The crimson river stretched beyond the horizon, carving out a path through the dense jungle, leading to one bigger tree at the very end of where the river flowed— The Weeping Blight. It was a monstrous tree and equally monstrously far away. Will just running there be enough?
So I followed Nico, chasing after him with all the Stamina I had left, observing every move he made carefully. I didn't have [Probability Pryer] active, because I had completely run out of Innate Spirit. I couldn't summon [Fool's Rapier] either, because Nico would most definitely explode it the moment I do.
I had come to the realization that Nico had a blessing that allowed him to explode anything which he had touched with the palm of his hand. So I had to be careful with not allowing myself to be touched and without [Probability Pryer] that has become an increasingly difficult task.
Still, Nico didn't seem to be using his blessing, either. He has also dismissed his chain-mail armor, revealing how bruised and battered his body underneath was. The loincloth he wore was barely hanging on. That was when I realized that Nico has also likely run out of innate spirit, after all, he has been spamming his blessing alot recently. The same as I have been.
'So it's truly a race against who will get the key first…'
I grinned, suddenly feeling excited. Fighting using nothing but you're own physical strength and no innate spirit? I was willing to give that a try. I was even fairly confident I could take Nico on, if we both were unable to use our blessings.
This was the best chance to really kill him. Then, wouldn't I be able to get the key by default? Or do I still have to climb? Regardless, I would still be able to get the key fairly easy, if I manage to kill him.
That's when I made my resolution.
'I will kill Nico.'
Clenching my calves, I started speeding up. I ignored the strain it was putting on my muscles. Reaching downwards the blood river, while running, I grabbed a rock and then augmenting it with the last bit of Fury I had—
Counter: [11/1000]
I threw the rock towards Nico, sending it hurling through the air, making a soft whistling sound.
Nico seemed to have heard the sound. His head snapped back to see a rock hurling towards his face. Instinctively, his arms went up to block the throw, as he knew moving away with his physical attributes was impossible. The rock hit Nico's arms with an absurd amount of force, almost causing his right to break, but luckily, nothing happend.
When, I threw, however, I was already running. That rock was just a decoy. By taking advantage of the momentary stun of dealing with the rock, I lunged towards him, my fist meeting his face.
Nico gasped and stumbled back, staring towards me with fury, but he composed himself just as quickly. He knew a physical confrontation with me would always result in him losing. So, just as I lunged in, attempting to close the distance for a physical assault, Nico kicked his feet under the blood river.
Crimson water was flung towards my face, entering my eyes, making me squint them.
Instead of attacking, Nico turned on his heels and ran as fast as his legs could carry him, his eyes greedily fixed on The Weeping Blight, specifically at the top, where it was extending beyond the clouds.
I had recovered, wiping off my face. Letting out a low growl, i started chasing after him.
"Come fight me, you coward!"
I attempted to provoke him, but as always, I was meant with silence. Nico was a coward, but the kind of coward that doesn't care. These types of cowards are frustrating to deal with. I took a breath, attempting to calm myself. I can't let myself be overrun by emotions.
I needed to stay as calm as Nico, then think about this carefully.
While chasing after Nico, i began considering how I could win this. I can't just rely on luck, or by somehow being faster. I need to out maneuver Nico somehow. But will I be able to? There hasn't been a single time where i managed to fool him, he is always one-step ahead.
As I was pondering this, my thoughts began wandering to The Weeping Blight.
'How the hell was I supposed to climb that?'
I shook these thoughts away for now. I'll be able to consider this later. For now, I need a plan on killing Nico. I need to think of some way to apprehend him, then murder him. Once that's over, there won't be an obstacle left.
All this running was slowly starting tire me out. Dehydration and exhusation was slowly winning over me. As I looked ahead, I can see how Nico's steps were slowing down, as well, as his eyes began desperately darting around for a way to avoid fighting me directly.
I grinned. Ignoring my on exhuastion, I groaned and started picking up the pace. This was something I could try and taking advantage of! But just as I did, I felt a sharp pain in my calves, which caused me to yelp and fall face-first on the blood river. Turning my head, I looked down and noticed something grabbing on to my wrist.
"What the fuck?!"
It was some kind of crimson vine, wrapping around my leg, but the strange thing was— it had fur! It was warm! I can feel it's body rising and falling, almost like it was breathing! This creeped me out and I instinctively summoned [Fool's Rapier] to try and cutting it.
But just as I did, it exploded to pieces.
[You're equipment has been destroyed]
My eyes widened in regret, but I didn't have time to think about that. The vine was slowly dragging me to some hole underneath the blood river. Without any hesitation, my hands reached out, with all my strength, I began clawing at it, punching and trying to ripe the fury crimson vine off my leg.
And I was successful.
Ripping away the last shreds of it that was attached to my leg, I freed myself and quickly stood up, my eyes darting around in search of Nico.
