Chapter Twenty-Nine: Encirclement
A new realm unfolded before Dusken's perception; every shadow in the area of a hundred metres was sensed by him.
Previously, he couldn't sense the shadows of living beings, but now he could sense Lillian's shadow, along with those of some creatures wandering within a hundred-meter radius.
Dusken realized immediately that Ebon was sharing its perception of the shadows with him.
'Then what's the reason for Ebon sharing its perception with me?' He wondered, wrinkling his nose.
As if to answer his question, his perception suddenly shifted and focused on one particular point.
Tens, no dozens of shadows were perceived by him, sending a jolt through his mind. From a particular tree, his gaze fixed on the figures, and his eyes widened.
They were all beastmen from both the Naga and Nura clans and they were charging towards his location.
Moments later, Ebon slid from his body to the ground, transforming back into its death guard form as black smoke oozed from its body.
It knelt on one knee, head bowed. However, Dusken paid it no heed and shouted towards Lillian.
"We have to get out of here, fast!" His words were laced with impatience as he moved.
He quickly took the creature's core shard, glanced at Lillian, and followed her. She was the one who knew the way out of the forest.
Ebon followed behind him, not in its physical body but in shadow form.
Dusken realized he could share the sense of the shadow as it crawled, though not as far as 100 meters - only about 60.
As he ran past trees, dodging those that obstructed his path, he contemplated inwardly.
'This is probably the case.' He thought grimly.
If all the beastmen were pursuing them, there was a high chance the others had either escaped or been killed.
However, Dusken knew that there was a high likelihood of the other candidates surviving. They had spell cards and were probably all level one after all.
He sent a shadow to scout ahead while sensing through the trees, his limits had increased and now it was no longer ten metres but twenty-five.
It wasn't long before he sensed multiple shadows falling from the air. When he raised his head, he saw they were all arrows.
"Hey! You! Stop right there." A voice echoed from behind, but Dusken didn't respond.
Lillian stopped running, lifting her right hand; a force erupted from it, blasting all the arrows apart and making their broken pieces fall like rain.
Dusken continued advancing. It was just as expected; those were beastmen who were known for their strong physical abilities, and two 15-year-olds couldn't match.
Lillian followed after him, the situation was unexpected and perilous. More arrows kept falling, halting their progress greatly.
"Hahaha, you all will die today." An arrogant beastman shouted its purple, narrow eyes burning with hunger.
Dusken trembled as a faint fear gripped his heart. Ahead of him were six to seven beastmen which he sensed through the shadows.
On his right, a few tens of metres away, a few beastmen closing in on his position. The same thing played out in his left, and from behind, tens of beastmen pursued.
Surrounded. They were completely encircled. Death was a certainty.
Lillian stopped running. It looked like she also understood the situation. Her black hair fluttered under the touch of the soft breeze.
"You all are mere variant humans, yet you dare to stop us?" Lillian's words sounded, cool and calm as the last rays of the sun were disappearing.
The beastmen behind them stopped moving as the archers paused their attacks. A beastman from the Naga clan stepped forward.
Dusken recognized him only due to his scales; the Naga clan members all had scales, and the Nura clan were almost all hybrids of pig heads or so.
This beastman had blue scales on his body. It laughed out loud while speaking.
"Humans are all arrogant, no wonder they always have internal strife, which has made us grow stronger. One day, we'll defeat the humans and reign supreme.
Young girl, watch as we teach you manners and send you to the afterlife." The words of the beastman held great ridicule, making the other beastmen around it laugh out loud.
Dusken's eyes blazed as he watched night slowly descending, and the darkness filling his senses.
Lillian stepped forward.
"Afterlife? I doubt that." Her words were laced with confidence.
'What is she doing? Is she buying time?' Dusken thought he didn't know why Lillian would waste her time speaking with the beastmen.
They were surrounded with no way out, and fighting was the only inkling of survival they had.
