Chapter 94 - The Land of Eclipse Dyed by the Abyss (2)

Whap-!

The moment the opponent pointed the wand toward them, Hyun felt his body start to become sticky.

[You couldn't resist!]

[Your speed is decreased by 25% for 100 seconds!]

The enemy’s formation was very well thought out.

—Especially the Magician's chained attacks.

Fwoosh-!

As one of the opposing Priest's waved his arms, red energy suffused the rest of the enemies.

«Blood Gallop».

It was a skill that increased an ally's speed.

Even Hyun was starting to feel a sense of danger.

The prey was getting slower, and the pursuers faster, so the likely outcome was obvious.

'Ugh, «Wind Barrier»!'

Hyun created a foothold in the air and stepped on it.

He was thinking of jumping into the air, up to a point where attacks couldn't reach him... But as soon as he tried to do that, his plan was foiled.

Swish-!

Thousands of thin thorns flew toward the sky.

The damage each one dealt was low, but it was enough to destroy the «Wind Barrier».

As soon as a foothold appeared, it was destroyed.

The enemies weren't dumb.

Even in Asra Online, some humanoid NPCs were as intelligent as a real person.

They could easily counter a skill they'd seen previously, especially if they were trained.

'I can't escape through the air...?'

Hyun gulped while falling down.

It seemed like the opponent's formation was optimized for pursuing.

Hyun made a decision.

Rather than dying while escaping, it was better to face the enemies.

「Ain, this can't continue like this.」

「Should we fight?」

「Yes!」

Fwoosh-!

As soon as Hyun answered, Ain used «Efreet's Claws».

But the bear summon that had served as a source of HP wasn't there anymore.

The enemies had learned how the «Vitality Absorption» skill worked.

If they were average users, they would've probably felt that there was no way out of it.

Hyun and Ain were nervous but not desperate.

They'd gotten through numerous dangerous situations like that one in Asra Online.

Crash-!

Ain activated one more «Latent Potential Increase».

That time, she raised her Agility.

The blood-red aura surrounding Ain got more intense, but her HP dropped to less than 10% in exchange.

Was it a suicide attack?

No, Hyun quickly understood Ain's intentions.

「Leave it to me. I'll move.」

They didn't need to talk to know each other's thoughts.

If one began moving first, the other one naturally did their best to support.

It was the result of playing as a pair for a very long time.

Fwoosh-!

«Steps of the Incarnate».

A skill that instantly closed a gap of up to 30 meters.

A road of fire was drawn across the plains.

In a flash, Ain was in the middle of the enemy formation.

A smile was drawn on Hyun's mouth.

「Good, now!」

Hyun put as many enemies as possible within the attack's range.

The reason why charging with «Steps of the Incarnate» and swiping the enemies away with the claws looked like one movement was because Hyun and Ain's timing coincided perfectly.

[Critical Hit! You've dealt 46293 damage!]

[You've dealt 22293 damage!]

[Critical Hit! You've dealt 45293 damage!]

A flaming tornado appeared in the middle of the enemy's formation.

Every time Hyun spun the claws, countless system messages appeared.

While leaving the movements to Hyun, Ain concentrated on using the skills.

She used «Latent Potential Increase» each time her HP reached the maximum amount.

Surprisingly, that timing, rather than seconds, was in the milliseconds.

In an instant, two more «Latent Potential Increase»s overlapped.

Even after that, her HP was full.

'One more.'

Crash-!

Ain once again used the «Latent Potential Increase» while backing off and attacking.

The last one was Agility.

On top of the ones she'd already used, her «Latent Potential Increase» had overlapped five times, and the energy coming out from her had turned into a bloody dark-red color.

"…"

The enemies started to get worried.

They'd noticed the change in Ain's atmosphere.

Unlike users, humanoid NPCs only had one life.

The hurt ones moved to the back and received healing from their partners; then the ones whose HP had dropped to less than half left the battle.

Despite all that, the number of enemies didn't decrease—the battlefield was constantly refilled with new opponents.

'There's no end.'

Hyun was overwhelmed by the endless attacks from the enemies.

The only good thing was that Ain had previously completed her job ascension.

If it weren't for that, her Mana would've already plummeted.

Whir-.

At that moment, the enemies that were in the back had finished casting.

Hyun felt an unpleasant sensation spreading through his body.

[You couldn't resist!]

[Dark Spirits started to devour your soul!]

[You'll receive 109 damage every second for 60 seconds.]

[You couldn't resist!]

[You've been exposed to a weakening curse!]

[For 120 seconds, the amount of damage you receive increases by 15%!]

The most bothersome things were curses or debuffing skills.

The resistance to debuff depends on your level, skill, or an item's effect.

For someone like Ain, whose level was lower than the opponents, that was something critical.

But the scariest thing was that they had more than one type of debuff skill.

Goooo-

The moment one raised the wand and pointed to the sky, menacing black energy started to gather around him.

Hyun knew what skill it was just by the effect around it.

«Chains of Darkness».

It was a skill that locked your feet and blocked you from moving for about five seconds.

Before the dark energy finished gathering, Hyun shouted.

「Stop that spell no matter what!」

Ain reacted immediately.

As the flames cut the darkness, the dark energy scattered away.

Although the casting was interrupted, the dangerous situation wasn't over yet.

Because Ain had forced the movement, she had no other way but to throw her body into the middle of the enemies.

The moment her weakness was exposed, numerous skills came flying toward her.

