With [Probability Pryer] active, I saw thousands of ways I was about to die. All of them more gruesome than the last. Just how did the overseer expect me to survive this? I had no experience dealing with such creatures. This is much, much worse compared to how much the Bloodroot Stranglers were enhanced by the crimson moon. No, this was much worse. This was a nightmare.

Before they could attack me, I turned tail and ran. Not towards the next level, but rather, towards the Blood River itself. I hadn't forgotten the warineess they showed towards the blood river back then. I had kept this as a last resort.

Thankfully though, with the [Duskweave Mantle] reducing posion and toxin damage, I should manage for awhile. Perhaps I could hide underneath the blood river until the sun rises? A cowardly move, but I was never a brave one anyway.

Like a dolphine, I squeezed my eyes shut and dived inside the river. Or atleast tried to, when one of them managed to wrap around my ankle, pulling me up before I hit the water.

"Argh!"

I was swung upwards, then the Worm suddenly let go of me mid-air, causing myself to be thrown up to the air, being suspended for a moment, then falling.

"Ahhh!"

I screamed as I felt the wind hitting my face. My heart racing with fear and panic. Yet despite this, I kept a tight grip on [The Cleave] As I was being thrown downward, still refusing to deactivate [Probability Pryer] and [The Zone].

With [The Zone] still active, I managed to retain some of my rationality—not actual rationality, but it allowed my mind to remain clear, suppressing unsavory emotions such as fear and panic. Just ever so slightly, the effect wasn't strong, but good enough to calm my racing heart for a moment.

That's when I saw where I was falling.

The Sun-Cursed Worm had opended it's maw wide, my eyes widening as my little body compared to it, fell right into the mouth.

'No!'

The mouth of the Sun-Cursed Worm shut the moment I entered inside. Letting out a satisfied and pleased huff, it lowered itself to the ground, digging into the sand.

The others present didn't seem pleased with their comrade managing to feed on the human, but they didn't make a big deal out of it, sinking back down to the sand, returning home.

"Ahhhh!!"

All I saw was darkness, as I continued falling at a rapid pace. At this rate, I would die the moment I hit the bottom—the stomach acid. The force would be like hitting concrete after jumping from the Eiffel Tower. But worse than that, even if I somehow managed to survive, the stomach acid will dissolve me with ease and I wouldn't be able to do anything about since I'll be injured.

So, I needed to slow down my descent!

Without Isabella's convenient control over the wind, I'll just have to use [The Cleave] to the best of it's abilitiy, hoping it won't break with the amount of force being inflicted on it.

Without hesitating further, I plunged the blade into the nearby skin of the Worm, going deeper as it would allow me, holding on tight. I felt the blade protesting, about to snap in half due to not being able to handle the speed I was falling at.

But somehow, [The Cleave] kept it together, gradually slowing down my descend. As I grew lower, I saw a faint light. My eyes darting towards, I saw where the light was coming from—it was the acid. The disgusting stomach acid that seemed to be like a pool of lava, so vast and big that it put the blood river itself to shame.

With my rapid falling come to a halt, thanks to [The Cleave] managing to hold my weight, plunged right into the skin of the Sun-Cursed Worm. Breathing heavily, I hovered just a few meters above the acid.

"Disgusting…."

I murmured, taking in the sight for a moment. But then immediately after started getting to work. I wasn't gonna be able to free myself just relaxing here, staring down at the acid. I could tell from the shaking that the Sun-Cursed Worm was moving—judging by their habits, they most likely have retreated back into the depths of the sand, like they always have.

"Now, how do I break free?"

I mused.

"Do I break free? I can just stay here until daybreak, then I can break free with much more ease once the Sun-Cursed Worm is weaker."

That sudden thought made my smile widen, but I quickly turned into a frown as I saw the state, [The Cleave] was in.

"Looks like things won't be that convenient. The blade won't be able to hold my weight for too long…."

I sighed, disappointed. It wasn't unexpected, though. It would of been a miracle of [The Cleave] managed to last that long. Hell, it's already a miracle that the blade managed to save me from dissolving into a skeleton. I have never been so glad to have bought something this much.

"How do I escape?"

I hummed in thought. Trying to use [The Cleave] while it was holding me up was impossible. I won't do that. Instead, I had another idea.

How about [Fury Counter]?

Counter: [30/1000]

'Not a bad amount.'

I can only hope that this works, otherwise I'll have to keep [The Zone] active for an extensive period of time to stack up on even more fury.

With one hand grasping onto the hilt of the blade, dangling off it. I shut my eyes tightly, then clenched a fist. I began pouring all my stored fury into it, feeling as it was being augmented by my innate blessing ability. This drained alot of my innate spirit, but I wasn't worried about that now. Not when my life was at risk.

And then, I punched.

Bang!!

It was like a grenade has went off. The moment my punch hit the skin of the Sun-Cursed Worm, I felt the Worm shake slightly, as if heavily wounded. Even [The Cleave] shook slightly, but managed to hold on somehow.

As the dust cleared, I saw the damage I have done.

It was….Meh. Unlike what I expected, I was unable to tear away a hole right away. It would take some time, it seemed.

"Well, time to start spamming punches…."

I said while rounding up another one.