Ḯ̵̺̤̪ ̵̮̀s̵͎͕͉̀͑͠ẻ̶̢͉e̷̮̣̓̎ ̸̤̦̖͂́y̷̝͋͒̔ȏ̶̭̈̀û̵̪̲̒r̴̼̓͜ ̶͎̱̇̓p̷̡͙̽̾l̷̬̞̐͝a̵̖̪̰̅n̴̦̆
William once again ignored the gibberish that was spoken. There was no point sparing any attention since it didn’t seem like human speech. Besides, ignoring it also helped reduce the discomfort of hearing that strange language.
What he focused on instead was for the moment the corrupted beast released its attack. He was close enough that it would be possible to land a few palms on the beast’s body before having to escape when it recovered from the apparent weakness that came after shooting the red beam.
William's eyes sharpened when the red glow on the beast’s makeshift hand increased in brightness.
It was time.
He stood still, trying to make his body language seem like all he was planning to do was dodge the beam and nothing else. He wasn’t sure how successful that was, but there was no chance he would leave a single trick unused.
Ï̶͈̔ ̴̟͔̑w̴̰͐ȋ̴̲̗͚͗s̵̯̮̱̊̃͠h̷͎̒͊̐ ̵͚̑͂͠ť̴̺o̶͔̭͝ ̴͕̳̮̈́ś̴̡̱̅ȇ̵̫͈é̴̛̫̃ ̷̨̎̕y̷̹̼̆̀o̵̧̡͎͆u̶̐͐ͅr̵̯͓͉̎̾ ̵̫̥̋̍͘s̸̢̢͎̓t̴̪̃r̴̭͕̪͘e̸̫͙̼͛n̵̤͗͆̈́g̸͚̣̏̾t̸̩͚͕͑̾ḩ̷̈́͛,̴̦̤̙̓̇ ̸͉͒̽r̸̖̉̌͌ạ̸̡̅̕t̵̼̫̗̅.̴̩̋
William was on the move the moment the red beam left the corrupted beast’s palm. He dodged the attack like usual, moving to a stop slightly closer to the beast still hanging onto the ceiling, but this time, he didn’t stop there.
He took note of the grayish color that spread through the corrupted beast's body, which only reinforced his decision.
William rocketed up at the beast, hoping to land a few attacks by surprise and then reevaluate depending on how much damage he had done.
Using every bit of speed his Agility afforded him, William was right next to the beast in less time than it took to blink. His arms were covered by his raging Qi, ready to demolish whatever the target was.
William could feel the wide, almost manic grin as his palm landed on the corrupted beast’s body. And they landed repeatedly.
He hadn’t been sure if the formless body could even be attacked, but when his first attack met a firm, almost slick skin, it took a weight off his mind.
[-5 Spiritual Energy] x10
Not even a second had passed, but William had already landed ten attacks on the corrupted beast, his Qi seeming to explode out of his palms with the sheer speed of his movements. However, that was the end of his free rein since he saw the beast’s body convulse precisely where he was landing his attacks.
William knew this wasn’t a reaction out of pain. This occurred right before the corrupted beast formed a limb to attack him.
He always intended to be as safe as possible, especially since the high level of the beast meant that a simple graze might take away his life.
However, since William had to jump to attack the corrupted beast on the ceiling, he was in an awkward spot by just hanging in the air.
William had a plan for this, too.
He twisted his body and kicked his legs back as hard as he could, grinning when the beast finally made a sound resembling pain. As pathetic as it sounded, the martial skill Earth-Shaking Stomp was his most damaging attack.
The only thing that stopped him from continuously using it on the corrupted beast was that it would launch him in the opposite direction if he wasn’t attacking from above, making it a one-time use skill in his current situation. However, it would top off the barrage he put on the beast, hopefully taking away a chunk of its life.
William should have known all of this was going according to plan a little too well. Since when had that happened?
Never was the answer.
