Antagonist Protection Service-Chapter 190 - The Augury Tower (17)
190: The Augury Tower (17)
190: The Augury Tower (17)
Streaks of yellow and gold flashed through the air, shaking the atmosphere powerfully as they each impacted the radiant blade of the Holy Sword, disintegrating upon contact or otherwise being literally smashed and cut into nonexistence with each block and swing.
Perhaps it was only thanks to the Pinnacle Magic Resistance property being granted upon the spirit of the Ancient Hero Eligos awakening that this was possible.
And then, perhaps it was only thanks to Heightened Senses that I was actually able to hit the innumerable lightning bolts aimed for my life, deflecting each and every attack with no more than raw instinct.
Not even if my eyes were now good enough to actually perceive them charging their attacks, not even if I was just barely skilled enough to grasp the timing on when they might shoot, could I react in time.
The reality was, I simply was not physically capable of it.
Without the supernatural force of mana enhancing my body beyond the human limit, without any special artifacts or skills that increased my physical strength or speed, I was little more than an ordinary man when all my fantastical gear was stripped away.
Maybe part of it was because the lightning was just that fast, but even if I saw the attack coming, that did not mean I could necessarily move fast enough to defend against it.
The only way I could effectively cut down or block each of the lightning strikes they fired was to move before they fired them.
In some cases, before they even began readying them.
And the only way I could do that was by relying on instinct.
“Gh…!”
―Of course, even that was not foolproof.
In fact, the argument could be made that instinct was even more unreliable as there was no foundation of logic behind it.
All it was, was feeling.
I didn’t know the blade, I never learned any techniques or anything like that so I couldn’t pull some fancy move that might be able to accomplish a similar effect.
There was no logic, no theory and certainly no established technique to my movements.
I merely swung where my body felt right, ducked when I felt the chills on my spine, and sidestepped when I sensed the hair on my leg standing up.
I didn’t even think about what I was doing―not only was there no need to, but thinking actually would have slowed me down.
Nothing I did was premeditated or planned, so what need was there to think?
I was not fast enough to think and then move.
So I focused all my efforts on just moving instead.
I moved, dodged lightning that was in some cases easily faster than twice the speed of my body, moved some more and blocked with the Holy Sword, then cut down a dark grey cloud the size of a large truck.
At some point, I had no other choice and even blocked a lightning bolt with my face―I probably would have died if it wasn’t for the Villain’s Vizard Magic Nullification property.
Before then, I hadn’t even considered that I could use it to defend against magic.
But my body knew, and it used that information without hesitation.
Everything was best explained by the very first line of the Trait’s description:
‘A hybrid between a beast and a man, you exhibit capabilities matching such an expectation.’
These were not human movements, and I could recognise that very well.
Perhaps when I grew stronger, learnt more of the sword and could afford to incorporate techniques into my fighting, I would have more form and more structure.
However, now was not that time.
I fought not like a man but like a beast, even going so far as to recall and mimic the movements of the cat girl who fucked my shit up on that mountainside terrace.
I was not the same as other Awakened.
In fact, I wasn’t even sure that calling me an Awakened was entirely accurate.
Unlike them, I didn’t possess mana or enhanced strength.
Temporarily forfeiting my humanity in this way was likely one of the only ways clearing this Floor was possible, at least for the me in this present.
And eventually, that truth proved itself reality.
As I hunted clouds down one-by-one, more and more of them emerged, growing darker in tone, larger in size, and particularly more ruthless in the potency of their attacks.
With every enemy that fell, either by blade of the Holy Sword or by bullet of the Black Wisp, the sea of clouds at my feet was also dyed.
From the pure white I first found it as, almost resembling the field of snow from the Seventh Floor, it turned darker and darker.
From white to light pearl, from light pearl to silver, from silver to light ash, from light ash to steel, from steel to stone, from stone to charcoal, and from charcoal to slate.
