Peaceful Life System: I only need to live peacefully-Chapter 140: Endgame (7)

Ding!

[Critical alert]

[Foreign energy intrusion detected!]

[Host’s physical body is being corrupted! Creep energy is bypassing sealed mana circuits!]

[Berserker state is accelerating corruption! Immediate cessation recommended!]

The System’s warning was like a bucket of ice water. Riku looked down at his own arm—the one he had been using to block Vyon’s attacks. Faint red tendrils, like tiny, glowing veins, were starting to snake up his skin from his knuckles.

"Riku! What is happening!" Clara’s grave voice rang in his mind.

"I.. I don’t understand. How is the creep affecting me now?"

Riku was extremely puzzled. The Creep, which had always bounced off him, had now almost fully invaded him, without him being able to feel a thing.

DIng!

[Activating ’Berserker King’s Dance’ temporarily sealed all Host’s mana circuits, allowing the creep to invade freely. Activate your mana cores again to immediately counter the creep’s effect. The host was unable to sense anything as he was in the Berserker King’s Dance]

What?

Riku immediately activated his mana cores once again, deactivating the Beserker King’s dance. Slowly, his mana flowed back, and he was able to stop the creep from further consuming him. However, just like before, his magic was unable to push the creep back.

With that, Riku was stuck in a state where the creep had half consumed him.

"Hahaha." Vyon gave a monstrous laugh as he stood back up.

"Looks like you are finally letting the Creep in. How do you feel, boy?"

Riku tried to refocus his body, taking a step forward. However, he failed, unable to take any steps. He even stumbled and had to support himself with one knee on the ground.

System, how could you let something like this happen without warning me?

Ding!

[The system had sent multiple warnings before; however, the host was unable to view any of them due to his Berserker King’s Dance. The system is unable to send every message as a critical alert.]

But from what we had seen earlier, half orcs could not be affected by the creep, though they did not have magic. How come I got affected so easily?

[Well, for that, the very simple reason is that the host is not actually a half orc or a berserker. The host is still a human.]

Fuck my life.

Riku was depressed once again. He had finally found an edge against Vyon, but it turned out to be for nothing. He was back to square one.

Vyon kept his demonic grin up, and lunged at Riku once again.

Blink

Riku immediately tried to blink out, however it felt off.

Vyon’s claw had come dangerously close when the Blink finally activated, moving Riku out of harm’s way.

Riku escaped, but was stunned once again.

This was... this was lag?

Vyon’s monstrous laugh echoed in the cavern as Riku staggered from his delayed Blink. "Getting tired, ’Healer’?" he taunted. "Your little escape trick seems to be failing you!"

Riku ignored him, his mind racing. That lag... it wasn’t normal. It felt like my own body was fighting the spell.

’System, explain!’ he mentally commanded. ’What was that delay? Why is my magic lagging?’

A blue panel shimmered into his vision, its text a confirmation of his fears.

[The Host’s body is currently 48% corrupted by foreign Creep energy. This energy interferes with the internal circulation of mana, causing delays in spells that directly affect the Host’s physical form, such as ’Blink’. Spells that manifest externally, without requiring complex internal channeling, are less affected.]

How can I overcome it?

[Just like all other cases of creep, the creep can only be eliminated by destroying the source.]

"No more running, Healer!" Vyon roared, charging again, aiming to overwhelm Riku before he could cast another slow spell.

Riku, knowing Blink was too risky, decided to try something else that did not require channeling mana inside his body. At the last possible second, he cast a different, simpler spell.

Mirage Step.

The spell activated instantly and smoothly. An illusion of Riku formed and took the full force of Vyon’s claws, dissolving into harmless light.

The real Riku had casually sidestepped, unharmed.

Vyon whirled around, his single red eye wide with confusion, searching for his target.

"He couldn’t tell the difference," Clara’s voice whispered urgently in his mind. "Riku, his new form is all instinct and rage!"

Riku nodded, seeing the effectiveness of this strategy. Unlike a normal spell which dd tried to harm or Bind Vyon but failed, illusions seemed to have a strong difference, as the power of the Creep seemed to be useless.

"You are right, Clara. He is a hammer looking for a nail. Then, let us give him a hundred false nails to strike instead!"

He had his solution.

"Lost, Vyon?" Riku’s voice was calm, but it held a new, mocking edge.

"Huh? There you are. More tricks, eh? Then I will go after your companion again."

As Vyon started to lunge towards Arnold again, Riku raised his hands. He wasn’t gathering energy for an attack. He was weaving a different kind of spell, one of pure deception.

"Take this."

Labyrinth of the Deceitful Mind [-1000 Goodwill Points]

The cavern around Vyon shimmered and transformed. One moment, he was in the chamber with the great stone door. The very next second, he was standing in a seemingly endless corridor of identical, moss-covered stone walls. He roared in frustration and turned, but every direction looked the same.

"Where did you go, coward?!" Vyon bellowed, his voice echoing in the illusory hall.

"Right here," Riku’s disembodied voice echoed around him, seeming to come from all directions at once. "I thought you were a god now. Don’t tell me you can’t find your way out of a simple hallway."

With a furious scream, Vyon began smashing through the illusory walls. With his immense strength, he made surprisingly fast progress, each shattered wall of light and magic revealing another identical corridor behind it.

"Damn you. I will tear you to pieces once I get out." Vyon roared as he continued his frantic, pointless rampage.

However, Riku knew that he had to hurry. This would not hold him for long, and casting illusions on the same target would eventually increase the resistance against them, especially against a strong enemy like Vyon.

"Arnold, we have to go. Now."

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