Just when his last attack was about to take him out of the area where he could be touched by the corrupted beast, William felt a searing pain on the bottom half of his left leg.
[-1000 HP]
[Trait Added | Blood Loss (-10 HP per minute)]
[Modified | Agility (-50%)]
It took everything he had to not look at the damage done to him. He kicked out with his legs again, using the Earth-Shaking Stomp, and successfully escaping the corrupted beast’s grasp.
I̷̡͇̿n̷̼̮̎͘t̷̝̊̐e̸̪͙̽̔r̷̤̠͆ȇ̸̫s̸̢̪̿̇t̵̬̳̒i̸̱͝n̷͖͔̐̈́g̴̨͙̈́.̷͓̑ ̶̯̿͜͝Ŷ̷̯͇͠ọ̷̄u̵̧̼͒r̸̙͑̐ ̶̰͗ķ̷̠́i̵͇̰͐n̶̫̐͜d̸̹̐͗ ̵͉̬͐d̵̘͕̕ô̸̩e̴͎͑̈́͜s̶͖̦̑̊ ̷͔͛n̵̝̔̓o̷̘͊͠t̶̘̭͛̉ ̶̢̮͝ď̸̨͚̽i̶̬̒ẻ̶̦̭͗ ̵̡̻̀̆w̵͔̕͠i̶͕̋t̶̼̍͘ḥ̴͗ ̶̠͎͊t̸̪̘̅h̵̯͊͝i̸̒͜s̴͉͗̂ ̶͖̫̃d̷̲͎͐͂a̵̙͝m̸͉̱̏͠ȧ̴̳g̸̝͚̔̓e̵̪̫͋̐.̶͕̘̆
William wheezed when he landed on his feet... or thought he would land on his feet. He fell over on his side instead of standing straight like he expected. He braced himself from falling flat on his face with his hands, heart sinking to his stomach when he saw that everything below his left knee was gone.
William snapped his head up, terrified that this would be the end. He expected to get a face full of red beam. Instead, he stared as his separated flesh slowly sunk into the corrupted beast’s body.
I̶͕͛͘t̶̳̰͝ ̸͓͎͋i̷̙͛s̵̎ͅ ̶̦̮̄o̵͇̔̈́f̵̦̊ ̷̜͇̋n̴̗̘̍o̷̩̍́ ̴̝̼̏h̴͔͕́e̸̞͒l̵̢͍̎̈́p̸͕̎͑ͅ.̵̜̔̉
He was a sitting duck. His only advantage, his Agility, was taken away from him.
D̸̨̬͋͠i̶͖̱̇̉s̶̰͑a̴͙̣͂͐p̷̝̝̀̚p̵̜̓̎o̷̐̒ͅi̴̪̹̇̊n̶̥̑t̵̫̙͛͝i̵̲͒ͅn̷̞̫͆͝g̵̼̿̾.̴̪̄ͅ
William forced himself to stand up without showing any difficulty, hoping it would buy him some time. It truly wasn’t a difficult task, but that image would rapidly change if he tried to move whatsoever.
Even through all this, he didn’t forget to use Observe to look at the corrupted beast’s health. Not after all the effort he had gone through.
[-5 Spiritual Energy]
Health: 1550/1700
This was the end. He had underestimated the reduced effect of his attacks on a high-level beast such as this.
After all of those attacks, all William had accomplished was giving the corrupted beast the equivalent of a scratch or something as minor. And what he got in return was a lost limb and near-certain death.
Somehow, he would need to do this over ten times to finally kill the beast.
[-10 HP]
That helpful alert reminded him that a minute had passed without being attacked. It looked like the beast was playing him the entire time. Maybe for sadistic amusement.
William no longer had any hopes of coming out of this alive. He would make a last-ditch effort to get to Princess Jin’s collapsed body and hope he could find whatever she intended to use to get them out of this mess. Not that he expected it to work.