I was never too into art, so whether the tones I knew were accurate descriptors or not, I didn’t really care.
All that mattered was that it continued to darken.
Hours passed, hundreds of clouds were slain, and the sea of clouds, ultimately, turned pitch black.
For an Objective that was to ‘make the sun shine once again’, I thought that what I was doing was going in the complete opposite direction of my goal, but I trusted that this would lead me to success…
although, it’s also not like I had a choice in the matter.
When the sea of clouds finally turned black like ink, I noticed something else strange.
At that point, no more hostile clouds emerged, allowing me a moment to catch my breath, which I was severely lacking.
Additionally, the sky above, once bright blue, was also dark.
There were no clouds above me, only raw, empty sky.
And yet, it was dark.
Had enough time passed for it to be leaning towards night time?
But there was no sun in the sky from the very beginning, not to mention a moon, so that didn’t make any sense to me.
At that moment, the world started to turn.
“Oh, woah, what’s…
Oh, no, nononononono…!”
Raising my voice as the sea of black clouds, the world itself tilted, rotating at my feet, and I quickly began to slip.
Hurriedly dismissing the Holy Sword and Black Wisp, I gripped onto the clouds as tight as I could, feeling the blood drain from my face.
“HEY?!
What the fuck?! freёwebnoѵel.com
What the fuck is this?!”
Before I knew it, the world had turned 180 degrees, leaving me dangling from the black clouds like a hanging fruit to be plucked.
“Tch…!
Motherf– Gaow!”
Suddenly, when I grit my teeth and panicked at what to do, I felt a sharp jolt shock my hands holding on to the clouds, causing me to reflexively open my fists just for a moment.
Right.
It was only for a moment, but that single moment was all that was needed.
Again, I felt my heart stop for an instant.
“NOOO…!!”
And again, I fell.
Below me, like before, there was no land―that was to be expected, of course, as I was now falling back into the sky that I had previously fallen from.
Fortunately, I now knew that I could use the blanket from before as a parachute.
“…?!”
However, before I thought to take it out of the Storage, I noticed movement above me.
The sea of clouds that had since dyed black…
were shifting.
In an instant, a colossal face was carved into the surface, and like all the ones I had slain until now, it bore a deep frown.
Before I could even think, I summoned something from Storage, but not the blanket.
The White Death entered my hands, and as I continued to fall, my position in the air as if I was lying on my back, I faced up at the sea of clouds.
Without thinking, I aimed at the angry expression and pulled the trigger.
Right then, a magical streak crossed the sky, making contact with the unimaginably large creature in an instant and blowing a massive puncture right through its face.
I instinctively went to shoot again, but stopped myself right before pulling the trigger.
Gazing up, I looked at the hole created by the White Death, and my eyes widened.
Through that crater, which appeared amusingly small compared to the sheer size of the thing, I spotted it.
A single ray of sunlight peeked through.
[Floor Cleared]
[Obtained Lesser Healing Potion (x1)]
“…!
Next floor!
Next floor, now!”
Quickly shouting, I dismissed the White Death and grabbed the vial that materialised before me.
Before giving this damned Floor another chance to piss me off even more, my body was transported.
[Floor 10]
The instant I felt solid ground, I exhaled deeply, closing my eyes and resting my forehead against the floor as if praying.
After a minute or so like that, I wondered if the Tower was waiting for me to be ready, as I didn’t hear the Objective get announced.
Giving a final sigh, I unsteadily rose to my feet, opening my eyes to realise that the location this Floor was perhaps even stranger than the last.
All around me―was darkness.
Surrounded by nothing but a black void, absent of everything and present of nothing but myself, my brows furrowed, feeling an odd sense of discomfort.
Right then, before I had the opportunity to figure out what exactly the identity or origin of that discomfort was, and still somewhat reeling from the previous fall, a notification appeared.
[Objective: Die]
“…”
This time, I really was lost for words.
