Chapter 38: Pursuance
Just as I was giving my all to suppress this unkillable monster, it immediately tried to recover and hurled its spiked cudgel. Alongside it, was the numerous tendrils following up with the attack.
But unlike before, my mind was faster in its refreshed state, allowing me to utilize the impossibly reactive speed of these hands.
Seeing how it always reacted with its cudgel first and foremost, I blitzed my hands and unsheathe the sword from its possession.
And create a cheeky distance between the two of us.
The cudgel was the easiest to dodge at my current state, especially with how limited of movement that the monster was able to do.
Using the stolen sword, I slashed away the incoming tendrils with ease, ensuring my survival.
To make the matter better, Verina scored another headshot of freezing spell projectile against that bastard of a Wild Hunt. It didn't do much as the monster immediately shed the frozen layer of flesh and skin into a surrounding burst of unknown matter.
But it did stop its aggressive advance, as it took another defensive stance to plan its next step.
"Narcissus! Verina is running out of lifeline!" Lupina shouted.
Verina must have been extremely fatigued for quite a while that I checked her Health tab.
Despite her high percentage of Consciousness, the rest of her vitals were lower than average.
"Protect her, and don't die!"
"She used most of her lifeline to stop that piece of Wild Hunt from attacking you when you're in a daze!" Lupina desperately informed, speaking as fast as she could to deliver this crucial detail, "You were almost lifeless and unmoving for an entire 29 seconds back then, in case you're not conscious of it!"
29 seconds later than everyone, that was much worse than I thought!
To have that utter moment of invulnerability in such a crucial event…
I didn't notice it as much back then, but it seemed like my Sanity deteriorated rapidly after that monster started to rejoin its right hand.
If it kept going down, then my Sanity must have reached zero at some point.
Could that be the trigger to that harrowing trumpet??
Regardless, it was proven now that I need to maintain my sanity at all costs from now on.
Who knows what might happen next. It could be worse than being frozen stiff and then given an unknown vision.
Right now, my Sanity was comfortably sitting at 95%. It was reseted after I came back to my consciousness.
"... Such a big blunder."
I checked the condition status on my detail screen and it showed that time had passed for more than hours, just by comparing the leftover duration of the Heightened Consciousness from back then and in this current moment.
So it might be a big stretch that everyone froze in place for hours after the event of the trumpet.
Not to mention, I felt much more tired now that I realized my Wraithgrip was sucking a good chunk of my energy.
Though, as much as I felt the burdening fatigue, a human body had always exerted less than a half of their maximum strength without any neurological training, because the brain was always limiting the power usage to prevent exertion.
I'm used to breaking this pain of limitation, exerting more than what an average human could even if we were to possess the same body type and energy.
If it wasn't obvious enough, I always exerted myself regardless of the situation.
"It's feasible…"
We might only need to survive for less than an hour until the end of the Ordeal of the Midnight, now that it was somewhat confirmed that a good amount of time had passed when we were frozen.
Yes, it should be possible now.
I might have failed to prevent Tahlia's death, but surviving the Ordeal of the Midnight with the three of us still breathing would be the best scenario moving forward!
We originally started with three people, and we should finish the race with three people!
Now, all that was needed to do was to keep this monster busy. Though, I no longer saw this 'monster' as that much of a 'monster' anymore, now that I got my head cleared of weight and doubt.
Actually, I might as well attempt to kill this unkillable bastard.
"Heh."
The Wild Brute, that should be your current denomination! With that unbreakable armor and unyielding willpower to dash forward and wreak havoc, it was more fitting to refer to that thing as a 'Brute' instead of a cunning and opportunistic 'Hunter'.
And just like that, amidst my high-speed self-rambling, the Wild Brute found itself uncomfortable with not having a weapon in its other hand. It then proceeded to pick up the broadsword that I probably dropped when I was still in a daze.
Still, that broadsword won't be able to fully beat this sword that I just acquired.
[Bloodthirst Sword (Qliphoth 100%) - 4.5 kg: Bloodthirst Sword is a cursed sword forged from the dark iron of the underworld, its blade pulsating with an unholy hunger for the essence of life. When swung, it draws in any blood-like substance from its surface, condensing it along the edge of the blade before unleashing it in a deadly sword-wave projectile.
Depending on the amount of blood it drank, the wave will slice through air and armor alike, as it is propelled by the dark energy coursing through the weapon. Its handle is wrapped in tattered, ancient leather that seems to pulse with each heartbeat, feeding on the wielder's strength and spirit, ensuring that every strike becomes more powerful and more dangerous the longer it is wielded]
As such, I started to smear the sword with the blood that was accumulating on my left hand thanks to the wound that was caused by the Wild Brute's cudgel.
The blood started latching on the surface of the Bloodthirst Sword, as if they were made to be there, like a cohesive pollen that should be collected and stored there.
And then I swung the sword, like a flick of a switch made into a corporeal trail of lengthening arc—the blood detached from the surface of the blade and launched itself forward like a sharp wave.
Obviously, the blood-wave projectile won't be that much effective against a foe that was draped in an armor so strong, not even an acid that was meant to consume metal and mineral even work on it.
But that wasn't what I needed.
"Move, you bastard!"