Eternal Freedom's Ascension-Chapter 69: Gate Closure (4)

Class-E continued deeper into the interconnected caves, drawing closer to the dense cluster of pure essence. Occasionally, they’d meet a single beast or group of creatures. Thankfully, the creatures they encountered weren’t strong and were easily disposed.

’Is it really supposed to be this deep? We’ve been walking for hours.’

Liam frowned slightly, a slight suspicion in his heart. Although he wasn’t sure what, he felt like something wasn’t right.

’Although this is an A-Rank gate, it’s threat level is quite high because of that damned centipede.’

He sighed, rubbing his gloved palms against each other.

"Is it me or it’s quite cold?" Kiera whispered to him, her lips pursed.

"I feel so too..."

In fact, a few others had also sensed the change in atmosphere. Hazel summoned a warming relic, gripping her battle-axe tightly.

"Everyone, raise your guard."

Liam warned, feeling uneasy from the sudden change in atmosphere.

Kaiser noticed too, though he was equally confused. Still, he wasn’t that curious, as they’d eventually arrive at the source.

"Anya, how is it?" Kiera turned to the girl beside her.

"The essence here is very dense. However it seems to be converted into ice essence, that’s why it’s a bit cold here."

"Converted?" Kiera was confused, but Liam understood. "Something is converting the essence itself."

"We should be getting ready for battle." Ariel said, raising his weapon.

"Again?" Someone complained, but still unsheathed their weapons too.

The tension spiked quickly, and then—all went quiet.

Crack-!

The sound of something breaking shattered the silence, followed by countless chitinous legs scuttling forward.

"Ah damn..."

The creatures that came from deeper into the cave were sizable. With each one as large as a cattle, the insects possessed some distinct features.

They had two large pincers, a deadly set of mandibles, and ferocious red eyes. Watching the army of black insects rush towards them, some students stepped back in fear.

’We need to seize momentum. Else, our morale would be crushed.’

Liam gritted his teeth, then activated his ability to the max, not caring about how much his essence was being drained.

The insects slowed slightly, their strength and speed sapped away.

Meanwhile, the students received a generous boost in their stats.

"Now!"

Holding his lance like a spear, Liam threw it at the rushing creatures. The weapon moved accurately, then sank into the head of one of the creatures. It stilled, then collapsed, only to be trampled upon by others.

[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Abyssal Crawler]

Liam barely registered the message because by the time he resummoned his lance, the creatures were already upon them.

Battle erupted instantly, and loud sounds filled the tunnel.

Valiant cries, monstrous roars, sounds of impact, and several others assaulted the ears of everyone, but no one could pay attention to that.

Kaiser appeared atop the head of an Abyssal Crawler, sinking his Unremarkable Sword into the weakest spot on its head. The creature collapsed instantly, all struggles seizing.

’This battle is strange... something isn’t right.’

He thought, moving from one creature to another. Anyone he targeted was doomed to death and eternal peace.

[You have slain...]

He ignored the message, then pulled back a classmate, helping them to dodge a fatal blow.

’The fight is heated—of a very high difficulty level, but still... my instincts tell me something isn’t right.’

The irritating feeling of danger continued to grow, not doused in the least by how many Abyssal Crawler he killed.

Finally, he stopped. ’It seems I have to head deeper by myself.’

There was no meaning in fighting like a clown among these weak creatures. Perhaps if he pursued the stronger ones, he’d find the source of the danger.

Thinking this, he faded into the background and disappeared, unnoticed by anyone.

Well, his absence didn’t go unnoticed by Ariel though. He had been paying attention to the blue-haired guy for a while, and was startled when he realized Kaiser had somehow bypassed his subtle scrutiny.

"Ariel, don’t dilly-dally!"

Someone nudged him, bringing him back to reality. Without a word, he rejoined the fight, slowly but unnoticeably reducing the number of the creatures greatly.

...

Whoosh-!

A slight ripple appeared in the air as something rushed through the tunnels, steps silent and presence concealed. In his assassin kimono-armor, Kaiser blitzed through the tunnels at remarkable speed, ignoring the Abyssal Crawlers on the way. They weren’t strong, merely Awakened Beasts, and not worthy of his attention.

As he travelled deeper into the tunnels, he realized something.

