Chapter 206 Death And Despair [3]

Beep-

Following the device's beep, Susan's voice came through.

-We reached the target location. We'll engage shortly

"Follow the plan and... don't die"

-You too

Beep-

"Huuuu...."

Susan and Kaneki's job was to help Lark until we move on to the next part of the plan. Lark was strong, undoubtedly so, even if it wasn't X's real body it was a loss if he dies while stopping Abomination.

We need to run while saving Lark, only he was capable of stopping Abomination, and we needed him for it.

"It should be somewhere around here."

My eyes scanned through the surroundings while I stood at the area marked on the map as the location of the Skill-Evolution stone.

"This is taking too much time."

'[Appraisal]'

Manually searching for the stone was time-consuming, the only thing we couldn't afford at the moment.

The Appraisal yielded results swiftly.

======

[Skill Evolution Stone [Epic] ]

-Increases the rank of skill by one grade

-Can only be used on skills of Epic-grade and lower

-Number of uses: 1

======

I pulled the stone out of the bark of the tree. Looking at its status window, I used it without hesitation.

[You have used [Skill Evolution Stone [Epic]] Please choose a skill to upgrade]

[You have chosen [Golden Turtle [Unique]] Y|N ]

Clicking on 'yes', a golden light rushed through the stone and permeated me.

[Congratulations, your skill [Golden Turtle [Unique]] has been upgraded to [Golden Turtle[Epic]] ]

"Leaderboard" Navigating through the status screen, I opened my Skill tab.

======

[Golden Turtle [Epic] ]

-For every charge user can block one attack from someone on the same level as him or a lower level

-Charges left: 10/10

-Charges Refill: 30 minutes/Charge

-Upgrade Condition: Consume 1000 Lvl.25 Aether cores

======

"Thankfully, it's the same" I sighed inadvertently. After the upgrade, I no longer needed to eat Aether cores to refill the charge. The charges would fill by themselves at the speed of 30 minute/charge.

It seemed like a degrade not upgrade, but with this, the skill gained the ability to upgrade and become more powerful. Not to mention, now the skill will also block attacks on the same level as me.

"I should hurry"

Confirming the skill details, I dashed to the area where everyone was fighting.

***

-(Present || Lark is stopping the Abomination)-

"[Mud Enthrallment]"

Mud rose from the ground and shaped into a semi-solid golem. The creature jumped over Abomination and confined it for another ten seconds.

"What are they doing?" Lark's figure had shriveled greatly. He looked like an old man who just finished a marathon. "Why haven't they left yet?"

? The black curtain that envelopes the boss zone once someone engages the boss monster had not yet been deployed.

"It must be his doing." Lark didn't even have the energy to spare to shout in anger. If others hadn't been adamant about not leaving without Nathan, he wouldn't have rescued him. But he was now regretting listening to their demands.

"Leon can't die here"

The pages of the grimoire fluttered and several magic circles appeared in the air.

Kreeecch-

The Abomination punched a hole in the mud doll's abdomen and jumped out.

At that moment, two uninvited guests joined the battlefield.

"[Equinox Slash]"

A great white arc shot out and slashed at the Abomination, throwing it a few dozen meters away.

Lark, who 'saw' everything from higher in the sky, was shocked.

"Why are you two here?! Didn't I tell you two go to the higher floors?!"

Bam-!

The Abomination ignored the bewilderment of its earlier enemy and slashed his two arms at Susan.

"Tin Can, dodge this!"

Suddenly, Kaneki appeared behind the Abomination and attacked. Susan skillfully dodged the Abomination's attack and also rushed at it.

Both of them charged without holding back, but the monster didn't bother to dodge in the slightest.

Abomination retracted its hand and curled its figure before their attacks reached him.

Fschk-

Spikes jutted out its body in a split second.

"It's annoying" Kaneki worded while landing on the ground, 20 meters away from the Abomination. He and Susan had seen the move earlier and thus had no problem dodging it.

"[Air Wisps]"

Gentle gusts of wind picked Susan and Kaneki and took them toward Lark.

"[Leaf tornado], [Grass Blades]"

The monster tried to follow behind them, but Lark moved before it and stopped the monster.

"Why didn't you leave?" Lark asked urgently and slightly angrily. He was trying his best to hold back the monstrosity known as Abomination, but with everyone still on this floor, his sacrifice became useless.

"Here"

Susan passed him a slip of paper. Simultaneously, Kaneki broke free from the air currents, holding him in the air, and jumped down.

