Chapter 34- Origin (Part 3)
The whole world suddenly stopped and turned completely monotonous as Akio's vision was enhanced.
His clones then appeared out of him and dashed toward the swarm of monsters. Since the last time Akio had used death paths which were a few hours ago, the clones' speed had increased to match his growth. This further proved Akio's theory that his clones would always have his attributes as their base power. The only thing they add is the technique and the solution.
One vision after the other, Akio analyzed their movements, the route they took, and also how they dealt with the swarms of enemies that obstructed the way.
'Hmm… As I thought, this is going to be extremely tough. My technique won't be able to keep up. But, I can replace that with sheer speed.' He quickly generated a plan in his head on how he was going to execute the death path.
'Put 4 points into agility.'
Since he leveled up quite a few times, Akio had 8 free points he can allocate wherever he wanted. Using half of them solely for agility, he quickly dashed back toward the army in front of him.
The sheer improvement between before and now after evolving his speed was impressive. Akio felt as if his legs had lost some shackles that were restraining them and could now move way faster than before.
Reaching them quickly, Akio ducked down the first few tongue attacks, making them pass over his head. Then, he slashed upward with his full power. The sword cut down all the tongues in one swipe, garnering countless shrills of pain from the Lizardmen.
But, Akio didn't stop as he stood up again and continued running, the next wave of Lizardmen tried to hit him too but he merely jumped in the air. Having triple the power of a normal human made his jump reach new heights even Akio never thought were possible.
Landing, Akio continued his rush toward the big Lizard. His eyes moved around, scanning each and every single Lizardman around. His mind was like a computer, calculating the next move and regenerating the image of the clone and how he dodged certain attacks.
Akio didn't realize this but his mental capabilities had also strengthened beyond the limit of humans. Not only does Holem essence work as a fuel for leveling up and getting stronger but it also affects the Crusaders in ways they could never fathom.
As they grow stronger, their bodies also start gaining muscle, and their bones also get fortified and more robust. Even their faces and looks change with time to become perfect, unblemished, and untarnished by the world.
In a sense, they become the perfect image of their own selves that they could never reach in normal circumstances.
'Hmm… His movement and technique completely changed… What kind of stigma did he use?'
Even though Keth mocked Akio a second ago, he knew better than to not take what the boy just did lightly. Such a drastic change from before was amazing if not outright monstrous.
'What did he do?' Toru also had the same thoughts as Keth.
Meanwhile, Akio was completely oblivious to their looks and fully concentrated on his fight. Dodging, side-stepping, ducking, and jumping, he did everything as he moved past every enemy in a flash. Even though he did everything to great perfection, his inferiority to the clone still affected him as he caught the hits of a few tongues. They were slightly painful but not strong enough to inflict damage.
'I'm close!' Akio's eyes widened. In his pupils, the huge Lizard was reflected.
His opponent had also noticed that the small human was already close enough so it quickly blew a tongue attack.
But, this time, Akio had already overseen this outcome and moved accordingly.
*Swish*
*BANG*
The tongue hit where Akio was before creating a huge cloud of dust that covered the place. The monster stared down with its emotionless eyes, searching for Akio. In its head, the human was dead since he didn't dodge this time.
But, the next second, all of those thoughts were thrown in the trash as Akio suddenly emerged from the cloud of smoke, running on top of the monster's tongue, unaffected by the hit.
'Fuuh, that was close…'
Getting rid of the debris that obstructs his vision, Akio continued upwards. Then, when he was close enough, he slashed with his sword, hitting both of the monster's eyes in the same way his clone did.
Blood splurted out like a fountain as it covered Akio's body. The disgusting, putrid smell of it made Akio almost throw up. Lizard blood was way more disgusting than human blood, for all he cared. But, he didn't stop and slashed again and again with his sword, cutting down the monster's face as if it was a piece of paper. Huge cuts appeared everywhere, morphing the Lizard knight's face into a bloody mess of flesh and skin.
The fact that these creatures can't use their arms for some odd reason was one of their most glaring flows.
Then, without waiting any further, he jumped down from the monster's tongue. When he landed, coincidentally, the monster's body also fell behind him.
*BANG*
Looking around him, Akio exhaled a long breath. The other Lizardmen that had seen what happened started retreating in fear. Their instincts were screaming to stay as far away as possible from that human as he killed one of their higher-ups easily.
"Hahahaha! What a monster…" Keth murmured as he chuckled to himself. In his eyes, a hint of amusement mixed with awe and even wariness could be seen as clear as day.
From the first time he had seen Akio, Keth didn't really have much of an impression of him as he looked like a weak, naive child that had no chance of surviving.
But, when they reached the hole that led to the Serenity Abyss and found that Akio was the one to jump inside after him, he did gain some respect for his courage even if he was as good as a ghost.
However, not even a day had passed and the small boy had turned from a weakling to a freak of nature that could pull off a crazy move like dodging countless enemies and then jumping on the tongue of the monster as if it was some kind of stairs.
Not even Keth would've done that if he was in Akio's place. His methods were more reliant on crushing and punching rather than fine-tuned, peculiar move set that relied on effectiveness and technique.
"Wha- Wha- Wha-!!! That was so coolllllll!!!!" Toru jumped in the air as he looked at Akio with sparkling eyes. He was akin to a fangirl after seeing her idol right in front of her. A happy smile crossed his face.
"Focus behind you, wimp." Keth suddenly said coldly.
"Woah!!"
Quickly turning around, Toru jumped back, barely dodging an attack at the last breath. As for Akio, he scanned the area around him for any daring enemies. However, none of them had the desire to end up wetting his blade with blood.
'That went better than I exp-'
But, as he was about to take a breather, something happened.
"Oi, brat!!! Dodge!" Keth suddenly shouted.
*Swish*
Before his voice even reached Akio, the deed had been done.
Akio felt intense pain assault his side as his vision was turned upside down. His body was blasted into the air like a rocket. For a second, Akio's mind lost consciousness and his eyes turned hazy.
But, when he smashed on the rough ground a far distance away from where he was before, it woke him up again.
'Huh… What happened…' Incapable of registering what hit him, Akio stayed on the ground for a good 5 seconds.
His body felt numb and his senses were weak, most likely from the strong hit he sustained on his head. Akio could feel warm blood accumulate under him.
'Am I… dying…' Akio thought in an eerie calmness.
He didn't know what his current condition is nor if he was in a lethal state. Looking upward, Akio felt weirdly serene. Not being able to hear anything around him certainly worked wonders in relaxing his mind. He even completely forgot what was happening around him, where he was, or even how he ended up here.
*Drip* *Drip*
A trickle of blood ran down from his forehead and passed onto his cheek. When it reached the end, it dropped down, creating a small ripple in the calm world Akio created for himself. That small sound of the droplet was like a lightning bolt, reviving his senses.
"Brat!" Then, the first thing he heard was the deep voice of a man getting closer and closer to him.
(A//N: Thank you everyone for supporting the book with power stones, golden tickets, and comments. I'm deeply grateful. Let's all keep it up :) )