With his drastically reduced speed, it was doubtful that he would even get to Princess Jin. Even if he did, he had to somehow find the artifact she would use and figure out how to activate it.
Y̸̪̍͋o̴͔͈͑͠ú̵͚̋ ̷̖̌͘ä̴͜r̶̯̓̾e̸̻͛ ̶̹̣͠r̵͉̮̈́͌ė̶̬̳͝s̶͙̎̕ͅì̴̙̘l̶̨̗͋̚i̴̗̽e̷̖̰͊ń̵̦̾t̸͉̝͒.̶̡̮̈́ ̵̣̂̀Ý̵̭o̸̳͐ṵ̴͌ͅr̷̹̿͘ ̷͔̹̎̂á̶̺ţ̸͌̾ͅt̵͎̟͐͋a̷͔͘͝ͅc̷̢̿̉k̴̠̎̿s̶̨̈́͒ ̷̹̺̋̃á̵̭r̴̦̦̍́ẽ̵̩ ̴͇̪̊͛d̶̡͗ā̷̦̼̆m̶̖̑̆a̴̼͕̐ḡ̷͜͠i̸̹̳̚ñ̵̼͘g̵̠̯̍.̶͈͖͘ ̶͕́̋I̵̞̓ ̴͓̑s̴̯͒̓ĥ̴͇̖a̷͎͑l̵̛̟͛l̴͉̆ ̴̨̮̈́r̴͕͗̍è̴̜͝ț̵̢͗u̸͕͈͛r̴̙̯̃͋ń̴͈͒.̸̖͍̆͊
Under William’s stunned gaze, the corrupted beast seeped into the ceiling like sludge before disappearing. He still couldn’t believe it was gone just like that, right when he had basically accepted his death.
William looked around frantically for a moment before walking, or rather, hopping, to Princess Jin. At the same time, he pulled out far too many Vitality Restoration Pills.
[Modified | Agility (-50%) —> Agility (-25%)]
[Impurity Increased]
[Stage 2 (16%) —> Stage 2 (23%)]
He stumbled and fell to the ground, clutching right above his torn-off limb as it started to feel strange. He wouldn’t be so surprised if it was just pain, but the fact that it was combined with something that couldn’t be described changed his reaction.
William gaped at the mangled flesh below his knee. It was fixing itself under his very eyes. Everything to his ankle had been restored in less than a few minutes, though it was all strangely numb. The only thing missing was his actual foot.
He swallowed another pill.
[Agility Restored]
[Trait Removed | Blood Loss (-10 HP per minute)]
[Impurity Increased]
[Stage 2 (23%) —> Stage 2 (40%)]
William’s left leg was whole again. As if it hadn’t been ripped off just a few minutes ago. The only evidence of that catastrophic damage was his torn robes.
It took him a moment to get over the fact that he somehow had a limb-regrowing ability, and the only cost was a minor increase in impurity. Once he did, it came to his notice that his health had been completely untouched, even though the reason it dropped so much had been regrown.
William quickly realized that while his leg was restored, he had no control over it. It was as if it was unconnected to his body. He did the only thing that seemed to be the answer to everything. Swallow another pill.
[+570 HP]
[Health: 223 —> 793/1400]
[Impurity Increased]
[Stage 2 (40%) —> Stage 2 (57%)]
His leg was still dead weight, but feeling returned down to his ankle.
[+570 HP]
[Health: 793 —> 1363/1400]
[Impurity Increased]
[Stage 2 (57%) —> Stage 2 (74%)]
William giggled, almost hysterically, when his toes moved on his command. This was good. It was great. Now, there was another issue he would need to watch carefully before it became a more significant problem than a lost leg.
Impurity: Stage 2 (74%)
Weeks, 2 Days, 19 Hours Remaining
That impurity percentage meant that it was very likely that he only had one more use of a Vitality Restoration Pill before he would be well into stage three territory.
William forced himself to stop thinking of his bleak future and checked on Princess Jin.