Lillian once again spoke, her voice booming in the area, glancing at all the beastmen.
"Life is a continuous cycle of pain and suffering. Death is a lonesome piece of jagged iceberg. Regardless, every being in this world keeps misrecognizing facts.
Deluding themselves that they're at the top, we, the humans, reign supreme, but our faults have made us less stronger.
However, the powerless, who make up the majority of this world, fail to see that this is not only our fault alone but that of all entities of nature."
Her words, laced with reminiscence, made the beastmen stop laughing when they realized the hidden meaning in her words.
Humans reigned supreme, and beastmen were cast aside. However, the faults of humans made the beastmen grow strong enough to rebel, yet, they were still suppressed.
These faults were ridiculed but played out in every place; as long as there was a society, there would be conflicts.
Dusken's eyes widened in horror, as he took a step back, glancing at Lillian.
'What she just said - that's the speech of Nale from 40th-century Earth in my past life.' He thought as a feeling rose within him.
For Lillian to know speech from the 40th century, Earth couldn't be a coincidence. The words were said word by word, making him feel great suspicion, but she was a human from the trial, so it didn't make sense.
Dusken pondered for a while but snapped out of his thoughts when a huge force erupted from Lillian's location.
Blasting trees and throwing back a few beastmen.
'So she was indeed buying time.' He thought inwardly while summoning his cards.
"Attack!!!" A beastman roared. Following his words, other beastmen swarmed them Dusken and Lillian. No more arrows were dropping from the sky since it might result in friendly fire.
Night had descended, but Dusken's vision was as clear as daylight. He summoned his dark flame and made it coat his blade, increasing its sharpness and ferocity.
In the darkness of night, a complex realm unfolded before him. With his mind, he could manipulate darkness just like he could control his shadow.
'Hehe. Time for slaughter.'
A beastman charged toward him, the winds whistling, its claws swiping at Dusken's head.
He moved right, narrowly avoiding its attack. At his will, his sword slashed forward, splitting the winds at a horrifying speed.
Before the beast-man could react, the longsword doubled in speed, slicing through its head without resistance.
Instant Kill.
[You have slain a level one awakened beastman]
[Your abyss within grows darker.]
Enduring the negative emotions surging through him, he sidestepped, moving away from the trajectory of a beast-man's attack.
It lunged at him, a furious light glinting in his eyes. Twirling his sword masterfully, he held it in a reverse grip, stabbing its skull and ending its existence.
[You have slain a level one awakened beastman.]
[Your abyss within grows darker.]
Another wave of negative emotions surged through him, and in a moment of distraction, an arrow grazed his arm, sending a jolt through his brain.
A sting of pain shot through him, but he endured it while charging forward.
And so… a killing spree began.
[You have slain a level one awakened beastman.]
[Your Abyss within…]
[You have slain a level one awakened beastman.]
[Your Abyss within grows stronger.]
[You have slain…]
[Your abyss…]
[You have slain…]
[You have received a material card.]
….
After some time, Dusken paused his fight panting for breath. All around him, the blood dyed the ground crimson, the air reeked of bloodshed and many trees were sprayed red.
Glancing at Lillian, he saw she was surrounded on all sides. The beastmen mainly paid attention to her due to her dreadful ability.
Lillian slashed with her weapon, which was claws, but little by little, she was being pushed back.
And soon another shockwave erupted from her as all the beastmen were blasted backwards.
Blood covered her figure, but her gaze remained cold.
"You all forced me, so be proud that you all would die by my hands." She stared at Dusken with a slight smile and a cunning light in her eyes.
As she stretched her hands forward, everyone flinched - including Dusken. However, the shockwave wasn't what appeared, but something that made him smile darkly.
Golden particles swirled around Lillian like she was a heavenly princess as a gold portal formed in front of her.
She stretched her hands into the portal, drawing out two cards, as the portal shrunk and vanished. Then she threw one forward.
"Spell card activation: Doom battlefield annihilation"