I quickly found him, now a good distance away, surrounded by the same crimson vine beasts. I didn't want to delay any longer, by taking advantage of this, I could kill him….
But just as started rushing towards where Nico was, three more of those crimson vines reaches out from the depths of the blood river, wrapping around both my limbs, then my throat, making me choke slightly. At the same time, I heard the familier voice echo inside my head. The holographic screen appearing before me.
[Welcome to the Blood River!]
Blood River:—
Current Location: Level 4.
Location Monster: [Bloodroot Stranglers]
Distance to next Level: 10.6Km
Time until Nightfall: 25:36 minutes.
'Jeez, it would of sure been useful knowing all this much earlier!'
I couldn't help but complain inwardly, while struggling to get the crimson vine creatures— Bloodroot Stranglers, I mean—off me! I continued clawing desperately at the one holding my throat, but it didn't let up. Working together, the Bloodroot Stranglers, started dragging me beneath the blood river.
I struggled for a few moments, before calming myself. That's when i felt my body being submerged by the blood river, I closed my eyes shut, letting my body relax, pretending as if I had gone limp and drowned.
As I was being dragged deeper and deeper, I felt their grip on me loosening.
Without any hesitation, my fingers wrapped around the one holding my throat, then ripped it to shreds with one single movement. At the same time, my legs moved forward, applying pressure, then using the slipperyness the water had given me, I wiggled out before the Bloodroot Stranglers could react, quickly swimming my way back up.
Exiting the hole they had dragged me into. I reached the surface and got on my feet, taking a deep breath of the oxygen, my chest rising and falling from the adrenaline pumping through me.
Instinctively, my eyes was searching for Nico, but I couldn't find him. Had he gone further? Or was he dragged underneath? I hope it's the latter. That would save me the job of killing him.
I enjoyed a second long respite, before another hoard of Bloodroot Stranglers shot out from underneath the river towards me. Groaning in annoyance, I dodged nimbly, escaping them trying to grab hold of me. Whenever one got close enough, my fingers wrapped around them, then pulled at it, ripping the vine apart, killing them.
I came to a realization while killing them. Everytime I slaughtered one with the use of my own hand, I felt something enter me. A very familier sensation. The same one I got when the boss died and where the Dreadful Tunnels mission ended.
The sensation of Abyssal Fragments entering my soul.
'Does killing these give me Abyssal Fragments?'
I thought curiously, dodging another attempt at a Bloodroot Strangler trying to wrap around my throat, to drag me to the depths. Not even taking them seriously, I called upon my Screen.
Abyssal Fragments: [332/1000]
'I have killed four of these now….so each kill, equals a single Abyssal Fragment.'
I nodded thoughtfully, taking this information into consideration. It was something cool, but not really something was excited about. At the moment, I could barely use my blessings as I was out of innate spirit. Plus, there was Nico around and a key to steal, trying to farm these creatures would be a waste of time.
I sighed in regret. I genuinely wanted to see what would happen if I reached a thousand Abyssal Fragments, but at the very least, I had gotten pretty close to achieving that exact goal. Which helped alleviate some of the regret and disappointment I felt.
I grabbed hold of another Bloodroot Strangler, then pulled it towards me, snaping it in half and killing it. By now, I had grown quick alot physically. So, tearing apart these weak monsters wasn't much of an issue to me.
The issue, however, lies in the fact that there was so many of them!
Growling in frustration, I dodged to the side, as another hoard of these Bloodroot Stranglers rose from the depths, trying to drag me into whatever hole they came from. They were so persistent and had no fear of death. They were like mindless beasts, with only one thing they value— making sure I get dragged down to whatever hell they came from.
Just as I ripped off another one of those Bloodroot Stranglers wrapping around my shoulder, from the corner of my eye, I saw something.
Climbing up from the depths of the blood river, Nico reached out from a hole within the river, climbing back up to the surface. His body was bruised with injuries, his face was pale with desperation and fear, his loincloth was non-existent.
As he looked up, we both locked eyes.
We didn't speak for a moment, before Nico exclaimed, his voice carrying a deep sense of desperation and pleading.
"Morgan! Let's team up! I can't fight off these things….alone! We need to move to the next level before night comes!"
I eyed him suspiciously, but then a small smile spread across my lips.
"Team up? I'm sorry, Nico. Did you just say team up? No, I would rather watch you die."
Ignoring the Bloodroot Stranglers attacking me, I lunged forward towards him, my eyes burning with a feral intensity. I knew teaming up was the correct choice, it was the obvious choice even, but I would never team up with a traitor. Never with someone as dangerous as Nico, no matter how desperate he seemed.
Nico looked up at me with fear and shock, before his face contorted to something of anger and resentment. Taking a deep breath, he bit down on his lip and placed his palms beneath the floor of the blood river.
Then, his thumb pressed down on an invisible button.
I saw white filling my vision.