I felt the large hand gripping my body slowly losing strength, loosening. The surroundings was engulfed in flames, most of the large hall destroyed, reduced to debri. The oxygen was depleting, as the smoke took over. I already knew what happend, but even still, my mind was stunned into shock at the very fact that this happend.
Before the grip could loosen any further and result in me falling to my death— which was guaranteed by [Probability Pryer]— I quickly exclaimed, trying hard not to inhale any smoke.
"Isabella! A cushion!"
Then, I was falling. The grip fully loosened. I didn't panic and kept my mind calm, not bothering to open my mouth to let out a futile scream, as that would only result in lethal smoke entering my lungs.
All I could do was place my trust in Isabella now. If she was even conscious, or even alive after the explosion.
Luckily, she was.
As my body was just about to hit the ground, my death just inches away, I felt my back hit something soft. An air cushion, that made me bounce ever so slightly. My eyes widened at the strange, amusing sensation, but I quickly focused and jumped back to my feet, coughing slightly, as I crouched down to avoid the smoke.
Looking around, I quickly saw Isabella. She seemed completely fine, on her feet, her eyes darting around. It was at times like this that I envied her ability to manipulate wind. It was clear she was easily clearing out the smoke with just a flick of her wrist.
Without opening my mouth, I waved to get her attention. To create that air cushion, she had gambled and followed mostly my voice. Thus, she wasn't yet aware of my direct location. It was a dangerous gamble, but desperate times calls for desperate measures.
Isabella seemed to have caught my waving from the corner of her eye.
"Morgan!"
She rushed forward quickly, clearing out the smoke around me, giving me a clear pocket of air to breath. I took a deep, much needed breath, slowly getting up on my feet.
"Are you okay? Where's Zeke? What exactly happend? I heard you yell and…."
I raised a hand to stop her there, coughing slightly as I did so. I knew she was panicking, confused and afraid. She didn't bother trying to pretend to be composed. Yet, at the same time, i was still trying to recover from everything that just happend as well, my mind still wasn't there yet.
Isabella stopped herself in consideration, hesitantly reaching out and caressing my back, offering a comfort.
As I slowly gathered my wits, opening my mouth to speak and answer some questions—the ground beneath us rumbled. As a very familier figure stood up to his full height, his voice thunderous throughout the flames.
"SURFACE-DWELLERS!!"
He called out like it was some racial slur, my eyes looking up and finally seeing the damage that was done to the giant Nihileth. It was horrifying to say the least, yet Lord Tanmi was still standing, fearlessly.
He had lost three of his arms, the remaining three either barely holding on, or completely broken. Half his face was gone, exposing the brain inside the skull. Both of his eyes were bleeding and most likely blinded, the only one remaining behind the third eye on his forehead.
His blood was a dark shade of blue, dripping to the floor, swallowed up by the flames.
Lord Tanmi, the fearsome Nihileth he was just a few minutes ago, was reduced to this by that powerful explosion created by Nico.
"Nico…."
I mumbled. Everything has connected. All the dots has connected in my head. I don't know exactly what Nico was after, but he has never been truthful towards us from the start. He was hiding alot of secrets, too many secrets.
Isabella had paused caressing my back, hand placed on it, as she observed my expression.
"What happend, Morgan? You yelled for us to retreat and then…"
I sighed.
"The bow-user was Nico. He was planning on killing the three of us, along with Lord Tanmi during that explosion."
Isabella's eyes widened, but she seemed to have believed me. After all, it made sense. Back when I was still being held up, I saw the probability of it happening. At the time, everything was happening too fast for me to process the revelation, and I just simply instinctively yelled out, hoping my companions would retreat and survive the incoming explosion.
"We need to find Zeke…."
I said, quickly looking around what was left of the large hall after the explosion, fire, debri and smoke everywhere. But I was certain Zeke was alive. If anyone could survive the explosion, it would of been him. If we managed to survive without being hurt too much, Zeke should very much be fine— even if he was hurt, he can heal himself, so I wasn't really worried.
But….
"Lord Tanmi is still a problem. Nico is also a problem."
Isabella finished the thought for me. I gave her a weak nod. Lord Tanmi was still alive and Nico was nowhere to be found. That uncertainty made everything even more dangerous. With how it all turned out, I couldn't help but wonder of Nico managed to succeed in his mysterious goal. If all this is true, he must also know about the existence of Movarathos….
Could this mean they made some special pact without me realizing? Was Movarathos trying to get me killed, for Nico's sake? But he was the one who warned me about Nico in the first place!
All of these contradictions….
Nothing was really making sense.
I shook my head, removing these thoughts. Right now, i can't let myself be distracted by all these questions. I need to narrow down my focus—at the moment, the top priority should be making sure Zeke was okay. Our enemies now are Nico and Lord Tanmi. This makes things much simpiler.
"You…..it's you!!"
I heard Lord Tanmi's voice booming throughout the flames, filled with anger and hatred towards someone. When my head snapped towards that direction, I finally saw a figure outlined by the flames. A very familier figure.
Nico.
"I'm amazed you survived that."
Nico said, as he casually stepped forward. Lord Tanmi was furious by the assumption.
"How could a mere explosion kill me?! One of the grandest among the Nihileth? You are nothing but a little ant! A surface-dweller! I will kill you and return back home!"
Nico didn't seem fazed by the insults. Rather, he almost looked amused by it, taking another step forward calmly and raising a thumb.