Alternating between Kaneki and the piece of paper, Lark ultimately focused on the paper. Kaneki should have no problem bearing the brunt of Abomination's attack for a few seconds.

------

I have [Fragment of Eternity] and a plan

------

"!!!"

Lark's brows jumped in surprise. He went silent for a few seconds before asking Susan, "Is he saying the truth?"

"Yes"

Susan gazed at Kaneki, who was struggling to hold back Abomination. But to her, it was clear that the Abomination was amused by Kaneki's absurd regeneration and playing with him.

Slowly, Kaneki's hair was returning to its original black color.

"Can you hold back the monster for 30 seconds?" Lark asked Susan after a great deal of consideration. "If what Nathan is telling is true, I might have a way to buy us a lot of time, but for that, I'll have to retract my support"

Even now, dozens of magic spells and skills were working in tandem to weaken the Abomination. Otherwise, Kaneki would've died in the first exchange with the monster.

Nodding, Susan jumped below.

Lark flew higher into the sky and stopped using his skills and magic. A golden light seeped through the grimoire and a 50-meter-wide magic circle appeared in the air.

Below on the ground, Kaneki was overwhelmed within a few seconds, but Susan managed to help him on time.

"Don't do anything unnecessary"

Kaneki flinched at Susan's warning, but he quickly regained his confidence. "I know!"

Bang-!

The muscles on his leg bulged and he kicked the ground.

A massive piece of ground broke and was flipped into the air. Susan brought a sword out and hit the large chunk of earth with the flat side of her sword.

"[Break]"

Baaangg-!

Webbed cracks spread on the piece of earth and it broke down into smaller pieces. However, they didn't fall and flew in a single direction.

Kreeeecch-

Dozens of tentacles grew off the Abomination's back and thrashed. Destroying the pieces of rocks, the Abomination attempted to look for them, only to realize that a significant amount of dust had covered the area.

Susan and Kaneki took advantage of the natural smokescreen and, as they had planned, attacked the monster with only minimum attacks to keep it busy.

A smile crept on Lark's face as he realized that they had planned to do this from the beginning, even if he didn't ask for their help. It was clear who had told them to do so.

Finally, Lark's spell was complete.

"<Spatial Wormhole>"

Craaccck-

The space above the magic circle shattered, revealing a dark hole in reality. The black vortex was swallowing up everything around it, leaving only an empty void behind--and then sucked them into its depths.

"You could use Rank 6 magic too?"

Bang-! Bang-! Bang-! (x8)

Innumerable weapons rained down and pinned the Abomination's tentacles to the ground. The monstrosity roared, recognizing the familiar attack pattern.

"It isn't complete, but it should work." Lark answered Nathan in a solemn tone. "Do you actua-"

Beep-

The ringing of Nathan's device cut Lark off.

-We are ready

"Good work"

Vrrrrooooom-

Before Lark could ask who the person on the other side was, approximately 50 kilometers away, a skeleton giant appeared.

Bam-

Kaneki jumped into the air and swiftly arrived in front of Lark. Without letting lark comprehend the situation, he spun in the air and kicked!

Bang-!

Lark's figure tore through the air and he crashed into the ground.

"Thank you for the spell, but you should rest now."

Nodding to Nathan, Susan picked Lark, who was disoriented from the impact, and bolted towards the boss zone, followed closely by Kaneki.

"Return" A whisper left Nathan's lips as he dived to face the Abomination.

1 second...

The 60-meter-long Spear in the hands of the skeleton giant trembled. However, Leon burned his mana without restraints to hold the weapon from flying away.

2 seconds....

"Cadmus!"

Clank- Clank- Clank-

Chains erupted from Cadmus and coiled around the Spear holding the arm of the Skeleton giant. The figure of the skeleton giant wavered and all of its energy condensed into the arm to empower it.

4 seconds...

"Leon! It'd done!"

The Skeleton giant moved and got ready to throw the Spear. At the same time, Cadmus used another skill, "[Gae Bolg] !"

A crimson-red fire covered the Spear.

6 seconds...

[Enchantment: Light]

Boooom-!

A reddish-golden trail stretched through the skies. It covered the distance at a world-shaking record.

9 seconds...

The Abomination sensed the powerful threat flying towards it. Roaring the monster opened its maw to shoot the black beam.

"No, you don't!"

Nathan used his art to the fullest and attacked with [Zero]. He had to stop the Abomination from blocking or destroying the attack.

10 seconds...

The Spear met its mark anda�"

BOOOM-!

a�"Everything in a 1-kilometer diameter was wiped out of existence.