«One Second Absorption», «Vision Sword»!'

Hyun quickly summoned a big sword of light.

A blue light cut the air.

Because the «Vision Sword»'s attack range was bigger than «Efreet's Claws», it successfully hit numerous opponents.

Ain's HP, which had been near the bottom, quickly replenished.

「Hyun, are those ready?」

「What? «Invisible» and «Acceleration»?」

「Yes!」

At Ain's urgent voice, Hyun gave a realistic answer.

—Although it wasn't the one she was hoping to hear.

「Even if I use that, it will be hard to get away since this is a plain.」

「Ugh, is that so...?」

The terrain's characteristics put Hyun and Ain in a dangerous situation.

«Invisible» and «Acceleration» lasted for two to three seconds.

There wasn't a place where they could hide.

Even if they could gain some distance, they would probably be caught up to quickly.

'Although we still have the Ultimate Attack left.'

Hyun thought of the last resort.

The best way to shake off the enemies was to push them away with an overwhelming attack.

Wasn't there any other option?

It was when Hyun was thinking about a solution…

「Hyun, someone is approaching us!」

Hyun turned his head around at Ain's shouting.

Someone was approaching them at an amazing speed from the far end of the plains.

He was moving so fast that it seemed like the flow of the air bent.

「Another enemy?」

「No, it's different...!」

In the blink of an eye, it came from the end of the horizon to near them.

Bzzt-!

One of the enemy's vanguards froze instantly.

The ice statue soon turned into white dust and scattered away.

After one enemy died, Hyun finally discovered the identity of the new person who had appeared.

"Radiette...!"

Just as Hyun had guessed, he had landed where the shuttle had fallen.

But Hyun was surprised because of another reason.

—He was a Heavenly Being, yet he was frowning as if he were in pain.

Judging by how he was grabbing his chest, it seemed like he had been hurt somewhere.

Because a Heavenly Being, an overwhelming existence, had appeared, the enemies escaped.

Radiette didn't pursue them.

No, he probably didn't have the luxury to do that.

—He was breathing heavily.

"Oof... Don't go over there."

Radiette stopped her as Ain was about to go to the gate at the main magic circle.

"There are too many opponents over there. You won't be able to get in."

"Even for a Heavenly Being...?"

"Yes. Do you understand how dangerous Iluna is at the moment?"

Who could put the life of a Heavenly Being in danger?

Hyun tried to think of a few opponents, including demons.

If an existence like that was on Iluna, that probably meant that the Unexpected Event was about to happen.

"We're in danger here, too. If only there were somewhere where we could rest…"

"There's a village to the west."

"Really?"

After seeing Radiette's reaction, Hyun discovered something.

—Radiette knew less about Iluna than he did.

In one way, it was obvious.

After being kicked out from the Heavens, he hadn't left the Giant's Forest even once.

"It seems like you know more than me. Is this also because you're a user?"

"Well, that's true in a sense, but..."

"Then lead the way."

Ain and Radiette began moving in the direction Hyun had indicated.

"Too slow."

Radiette spoke and then grabbed Ain's body.

Although he had been injured, it seemed like he didn't feel burdened by Ain's body.

As Radiette began properly running, they crossed through the plains as fast as the wind.

They reached their destination after ten minutes.

They thought something was wrong after looking at the remnants of the buildings.

"There's no trace of life..."

The senses of a Heavenly Being were way above those of a normal human being, so what Radiette said was true.

Ain and Radiette walked through the town that had turned into ruins.

「Hyun, was this also done by the Abyss?」

「Probably.」

All of the destruction caused in the village was probably done by monsters.

If monsters were already freely roaming around, how much had the unexpected event progressed?

「There are only two controlling magic circles left.」

After realizing that, Hyun's face darkened.

There were originally seven magic circles that controlled Iluna, and they were placed at the center of a giant hexagon.

Each magic circle shot a beam of light up into the sky, thus becoming visible from both the sky and the ground.

There were only two light beams left…

"There aren't any bodies. Except for the buildings that have been wrecked, there aren't any signs of a battle," Radiette said while looking around.

"There's a possibility that people left the town before the disaster happened. Judging by how the snow has covered the footsteps, it seems like it has been quite some time... There doesn't seem to be any casualties."

Then Radiette pointed in a direction with his finger.

It was one of the places where one of the magic circles that controlled Iluna was located.

"Let's go over there."

"It's a little bit far away, is that okay...?"

"Yes, there's no problem."

The moment they decided on their next destination, Radiette grabbed Ain and began running.

Because time had passed, Radiette had recovered a lot of his HP. Thanks to that, his breathing had normalized.

The speed at which he ran was faster than what Hyun thought, so it took him less than an hour to reach the destination.

"There are definitely lots of people around here."

A Heavenly Being’s senses not only allowed him to notice the presence of people, but also to guess the number of people very precisely.

Hyun looked at the walls of the city.

There were clearly people inside, but they still didn't know what force they belonged to, so they had to be careful.

「I hope the Abyss hasn't taken this place.」

「No, it's of the Heavens!」Ain said after finding someone wearing a blue Priest robe.

After taking a closer look, there were Knights and Soldiers wearing the armor of the Heaven's forces.

「It seems like this place is still okay.」

Yes. How this city looks was probably how the rest of Iluna used to look, too.

They hadn't seen any Heaven’s NPCs after reaching Iluna, so their presence was very welcome.

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