[You have felled a Lesser Enemy, Phantas Akkaidian]
[Please obtain the Cubes that are in the body of the Dimensional Being.]
[You have received a Soul Memoir, Sting of Colors.]
Vikram breathed a sigh of relief and cursed at the same time. How was he going to take anything where there was literally no time to breathe?
But there was at least something he had gotten from the kill. He tried to access the section of Soul Memoir, and... cursed. The ingenious design of the Mother System was simply perfect.
If he wanted to see what was this 'Sting of Colors', then he just had to imagine, a mental image of what that was would come into his mind. And what he saw was the reason why he cursed.
It was just the stinger of the shits that were fighting against them. It was not a weapon, it was not an arrow embedded with the stinger in some way, no, it was just a plain stinger that was sitting inside his storage that he now knew he had.
But Vikram was dumbfounded when he tried to summon the stinger into the real world... At least, in the current world.
[You're attribute {Broken Fate} revokes Soul Memoirs.]
[Your Soul Memoir [Sting of Colors] has been destroyed.]
Vikram ground his teeth so much so that the sounds of teeth clashing were clearly turning audible. His anger was bubbling so much so that he couldn't handle all the rage that was permeating throughout his body.
He had gone through all that harrowing torture and this facade of a 'Walk' just to be at a disadvantage with all his peers?
But he was forced to calm down because his situation was getting grimmer and grimmer. The trio and Vikram were on the precipice of the cliff, and their chances were slim.
With the trio teetering on the precipice of the cliff, their chances of survival dwindling with each passing moment, Vikram's heart sank. The yawning abyss below seemed to beckon to them with a promise of certain doom, and he couldn't shake the feeling of impending disaster.
As he gazed out at the expanse of black sand beyond the cliff's edge, a shiver ran down Vikram's spine. The desolate landscape stretched out before him like a vast ocean of darkness, with a cave he could see from this distance.
It seemed wrong.
It seemed very, very, wrong.
But even in the face of such overwhelming despair, a spark of determination flickered to life within Vikram. With a resolute expression hardening his features, he turned his attention to the small pack of miscellaneous items tied to his hip—a collection of odds and ends that seemed strangely familiar.
It was the same thing that the Head Slave had slipped to him sneakily when the old man brought food for Vikram
Without hesitation, Vikram opened the pack that was created by using animal skin, revealing a green folded leaf, a yellow powder reminiscent of turmeric, and a green paste that seemed to emit a faint, otherworldly glow. His fingers moved with purpose as he selected the leaf, folding the small pack with care before tucking it away.
Ignoring the incredulous roar of The Hulk demanding to know what he was doing, Vikram pressed on, driven by an almost inhuman determination. With steady hands, he rubbed the leaf across his body, its faint aroma filling the air around him.
As the leaf's essence seeped into his skin, Vikram felt a strange sensation seeping into his every pour. Then, he carefully placed his pack in his hand and looked at The Hulk intently.
At the same time, as though The Hulk could sense the gaze of Vikram, he shouted to him to join the fight and looked at him with a meaningful glare.
But Vikram smiled.
Vikram stood up, rushed forward, grabbed The Hulk's hip tightly as much as possible and... he threw him off the cliff.
It was almost a nonsensical action that Vikram had done. If The Hulk was gone, then there was almost no shield between the ravenous xenophobic creatures and Vikram.
It had been him that had held the line till now.
But it didn't matter. Vikram could feel the Hulk's massive body beginning to soar through the air. It was only due to his enhanced physique and the element of surprise that he managed to hurl the massive beast away. However, what Vikram hadn't anticipated was that he too was being propelled toward the cliff.
It had taken The Hulk by Vikram's surprise attack, but he was far deadlier than a mundane human-like Vikram. It was almost impossible to be tricked, but the keyword hung on almost.
But at the last moment when Vikram's and The Hulk's body contact had ended, The Hulk grasped Vikram and tossed his body further than him with a simple flick of his arm.
Vikram gulped as he saw the jagged obsidian rocks that littered across the cliff and the dead black sand that filled the expanse. A sense of dread and desperation seeped into Vikram's mind, and his chest seemed to bulge as though something was dying to break out of his chest.
Vikram paled but gritted his teeth. He took the pack that the Head Slave had mid-air and kept it in his arms as it mattered more than his head or his life... which it did.
Vikram's heart raced as he clung to the cliffside, his pack still securely in hand. With each passing moment, the threat of the jagged obsidian rock and the relentless assault of the elements loomed larger in his mind.
Desperation clawed at him as he silently prayed for protection, reaching out to any force that might heed his plea in this dire moment. He knew that his survival depended not only on his own strength but also on pure, sheer luck for this moment.
Yet, even as doubt gnawed at his coindence, Vikram couldn't ignore the undeniable resilience of his own body. Despite his fears of being just a mundane human, there was a latent strength within him that defied logic. It was a strength born of necessity, forged in the crucible of adversity.
With each passing second, Vikram's resolve hardened. He may have felt like an ordinary man facing insurmountable odds, but he refused to succumb to despair. Clutching his pack tightly, and gritted his teeth, feeling the air blowing against his skin. nf
The searing pain shot through Vikram's body like a bolt of lightning, threatening to overwhelm him as the jagged rock collided with his ribs. For a moment, the world spun dizzily around him, and he fought to maintain his grip on consciousness.
Then, the anger continued.
It assaulted like a leech refusing to leave the body of the host. Each hit became a struggle as he gritted his teeth against the agonizing torment coursing through him. The sensation was so intense that it felt as though even his bones were protesting against the assault, sending waves of fiery agony rippling through his entire being.
Yet, amidst the chaos of pain and fear, Vikram refused to surrender. This was the first time that he felt like controlling a body that didn't betray his wishes.
Every moment that he lived his life left like he was ultimately living for his death. But for the first time, he left like he was living for just... that.
And he was not going to let anything take that away from him. Not the jagged rocks that were hitting him throughout his body or the three people that were rolling down with him, glaring murder at him while enduring the pain.