’The structure of this place... it’s really complicated. The tunnel seems to be going deeper into the ground. And there’s something wrong with the spatial laws... like it is muddled and connected with other... gates?’

He didn’t dwell much on it, instead activating the Eyes of Sequence to look around. The signature eight-spoked wheel appeared in his eyes, rotating slowly like something inevitable. The tunnel walls gave way to his vision, allowing him to see through the piles of sand and stone.

Distance was compressed, and he could finally see the main chamber where the pure essence pearl rested.

"Now that’s interesting..."

Smiling broadly, he stretched, then began heading towards that chamber. The journey was short, less than ten minutes.

Finally, he arrived at the end of the tunnels. Light spilled through small holes in the ceiling, just like the stalactites that hung downward.

Without concealing his presence, Kaiser waltzed in. A cacophony of sounds welcomed him as hundreds of creatures stirred to his arrival.

’At least a thousand...’

Kaiser noted, seeing the Abyssal Crawlers bare their mandibles threateningly at him. Still, his attention wasn’t on the Awakened Beasts.

Instead, his full focus was on the grotesque flower womb that rose from the center of the chamber, and the hideous creature guarding it.

The flower womb was strange—its body grotesque and large, looking like lumps of fatty flesh joined together. The petals were white, though they were closed, hiding whatever seed was being nurtured inside.

"A true monster..."

Kaiser whispered as he looked at the creature guarding the flower. It was just a bit larger than the regular Abyssal Crawlers, but had a different structure of its body.

Bone-like spikes lined its back and joints, creating a deadly aura around it. Its sharp black eyes stared down coldly at the intruder, a hint of challenge within.

"Start."

Kaiser covered his lower face with a mask, then blurred and disappeared. He reappeared beside the closest Abyssal Crawler, his blade already halfway through its neck.

A fountain of blood and body liquid sprayed from the decapitated creature. Then, it became fountains.

Kaiser moved around quickly, striking the creatures before they could even move. Their corpses fell one after another, igniting the fury of more as they swarmed him.

Kaiser kept moving like a mirage, appearing and reappearing at different positions among the Abyssal Crawlers.

More and more swarmed him, forcing him to finally take them seriously. His eyes turned dark. The shadows in the cave rose like black hands and latched onto the creatures.

While they were immobilized, he moved as quickly as he could, killing over one hundred and fifty under two minutes.

"Huff... huff..."

He panted slightly, eyes carrying an emotionless stare. He didn’t pause for long though, because more were coming. A determined glint flashed in his eyes, and the shadow hands suddenly got more ferocious.

In response to his roaring nodes and pumped essence, they gained more strength and were able to tear apart the creatures they had been holding.

While doing this, Kaiser kept moving about, killing the ones which hadn’t been handled by his shadowy hands.

Even though he was killing them as fast as he could, he refrained from using his main ability. These were merely the minions, and he had no doubt that the spiked creature would be troublesome to deal with. Perhaps, the flower womb might even be the most dangerous.

The eight-spoked wheel appeared in his blue eyes again. They rotated quickly, trying to dissect the truth of that flower.

’I need at least 30% concentration to achieve that.’

Kaiser thought, then tactically split his focus. He let his instincts control his body, while his eyes remained fixated on the grotesque flower.

Shrieks and sound of blood spurting filled the chamber, and the ground was quickly dyed with the color of their blood. Kaiser grabbed the left pincer of an Abyssal Crawler, then ruthlessly tore it off.

Before the creature could shriek, he sank his dagger into its throat.

[You have slain...]

[You have slain...]

[You have slain...]

The messages were numerous—almost deafening, but his focus wasn’t on that. His eyes, still fixated on the flower, began to ache.

The white wheel slowly came to a stop, and Kaiser was able to see deeper into the flower. What he saw made his eyes widen, and he instinctively attacked the flower.

Clang!

Something blocked his sudden assault, sending him skidding back. His arm trembled, a numbing sensation spreading within. Raising his head, he looked at the spiked creature that had intercepted his attack.

’This is slightly serious. I might have to risk my life in destroying that thing.’

Kaiser rolled his shoulders, then squatted with his feet together. A hand held the ground before him, while the other held the outstretched sword in perfect horizontal.