"Really?"
The thumb came crashing down to his own palm, almost like he was pressing an invisible button. At that instant, Lord Tanmi's body began heating up, emitting a smoke for a split second— before the giant Nihileth imploded into pieces, flesh, internal organs and other body parts scattering across the large hall.
One of his arms flung towards me and Isabella, but with [Probability Pryer] active, I managed to grab her hand and dodge before the gigantic hand hit us. At the same time, a familier voice echoed inside our heads, signifying the end of Lord Tanmi.
[Boss fight ended! Congratulations, Player 23,456,000, Player 40,345,678, Player 789,776, Player 9,887,678!]
[Preparing Rewards….]
[You have received 50 Abyssal Fragments!]
[You have received achievement "Boss Killer I"!]
Both me and Isabella exchanged looks, stunned at how quickly everything ended. We were lucky to survive the assassination attempts by Nico, he almost got us. As a result, we ended up recieveing rewards for him killing Lord Tanmi. He was for real gone now.
Still, at the moment, I wasn't in the mood to be checking my rewards. Not with the looming threat of Nico, who literally tried to kill us.
"It's….over?"
Isabella asked hesitantly, her head snapping towards Nico. He looked back at us, catching our eye. A small smirk formed on his lips— the man seemed completely unaffected by the smoke and fire, as he spoke.
"Yes, it's over."
Then, he turned his body side-ways, towards the Abyssal Heart.
"Don't worry— I'll let you destroy the heart, but you'll have to wait for a bit. Until I'm done what what I'm about to do…."
His voice had a greedy undertone, as he began marching towards the Abyssal Heart. Isabella seemed confused, just as confused as I was, but then realization dawned on her.
Before I could even say anything, she had rushed forward, clearing out the smoke. Using her wind manipulation, then raised a hand towards Nico, surprising him by suddenly removing the oxygen around him.
"Are you insane?! You can't absorb the corrupted essence! Are you trying to kill us all?!"
I didn't understand a word that was being said. From the shadows, Zeke walked out, dusting himself off leisurely, the wooden comedy mask still on his face, as he stepped towards Nico.
"Kill him, Zeke! I won't get there fast enough! My innate spirit is running out!"
Isabella yelled, rushing from debri after debri, while trying to hold the oxygen-less pocket she had manifested, it was difficult and very taxing on her body. Zeke, meanwhile, gave a curt nod. Raising a hand, ready to deliver the final blow, by using his blessing.
But Nico did something unexpected. I saw the probability of it before it could happen…
"Isabella's arms will be blown off, 100%…."
"Zeke's arms will be blown off, 100%…."
My eyes widened.
"No!"
My legs moved, as I tried to somehow prevent this from happening. But it was impossible at my current level. All I could was watch as Nico pressed down on his thumb, the same way he did when facing Lord Tanmi, causing another explosion to occur.
This one was weaker than the last, but stronger enough to implode my companion's arms, sending blood all over the floor, flames swallowing them whole.
Isabella screamed as she suddenly felt a sharp pain, her control over wind loosening. Nico didn't hesitate, he quickly jumped backwards and escaped, taking a deep breath to inhale the oxygen— coughing lightly as it mixed with the smoke.
Zeke fell to his knees, shocked by the sudden loss of his arms, but he recovered quickly. Gritting his teeth, he reversed the time of his injury, healing it back quickly.
He hesitantly glanced towards Isabella, tempted to rush over and heal her, but then turned towards Nico, who wasn't too far away. Zeke had the perfect counter to this explosion ability, with his Blessing being able to revert time. It made sense why Nico seemed so wary of Zeke ever since they met.
Just as he was torn between two options, between leaving Isabella to die and killing Nico, or allowing him to escape, but saving Isabella. I arrived. When the explosion occurred, I didn't stop running. By then, I was standing directly in front of Nico, without looking back, I said.
"Go, Zeke! Heal her! I will stall him!"
Zeke still hesitated, but not for long. Giving me a curt nod, he had already began running towards the injured Isabella.
I clenched my fists and stared down Nico. I still wasn't aware of how he was making my companions explode, so I'll have to very careful. This blessing ability was very strange. He was likely lying about his blessing ability being the ability to fly earlier, it was likely faked with the use of an equipment.
"Trying to play the hero, huh, Morgan?"
I didn't respond to the provocations, as I steeled myself for fight, adjusting [Fool's Rapier] in front of me, into my preferred stance these days.
Nico studied me for a few seconds, then sighed.
"Pitiful. Im not sure why Skull of Ruin chose you, but it doesn't matter. I'll have him and the corrupted essence within the Abyssal Heart. Once everything is over."
I didn't listen to his words, activating [The Zone], my mind in a contradicty state of being foggy yet clear. The only thing i cared about at the moment was killing Nico.
Who, didn't hesitate to run away. Turning on his heels, Nico began rushing, jumping from debri to debri, dodging flame after flame. He knew that trying to waste time fighting me was a Fool's errand, even if he wins, that meant Zeke would come and join me, which would result in Nico losing without a doubt.
So, he ran and ran, towards the Abyssal Heart, to consume the corrupted essence sealed within it.
I still wasn't sure what this corrupted essence was, but from what Isabella said, it's definitely not anything good. So, I didn't hesitate and quickly chasing him, trying to catch up with him.
At the same time, Zeke had reached Isabella and begun healing her arms…